the Week that was...

Last weekend was the start of our county fair.  We always hope to entice all the kids to come home so we can get the clan together but with all our busy schedules of late,...that's hard to do.  This year, I knew that it would be even more fun because they are all getting to an age where they would enjoy it.  I love to try to get all the grand kids to pose for pics and you have only a short window of opportunity before the high energy generation is on the go!

 Saturday was a soccer game of Cooper's and we were excited to witness a game.  Speaking of energy...he is certainly that for his team!!

 The week before he scored a goal and while he did not in this game, he came close enough for us to squeal a few times!

 It was fun to watch him with his team...they seem to be friends as well as teammates!

 Then Sunday, they all gathered for me patiently to take these shots....

 with families too...

 and some with just dads...

 then with boots on in the creek...

till they could wait no more and onward to the fair!

Sweet Emma

Sisters

and finally the novelty of no nap is wearing off...lol!

Stones...

Ahhhh!  Summer projects.  Don't you just love 'em?  Sometimes there are just too many to do.  Here are my men...Larry and Scoobie tending to one that needed to be done....

Last spring we lost our little foot bridge in a heavy rain so Larry decided it was time after a busy summer full of projects to finally replace it.  Along came a helper...Bryden (19 mo old...) who loves nothing better than tools!!

He has his own baby set and really gets into it all.   He was thrilled to see Paw-Paw working and really wanted to help.

Because of many rains, we have a lot of erosion beside the creek too, so we have known that we have to fill in that area beside the retaining wall.  The two of us...then the three of us jumped into the creek and heaved heavy stones into that area.  That's when Bryden learned a new word...STONES!  I love the way he says it and then grins! Too funny. He was totally soaked by evenings end Monday. 

Last night Larry set about adding sackcrete over that layer, followed by dirt, followed by grass seed.

I think it turned out marvelously.  Now it can rain again, to help the grass grow...as long as it doesn't pour,....and start the whole thing all over again!!!

Bailey's 4th Birthday!

 This is the birthday girl herself....Miss Bailey!!!  She was pretty excited about being 4.  She told me on the phone in the morning that the party was at 2 pm "you know" (lol) and it was raining, so she hoped it would quit before then. 

 It wasn't raining at home so we weren't surprised to see it start on the drive up.

 The party was at a "Little Gym" where Bailey takes lessons.  She also takes dance and is quite good at both.  Here she showed us some of her skills...

and we were very impressed!

Emma will follow in her sister's footsteps we think.  She normally has to sit behind a glass wall to watch her sister.  She was excited to be able to join in all the fun.  We wonder how that will go on lesson day again....

These days aren't without their tears...but aren't they cute ones????

Ahhhh....such memories!  Me, here with MY baby!!!

Finally the cake is lit and the real festivities begin....

You know, ...the horn blowing etc??

My favorite part of the day!!!

Lori's dad, Grandpa Jim helped opening gifts. Jim has his ever-ready Swiss army knife to patiently open boxes. 

Here is a gift from Lori's mom Grandma Becky who plays "present" with the girls at her house.  They take turns finding things to put in the box and surprise each other.  Cute game, I think!

Lori's side of the family....

And our family.

Happy, happy birthday, little girl!!!!

Our coaches

The coaches in our family are back in season!  Tim has been a long time cross country coach in a Columbus high school and really enjoys it!  He had a meet in our little town this last weekend so we watched his team run which is always a thrill for us.  

There is an intensity before a meet that is palpable and you can see it here where they are all stretching and receiving their tag numbers for racing.

I watched the three coaches on the team confer before the race and as it started, got the same old feeling of anxiety and pride that I used to when I watched my children run. 

There they go......they did well and went home with a big trophy!!

Chelsea is new to the coaching world...to a seventh grade girl's volleyball team!

Again, it's fun to watch the games and see all the work and effort put into these sports.  Wasn't it just yesterday that she was on this team??

She is ever patient and kind in dealing with these young girls, has taken 3 classes and is always studying to find new strategies.

Good luck to both teams this season...I'm your biggest fan!!!!

~And last but not least, a fun pic of Bryden this week that makes me smile...I can't be in the kitchen but that he is pulling on my leg.  Soon he is on a stool wanting to "stir" too.  Then he has to try it...sometimes warily, but mostly nodding "mmm!"  Ha!