Jason and Reagan learn to love carnival rides!!

This was at the mall on Father's Day

This was at Hershey Park

Our trip to Pennsylvania

This past weekend we went to Pennsylvania for a family wedding. Laurie Kopp, the New Jersey one, got married to Dennis Pardon. They have 3 beautiful children, Mia (18), Noah (8), and Caleb (5), so it is great that they finally made the decision to get hitched!! The wedding was very pretty! They had it at Hershey Gardens and then that night we all went to Hershey park. The boys had a blast riding all the roller coasters and spending time with all their cousins. We also got to spend some time with Grammi and Papa! We haven't seen them since last August at Jason and Naomi's wedding, so we had a great time seeing them, too. It was a very busy weekend but we all had a great time!

This is a view of Hershey Park from the hilltop reception at Hershey Gardens! FUN!!

Jason and Reagan both tried on their dancing shoes at the wedding - with a little prodding from Daddy, and a little help from Grammi:)

Fireflies

Last night, at about 2 or 3 in the morning, Reagan woke up and was calling me. I went in his room, and through tired eyes, found that he had rolled off his bed. So, I put him back on his bed, gave him a sip of his milk, and lumbered back into my room. One of the wonderful things about this time of year is that at night we can sleeep with the windows open. The breeze and the sounds of summer quickly lull us to sleep every night. So, last night we had the windows open. As I approached my bedside, a green flickering light in the trees caught my eye. I was so thrilled to see that one flickering light - it was the first firefly (that I have seen) this summer season. One of the things I love the most about summers in Ohio are the fireflies. It is so beautiful to watch the fireflies come out at night. Our backyard turns into a festival of dancing green lights, and the kids have a blast chasing down and catching them. For those of you who have never seen fireflies (we hadn't before we moved here), here are some firefly facts:

• Fireflies are nocturnal, luminescent, winged beetles.
  
• Fireflies are about the size of a small paperclip.
  
• Fireflies live in warm, moist areas.
  
• A firefly's glow is produced when oxygen and a substance called "luciferin" are combined in the beetle's "light organ", located under the insect's abdomen.
  
• There are about 2,000 species of fireflies, and each species has a unique blinking pattern in their glow that helps them to identify their species for reproduction.
  
• A fireflies larvae, which they lay in the moist ground, is also luminescent.
  
• A firefly's lifespan is only 2 months.

So far we have only seen a handful of fireflies at one time - not enough for the kids to be out chasing them down and catching them. SO, this post will be PART ONE to the story of the firefly. As soon as we start seeing more we will take lots of pictures and post them for you all to enjoy!

Happy Father's Day!

Today is Father's Day. I find that there is nothing better to give Chris, on any occasion, than a very good surprise. A gift that he is unable to guess (he usually guesses everything) - AND - today we succeeded!! About a month ago we wanted to barbeque outside and we sadly found that the two (hand-me-down) grills that we owned had completely rusted out (despite being covered). Ohio weather can do that. So, for Father's Day, Chris got a new grill!! Happy Father's Day to our Super Dad!!

Getting better at this movie thing huh? (Brandon did help me some;)) Tell me what you think!

5boys-1boy=4boys and one sad mommy :(

Today Trevor left for Boy Scout Summer Camp. It is only one week, and he is, literally, just down the street at Camp Manatoc, but I am going to miss him tremendously!!

Trevor Time!!

Hullo folks, its me Trevor. Today I'm gonna tell you about the best birthday gift I ever received. Brandon (My brother) gave me the book Bob Feller's Little Blue Book of Baseball Wisdom. You might be asking: "why is Trevor getting a birthday gift in June?" Well, Brandon bought me the book because Bob Feller was actually going to be signing them on June 18Th at a local mall, and Brandon thought it would be fun for me to meet him and get my book signed. For those of you who do not know who Bob Feller is (even though I can't imagine that you wouldn't know who he is), here are some facts about Bob Feller.

