A.J.'s Nursery

The big project this summer was to get the two kid's bedrooms ready. A.J.'s room was first.

We used Tommy's baseball themed bedding for inspiration. The room is designed to look like a baseball field. The green bottom is actually stripes alternating between flat and high gloss (its more obvious in person). The intent was to look like a freshly mowed outfield. The brown border is a warning track and the blue is sky. Kara vetoed the Green Monster and Citgo sign.

Tommy was really excited to help out. We managed to do this with minimal mess or permanent damage to the carpet or walls.

This room turned out really well and is hopefully more conducive to sleep than Tommy's new room (see below).

We can't wait for A.J. to see it.

Oops. The 2 year old crossed the blue tape threshold

This baseball chair and ottoman we found is the perfect addition to the room


Bedding and wall decorations match pretty well


We painted this right above A.J.'s crib

Tommy's Big Boy Room

After we finished A.J.'s room, I promised Tommy he could help design and paint his new room that would be the home of his big boy bed.

We go a little overboard with the kids rooms. Kara was skeptical of the red when she first saw it on the walls. If we left the door open you could see a red glow in the hallway.

This room includes all Tommy's favorites...tractors, cement mixers, fire trucks and trains. We designed it to match the bedding that will be going in this week.

This project involved hand sketched blueprints, several roles of tape, four gallons of paint and several hundred swears.

In the end we think the room looks great. We just hope he sleeps in it.

Tommy insisted on painting without a shirt. I chose to wear one.

Pausing to show off his muscles

These are the train tracks right above where his bed will go

Boys will be Boys!

We have an empty lot next door to our house. After it rains, the back of the lot becomes a huge mud puddle, which we have avoided, until Tommy's good friend, Brady, came over one day! Tommy and Brady have always liked playing in the lot because they can fill trucks up with sand and dirt, but now the mud, or the water mud, as they like to call it, added a whole new element to all this fun. They were having such a good time, we just couldn't stop them. Needless to say, these pictures just don't do the mess any justice. Brady, Casey, and Tommy rolled in the mud, spread it all over their bellies, Tommy even dipped his whole head in the mud and came up laughing! It gave the moms a good laugh too, even though immediate baths were required! Oh well, boys will be boys!

As you can see, the mud was knee deep!

Tessa's Baptism!

Over the weekend we went up to Grand Rapids for Tessa's baptism. All four kids did great, considering they were sitting in the front of the church and the mass was over an hour long! Suckers and cheetos seemed to help them along! Here are a few pictures from the day.

Baby Tessa

I guess this is as good as it gets!

Jenna, Tessa, Mike, Mallory, and Charlie

The proud Godparents with Tessa

A New Kite for Tommy!

We had a very traumatic experience last Thursday. Chris was finally able to get Tommy's kite off the roof, only to find out that it had been ruined. Chris thought he was being sly by sticking it the garbage can while Tommy wasn't looking as not to cause a scene. This worked out great...until the garbage truck came. As many people know, garbage day is Tommy's favorite day and he loves to watch the garbage men pick up our trash. So Tommy is watching from the window and then all of a sudden turns to me, "Mommy, they took my kite!" He tried so hard to hold back the tears. He couldn't understand why the garbage men would take his kite from him. My heart sank. I called Chris and told him he better come home with a kite. Sure enough, Daddy pulled through and found Tommy a pirate kite, which he loves. Here is a video of Tommy flying his new kite.

Books on the Bluff

This past week we attended an event in St. Joe called Books on the Bluff. We had a great time! Librarians from all over came to the bluff and would come to us to read stories. Many of the stories were interactive, which the children loved! In the last story we all got to be dragons living in a cave. The kids loved to ROAR! Here are a few pictures from the event.

Listening to the story

Holding one of the characters from the book

Picking out a bug to go with the story

Our bug reader

Doing the bug dance

Watermelon Races

Molly and Mac love to eat watermelon. Molly, the westie, is a savage and eats everything in front of her. Mac, the scottie, is bigger than Molly, yet is very delicate with his food. Here is a video of the two of them eating watermelon.

Friday Night Lights

This past Friday, a bunch of families decided to have a potluck dinner/tailgate and then head to the Lakeshore Lancer's football game. A great time was had by all! The food and company were great, but most importantly, the kids had a wonderful time at the game! We decided since we had a large group to sit in the visitor section, and this could not have worked out better. As soon as we got to the game, we all bought ring pops for the kids. What a great idea!! This helped to keep them occupied through the game. Oh, the Lancers won too!

Tommy enjoying the game (and his ring pop!)

The whole crew!

The kids (and their ring pops!)

Tommy and Brady.

Friday Night Lights (continued)

Casey and his ring pop!

Brady and the Lancer number 1 finger.

Tommy and me.

Casey, Brady, and Jensen watching the Dance team!
They didn't move the whole half time show!!

Hesston Train Museum

Labor Day weekend we decided to visit Hesston Train Museum for the annual festival. We had a great time looking at old cars, tractors, and of course trains! Tommy was able to do hand car ride, which he loved. The highlight of the day was riding the steam engine. We had a great time and plan to visit this fall for a spooky Halloween ride!

Black and White Photos

Since starting the blog and now our food blog, I've been interested in taking pictures. I saw a segment on the Today Show the other day about amateurs taking pictures. The photographer recommended taking black and white pictures and carrying your camera with you at all times! She said when everyone puts their camera away, that's the time to break yours out because you'll catch the cute moments everyone wish they had pictures of. Also, she said don't be afraid to make mistakes while taking pictures, that's how you'll learn. So, here is my attempt at some artistic pictures of Tommy. It always makes it interesting when your model is 2!

Cheer, Cheer for Old Notre Dame!

College Football season is upon us, father and son couldn't be happier!