AWANA

I volunteered this year at AWANA which was a great experience. The kids enjoyed having me there and it was a lot of fun being there with them.

Ethan did an amazing job with his memory work this year. He finished his book, review scripture verses and extra credit book by February. Audrey finished her book and review scripture verses by May which was great for her, but Jacob was the one who knocked it out of the park. He finished his book, silver section and gold section. His teachers told me there has only been one other kid who finished all of those sections in one year. It was no small feat for him to complete. As we were getting close to the end he was losing hope, but I was cheered him on and he pressed forward to complete the book. For his final Gold section on his last night he had to say 75 scripture verses for memory. He didn't think he would be able to do it, but he did. He was so proud of himself and so was I.

This is our neighbor from across the street with Jacob.

Baseball Season

Baseball season was a lot of fun this year. We had the kids play for the Mascoutah Khoury League which is a great league for them to play in. The coaches were really good and it's in a small town near our house, so it has the small town feel with the people you meet. 

 Fredbird came out for picture day! He's very funny and had the kids laughing the whole time.

 Audrey wasn't normally dressed in curls for her games. It just so happened that she had her dance dress rehearsal the same day as a game. I think she really enjoyed looking like a princess while playing softball.

Ethan's game improved dramatically this year. He was one of the best players on the team. Right now he is all baseball all the time. He's practically memorized all the stats on his baseball cards and he has quite a few. He definitely knows all the players, who they play for and what position the play. 

Jacob's games were on Tuesday and Thursday nights. Ethan and Audrey would often get bored at the games and find a way to occupy themselves. They found dirt to be the best remedy for boredom and often required baths when we got home.

 They were so proud of their accumulation of dirt. This picture doesn't show it as well as it could, but they are covered from top to bottom. They spent quite a bit of time throwing the dirt up in the air so it could land on top of them.

Below was a typical scene from Audrey. I think her goal was to see how dirty she could get. It was trying on Doug's and my patience to watch, but she was having so much fun it didn't seem right to stop her from this simple enjoyment. And let's face it, it's way better than putting a phone in her face so she could play some games. 

CARDINAL'S KIDS CAMP

Jacob and Ethan went to a Cardinal's Kids Camp and guess who was there...Fredbird! How many kids get to get a picture with him twice in one year.

     

 Jacob worked so hard at baseball this year and it showed. Like Ethan, he improved dramatically from last year. We were very proud of him and loved seeing his determination to do well.

CARDINAL'S NIGHT AT BUSCH STADIUM

The Khoury League has a night at Busch Stadium each year. The kids got to walk around the perimeter of the field with their teams. However, since no one from Ethan's team showed up he walked with Jacob's team. Afterwards we had tickets to see them play the White Sox.

 

                         

Ethan's First Tooth

It took a long time for Ethan to loose his first tooth, but it finally happen on March 26th. There were a few attempts to pull it out, but it was just dangling there when he showed it to Doug, so Doug flicked it with his finger and it came flying out. Ethan was so excited when it happened. 

We also had the Simmon's and Jones' over for dinner that night so everyone got to celebrate 

with Ethan for losing his first tooth!

Ethan's 7th Birthday!

Ethan turned 7 on March 5, 2012

He drew out for me instructions for his birthday cake (see picture below). He was specific about wanting a glove, bat and ball on the cake. When I started making the cake I had no idea how I was going to work it in. The glove and bat ended up being the most unexpected surprise. I copied Jacob's glove to make it and used food coloring to add dimension. It was a lot of fun for me, and Ethan was happy with it too!

 Ethan's birthday request for breakfast was donuts from Starbucks.

We use to get them before we changed Jacob's diet. I guess he missed having them.

 I love this guy! He gives the best hugs.

His favorite football team is the Pittsburgh Steelers!

 His other birthday request for the day was going to Monkey Joe's (it's an indoor jumpy house place) and going out to dinner at Outback Steakhouse.

 We had to get a picture of this since Audrey's 5, Ethan's 7 and Jacob's 8.

 It was a long day and we were excited to get home and have some cake for dessert!

The Great Wolf Lodge

We celebrated Ethan's birthday a week early, on February 26th, by taking him to the Wolf Lodge in Kansas City, KS. We had actually been planning this trip since last summer with the Jones'. They have two boys who were born in February, so I made a cake to celebrate all of their birthdays. 

 The boys spent most of their time going down the water slides. Jacob was tall enough to ride all of them, but Ethan and Alex were a couple inches shy of being able to ride one, which was a bit frustrating for them. At least there were two slides they could go down.

Unfortunately, Audrey wasn't feeling well, so I spent most of the time with her in the hot tub.

Ethan is always doing something funny. He is definitely the comedian of the family.

                     Story Time at the lodge!!

 Time for cake and presents!

 Audrey and baby Jacob