Showing posts with label family pictures. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family pictures. Show all posts

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Snow. Finally!

Lola has never been out in a real snow.

That may seem hard to believe, but for some reason, our little corner of the world has had two very mild winters in a row. So, she hasn't made it out this year OR last year (and of course, the year before that wasn't even walking yet!)

When we got just a few precious inches yesterday, and a snow day from school to boot, you can bet we jumped on the opportunity to take advantage of it!

Lolee girl was so excited to get all suited up and play in the white stuff. 
She had so many layers on, she could hardly move!

We took a jaunt out to a local Forest Preserve, and found out 
hey--families of deer like the snow too! We counted 12!

We enjoyed sitting and watching them for awhile. They came so close!

But then...the hills were calling our name. Out came the sleds!

As much as the boys went down the hill, this was the first year there was 
NO complaining about coming back up! They truly are growing up....*sniff*....


Even Grandma Jane came along....

....and went down a few times herself!

Lola took turns with a few of us, but DADDY was definitely her favorite "passenger". 
She was pretty unsure her first time down (her very first time ever!)....

....but was very brave--even put her hands up! *grin*

She LOVED it!

Both gave Mommy a great smile when they got back up.
A picture I will treasure for a long time, I'm sure.

Since I'm behind the camera so much, I don't usually get to be in photos...but Shane took his 
turn snapping, and I got a gem of Lolee and I whooshing down the hill. I love this one!

 We had a few of these.....

....and these....

....and these....

....but mostly, there were just these.
Smiles.


Such a wonderful adventure....


....and once again, I feel blessed to have a day like this in the books!

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Lola's garden stone

This year, I have just been a terrible blogger. I am so behind on so many posts. I keep telling myself I am going to get caught up--but I feel like I am lying to myself each time! Ha! Well....here goes yet another attempt.


We had a great visit from Grandma 'Nette and Grandpa a few weeks ago, and Lola finally got her chance to make her very own garden stone.  If you remember, Grandma 'Nette has done this with ALL of our boys (ALL of the grandchildren, actually) and Lola--who has patiently waited and admired her brothers for months now--couldn't wait to get started! 

First, Grandma and Grandpa got the concrete all mixed and poured into the mold.
Yes, my daughter has no clothes on....didn't want them ruined.
(And also? Sometimes, that's just how we roll.)

Lola did VERY well, smushing her handprint in!

All three of our boys, upon feeling the cement beneath their fingers, immediately balled up their fists....

....but Lo kept her hands nice and flat--and her hand prints turned out great because of it!

Everyone got all the cement cleaned off....

....and then paused for a cute picture!

Lola then got to choose her 'bling' for her stone.

With a little help, she carefully began placing the pieces....

....while Grandma hand-stamped the message.

This was definitely Lola's favorite part of the process.

I am certain she would have just kept adding....and adding....and adding....
until there was literally NO MORE SPACE!

It turned out beautifully, as you can see!

Lola loved the time spent on her special craft....

....and I love the addition to my front flower bed.
(All complete now!)

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Mud Hens watching Mud Hens

I mentioned before that our boys took Minor League baseball team names this year. Catlin was represented by three teams at the rookie level: the Bats, the Grasshoppers, and our team: the Mud Hens.


We were fortunate to take a wonderful little family/team trip over to Indianapolis at the end of June to watch the real Toledo Mud Hens play, and we had an absolute blast!  

We all got dressed up in our Mud Hens gear and headed to the stadium after dinner at TGIFriday's.
Daddy and the boys

The fam! 
{Minus Lolee girl, who stayed home with Grandma Jane :)}

Our friends (and Colin's head coach) Nate and Kara, and Colin's best friend Colden/sister Addie

More friends/another coach! Ryan and Laine, and their son/Colin's friend Bennett

Same story! Our friends (and assistant coach) TJ and Amy, and their son/Col's friend Reef

Cameron checking out the giant field!

The boys were in heaven. They thought this was just the coolest!

Now, we were at the Indianapolis Stadium--so all of us in our Mud Hens' gear really stood out! We were able to get the boys down near the dugout, and the real Mud Hens took notice of all of our little Mud Hens and signed some autographs!
{L to R: Blake, Colden, Bennett, Colin, Cameron}

Getting, as Col put it, "real life autographs"

The boys loved it!
L to R, back row: Cameron, Colden, Reef, Colin, Blake, Bennett
Front: Brayden and Ethan

The boys (and siblings) stood at the front and watched for a long time.

It was an exciting night and even though the Mud Hens lost, the boys had a great time!
L to R: Reef, Isaac, Bennett, Sebastian, Hayden, Ethan, Blake, Jackson, 
Brayden M., Colden, Colin, Cameron, Addie, Brayden N.

Such a wonderful group of kids and parents--so thankful we got to be a part of this special night with all of them! Great, great memories!