Loving the Lake

Shane's family has a lake house about 40 minutes away from our home and we are blessed to be able to go up whenever we have free time. With Shane's schedule it is hard for him to make it up but the kids and I have taken advantage of this. Recently, sand was added to the beach and the kids spend hours just playing there. They really are brother and sister and it cracks me up to watch them. One minute they are best friends and the next worst enemies. Can't tell in these pictures cause they put on their Angel faces.

Little Girls and Dresses

I was never much of a girly girl growing up. Hard to believe, I know. And, I always said if I have a girl I will never do that to her. But, I can't seem to help myself. It is so much fun dressing her up, doing her hair, and then taking lots of pictures cause she is so darn cute. Here are some of the pictures I got. The blue dress is from Grandpa and Grandma Jenni. It is adorable and the blue really brings out the color of Anna's eyes. Aunt Kimmie got her the pink and green dress (like when she was born). She says she can't help herself either.

Take me out to the ballgame....

Alright, I love my nephews dearly and so I had to share these cute pictures of Garrett (G'baby).

Garrett playing 1st base.

Getting his medal.

Garrett and Coach.

Proud parents ("superstar" pose from Garrett)

Favorite part of the game: snack.

Future MLB star?

Welcome to the Family.

This weekend we were offered a deal we could not pass up & we added a new member to the family. Please welcome Uno Heath.

A guy that Shane used to work with called us on Friday and said he had a full blood Bulldog that he had to get rid of. He was a great dog but they already had three dogs with other pets and three kids and it was too much. We went down on Sunday to look at him and fell in love instantly. He is a great dog...lovable, playful, and pretty calm compared to Lexy.

Uno and Lexy played so well together for hours last night. Only problem is he lets Lexy run the roost. She barks and he sits. We must work on this. He would try to lay down and Lexy jumped in and tried to get him to play more. He gives kisses all the time and follows us around. Last night we had him sleep in our room just to see how he does. At 4:30 a.m. he climbed up the side of the bed and sneezed in my face then went to Shane's side of the bed to get him up....he had to go out. Very good boy. We have to keep an eye on him until we all get used to the change but so far so good.

Happy Anniversary

Shane and I just celebrated our 7th anniversary. I cannot believe we have been married 7 years. Heck I can't believe we have been together for 13 years total. WOW! We had talked about not getting gifts since we had planned on going out and getting a hotel room. But I was trying to be sneaky and ordered Shane a St. Michael (Protector of Police) necklace. I guess the not so sneaky part is when I tried to get it engraved and they called the house leaving a message that it was done....yeah he got it before me. So on Friday at work I got flowers (7 roses). No big deal that was fair since I know he knows I broke our deal. The card was the sweetest thing and even got a tear or two out of me. It said "a rose for every year I have been madly in love with you since our wedding." So when I got home you can imagine how surprised I was to find that he had also gotten a new stove and range hood. He said the flowers were for our anniversary and the stove was just because we needed it. He didn't want anyone to think he was a pig for getting me a stove as a gift. Shoot! I don't care. I loved it and will use that more than the flowers.

On Saturday, we took the kids to Mema's for a night alone. We checked in to our room and then walked to Takaoka for a nice dinner.....just the two of us. after dinner and some drinks we walked down to Columbia Street to hang out with some friends and watch Brett's band play. We had a ton of fun. It is nice to get some time away from screaming kids now and then.

Shane wouldn't let me take the camera out so here are the few pictures I did get.

Flag Football!

Ian had his first Football practice Thursday night. This class requires parental participation so Shane was pumped. They tossed the ball back and forth, kicked it, ran and caught it and some other things. Afterwards, Shane couldn't stop talking about how awesome Ian had done. I think he is anxious for him to start playing sports. Ian said he had fun but my guess is just being with Daddy was the best. I didn't get too many pictures because I had to chase Anna around.

MY BEST FRIEND - DUCK DUCK

When Anna was in the hospital last year friends of ours, Josh and Janet Hammer, got her this little blanket that has a duck head in the middle. At each corner of the blanket there is a little bow or knot. From the moment they met, the have been best friends. Duck Duck, as we call him, goes everywhere with Anna. She especially needs him at bed time. She will stick those corners in her mouth and suck on it till she falls asleep. Duck Duck takes a lot of baths and is looking a little old these days but they wouldn't have it any other way. I realized lately that she has this amazing friend that everyone who knows Anna has met but I didn't' have any pictures of them together. So this past weekend I took some.

NAP TIME?

When Anna gets sleepy she will carry Duck Duck around like this.

But look at Duck Duck's smile. They love each other.

This is how they sleep. See the corner in her mouth. Duck Duck has his head all snuggled up in Anna's arm.

They even watch cartoons together.

Aren't they the cutest pair you ever did see?

Say Cheese

I am slacking lately but there is a reason for that. When we were in Florida I had to get a disposable camera and it still had pictures to take when we returned. I finished it off over Memorial Day weekend but still haven't developed them. I know....Anyhow, I was waiting to do that to post some pictures but realize it is taking me too long. So, here are some pictures of Ian the past month.

He finally got to fish for "real fish" instead of the rubber one he used last year and real bait. The worms didn't bother him one bit and he thought the fish were cool to. Now he will tell you he caught 5 fish his first time out but I think Daddy may have a different story. The little dog in this picture is Norm. He belongs to Aunt Tammy and he loves to fish to. We had to hold him back every time we reeled one in cause he wanted to catch it with his teeth.

These pictures are from this past weekend at the lake. Ian was going out on the boat with the boys and he looked so cute and grown up sitting there.

Congrats to Garrett!

It has come to my attention that we not only have a leader in the family but a champion speller as well. Garrett won the 1st grade spelling bee this last year. That means he was the best speller for the whole 1st grade at Lancaster. Now where did his smarts come from? I know it isn't me. I stink at spelling. Congrats to you to G'baby. Keep on keepin' on.

Father's day gifts.

I don't know about you but I have the hardest time getting Shane a gift for anything. As some of you may know, last year he would not tell us what he wanted so he got a power ranger. A red one to be exact. Ian told Shane about a week before Father's Day "Daddy this is your last chance. If you don't tell me what you want you're getting a power ranger."

So, the other night we are eating dinner and I ask Shane, "Any ideas for Father's Day?" He said he hadn't thought about it. Ian replies, "That's it, you're getting another power ranger." Shane and I were laughing hysterically when he finishes by saying, "I like it when you get things you don't want so I can have them." He is four! How does he grasp that already?

I will let you all know what he gets...or should I say what Ian gets?