Tough Guy

Happy Easter

We celebrated Easter Sunday at church in Greenfield. We feel so fortunate to have found a wonderful church home. The kids love going to class (Alivia really loves it and Drew is doing much better), and Brad and I have never been so moved by a pastor. His sermons hit home every Sunday. We've made many friends and feel like this is exactly where we need to be. We hope you were able to enjoy this day as much as our family. Many blessings to all of you!

Here are a few things worth remembering...

* while getting ready for church Alivia said "Drew, want to get dressed and be handsome?"

* the looks on their faces when they found their Easter baskets

* Aunt Leslie and Mamaw came to church with us

* Drew's favorite gift - Thomas the Train

* Alivia's favorite gift - Hello Kitty chap stick

* He lives!

The Many Faces of Alivia

Coloring Easter Eggs

Alivia came home tonight asking to make an Easter craft. It was the perfect opportunity to color our Easter eggs. We enjoyed adding glitter to them this year too!

Game Day

It was cold, wet and windy, but we survived Alivia's first soccer game. Alivia played Brayden's team (her best buddy and Miss Angela's son), so it was so much fun to see them together. They both did very well, although Alivia quickly became tired of playing. She did great in the beginning and even scored the first goal of the game! After about 10 minutes, she was over it. We're hoping for better weather next week to maybe help keep her on the field the entire time. :)

This isn't the best picture because I got caught up watching the game. It was taken right after she scored her goal. And you can imagine how excited her cheering section was when it happened. Her fan club totaled 12 people!

Dairy Queen

20 Months

I'm still finding it hard to believe our little man is 20 months old. He's growing way too fast! Here are a few things he's enjoying these days.

• playing basketball, soccer and any other sport that involves a ball


• climbing up the slides rather than going down; and when he goes down he likes to roll over on his stomach


• temper tantrums - they are driving both Brad and me crazy!


• riding a bike - It's a must when we go to Dick's Sporting Goods or Walmart. .


• saying " 'cause " when I ask him why he did something. It's a common answer to "Drew, why did you pull your sister's hair?" or "Why did you hit Alivia?" Ugh!


• wrestling - he still loves to run and jump on anyone that sits on the floor


• food! He's not as picky as Alivia, but still has his favorites. He loves chicken, pasta, pizza, oranges and corn.


• singing - I recently learned that he sings along to "Amazing Grace" in Daddy's car. It's the sweetest thing to watch. He really does try to sing although you can only understand bits and pieces.


• being outside - we were at the park today for 2 hours and he still threw a fit when we had to leave. This kid will want to be out playing all summer long!


• following his big sister! He's right behind her all the time.

Soccer Practice

We signed Alivia up to play soccer this spring. Yikes! She's had a few practices and should have had her first game yesterday, but it was cancelled due to thunder and lightning. :( So we'll cross our fingers next weekend is sunny so she can play. The practices are a little chaotic. It's not easy keeping eight 3 year olds focused on anything longer than a few minutes. And the playground is only 100 feet from the soccer field. Most kids end up there before practice has started and miss it all together. Alivia has been doing pretty well. She's finally getting comfortable wearing her shin guards, socks and cleats. It sounds simple, but is quite an accomplishment at this age. Today she was excited to tell her coach a few things during a break at practice: "My shirt has a soccer ball on it." and "When we get done, I can take my soccer shoes off and wear my new flip flops!"

A little help from Daddy.

Rushing over to see Mommy.

Taking it down the field!

She scores! Can't wait to see what the actual games will be like. :)

Cincinnati Zoo

Brad was on Spring Break last week, so I took a few days off so we could enjoy a little extra time together. We spent Thursday at the Cincinnati Zoo. It was wonderful! The weather was absolutely beautiful and the kids loved it. A few highlights were seeing the baby giraffe, noticing the black bear and gorilla were sleeping/playing with their blankies, riding the carousel and seeing the ball next to the cheetah. Drew was fascinated with the "basketball" in that exhibit. :) We had a great time and the kids were exhausted from all of the walking. It was a very peaceful drive home for Daddy and me as they slept the whole way.

So difficult...

to get them to both smile and look at me at the same time!

We took a day trip to the Cincinnati Zoo. More pictures to come soon!