Yes, we're still alive!!

Yes, here we still are, although abandoning our blog we are busy with life! So many fun adventures that I could talk about in the last two months. Jackson finished his first year of preschool with only a few tears on the last day, and Andrew just celebrated his first birthday last Friday. How fast they grow!!


We have been enjoying the warm weather that summer brings and of course all of the activity. It seems a week doesn't go by without something fun to do. Jackson had his first official t-ball and soccer camp for 4-6 year olds in May. He is a trooper, although I think he has inherited Jay's attention to detail and my athletic interest. The verdict is still out on whether this is a good combo of traits, only time will tell. I was in Texas during his first t-ball practice, and Jay's only response was to throw his hands up and say, "It's Jackson!" I was at his second practice where I could tell that they had given a lot of instruction on where your feet should be and how your hands should be gripping the bat, Jackson looked like a statue while he was trying to swing. He wouldn't let those feet move the right position to save his life! Let's just say that week was full of first times, wet pants, lots of laughs and a few " I can't do it right's". But overall he was proud of his efforts and hopefully will want to give it another shot next year! Andrew, on the other hand, loved throwing the ball, drinking water from Jackson's cooler and clapping for his brother.


We've also been doing some tours of local zoo's for our aspiring zookeeper. We've been lucky to spend some time in Akron and Columbus and have seen lots of cool animals. We'll be off to Cleveland to see the much anticipated dinosaur exhibit and we're all excited to do a safari type adventure at The Wilds later in the summer.


Jackson is also enjoying his first year of Bible School this year. His interest and questions about God continue to amaze me. For as often (shame on us) as he makes it to church, he is mesmerized by anything church related. He is our prayer monitor at dinner time and has mastered God as Great with a few modifications and an occasional "TV" at the end instead of "amen". Thank you Jay... :) We can often times hear him singing "God has a plan for my life" in his best church voice as he plays. My favorite though was the other night on our way to visit my grandparents, he asked me "Mom, why did God make dinosaurs before people?" Of course, I had a hard time answering this. " That crazy God, didn't he know that people would want to see them?" Someone has certainly been praying for us, the signs couldn't be any clearer!!


As for my poor second child, he has been drug to practices and parks, zoo's and play dates. He is always smiling and ready to go, although is developing more spunk then I anticipated! We've nicknamed him Hummer, surprisingly not for his size but for the humming noise that is our clue that "I need something...now!" He is happy to say mom or dada, but mainly it is humming! He is always up for a song, his favorites right now seem to be Itsy Bitsy Spider and If You're Happy and You Know It, complete with the hand motions and dancing. He is not completely mobile yet, but we are convinced that he could walk if he would just LET GO!! He has and will take steps, until he realizes that his isn't holding onto something. But he loves to climb and in anything and of course wrestle with the boys. We have enjoyed watching him grow and seeing his personality develop!


Our family was able to break away for a weekend at Lake Wawasee in Indiana, which was wonderful and relaxing, so I've posted a few pictures from that. We'll be celebrating with our family's over the next weekend and week, so we'll post some pictures of Drew's first birthday then.


I hope that this finds you all well and you are all enjoying your summer! Take care.