Abby with her Walker

Abby has been pushing her walker around for about 6 weeks now. I thought it was about time I put some pictures of her doing this for family, so they could see her growing up. These first pictures are from July 28th.

Today I decided to take a little video of her pushing her walker. It is amazing to see the difference in that amount of time. In July she kept her little legs straight and her body would arch away from the walker. Now I think it is safe to say that she has it down.

While we were playing, she let go of me and stood on her own for a couple of seconds. This is the second time she has done this recently. She gets so excited about it that she falls down and moves onto another activity. It will be so fun to watch her next stage...walking!!

First Canning Experience

This year we decided to plant a small garden. When I say small, I mean small. Last fall we had to do some repairs around our egress windows so we had to pull out all the lilies that were there. Instead of replanting them, since we have lilies everywhere else, I told Matt we should try our hand at gardening in the Spring.

So this past Spring, we planted some tomato, cucumber, squash and zucchini plants. We have really enjoyed the little bit of produce we got from it. It is so rewarding to pick something that day and have it on the table that evening for dinner. Well we had tomatoes coming out of our ears so after talking to a couple of my friends, I decided to try my hand at canning.

I got out the cookbooks that Mom gave me when I was a little girl and decided to read up on the process. After doing that and receiving positive encouragement from my supportive friends, I decided to go for it. It was easy and a big success! I can't wait for next year so I can do some more tomatoes and maybe I can try my hand at something else.

Look Mom, I did it!!

Annual NICU Reunion

On Saturday, September 6th, we had the chance to attend the Annual NICU Reunion. This was Abby's second one and we had a lot of fun. It was nice to see the nurses and the friends we made during our stay in the NICU. It's hard to believe that another year has passed. I was amazed when we saw the toddlers that once were babies and how much the they had grown!

The theme was 'Under the Sea' so all the activities were based on that. Abby was able to decorate a sand pail and all the kids enjoyed the games and the sand craft. We took pictures of Clarissa and Abby at the underwater scene and also had a family picture taken.

Thanks to the NICU Family Advisory Board (FAB) for putting on another great event!

Kindergarten Orientation, Sept. 2nd

Caleb loved going to kindergarten on his first day. This year was a little different. Instead of going to school for about a hour with Mom or Dad to meet the teacher, they wanted the parents to come from 12:50 until 3:47 with your child so they get the feel for the school day.

He was so excited when he got his teacher assignment because he had already heard a lot about Mrs. Porter from Aaron when he was in Kindergarten.


Mrs. Porter, the teacher, had a type of scavenger hunt for the kids to do. First off, Caleb learned where to hang up his backpack. Then he got the chance to learn where the different learning tables are in the classroom. He loved playing at the play dough table. He was also able to color a picture for his teacher, write his name on another piece of paper and do blocks at the math table.








I can't believe that my little 'Tiger' is going to school already. I sure will miss him at home. I love ya, Caleb! Boy, they sure grow up fast!

First Day of School

I can't believe it is finally here. The first day of school!!! The boys were so excited to go back as were Mom and Dad--especially Mom. This is a pretty exciting year for a couple of the boys. Danny is now going into 6th grade so that makes him go to the Middle School. Jake is in the 5th grade and Aaron is in 3rd. Caleb is in afternoon Kindergarten and he is so excited. What a crazy year this will be. Danny leaves for school at 7:05 am, Jake and Aaron go at 8:30 am and Caleb catches the bus at 11:50 am. That is just the pick up schedule. They get home at 3:15 and 4:30 pm. I am trying to figure out when I am supposed to get anything accomplished with juggling bus schedules and naptimes for the girls. I guess I will eventually get into some kind of routine. I do know this, the house is pretty quiet. I love it! =)

Labor Day Vacation

Every year, for the past three years, we have always gone to the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore on Michigan's west side. This year we decided to do something a little different. We went to Alpena which is on east side of the state. Who said you can't teach an old dog new tricks? Anyway, we had a lot of fun!

Friday, we visited the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary which protects one of America's best preserved and historically significant collection of shipwrecks. Unlike salt water shipwrecks, the fresh water of Lake Huron preserves the shipwrecks so that archaeologists can study and learn more about them. We really enjoyed the educational exhibits, films and the real-life ship we walked through. This enabled us to see what it was like on a ship during a storm. The boys said their favorite part of the sanctuary was the ship and seeing the artifacts from actual shipwrecks.

We then headed off to see some lighthouses. Caleb has had a love for lighthouses since he was very little. When we learned that we were only 23 miles away from 2 of them, we thought why not? So we headed to Presque Isle (pronounced Presk Eel).

As we pulled up, we spotted a porcupine in the wooded area. It didn't seem all that bothered but as we approached it climbed a nearby tree. We didn't realize that porcupines climbed trees. When we left the lighthouse area, we checked on him and saw that he had climbed to the very top of the tree and looked like a rather large bird's nest.


