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Monday, June 25, 2012

Pajama day at preschool

Corbin had pajama day at school and loved it!

Memorial day-sulphur springs trip

My friend, Terri, first showed us Sulphur Springs several years ago. We went for memorial day and every year since more and more people have met up with us. Another friend took over the idea and now puts together an official yearly trip out there. We love it.

Memorial Day parade

Aahhhh...the annual Van Aiken memorial day parade. We never miss it. We cheer as marching bands and cheerleaders walk by. The kids scream with excitement as the rocket car rolls down the road. And...let's face it...they are mostly there for the candy...lots of it. :)

The night before the Memorial Parade the boys had their very first camp-out at a friends house. They had A BLAST sleeping out in a tent in the Harmer's backyard. Ashlyn and I went to the Harmer's as well for some of the festivities.

Ashlyn loved the tent...and did not want to get out....it took much persuasion (and perhaps a little bribery to get her to leave...nail polish will win her every time!)

Here starts the parade... Nick, Zack and Ethan were dropped off at our house and we all walked down to the parade.

Corbin and Ethan had painted their faces (with marker...luckily not permanent) with Harry Potter lighting strikes the night before...3 to be exact. :)

Some of our friendly neighbors. :)

I brought otter pops to share with all the kids...it gets HOT waiting for the parade...

All the cute kiddos...

Jenn, me, Emily and Cicely

Memorial Day weekend

Last year, as soon as the flags were posted at our local cemetery that we always drive by, I felt prompted to teach my kids about Memorial day. Then the weekend came and went and I never took the chance to teach my kids about Memorial day. The following week we received a letter from Dave's grandma Collette about the importance of teaching our kids what Memorial day is and why we recognize it. This year I wasn't going to let the teaching moment pass by. The kids and I read about Memorial day together and then went to the cemetery to see the flags and tombstones. The kids were so interested in the military ranks and wars that the soldiers served in that were listed on the tombstones.

Just as I was feeling good about this teaching moment, Ashlyn woke up that night with a nightmare. The next morning she told me that she had a dream that she had fallen into a hole in a burial plot and that zombies were chasing her. Awesome.

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Annual Chagrin Falls Balloon festival

Every year we go to this balloon festival in Chagrin Falls. It is awesome. We sit about 20 feet from where the balloons lift off. We eat a picnic dinner, play cards and games while we wait for them to launch. This year they were about to cancel the launch due to weather (I think it was the wind).

But at the last minute they decided to launch after all.

Waiting for the balloons:

Trevor brought a ball to play kickball and it was a hit.

Nick, Zack and Trevor (with some random kid that hopped in the picture)

The moms

Emmett and Corbin

Emmett, Gage and Corbin

Sage, Kaylee, Gage and Ashlyn

Finally...the launch!! It took forever for the balloon festivities to begin

After most of the hot air balloons took flight, we got to go on the field and

look up close at the ones that never lifted-off.

We saw Ashlyn's kindergarten teacher--Mrs. B!

NUMBER ONE SPEECH

"Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all the time thing. You don't win once in a while; you don't do things right once in a while; you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.

"There is no room for second place. There is only one place in my game, and that's first place. I have finished second twice in my time at Green Bay, and I don't ever want to finish second again. There is a second place bowl game, but it is a game for losers played by losers. It is and always has been an American zeal to be first in anything we do, and to win, and to win, and to win.

"Every time a football player goes to ply his trade he's got to play from the ground up - from the soles of his feet right up to his head. Every inch of him has to play. Some guys play with their heads. That's O.K. You've got to be smart to be number one in any business. But more importantly, you've got to play with your heart, with every fiber of your body. If you're lucky enough to find a guy with a lot of head and a lot of heart, he's never going to come off the field second.

"Running a football team is no different than running any other kind of organization - an army, a political party or a business. The principles are the same. The object is to win - to beat the other guy. Maybe that sounds hard or cruel. I don't think it is.

"It is a reality of life that men are competitive and the most competitive games draw the most competitive men. That's why they are there - to compete. To know the rules and objectives when they get in the game. The object is to win fairly, squarely, by the rules - but to win.

"And in truth, I've never known a man worth his salt who in the long run, deep down in his heart, didn't appreciate the grind, the discipline. There is something in good men that really yearns for discipline and the harsh reality of head to head combat.

"I don't say these things because I believe in the 'brute' nature of man or that men must be brutalized to be combative. I believe in God, and I believe in human decency. But I firmly believe that any man's finest hour - his greatest fulfillment to all he holds dear - is that moment when he has to work his heart out in a good cause and he's exhausted on the field of battle - victorious."

--Vince Lombardi

In the Faith of Christ