First Snow Fall

Yesterday we had our first snow fall of the season. Emma was being a good, big sister and took Grace outside for 30 mins. or so after dinner last night. We ended up receiving around 4" and the kids were able to stay home from school today. I love it!

Latest Addition...

This weekend we got the kids a Lion headed rabbit. It is part Christmas and part an "I don't want a dog" gift. We had been thinking about it for awhile and we found a girl in town who just bread them and had them for sale. He has been a good addition to the family so far.

Turkeybowl 2010

Halloween 2010

Halloween is always a busy time of the year are our house. It always seems like the kids have several ideas of what they want to be. This year was no different, except for Caleb of course. He had his mind set on being Luke Skywalker for a long time. He prepared by watching the original Star Wars Trilogy all month long. Literally, every night before bed he was watching. Grace's ideas were all centered around princesses. Princess Leia, Snow White, Cinderella... He settled on the Butterfly Princess that you see here. Emma went out trick-or-treating with her friends from the neighborhood for the 2nd straight year. As you can obviously see they were "80's" girls. Hannah was doing homework on the 31st until an hour before Halloweening began. I am still not sure what we was. It didn't look like a costume to me. Unfortunately she ran out the door before we could snap a picture of her.

RWVA Appleseed Project

For some time now, Jamey and I have been wanting to take a shooting course to learn about marksmanship and gun safety. Jamey saw a spot on the news about an organization that combines American History and learning to become a Rifleman. The Appleseed Project is run by the RWVA, Revolutionary War Veterans Association, and has been in operation since 2007. They host events in most states and have had nearly 60,000 attendees over the last 3 years. In addition to marksmanship and the history of our nation, they promote being an ACTIVE member of society. They preach that if you are not participating in the local and federal government you will get the government you deserve. Since all of these are near and dear to our hearts, it was a great experience. The event was from 8:30Am to 6:00 PM Saturday AND Sunday. Jamey attended with me the first day and Hannah on the second. One of the great philosophies is to get the whole family involved. With that in mind, all woman and children under 21 are FREE. We all learned a lot. After spending the weekend shooting 22s, I got to fire an AR-15 at a long range, 500 yd., target with iron sites (no scope). We were shooting 16" targets from nearly 1/3 of a mile. Pretty cool for a city boy.

Kings Island and the Creation Museum

The first weekend in September we took the kids to Kings Island, out side of Cincinnati, and the Creation Museum on a last minute "vacation". Jamey found some great tickets to the amusement park through Friends of Liberty, a grass roots organization in Ohio. We spent the day with the kids riding what we could ride. The girls enjoyed some freedom form most of the day but, the rides got the best of Emma so they came and found the rest of us during the evening. Grace loved meeting all the Snoopy characters and had to give each one a hug. The girls drug Caleb, who is afraid of just about everything, to ride Ocean Motion. As you can see, he was not amused by the ride. Hannah and I hit a few coasters at night before we enjoyed a concert hosted by the F.O.F. That night we stayed a few miles from the park and headed to the Creation Museum in the morning. It is located just south of Cinci, over the state line. We explored the exhibits that took us on a trip from creation up to present day. They had a 4D theater and many other multi-media displays that epicted various Bible stories and other historical events. We also enjoyed visiting the petting zoo where we all got up close to the animals.

Restoring Honor 8/28

One 8/28 Jamey and I took her bother, Brandon, to Washington, DC to participate in the Restoring Honor Rally. The rally, for lack of a better word, was set up by Glenn Beck to celebrate, America, her soldiers and to challenge all to reestablishh: Faith, Hope and Charity. At the event, 3 soldiers were recognized for there selfless service and heroic efforts. There were also 3 civilians who were honored. One for Faith, one for Hope and one for Charity. One of the key speakers was Dr. Evita King, MLK Jr.'s niece. She added to her uncle's dream and stresses the importance of faith. Glenn wrapped the 3 hour event up by asking us to focus restoring honor and truth in our lives. He challenged us to: Pray daily on hour knees, in front of our families, tell the truth, tithe to our churches, etc... It is through these values that our country will be restored.