We learned that the Old Presque Isle lighthouse was built in 1840 and was only meant to be used as a beacon for the Harbour. It only stands 40 feet tall. Once we climbed to the top, we thought that was tall enough. The spiral staircase became quite narrow and then to get to the very top, we had to climb a narrow ladder. It was a little nerve racking. It was fun to see the view of Lake Huron, but not to look straight down. When we were getting ready to leave, Jake noticed a pillory. We all took turns being held captive while Mom tortured the kids with taking more pictures. =)

Next we all piled into the car to go up the road to the new Presque Isle lighthouse. It was built in 1870 and is 70 feet tall. We were not able to climb to the top of this one because they were getting ready to close. Matt said that he might have chickened out anyway. Maybe next year. We did learn that this lighthouse is the tallest that you can climb within the Great Lakes Region. This one is still in service and the light runs on a timer. Its light only reaches 5 miles out, but they are hoping soon to have the larger light installed which would reach 27 miles out. Who would have guessed that they are waiting on no one, but Congress!!

After all the time traveling on Friday, the boys were begging to go to the lake on Saturday. We all had another enjoyable day. The boys decided to take the canoe across the lake with Dad swimming along side. I guess on the way back Danny wanted to swim across with Matt in the canoe. Long story short, when Danny jumped in the water, the canoe capsized. I had been watching them and happened to glance down to watch the girls for a second and when I looked back up, all I saw was a lot of yellow, not orange. I thought I was watching the wrong canoe. Little did I know what happened until they came back to shore. Good thing the lake was busy. There was a pontoon boat full of women that saw it tip over and they came to the rescue. They helped the three younger boys onto their boat while Matt and Danny helped flip it back over from the water. One would think this would scare kids from riding in a canoe, not my kids! They spent the rest of the time at the lake capsizing the canoe in the shallow water on purpose so if it ever happened again, they would know how to handle the situation.

Later that evening we enjoyed our favorite camping treat - smores! Abby was always tired and ready for bed before we had the fire going so she didn't get the chance to try the all time favorite camping treat.

We sure enjoyed our peaceful and relaxing vacation up North before having to come back to the grindstone. Matt and the boys were able to shoot the guns a couple of times. This year was the first time they were able to do clay pigeons. They had a lot of fun and the report I was given was they did really good. To end the trip Matt and the boys were even able to get in a little bit of fishing on our way home.

A Unique Pack Meeting

On August 15th we had a pretty unique Cub Scout Pack Meeting. Danny was crossing over from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts, Jake was awarded his Bear Badge and Aaron was awarded both his Bobcat and Wolf Badges. This will be the only time we will have three boys in the Cub Scout program at the same time.
Back in May, Aaron came into Cub Scouts and Danny technically graduated from the program in June. Because of Day Camp in June and missing July's Pack Meeting because of Danny's Championship Baseball game we were postponed until August to have this pretty cool meeting.
We are so proud of our boys and all that they have accomplished so far in the Cub Scout program. Hopefully this will be a great start towards getting their Eagle Scout award.

Clarissa the Builder

A couple times a month we find ourselves at Lowe's working on a fun wood project. This time we build a minituare school locker. The past few times they have allowed Clarissa to do the project along with the boys. I am so glad I brought the camera along with me this time. Isn't she so cute with those gigantic goggles on? She thinks she is just as big as her brothers. Who says a girl can't use a hammer doesn't know our little girl!

Caleb's Safety Town

The week of August 4th, Caleb got the chance to attend Safety Town. He went Monday thru Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. On Friday they even had a little graduation for the kids. Caleb had so much fun that week. He was excited to be with his friends Brock & Benjamin. They learned how to be safe with fire, power lines, safety belts, stranger danger and water safety. He even got the chance to ride on a school bus. They figure this is a good way to get the kids comfortable with riding on one before school starts. Caleb said his favorite part of the week was when the firefighters came and let the kids spray the hose at a wood house and sit up in the truck.

Fun at the Zoo

Okay, so I am really late getting our blog updated. It seems that I can only get to posting about once a month. Hopefully with Fall approaching that will change.

Matt's work schedule is such that he has every other Friday off so we have tried to do something fun on those days. In August we decided to spend some time at one of our favorite places. . . the Toledo Zoo! It doesn't seem to matter how often we go, we always find something new to see. This time we loved watching the giraffes run across the large area they're enclosed in. The zoo has this area that resembles Africa. There are straw huts that cover some of the tables used for eating. Coming out of these huts is a water spray mist. How refreshing is this on a hot and humid day! We stood around these huts for a few minutes enjoying the animals while getting cooled down.

We visited the elephants, lions, tigers, penguins, polar bears and the little people petting zoo. Also, before we left we found time to walk through their beautiful Botanical Gardens. I think one of the kids favorite places was one of our last. Getting ICE CREAM! That has been a tradition for about four years. The boys will not let us forget it. What a great way to end a fun day at the zoo.