Bob Feller is a Hall of Famer Pitcher from the Cleveland Indians. He pitched 2,581 strike outs, 266 walks, and 44 shut-outs in 570 games during his 18 year career. Bob Feller signed his contract with the Indians when he was 16, in 1934. In 1941, when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, Bob Feller immediately signed up for the Navy, even though his father was dying of brain cancer. Feller was an aircraft gunner on the USS Alabama where he won 8 battle stars! He returned to baseball 45 months later. His best pitching years came after he returned in from WWII, in 1946.

So anyways, I got to go meet Bob Feller. He not only signed my book, but he also signed my Feller Baseball Card. He was a very nice man, he gave me a couple of pointers on my pitching and took a picture with me.

He looks younger on my baseball card and in my book, but now he's 91 years old!!

What we did this summer - #2

I have come to love small towns since moving to Ohio. There is something about the slow pace and the simplicity of it all that is really appealing. The boys and I went to the Town Carnival this morning to celebrate the end of the school year and the beginning of summer. I think when we got there the boys were a little disappointed in the size and simplicity of the carnival - but - we ended up having a blast and we all came home happy and exhausted:).

There is no better way to end a Town Carnival than with nachos and ice cream cones!!;)

"B" is for...

Baseball...









Brothers...

AND Bubbles!!!

What we did this summer - #1

Tom and Lynn Else are visiting Ohio this week. They came here for, what they call, a much needed break, and also to see their son Tyler, who goes to school here. They are staying at a cabin in the Cuyahoga Valley Metro Park, at a KOA park. It is so beautiful - in fact, I am going to recommend this place to Mom and Dad if they ever decide to trailer up. We spent the whole day fishing, picnicing, playing on the playground, and swimming in the lake. We had a blast visiting, playing, and fishing! The boys - being competitive by nature - decided to have a contest to see who could catch the most fish - Trevor won with 3 bass (and 2 little sunnies), Joshua came in second with 1 bass (and 2 little sunnies), and Brandon came in last with 0 bass (and 0 little sunnies):).

Blogger Slump

I am sure that you all have noticed that the only thing that has changed about my blog is the look (I think I finally found a background I am happy with). *Just a quick side note - as I was writing that previous sentence I had a flashback to a conversation that Chris and I just had about girls softball. Brandon has been umping some softball games for some extra cash and Chris and I were talking about how girls softball isn't about wins or losses, home runs or strikeouts, it is about cheers and accessorizing. I guess that is why I had that quick flashback - Chris hasn't changed the look of his blog at all, if I am remembering correctly, and here I am accessorizing - Men and Women - so different - I am going to ask God when I meet Him about why He created us like He did - end of side note.* I am experiencing a slump, something similar to the hitting slump Brandon is currently experiencing in baseball;). I am not sure if it is an actual creative/writer's slump, or just the result of my extreme lack of focus on anything other than end of the year parties, cub/boy scout meetings/camps, and baseball. With Summer Break making it's debut tomorrow I am sure that my Blogger Slump will quickly dissolve into a Blogger Streak. You can all look forward to Blog updates on our garden-in-the-works, brag blogs, more posts from Brandon, Trevor, and Joshua, as well as other things that my creative/writer's slump is prohibiting me from listing at this time;). Until then.....

Brag Blog #2

It is probably no surprise how proud we all are of Brandon - Chris and I are so blessed to have such an amazing first son - Trevor, Joshua, Jason, and Reagan are also so blessed to have such a great big brother - Brandon graduated from 8Th grade yesterday - he received numerous honors awards for his grades and hard work - but it was great to hear his teachers talk about what a great person he is (see Chris' blog) - we see every day how kind, loving, thoughtful, responsible, self-motivated, generous, etc, etc, etc, (there really are so many wonderful things to say about Brandon) - it was great to see that it is not just us being biased - other people see Brandon's wonderful person and spirit too. We love you Brandon - thank you for the blessing you are to this family! Now - here are some of my favorite pics (Chris couldn't fit them all in):)