As you can see, we were able to get great seats. We road our bikes to the mall at 2AM where there were already 10-20 thousand spectators. Jamey "talked" with the park police and were able to move just to the left of the stage. (Okay it was a lot more complicated than that but, you will have to ask us about that part of our trip in person.) We sat with a couple finishing their honeymoon and 2 of the groom's brothers from Pennsylvainia. It was great to meet people our age with similar views and values. The crowd of over 500,000 was primarily 40-50 year olds but, there were pockets of younger people and families throughout. I would bet that 99% of people, of any race or political opinion, would have enjoyed the event and supported the message fully. Unfortunately, people listen to how the news and pundents reported and there is a lot of lies about the rally.


The day before the rally I was able to snap this photo around lunch time as Glenn visited the Lincoln Memorial to do a sound check. He was very friendly and obviously humbled by the all the response he was receiving from the crowd.

Back to School

Back to School today. It is hard to believe the summer is almost over. This year, 2 of the 3 kids will be moving to new schools. Hannah into High School and Emma into Junior High. Unbelievable! Caleb is the only one on our street attending Frank this year. He will be walking to and from school alone for the next couple of years. There were all excited to start after an uneventful summer. Well, as long as you consider a dog bite and hospital stay uneventful. Right Emma... Emma was a bit anxious last night. She was up till 2:30 AM and could not fall asleep. I found here passed out in my bed when I came home tonight. Poor girl

4th of July Weekend Festivities

Our 4th of July weekend was as busy as ever. We celebrated our country with family and friends on land and on sea. On Friday night, half the family watched the fireworks in Sylvainia at our friends the Demseys and the other in Perrysburg at Ron and Pegs. Saturday morning we headed to the boat with my extended family. We headed towards Port Clinton where we visited Taylor's cottage on Lake Erie. It was the first time I was out there since I was Caleb's age. The kids had a blast tubing and I scorched my feet on the beach. It was unbelievably hot. Saturday night we had Kent, Terri, Brandon and our friend Jen over for a cookout. In the eventing we drove to Ft. Meigs for the Maumee-Perrysburg fireworks. Sunday we hung around the house most of the day. We headed back to the boat to head downtown Toledo for the fireworks on the river. It was a warm night but, we had a blast for the 2nd year in a row.











Sadly on the 3rd our good friend and neighbor, Paul Szymanski, past away after a 14 year battle with brain cancer. Over the past several months we all enjoyed visiting with him and his wife, Sandra. Paul loved life like no other and was a true inspiration. He loved talking with the kids and made us all laugh. Our thoughts and prayers are with all of his family and friends.

Grace is Three!

This year the family celebrated Grace's 3rd birthday at Chucky Cheese. Grace had a nice time with her brother and sisters exploring all the games and rides. We all enjoyed visiting with Aunt Jenny after living in California for the past year. She especially liked her new Dora the Explorer "big girl" bike. The following day she celebrated again with her cousin Mak, who had his 2nd birthday on the 23rd.

Happy Father's Day

This Father's Day, Brian, Dad and I, spent the morning at Rockwell Trout Club. It was a beautiful morning and there were several anglers out there. We had a lot of luck, catching 14 between the 3 of us. Brian pulled in the largest of the lot. We had a nice time and can't wait to return. Thanks Dad.

Happy Birthday to Caleb

This past Monday we celebrated Caleb's 9th birthday. Jamey surprised him early that morning when two of his closest friends, Pete and Mitch, came to spend the day with him. The boys had a blast. Nana and Papa visited for dinner and we went to Mema and Ampa's on Wednesday. We can't believe how fast our little, "bub", is growing up.

Dog Days of Summer...

I am sure many have all heard, via Facebook, that Emma got bit by a boston terrier this week. She was walking with two other neighborhood girls who were returning two dogs to their owners, one street over. The dogs were on leashes as they headed around the block. When they were one house away, one of the dogs (pictured below) lunged at Emma. She put her arms up protecting her face and it bit down on her left arm, under her bicept. The dog hung there for a few seconds before Emma could get him off. She was taken to Toledo Hospital where she was given 9 stitches on her lacerations. We later found out that these dogs have been loose before, running around the neighborhood. She is pretty sore but, in good spirits. The only bummer is that she is heading off to summer camp on Monday.

