Smithville Football and Sesame Street Cake Pops!

On Friday night, Matt and I took Lexi and Jill to their annual Smithville football game. It just so happened that Smithville played against Dalton!! For those of you who don't know, Matt's brother Andrew took a teaching/coaching job this summer at Dalton HS and is now helping to coach the football team. Also, Matt's dad still teaches/coaches for Smithville. As you can guess, we weren't sure which side of the field to sit on! We decided to deck out in our green and cheer on the Smithies. After a Bulldog win, the girls at least put a smile on Papa's face and even got to see uncle Andrew after the big game. Congrats Bulldogs and maybe next year Smithies!

Then today, my friend Becca and her 2 kids came to our house for the afternoon. I was trying to find something we could do to occupy our time and then it came to me! Several months ago (while looking for cupcake-themed decor for Jill's 'big girl' room) I ran across a website for cupcake pops. While on the site, there was a link to Sesame Street Cake Pops and I was intrigued. Cake pops are just what they sound like. It is cake (I made a 9x13 white cake) crumbled up and mixed with a container of frosting then molded into balls with a lolipop stick stuck in them. Then, you coat them with colored molding chocolate and then decorate. The kids' attention spans were not quite long enough for the project, but Becca and I sure had some fun! Not too shabby for our 1st attempt. Enjoy the pictures!

King's Island Adventure!

This past weekend, while Matt was at the Notre Dame vs. Michigan game, I took the girls down to Cincinnati to uncle Benny's house. GE - the company Benny works for - bought out King's Island for the weekend and only sold tickets to their employees and family/friends of their employees. Benny got a bunch of tickets and the whole family went to King's Island! We went down on Friday night and stayed with Benny (only 2 miles from the theme park). Grandma Nola and grandpa Gary stayed with Matt, Brittany and Kaity in a motel down the road. Teresa, Earl and Cody drove up from Kentucky and - along with my friend Sarah - all met at Benny's on Saturday morning and made it to the park by 10 am. Most of the adults ventured to the roller coasters while Brittany, grandma, grandpa and Bethany attacked Snoopy Land with the 3 little girls. They loved it! Around 1 pm grandma and grandpa took the little ones home for a late lunch and mid-day nap. Brittany and I then had our chance to ride a few coasters. We got a little wet from a few rain showers, but all in all it was a great day. To top off the afternoon, Benny and Cody jointly rode the human slingshot! What brave souls! We left the park around 7 pm and dined at Skyline Chili for supper. Lexi, Jill and I went back to Benny's to sleep and headed out Sunday for a noon lunch with my high school friend Julie Hyman (who recently moved into the West Chester area near Mason). It was great to catch up with her. On our drive home, we stopped in on aunt Julie and uncle Ben to see the ever-growing baby Zach! What a cutie. It was a great weekend and we all really enjoyed seeing everyone. Enjoy the pictures!

King's Island



At uncle Benny's house



At Ben and Julie's house

First Day of Preschool!

Well, the day finally came! Lexi started Preschool today. She is attending Montrose Zion Christian Preschool at the big Methodist Church in Montrose. Things were a little shaky at first with some tears, but mommy sneaked out and she ended up having a great time. Miss Terri and Miss Sharon helped her make a family tree! There are 3 boys and 5 girls total in her class. Lexi got to be the 'weather girl' today and they ate pretzels and apples for snack. They even got to go outside and play on the playground! She is all excited to go back on Friday. Mommy and daddy are very proud of her and it actually went smoother than mommy expected. Can't wait for Friday when we have (hopefully) no tears!

Labor Day Weekend!

Our last weekend of summer was packed full of things to do! We left home Saturday morning by 9:30 am. Grandma Nola and Grandpa Gary had 'breakfast-for-lunch' waiting for us around 12:30 when we pulled in their driveway. Lexi, Jill and even Kaitlyn shoveled in pancakes, sausage links and scrambled eggs. Then we had 2 different weddings to attend... Cole and Kristy got married at 4:30 in Montpelier, OH. Brittany, Kaitlyn, Kyle, Bethany, and Lexi ventured to their ceremony. Matt sat home with Jill (who was still napping) while Nola, Gary and Benny went to Alison and Josiah's wedding ceremony at Middle Creek. We then all met up at the Paulding County Fairgrounds for Alison and Josiah's reception at 6 pm. We were there until after 9 pm and finally took some very tired children home and to bed. Sunday morning we went to church and then (after a quick nap for Jill) treked into Van Wert for the fair! The four of us met up with Ben and Erin Culler and their 2 boys - Jack and Nate - for some fair fun. We all saw the animals and then Jack and Lexi rode about 7 different fair rides. They are just so cute! Jack, on several occasions, had his little arm around Lexi's shoulders and often helped her buckle into the rides. Maybe a blooming romance?!?! Nate and Jill just chilled in the stroller. We all grabbed some delicious fair food before heading for home. We pulled back in our driveway right at 9 pm Sunday night. Whew! What a fun and exhausting weekend. Can't wait til next time we see everyone!