The weekend...

We had a relaxing Father's Day weekend. We spent Sunday celebrating with Papa and are looking forward to spending next week with Pops in Missouri. We are so blessed to have two awesome dads. We love them both very much. I took several pictures of Papa and Ben together shooting a dart gun in Papa's backyard (Ben was loving it!), but for some reason they turned out blurry. I'm still trying to figure out some of the settings on my camera. Anyway, below are a few pictures from the weekend. I especially LOVE the picture of Mike and Nattie. I included it in the video I made for him, but I thought it was cute enough to be posted again. We are looking forward to this weekend when Brad and Christina get married and then a week long vacation at my parents. Summer is here!

With love...

His heritage to his children wasn't words or possessions, but an unspoken treasure, the treasure of his example as a man and a father. -- Will Rogers Jr.

Happy Days...

We spent Saturday outside...Benny did a little biking, Nattie was working on her tan (while wearing SPF50), and I was taking pictures (what's new?). Mike had a basketball commitment all day, so it was just me and my kiddos. We had fun going on a long walk, with a pit stop at Circle K, for a blue slushie and some snacks too!

Now that Mike is officially done with school we'll get to spend my day's off together, so today we took advantage of the nice weather and went on a hike in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park...the Happy Days Loop. We decided to let Ben walk and we put Nat in the big carrier...since, let's face it, she's not that tiny anymore! :) They both did great. Ben impressed us by walking 2 1/2 miles all by himself. I'm sure his little legs were worn out! It is a cool hike with lots of big rocks and nooks and crannies to explore. Mike brought his head lamp for Ben to wear when they were exploring. He LOVED it. :)

A few more of my sleepy girl and my little explorer....

Finally, I think this is the first video I've ever posted of Nattie. Here she is giggling for us. I just love my happy little baby. :)

A new extreme sport...

...couch jumping or diving or something in between. This would be Ben's new favorite thing to do. Check out the serious hang time he gets in some of these shots! He hates getting his picture taken, but he was begging me to keep snapping photos and was cracking up looking at himself in mid-air. What a wild man! I'm sure there is hardly any cushion left in our furniture at this point...oh well. Don't worry, I won't let him do this at your house. :)

Here's just the typical collage of random pictures from the last few days. Ben has made us laugh lately with some of his crazy comments (actually, making us laugh is something he does on a regular basis). He got a new b-ball shirt from Daddy the other day and walked up to me after putting it on and said..."Mom, touch my shirt. It's magical. It will change your life." Hmmm...interesting?! I then spent the next 30 minutes touching his shirt, making some kind of crazy sound, and pretending like I was turning into different people or creatures. He LOVED it. :)

Today we were running some errands and Nattie was hungry and crying in the backseat of the car. Ben said, after he had heard enough..."Can we trade her for a baby that doesn't cry so much?" :) He really does love her though...I promise. When he doesn't think we are looking I'll catch him talking to her in a sweet little voice. :)

I heart weekends!

We had a nice, relaxing weekend. I accomplished some things I've been needing to get done for Brad and Christina's wedding (shoes, rehearsal dress, etc) and had fun hanging out with my little fam. Nattie wore a few of her newer spring/summer outfits this weekend and, as always, I thought she looked adorable. Little girl clothes are just so bright and cheery. I'm not having to accessorize with bows as much lately, as I think she's starting to look more and more girly...even with minimal hair! :)

This afternoon after church Ben was napping and Mike was at the gym for something with b-ball, so I was lying on the couch holding a sleeping Nattie, flipping through channels on TV. I started watching a wonderful Samuel L. Jackson flick (note sarcasm) and got sucked in...Snakes on a Plane. Let me tell you...that is one quality film. :) I'm sad to admit...I've seen it before (if you can believe that), but it just made me really glad that I don't have the need to fly anywhere anytime soon. I can't say I recommend that you run out and rent this one...but it was oddly funny and creepy all at the same time. Who comes up with this crap and why have I actually seen it twice now?! I don't blame you for judging me. :)

I never showered today...

...and that's pretty typical for my days off. In fact, I never even got out of my pajamas until about 6 pm and then it was only because I needed to run a quick errand. While I know I would LOVE being a full-time stay-at-home mom, it just isn't realistic for us for a number of reasons...one of those reasons may just be that God knows that if I were to be at home, I might never be clean again. :) Working outside my home is motivation to bathe...I guess that's a good thing?!

Anyway, here are a few shots from the last few days. I tried giving Nattie some peas this week, since she was doing a decent job with the cereal. She liked them alright. I'm not doing anything overly consistent in terms of baby food yet, just testing the waters. I just like looking at her with food all over her face. :)

My little man has been LOVING the computer more and more lately...whether it's PBSkids.org or videos of train layouts on YouTube, I've had to, on more than one occasion, tell him NO more! It really is crazy that kids as young as him can navigate their way around the Internet already. We have his sites saved as favorites, so he knows just where to click to go where he wants. :) It won't be long and I'm sure we'll be figuring out the parental controls on our computer!