Day 204 - Friday, July 23, 2010 - Today I hosted lunch with some girlfriends from high school and their kids. Andrea and her kidsAndrew and Gianna, Erika and her chunky monkey Tye, and Lori with her princess Lainee.

Day 203 - Thursday, July 22, 2010

Day 203 - Thursday, July 22, 2010 - Uncle Doug and Aunt Mary visit from Florida and meet Ashton for the first time. We love these two so much!

Day 202 - Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Day 202 - Wednesday, July 21, 2010 - Oxford Junior Wildcats fundraiser at 24th Street Tavern. We need to get Ashton an OJW onesie!

Day 201 - Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Day 201 - Tuesday, July 20, 2010 - Mike Krause's NXT LVL wrestling camp at Oakland University's Grizzly Training Center, This guy is intense! WHO'S THE MAN?!? I'M THE MAN! WRESTLING IS A SPORT OF...?!? POSITION!! YOUR HEAD IS A...?!? WEAPON!!

Day 200 - Monday, July 19, 2010

Day 200 - Monday, July 19, 2010 - Preparing to send Ashton to daycare meant having to purchase and wash bottles. Not ready for this.

Day 199 - Sunday, July 18, 2010

Day 199 - Sunday, July 18, 2010 - A quick stop by Grandma and Grandpa's on our way home from the west side. Ashton wowed them with his smiles and giggles.

Day 198 - Saturday, July 17, 2010

Day 198 - Saturday, July 17, 2010 - Woo Hoo! Girls' weekend at Aimee's in Spring Lake. Love my high school bitches, Andrea, me, Lori, Aimee, and Heidi.

Day 197 - Friday, July 16, 2010

Day 197 - Friday, July 16, 2010 - We visited Aunt Dee in Grand Rapids and went to lunch at Olive Garden. It's always good to see her.

Day 196 - Thursday, July 15, 2010

Day 196 - Thursday, July 15, 2010 - As a reward for being such good shoppers while I tried on dress after dress after dress at Flirty Fashions, I took the kids to the original Red Knapp's for a milkshake. Yum!

Day 195 - Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Day 195 - Wednesday, July 14, 2010 - Jordyn takes Ashton swimming for the first time in the Gulda Pool.

Day 194 - Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Day 194 - Tuesday, July 13, 2010 - Brotherly, smotherly kisses.

Day 193 - Monday, July 12, 2010

Day 193 - Monday, July 12, 2010 - Cooling off in the Guda Poo. (a.k.a. the Gulda Pool)

Day 192 - Sunday, July 11, 2010

Day 192 - Sunday, July 11, 2010 - We went to watch Aaron's undefeated U9 travel baseball team play in a tournament play-off game today. Unfortunately, they lost (and I'm never allowed back at one of their games!), but it was a beautiful day and a lot of fun watching him play. Liam commented that he was very proud of Aaron for being such a good sport and losing with dignity. Now, that's a winner in my book.

Day 191 - Saturday, July 10, 2010

Day 191 - Saturday, July 10, 2010 - Today I hosted a Shellnut summer birthday gathering. Curt brought along his country CDs and turned the patio into a Texas two-stepping dance floor!

Day 190 - Friday, July 9, 2010

Day 190 - Friday, July 9, 2010 - We took the boys to the Oxford fair at Seymour Lake Park. Liam enjoyed this bungee jumping thing. Nothing like blowing through a hundy in two hours. All in the name of summer family fun.

Day 189 - Thursday, July 8, 2010

Day 189 - Thursday, July 8, 2010 - Owen was enthralled by this magnifying glass that he found at the Parsons'.

Day 188 - Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Day 188 - Wednesday, July 7, 2010 - Owen has been missing his bff, Kealey so, we arranged a play date with her today. These two played together ALL day without a single incident. Soul mates.

Day 187 - Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Day 187 - Tuesday, July 6, 2010 - My beautiful, beautiful, brown-eyed girl.

Day 186 - Monday, July 5, 2010

Day 186 - Monday, July 5, 2010 - Jordyn rarely goes swimming in the lake. So, I was tickled to see her and her friend Alicia out in the middle of the lake with their noodles. They were laughing so hard and screeching with glee.

Day 185 - Sunday, July 4, 2010

Day 185 - Sunday, July 4, 2010 - We enjoyed celebrating Mr. Perfect's first Fourth of July this year. He wanted to be held a lot, which I gladly did, knowing that at next year's party we're going to be chasing around a 14 month old, which will be an even bigger challenge. So, I cherished this "easy" stage of his life. And he didn't so much as flinch at the fireworks. Such a good baby.