Graduation Day

This week Hannah graduated from Perrysburg JHS. I can not believe she will be going to the big high school next year. Here she is at her reception with her friends, Jessica, Mikeala, Grace and Jake. They all look so grown up.

Happy Birthday to Hannah

It is hard to believe that Hannah is already 14 and will be starting high school next year. She spent her 14th birthday a Cedar Point yesterday with her orchestra class. They had a competition and then spent the day in the park. It sounds like fun but, Hannah had to spend the day in a wheel chair. She fractured her fibula about 1 1/2 weeks ago on our trampoline. She was bummed but, a trooper even in the rain.

Crystal Bowersox comes home to Toledo

American Idol finalist and Toledo native came home today for her home town visit. She performed all over Northwest Ohio. Jamey was able to get Emma some really good seats for the sold out Mudhen's game where she sang the National Anthem. Thanks to Papa who was her chaperon for the night. She (Emma) is so spoiled!

Grace's Debu

Carrie Underwood Concert

Last night Emma and Hannah went to see Carrie Underwood at the Toledo's Huntington Center. The tickets were Emma's birthday present from mom and dad. We couldn't decide who would go so we worked it out for the girls to go together. When they got there, they were told that the seats on the the tickets we purchased from Ticketmaster did not exist. They were given other seats but, Jamey purposefully picked these seats on the isle so Emma could see. We are pretty sure that the seat attendant messed up. Other than Emma's view, they had a blast.

Track Season

This spring Hannah has been putting on her spikes for the second year in a row to run for Perrysburg Jr. High. She is running both the 100 & 200 m hurdles. She is generally in the middle of the pack in the 100m but, her times in the 200m continue to improve. She has finished in the top 3 all but one meet this season. In the last two weeks has been recording the top times for Perrysburg. Her long legs are a great asset and we can't wait until she "runs harder". She always seems to be jogging along the track. It's a lot of fun to watch her. I only wish her events were closer together. The first meet we waited 2 1/2 hrs between races.

Ripley's Aquarium Then and Now

While in Mrytle Beach on Saturday we recreated a photo from one of the last times we where at Ripley's Aquarium. What a difference a few years make (2003 - 2010)

Got Crabs!

This week on vacation we spent a lot of our free time crabbing. We used traps and crabbing lines, which are simply a weight with a hook, for the bait, tied to the line. We found rotten, raw chicken and dead fish to work the best. The crabs were most active when the tide was starting to coming in. The water was also the clearest then so it was easy to spot them. The other thing we learned the hard way was that you can drowned a crab. If we store them in too much water over night they we die. We did this twice before figuring it out. In total we caught 15 to 20 crabs and had a wonderful dinner on Thursday night. Next time we need to vacation with people who like seafood. There was way too much for the couple of us who ate them. We have a lot of leftovers to try to freeze. In addition to crabs, we also harvested clams, oysters and whelks (a conch sized looking snail). We have the whelks in the fridge to eat tonight. Bon appetit!

Fun in the Sun

Monday and Tuesday we mostly hung out at the beach house. We rented a kayak for the week and we have spent many hours touring the intercoastal waterway behind our place. The kids continue to spend a lot of time in the water and playing in the sand. Yesterday all the boys and Em

ma spent the morning geocaching around the area. It was a lot of fun.

Vacation Memories

Jamey found an amazing deal for us on Pawleys Island in South Carolina. This was the second time we have been here in 4 years. We are sharing the house with her cousin's family. Above is a photo of the house we rented (2nd from right) from this morning just before sunrise. Today, Easter, we had a laid back day. A nice morning, including an Easter egg hunt and breakfast. We spent all afternoon on the beach. The older 3 got way too much sun. We had a good dinner and the kids enjoyed playing in the sand again. I got to hunt for clams after dinner. I found 8 and the stopped looking because I was certain I was the only one who would try them.