Lovin' Summer

Due to lack of motivation and pure laziness I choose to bullet our summer events.  Sorry.

* The Toledo Zoo
* baseball games
* Beck Family Vacation
* Huber Family Vacation
* The Butterfly House
* The 577 Foundation
* lake day with friends
* Fireworks for the 4th
* pond and pool time with friends
* swimming lessons
* storyhour at the library
(as I type this the youngest in the family is standing on the dishwasher door and emptying it..)
* garage saling (of course!)
* thinking of selling our house
* play-dates
* shopping
* riding bike
* helping dad in the garden
* VBS
* facepainting

"new" gator                                                          

"smores"                                                                             

Dora! @ the zoo                                                         

VBS                                                                  

"helping" dad fill the pool                                                          

swimming lessons                                                

sparklers                                                                                

one of the first fish she caught on her new Dora pole                                 

tubing w/ dad                                                                 

Carter LOVES to float!                                                   

cousins!                                                               

Our Little Buddy is ONE!

Eleven days before Carter turned one he FINALLY began crawling.  He picked up on it very quickly, as we predicted and is very fast and was immediately pulling himself up to things.  Recently we have found him sitting at the little picnic table by himself pounding on it.  We have also found him "fishing", hand in the fishbowl and trying to grab Olivia's lone fish that is left.  Too simply put it...he is into
E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G!  He also is saying "baw", referring to balls and balloons.  He LOVES to dance to music. 

          

Missing in action

So apparently I haven't posted anything for 7 months!!  Now I've been debating whether to do a quick recap of those 7 months (which for me, would not be too quick) or just start from today.  I have opened this blog so many times today, on this icey no school day, to post something and I have walked away not knowing where to begin...

June: ended with Friendship Days
July: began with July 4th get-together with friends at Lake Wilson, Carter starting to eat cereal, Me jumping into my new hobby of couponing (specifically Rite Aid), another zoo trip, Beck family vacation to Hamilton Lake, Huber family camping vacation to Bankers Lake
August: many play-dates with our new babysitter, Wauseon Homecoming parade, Sauder Village (Big Bicycles),  Emily's wedding, Carter's Dedication, the start of school, kids adjusted wonderfully to new sitter!!
September: Fulton Co. Fair, Henry Co. Fair, another zoo trip, Olivia started storytime at the library one evening every week, took Olivia to the circus
October: Pumpkin Festival, Monster Bash at Aeschliman's (for the kids), dressing up, playing in leaves
November: cutting our big tree down in front of the house {sniff, sniff}, Thanksgivings
December: decorating for Christmas (Olivia got her own tree in her room this year...PINK!), I got to see college friends, visiting Santa, Olivia getting sick 2 days before Christmas and then Terry on Christmas day!, picking out fish at the pet store (Olivia named them: Pink, Kookicknockick, Princess Pea, Super Reader, and Piggy), setting cookies and milk out for Santa, opening too many presents, attending many family Christmas's, an evening at the playland, Olivia's first haircut, New Year's Eve with church friends
January: one more Christmas on New Year's Day, going back to school, then I get sick and then Olivia again, sledding, visiting friends, building a snowman, and today was a NO SCHOOL DAY because of ice!

Phew..I made it and it really kills me not add more and be lots more specific. 

Now for a summary of each of us.

Carter: has 3 teeth, loves to eat, so close to crawling, has a voice, is NOT sleeping through the night!, loves to pull his sister's hair, loves to feed himself, loves the babysitter's cat, wants to get into everything he shouldn't, loves shaking his head "no" and clapping

Olivia: loves to pretend, enjoys watching Veggie Tales, Dora, Word World and of course Thomas, loves to take a pile of books into the bathroom and sit there on her potty FOREVER, loves to follow my around with her sweeper while I'm sweeping the carpet, loves playing in the snow, loves anything with babies, princesses, and trains, continues to love to wear "pretty" dresses, LOVES her backpack, loves going to the library

Terry: just started another grad class through Defiance College (this one is online), took a personal day last week to spend the day with the kids

Carissa: keeping busy with 2 little ones