Day 184 - Saturday, July 3, 2010

WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGE

Day 184 - Saturday, July 3, 2010 - Three ground hogs took up residence underneath our deck and had been decimating my wave petunias. They became quite familiar with our house, even scratching at the front door's window at one point. Obviously, these critters had to go. The first ground hog that Kevin shot with his pellet gun was hit in the back. Kevin wasn't sure if he had killed him until it became very clear that it had gone back into its hole and died because there was a rancid smell that lingered for more than a week. The second one was a more direct hit to the head. He fell from the rock wall into my friendship garden where the kids gathered to watch it take its last breaths from afar. We pointed out the big teeth to the kids as a lesson as to why they should never approach a wild animal, no matter how "cute" they might seem. Liam suggested that we get rid of the ground hogs another way next time. Whereas Jordyn and Owen were un-fazed by the extermination.

Day 183 - Friday, July 2, 2010

Day 183 - Friday, July 2, 2010 - Bathing Suit. Beach Cover Up. Flip Flops. Sunglasses. Sunshine. Watering Can. A perfect summer evening.

Day 182 - Thursday, July 1, 2010

Day 182 - Thursday, July 1, 2010 - Thursday nights on the patio with the Parsons has become a regular occurrence. Owen was hamming it up for everyone.

Day 181 - Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Day 181 - Wednesday, June 30, 2010 - Even though Kev can't stand it, I just can't resist buying matching shirts for the boys. So cute!

Day 180 - Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Day 180 - Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - I rewarded the boys' playroom cleaning efforts yesterday with a trip to the zoo today. Watching the seals dive in the water at the Polar Bear exhibit was quite fun, but we were really hoping to see the Polar Bear in the water. Maybe next time.

Day 179 - Monday, June 28, 2010

Day 179 - Monday, June 28, 2010 - NINE HOURS. That's how long it took us to clean up and de-stuff the playroom today. I'm sure I violated child labor laws in some way. But the boys rediscovered toys they had forgotten and played together like champs afterwards.

Day 178 - Sunday, June 27, 2010

Day 178 - Sunday, June 27, 2010 - Look who likes the Snugli.

Day 177 - Saturday, June 26, 2010

Day 177 - Saturday, June 26, 2010 - At the hotel pool in Mt. Pleasant, Owen swam on his own. I told him that the key to swimming was to not panic. Once I told him that, he became brave and swam from side to side across the pool. Despite this look of panic on his face, he was really swimming. And he was very proud of himself.

Day 176 - Friday, June 25, 2010

Day 176 - Friday, June 25, 2010 - Today was the first day of a two day wrestling camp at CMU, Kevin's Alma mater. The instructors of the camp were CMU wrestlers and they were great with the kids. I could tell that Liam really looked up to them.

Day 175 - Thursday, June 24, 2010

Day 175 - Thursday, June 24, 2010 - Liam's baseball team made it to the semi-finals in the play-offs this year. In their final game against the Cardinals, they were ahead the entire game until the last inning. It was a heart-breaking loss, but I'm so proud of all of them. We had a good bunch of boys, great coaches, and a wonderful cheering section. An exciting end to a terrific season.

Day 174 - Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Day 174 - Wednesday, June 23, 2010 - This cigar box that I've had for a few years sits in a basket on top of my armoire in my bedroom. I don't know what made me take it down and look at it today, but it made me smile to see that the brand name was "Ashton".

Day 173 - Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Day 173 - Tuesday, June 22, 2010 - Day lilies that were given to me from my good friend Natalie Arnold, that I divided today from the Cotts Way house and planted at this house. I'm looking forward to them growing in fully next year.

Day 172 - Monday, June 21, 2010

Day 172 - Monday, June 21, 2010 - Owen was ecstatic to receive his t-ball trophy today. I wanted to take a picture of him holding the trophy but he insisted that we take a picture of JUST the trophy. He was so proud of it and carried it around all evening.

Day 171 - Sunday, June 20, 2010

Day 171 - Sunday, June 20, 2010 - Spending a relaxing day at home on the lake, surrounded by his kids is how Kevin wanted to spend Father's Day. And that's exactly what he got. That, and a broom.

Day 170 - Saturday, June 19, 2010

Day 170 - Saturday, June 19, 2010 - Today we went to Portrait Innovations in Grandville to get a Hillary family portrait taken. All 28 of us! With two newborns and nine kids under the age of six, I feared the worst. But it went surprisingly well. Hannah enjoyed holding a yawning Ashton in between sittings.

