Indoor basball

We have been playing indoor baseball alot lately. It started out trying to hit a hacky sack with a rope, then a book, and now we are just hitting it with a wiffle ball bat. It has been so much fun!

More baseball

More baseball!

Freddy's new house

Eric wanted to move Freddy into a new cage-one that has more tunnels. He wants to keep adding more and more tubes and hiding places.

watermelon

Eric thought it would be really cool to throw a watermelon off the garage roof to watch it explode. Here he is getting ready for the throw.

Splat!

Hitting the ground!

Sam's turn

Sam drew a face on his watermelon, and off it went!

after the splat

Let's play in the watermelon! They had fun throwing the remains up in the air and watching it splat again.

fireworks

A friend in our neighborhood is getting ready to leave for 5 weeks, and his step-dad decided to have a fireworks celebration for him.

Call of Duty 4

Eric and Tim have been playing alot of Call of Duty 4. They are really enjoying it, and it is great that they can cheer each other on!

a new yard sign

We got this yard sign from Beyondpesticides.org, and we will proudly display it in our yard. Hopefully, more people are starting to realize the dangers of lawn spray.

no more pesticides!

We have given out information to our neighbors for the past few years about the dangers of spraying lawn pesticides. A few stopped spraying, but alot still do. We found some new door hangers that we are going to pass out in the neighborhood. We are really hoping that more people will start listening. It feels good to be doing something to get the word out. If you are interested in getting these door hangers, go to Beyondpesticides.org. The first 50 are free!

next round of losing teeth

Sam was eating a bagel today, and his tooth fell out! It must be about that time that he and Eric will start losing more teeth.

something new for my altar

I found this beautiful piece and felt like I had to have it. I especially love the pink stone. She sits on my altar now.

Kung-Fu Panda

We loved the movie so much, and now we are collecting the McD's Happy Meal Toys. We love the Panda. We haven't gotten Happy Meals for a long time, so this feels like so much fun hoping to get the character that we don't have yet each time we go to McD's.

grass-fed butter

This has to be the best butter I have ever tasted! It comes from the same cows that give us our milk. The cows are out on pasture and eat what they were meant to eat, which makes for incredible tasting butter.

tennis

Sam has been taking tennis lessons for a few months now, and is really enjoying it!

clouds

The sky has been so exceptional lately! We had some storms tonight, and the sky was so cool! Of course, the picture is not as good as it was in person.

Gloves

Sam got a punching bag for his birthday, and we have all been enjoying it! It is fun to put the gloves on and punch away!

yummy!

Eric's strawberries dipped into melted chocolate.

french toast

We have been making alot of French Toast lately, so we thought we would add a picture of our "art work". We also did some research to find out about it: Here is one tidbit we found:

Culinary historians disagree over whether French toast has exclusively Gallic roots. The simple concoction of bread, eggs, and milk likely dates back to Medieval times, when the battering process was used to make stale loaves more palatable. The question is whether the French were truly the first to dip and fry their bread, or whether other Europeans stumbled upon the "invention" on their own. For example, a similar dish called suppe dorate was popular in England during the Middle Ages; it's unclear, however, whether it was brought over from what's now France by the Normans, who may have delighted in something called tostees dorees before toppling King Harold II in 1066.

my art

I am not really sure where I am going with this, or what it will look like when it is done, but it is fun to work on it. And, of course my toes are in the picture!

Owen's big yawn (by Sam)

Sam was getting a kick out of taking pictures of Owen. I think Owen decided he was done being photographed!

crayons

There is something about the 64 pack of crayons that I really love! I am also on the lookout for the big fat crayons I used when I was a child.

more from Freddy (by Eric)

Freddy is the best!

Father's Day

The gifts stacked up for Tim on Father's Day.

The guys hanging out

All of the guys hanging out together playing Call Of Duty 4. Eric and sam love cheering for their Dad! They do a good bit of laughing as well!

Miss Lilly

We went over to check on my sister's puppy today. Her name is Lilly, and she is just as cute as can be. Eric really loves her, and he would really like to have a small dog. He loves Owen, but Owen thinks he is a lap dog. When he jumps up into your lap, it can be painful! We are thinking of maybe adding another dog to our family.

I see the moon

Yes, I love pictures of the moon. I just couldn't stop looking at this tonight!

roly poly bugs

Eric noticed this whole colony of roly poly bugs, or basketball bugs as I called them when I was a kid. We sat and watched them for the longest time. We were amazed at how many there were all in one place. And, some of them were tiny. It was so much fun!

The simple things in life

Owen is good at reminding us how to just enjoy the simple things in life. We went to the library and came home with a pile of new books. Here is Owen taking in all of the new smells on the books. He is just delighted! I can just imagine all of the wonderful smells he discovered!

and next we have Freddy the acrobat

Freddy the hamster is so funny! She is upside down sleeping. If you look closely, you can see her little paws and the tiny dot is her tail. She is the master at finding comfortable spots to sleep!

pretty star

A good friend of mine made this for me, and I thought it looked especially pretty today.

cicadas are back

This isn't the greatest picture, but it is what is left after the cicada left the shell. They are so loud right now, and sometimes when we walk outside, we get dive bombed!

Every 17 years the Cincinnati region is swarmed by cicadas -- large but harmless flying bugs -- for approximately six weeks as they mate, in rather noisy fashion, lay eggs and die.

Here are some yummy recipes to make with cicadas! http://www.wlwt.com/news/2968023/detail.html.

midnight basketball

It was so nice outside tonight, we just didn't want to go back in the house. The humidity was gone, and it was actually cool outside. The day before had been so hot, this was such a nice surprise!

my shadow

Sam and his shadow out playing basketball with Eric and me.

me and my shadow

Eric and his shadow out playing basketball at midnight!

to the moon!

The moon looked so spectacular tonight. This picture really doesn't do it justice, but at least when I look at this picture I still have the memory of how nice it looked!

choose JOY

I decided to make myself a reminder right in front of my computer, next to my Angel of Hope.

The painting is finished!

I really forgot how much work painting a room can be! I did get a few splatters on the ceiling, but other than that, it is done! Now we will be re-arranging the furniture. It feels really cozy in Eric's room now.

halo 3!

Eric really wanted to try Halo 3 on XBox Live, so we got it all hooked up today, and he is a happy guy, even though he is making a funny face at me!

tired

Sam was so tired after swimming and playing baseball, he crashed on the couch!

Baseball game in the heat!

Sam had a baseball game today and it was really hot outside! It didn't seem to bother him though, as he really loves playing. He hit a double and a single. Here is the team talking before the game.

remodeling

Eric decided that he wanted a change in his room, so we are painting and redecorating. Blue, it is!

hangin with Freddy

Eric and Freddy just hanging out.

brownies

Sam decided to make a batch of brownies! Yummy!

slipping and sliding into the night!

The kids were still out playing on the slip and slide in the dark! The laughter I heard was priceless!

Slip and Slide

Sam decided that he would like to get a new slip and slide this year. He and Eric and another friend had a blast!

Owen watching out the door (by Sam)

Owen loves looking out the door, and will knock us over to get outside if one of us is going out.

Eric's artwork

Eric decided to make a shirt. Here is a view from the back. Very cool!

my new chair

I have been looking for the perfect chair to add to the garden I am making in honor of my brother. I found it yesterday, AND it was on sale, AND it was the last one. So, I knew, it was just waiting for me to come and pick it up!