Santa Pics

Today we took the girls to see Santa so they could give him a few last minute gift ideas. Sarah was very excited to see him which made it difficult to get a good picture of her because she didn't stop talking the whole time we were there. :-) Emily on the other hand was NOT a fan of jolly Ol' St. Nick and couldn't get out of there fast enough. We finally managed to get her to calm down long enough though to get one decent picture.


Not sure why Sarah is posing in this picture, but you can tell Emily was not happy.


We had to go for a more "posed" picture where Sarah wasn't talking about her long list of gift ideas. :-)


Not happy!

A few recent pics...

I was going through the photos on my phone earlier today and found a few that I thought we be cute to share. There's never a dull moment around here! :-)

Enjoy!


Our little diva


Who doesn't love the doughnut shop?


Do you want fries with that?


We always knew this child had crazy hair, but this takes the cake!

Our Little Dare Devil

I know I'm extremely overdue with posting lately and I have a lot to catch everyone up one, but for now, I just had to share these pictures of Sarah I took a couple of weeks ago. This was one afternoon when it was still relatively warm outside (for Indiana) and we were trying to run off some energy. Sarah loves riding her plasma car and has discovered how much fun it is to ride it full tilt down the driveway. The good news is our driveway isn't too terribly steep AND we live on a cul-de-sac. :-) I'm not sure what prompted the outfit, but I've learned it's sometimes better not to ask too many questions. At least she had fun and didn't get hurt.


Note: Her outfit consists of pajamas, winter gloves, a light weight fleece coat, stocking cap and a scuba mask.


The action shot. Not even halfway down the driveway and the scuba mask is off!


Success!!

These heels were made for walkin'...

Last Saturday, Steve accepted the local YWCA's Red Shoe Challenge and participated in their annual Men's March to end violence towards women. He walked with a group of his friends from South Bend and together they did a wonderful job of raising awareness for this most worthwhile cause.

Thank you to everyone who supported Steve! He was the highest contributor for his team which I know meant a lot to him and the money donated will help a lot of women in our community.

Now, for just a little bit of fun. I think most of you have probably seen this picture, but we did promise visual proof of him in heels to anyone contributing to the cause! Here ya go...Enjoy!!

Happy Birthday, Steve!

Steve turned the big 38 a couple of weeks ago and what better way to celebrate than with some Angry Bird cupcakes! :-) Thanks to her Daddy, Sarah loves playing Angry Birds and it's become "their thing" they do together so when I saw these guys on the internet I knew we had to give them a try. While they were a little more time consuming than I had expected, they turned out great and everyone loved them! So cute!


Here's the Birthday Boy showing off the finished product. Note the shirt he's wearing. Sarah saw this in the store one day and insisted we get it for Daddy. :-)


I think the yellow ones were my favorite!


The cupcakes were tasty and Steve loved all of his birthday gifts, but these were by far his favorite presents! ;-)

She still likes it...

Sarah had her second soccer game last Saturday and I'm happy to report she is still a big fan of the game! Yeah! She also scored 3 goals, which I think is a big part of why she still likes playing. She actually had 4 goals, but we've decided not to count the one own-goal she scored. I guess she liked her odds when she saw the empty net and everyone else at the other end of the field. :-)

Here are a few pictures from her game. Enjoy!


Warming up


She's the one getting ready to throw the ball in on the far side.


Action shot


Going for the score...




GOAL!!


I like this picture because it shows her aggressively going after the ball. So what if she's trying to take it away from the rest of her team. :-) We're still working on what it means to get an assist.


Emily enjoys the games too. Here she is wearing her sister's soccer bag and wishing she was just a bit bigger. :-)

Can it be?

This may not seem like a big deal to most, but I had to share this picture of Sarah taken this morning before school. Notice anything different about her? That's right, kids, she's wearing JEANS!!! And she didn't even fuss or argue to put them on!!! We actually bought these a few weeks ago, but I never took the tags off because I wanted to be sure they were keepers. Believe me, we've been down this road before and I'm learning more and more with each trip. :-) I didn't get a picture of the back pockets, but they have some "bling" on them which I think helped seal the deal this morning. Hey, whatever it takes, right?

Oh, and I guess 4.5 is the age when girls actually start to enjoy having their pictures taken so we're finally starting to get some good pictures too. Yeah!!

Deere Crossing

We knew the end was near, but I don't think either of us knew just how excited we would be when the time finally came. After five summers of faithful service, it was time to say good-bye to Old Red as the cost to "maintain" her far surpassed her actual value. Considering Steve bought her off a guy on the side of the road five years ago while driving home from work one evening, I would say we definitely got our money's worth out of her. ;-) Now the leaking oil and endless smoke are someone else's problems since we actually found someone willing to take her off our hands...and he actually paid us money for her too!!

