Baseball Blooper

I never promised HD Video and it really didn't turn out as action packed as the practice really was....enjoy anyway.

Hunt Club Fun: Dinner & Gaming

I have some things I want to share but I really don't like to post without pictures. They'll have to come later. I'm hoping I have a cute picture of Ryan blasting the "hard" baseball as Jim and Ryan picked up a TBall bat the other day at Toys R Us. Ryan also got a new bike thanks to some generous gift cards we had been saving from Uncle Rich. (So far Uncle Rich has donated to Wii and the bike, Ryan's favorites and Tyler's too for that matter.)

For now, I'll share our adventure last night!

We bought Ryan a race car bed (to match Jake's) on Craigslist. We planned to pick it up and head to the Hunt Club. The bed was a little big for the Tahoe so we strapped it to the top of the Tahoe hillbilly style. A quick $10 into the games and dinner was served. Two bites later, the boys were ready for more. Ryan had alot of fun with the skill crane candy machine and Tyler enjoyed throwing the skeetball overhand;) Jim enjoyed a more casino-syle game where the coins knock coins down and every once in a while spins some lights around and awards extras. I don't know if coins were going into the machine faster on Jim's game or Ryan's game. I played Keno...$2 in winnings, hooray! Tyler got fidgety, squealed, hollared, and we headed for the Exit sign. Nice evening with family.

Oh, and we had to squeeze Ryan into the third row. The car was so jammed with bed parts that we literally threw Ryan over Tyler's head airplane style through a 6" opening and he found his way to his seat. I had just enough room to seatbelt him in by reaching through the rear hatch...but Ryan loved the ride. He asked if he could always ride back there. Smiles.

Got news yesterday that we'll be going back on 4-10 hour days in June with alot of layoffs so I am super busy. Wondering how the long days are going to work. See you soon with some pix.

Cookie Cutting Memories

I'm sure everyone has at least one special moment making cookies with a special someone. My mom is really great at creating this memory. I remember making them with her as a child. I remember some of my best memories with my nieces as little girls were spent around a piano bench covered in flour so that they could get the best view of the process.

Granna Cathy has continued this experience with my boys even though she is recovering from a back procedure. I really appreciate the extra effort it took her to pull off this fun activity. I'm sure that she won't appreciate the pictures of herself (we are all so vain) but I'm sure she'll appreciate the memory too. Oh, and I'm pretty sure Ryan must have taken the top picture b/c I don't remember doing it.

Does anyone agree that making/shaping/and decorating sugar cookies is pretty hard work?

Because a sweetie was missing from the group shot...

I didn't get a picture with Avery and the gang...but I sure did get a cute one with her daddy. Hope this satisfies your craving Grandma Ellen:)

More Celebrations

Okay, so here is the end (maybe?) of the Easter pictures I wanted to share. The first thing all of the kids do when visiting Papa Ralph is to go to get their hands slapped. It's a universal good time! I took about a dozen pictures attempting to get a group shot. It's not perfect but it is cute. Brendan looks great in every one! It was usually my kids who were doing something other than looking at the camera. The young cousins sure do enjoy their time with cousins Austin and Trevor. And Miss Riley is always graciously holding hands or leading Tyler off for some adventure. She sure is a nice little girl:)

I warned Ralph that in some states, it could be considered child abuse to bungee cord a boy but Trevor escaped the torture in about 10 seconds flat. It was a truly fun day.

Seeing the world in full color

We have been having so much fun this month that I'm way behind in sharing the events. (It's mostly for me to remember as time goes by, but I hope you enjoy a peek too.) After our U of M Spring Game adventure, my brother and sister-in-law graciously hosted a fantastic supper and an afternoon filled with fun. The kids tore off their clothing and colored Easter eggs, opened baskets, and hunted the candy/money filled eggs in the back yard. They had so much fun that we kept sending them back in the house while we re-hid eggs. They would have done this all night if we would have let them:)

Easter is such a beautiful reminder of childhood memories. Our family has always been so good at reconnecting during the holidays even though we fall short sometimes during the rest of the year wrapped up in the business of life. Even adults just can't help but to watch over a coloring/hunting session. The season has really helped me to break some of that nasty spell that had been lingering. So thankful for re-birth, newborn babies, sprouting flowers, sunshiny days, and so much more.