Day 169 - Friday, June 18, 2010

Day 169 - Friday, June 18, 2010 - Yesterday we went to Shelby's end of year pool party. Owen thought it would be great to bring this cup home from the party to use it as a hat for Ashton. So, today, he punched two holes in each side of the cup and threaded some yarn through. It fit perfectly and was quite hysterical. Poor Ash.

Day 168 - Thursday, June 17, 2010

Day 168 - Thursday, June 17, 2010 - Schoooooooool's OUT for SUMMER!! And I don't think anyone was happier about this than Owen. The Kindergartners counted down the days to the last day of school using the letters of the alphabet from A to Z. When they were on E day, Owen said, "Mom, wouldn't that be cool if the power went out at school from now until Z day?!? Then I could stay home with you and Ashton every day!"

Day 167 - Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Day 167 - Wednesday, June 16, 2010 - Today was Owen's Kindergarten end of school picnic at Kids' Kingdom. Here is Owen with all of his friends. JUST kidding. He does have friends, but he really enjoys playing by himself and today was no exception. "Watch me, mom! Watch me!!"

Day 166 - Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Day 166 - Tuesday, June 15, 2010 - My darling daughter made the honor roll once again. She was an honors student all three years in middle school. Let's hope she keeps this up in high school. Way to go Jordyn!!

Day 165 - Monday, June 14, 2010

Day 165 - Monday, June 14, 2010 - Liam convinced me to let him walk around while carrying Ashton. He's such a willing helper.

Day 164 - Sunday, June 13, 2010

Day 164 - Sunday, June 13, 2010 - At 9:00 am on an overcast Sunday, Owen decided he wanted to set up a lemonade stand, at the top of our driveway instead of at the end. He brought everything out himself and made his own sign. Apparently $10 for a cup seems reasonable to him. He did get three customers, though .....and collected a total of $1.25. He was thrilled.

Day 163 - Saturday, June 12, 2010

Day 163 - Saturday, June 12, 2010 - This is called the sleeper hold. When Kevin holds Ashton like this, it's only a matter of minutes before he's passed out.

Day 162 - Friday, June 11, 2010

Day 162 - Friday, June 11, 2010 - Tonight was Jordyn's 8th grade farewell dance party with a theme of Black & White, A Night in Paris. I can't believe these gorgeous girls (Kayla, Jordyn, Shelby, and Molly) are going to be ninth graders next year! I hope they remain this close all the way to graduation (and beyond). I fully expect to attend every one of these girls' weddings one day.

Day 161 - Thursday, June 10, 2010

Day 161 - Thursday, June 10, 2010 - OES field day is much different from DA field day. Aside from the volunteers, very few parents attend. The kids go around in groups of two or three to whatever event strikes their fancy, in whatever order they like, instead of going from event to event with the whole class. Liam raced from event to event (making it hard to keep up with him while pushing a stroller). Of course, he did the sports themed events first...football ring toss, soccer, running. He had a great time.

Day 160 - Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Day 160 - Wednesday, June 9, 2010 - Silly Bandz. 'Nuff said.

Day 159 - Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Day 159 - Tuesday, June 8, 2010 - Owen made this bead heart for me today because he loves me soooooooooooo much. Thanks O-Bo!

Day 158 - Monday, June 7, 2010

Day 158 - Monday, June 7, 2010 - Today was an unexpected day home for Kevin because he made a doctor's appointment to find out what was causing his foot to hurt (gout!). We took an evening dip in the hot tub and enjoyed an adult beverage. What a rare treat.

Day 157 - Sunday, June 6, 2010

Day 157 - Sunday, June 6, 2010 - Today we went to my cousin Mary Kraft's birthday party. The Wurlitzer jukebox that had been in my Aunt Margaret and Uncle Jerry's basement while I was growing up is now in her basement, and a whole new generation got to enjoy it. There were a lot of the same songs on it that I grew up with, like Hey, Jude and The Devil Went Down to Georgia. Total nostalgia.

Day 156 - Saturday, June 5, 2010

Day 156 - Saturday, June 5, 2010 - My cousin Curtis is in town from Texas for a couple of months. He spent the night with us last night and we went to the Oxford Tap for lunch after the boys' baseball games. He kept telling me how much he looooooves hamburgers, so we took him to the best burger joint in town. Aaaaaand then he ordered a hot dog. Turns out that he actually just loves McDouble hamburgers.

Day 155 - Friday, June 4, 2010

Day 155 - Friday, June 4, 2010 - Kevin, Ashton, and I all got to go to DA for Owen's field day. We didn't show up EXACTLY when it started so Owen was a little sad that we weren't there. But, when he saw us coming across the playground, he lit up!! It was a gorgeous day and the water events were very refreshing for the kids.