One last shot before she leaves...



You know what they say though...out with the old and in with the new! Steve was like a kid at Christmas with a new toy when he came home and saw this beauty sitting in the garage. :-)



Here he is getting ready to take her for her inaugural ride!


Gotta show off the "beverage" since drink holders were a requirement!


Demonstrating the new four-wheel turning capabilities. Very cool!

It's Official...I'm a Soccer Mom!

Hi there! Remember me? :-) I'm sorry it's been so long since I last posted, but now that we're officially back in the Hoosier state, I promise to do better. Or at least try and do better. :-) Be sure to stay tuned for more detailed posts about our summer and all of the fun things we did, but for now I wanted to share today's big excitement! :-)

Sarah had her first soccer game this morning and I honestly don't know who was more excited...me or her! I've never seen her this excited about any activity we've tried her in so I'm hopeful this one might have some staying power. She's had two practices leading up to today's game which she's loved and she couldn't wait to get to the field this morning. I'm sure it helps that a few of her friends from school are on her team, but whatever it takes to keep her interested and excited is fine with me.

We actually had a cute conversation while I was helping her on with all of her gear before the game. It went like this...

Sarah: Mommy, will you watch me play?

Me: Well of course I'm going to watch you play. I can't wait!

Sarah: No, I mean will you watch me play soccer one day on TV?

Me: Oh. Are you going to be playing soccer on TV one day?

Sarah: Yeah. Will you watch me kick the ball into the net on TV?

Me: Yeah honey, I wouldn't miss it! :-)

I'm happy to report that the game itself went much better than I had expected. They played on a much smaller field than normal with much smaller goals too. They also played 4 on 4 which was great because it allowed each child to really see and understand what was going on. This of course was much better than the "gaggle of girls" I had expected to see running around the field chasing after the ball. :-)

The other big highlight of the morning was Sarah's first goal! She was so excited and her face lit up as she ran over to give me a big hug! She was so proud of herself and has told everyone she's seen today about her big goal. So cute!

Here are some pictures of her big day!


Before the game...


Warming up...


Action shot...



Cute pic, right? Too bad she stopped to pose for it while she was playing! :-)


Good game!

Emily & Mr. Ears

In honor of Emily's first birthday, I thought it would be fun to take a look back at the past twelve months and see just how much our little girl has grown.

Enjoy!


























My apologies for not having Mr. Ears in the 8 month photo. In all the madness of the summer, he didn't make that particular trip to Grammy's. :-)

Emily's First Birthday

It's hard to believe, but our little girl celebrated her first birthday last Saturday! The time certainly has gone quickly, but we've had so much fun and it's hard to remember a time when Emily wasn't part of our lives.

In honor of the big day we traveled back to Indiana to celebrate the big day with family. It was so nice to have so many people join us and to see the love they all have for our little girl. We are truly blessed to be surrounded by so many who genuinely love us and both of our girls. Thank you to all who made this day so much fun!

Below are a few pictures from Emily's Ladybug party! Be sure to check out the slide show on the right hand side for even more! Enjoy!


Fresh from a nap, the birthday girl joins the party!


The cake. It took some work to get the colors right, but I was very happy with how it turned out.


Pure sugar...Emily enjoys her first bite of her birthday cupcake!


Oh yeah, she's a BIG fan of this birthday thing!

Emily - 11 Months

I know I'm extremely overdue with this post, but I thought I should get Emily's 11 month pictures up before her birthday at the end of the month! :-) Emily is quickly losing the baby look and seems more like a toddler with each passing day. She is crawling everywhere, but we think walking is not far off. She can pull up on anything (and sometimes without anything to help her), she cruises around everything, and she can even walk pretty well by just holding onto your fingers. She loves to get behind her walker too and cruise the living room which is fun to watch. Another big milestone this month is the appearance of her first two teeth! It certainly took them awhile to come in, but once the first one came through the second was quickly behind. This is a welcome addition since we were starting to think she would never get teeth!

In addition to becoming more mobile she is also starting to respond to and interact more with the things around her. She loves to dance and will show you her moves when she hears just about anything with a beat. She's also mastered the art of "give me five," which she loves to play.

She is still a very pleasant baby who loves to laugh and smile. In fact, Grandpa recently nicknamed her "miles of smiles," which seems to be very appropriate. :-)

Here is our little girl at 11 months! Enjoy!


Emily with Mr. Ears the bunny.


Walking at Grammy's house.





More smiles. She actually poses for pictures with is quite funny to watch!