Ryan had so much fun coloring eggs that he asked Granna if he could do it again and so last night she whipped up a couple more dozen eggs. This time, Tyler joined the fun and was surprisingly good at it. Good times.

Hail to the Victors!

Ryan's Heisman Pose
1st String Tackle...you guess which one.

Red Rover Line with no weak spot.

Proud to sport the maize wings.

Picture with mom during first quarter...slept in her arms the rest of the 2 hours.

So happy together!
We had fun at the U of M Spring Game this year. The kids ran in the parking lot trying to catch footballs. They raced across fields...(I think Hailee was the winner but we never told them where the finish line was:) We snacked on yummy fruits and pigs in a blanket. (Yumm...thanks Amanda) They rolled and played on the steepest bank of grass at the stadium and laughed as they tried to take out innocent by-standers. Oh, and by the way...Ryan reports that Michigan won! Go blue.

Mighty Mighty Tigers

It's Jim's favorite time of year and sure to be Ryan's too. They had Monday off and made the last minute trip to Detroit even though rain threatened an already cold afternoon. Ryan made it clear that his Mighty Mighty Tigers shirt was not to be covered with a coat and so, several layers made a warm padding under his oversized T-shirt. Tigers lost but the memories shared between father and son are still prized victories.

Looking Forward...

Looking forward to...

Celebrating the rebirth of Jesus Christ
Easter Egg Hunts
Michigan Spring Game
Mom's Recovery
Vacation Days
Opening Day Baseball
The Lion King
Watching Twilight
Family Time
Photo Opportunities
Spring! NO SNOW

Unplanned Off-Roading

I've had a string of emotional weeks and this one may top the list. I reported on my facebook page that boys and I had an unplanned off-road adventure on Monday morning. (so thankful for all of the kind words and thoughtfulness) The roads were a mess at 6:00 a.m. and the line of traffic was being extra cautious around a group of S-curves that I travel each morning. While braking gently in response to a glow of brake lights ahead, I could feel my truck slipping into the wet, thick slush. As the truck swayed back and forth for about 100 yards, I could hear the rumble strips from the center line. The sound is worse than nails on a chalkboard when your truck is a little out of control and you see oncoming traffic. For the most part, I decided to bail and steered toward the ditch. It was a pretty soft landing...but we were pretty stuck. (I still have mud caked up on my running boards.) It took nearly 2 hours for the tow truck to show and to pull us out to safety. (The $100 bill was a bargain, the man was a saint..it was windy, snowy, and cars kept blasting him with slush while he worked to dig us out with a shovel so he could hook up the winch.)

The boys and I were pretty shook up and opted to go home rather than traveling on to school/work. They were absolute angels in the car waiting. We listened to the radio (The Lion King Soundtrack.) We played rhyming games and talked about how fast Ryan thought that help would come. All the while, I sat there shaking. How thankful I am for...

Ryan thought the tow truck was cool. It looked like a young Mater with the flashing light and big rope chain that pulled us slowly to safety. We didn't even have to get out of the truck! All the way home (5 miles) Ryan kept talking about our "spin out". "It looks like we're parked, Mommy." he said. And we were pretty much perpendicular to the road :)

At home, it was a pretty wonderful day. The boys played and cooperated and did crafts with mommy inbetween air hocky matches. I really enjoyed it.

Easter Egg-scitement

Just wanted to share a few pictures of the Easter Egg hunt at Grandma Ladd's house. It was a beautiful day and the kids had fun. At the end of the hunt, the kids sat down to discover what was inside. They hoped and crossed their fingers that they would be money filled. Some were. There was even a special hunt for the special "big" egg and the finder would be $5 richer. Congratulations went to Cousin Savannah.

More Easter fun to come soon. Have a good weekend.