A Game of Catch Up

The last two months have come and gone without me even realizing how far behind I am on keeping our families happy with cute pics of the kids. I won't mention any names, but I have been told that the pictures of the kids are all that matters- typing thoughts without including pictures is strickly prohibited now. So, to please my audience, I've included many pictures to make up for my slacking.

My mom's 55th birthday- a limo ride to The Greene

G the Giraffe and Josie the Princess



What a mess this child can make

She survived this jump without any broken bones

In an attempt to get a picture of the two together, this was the best one


You should see the other guy




All the grandkids wore these shirts for Grandpa Bergman's 60th


Showing off their ribbons from the tractor pulls

Josie's first tractor pulls at the Russia Picnic



Our Mozart


Grandpa Bergman's 60th



One of Josie's favorite parts from the Disney on Ice show



Sleeping Beauty at the Disney on Ice show


Josie's first day of preschool

Josie and her Nana at the Francis reunion

My Handsome Boys

I don't know what it is about this picture, but there is just something that makes me absolutely love it. It could be several things. Grant looks so grown up as he patiently sits. Maybe it is that he appears so patient, but in reality his was not wanting to sit still for a moment. The toilet paper roll in Grant's hand is very Grant. He has to have something to keep him occupied at all times. I love Tony's concentration as all parents know; getting lace shoes on a 1 year old is tough business. Maybe it is the father/son matching shirts. Whatever it may be it is priceless to me.

Keeping Our Fingers Crossed...

in hopes that Grant made the Blue Man Group tryouts.

Happy 4th Birthday!

Happy 4th my sweet Josie! You are really becoming a very grown up little girl.





I LOVE the expressions the kids are making on this picture!













This is Josie's actual birthday. We also celebrated with the family a few days later.

Josie picked out her cake...Sleeping Beauty. She thought it was the prettiest cake ever made. The Sleeping Beauty/Prince figurine even spun around although the prince's foot drug in the icing.

Josie thought she had to have glasses on also, just like Nana.

Summer Swimming

Josie completed her first swimming lesson class recently. It was a week long class which started out a little rough. I am not quite sure if she got past getting her feet wet on the first day. By the last class she was going down the slide, learning how to float, and somewhat putting her face under water. Her good friend, Micah, was also in the class with her. They both were rewarded (or you can call it bribed) with M&M's afterwards.
The first two pictures are from a mom's outing to the pool with all the kids. I don't know what they loved more; the swimming or the 10 pounds of cheese balls they devoured. As you can see, Josie's friend, Sienna, along with all the other kids, had orange stained fingers for the next week!

Summer Pics

A cozy coop car was one of Grant's 1st birthday gifts. It is a BIG hit between both kids.

Spending the day at the pool and being hand fed by my girlfriend...Life is Good

Just chillin'




Josie has become quite the little artist lately. This is one of her first canvas creations.

Franklin Conservatory

I am a little behind on the blogging lately. The summer is rushing by like a whirlwind. About three weeks ago I brought the kids to Columbus to visit my sister. We went to the Franklin Conservatory. The conservatory is broken into sections, each highlighting different plants of that area. It was a good place to go, but I can't say it was very kid-friendly. Dealing with the stroller was a pain and each conservatory was a tropical location so it was scorching hot. The last section was full of butterflies. I think it was the Costa Rica part. Josie was scared of the butterflies and by that time Grant had had enough of looking at plants in 100 degree weather. You'll see in the last picture some colored glass. This is Chihuly glass which is featured alot around the conservatory. They also had a glass blowing demonstration but the kids didn't cooperate.

Happy Father's Day

To celebrate Father's Day we spent time at the lake all day Sunday. It was a lazy and somewhat relaxing day. It can never be 100% relaxing when you have to keep your eyes on two little ones around the water. Fortunately, mom and dad's house has a gated deck, so we were able to gate the kids in. The several inches of water in the baby pool kept the kids busy while the adults drank margaritas, played cornhole, ate chips and salsa, and chatted.
The last two lake trips were rain outs for us. Both times we took the boat out it started to rain and ended our fun. Luckily this time there was no rain, but instead a lake filled with thick, sludge-type algae. Lake St. Marys has been battling poor water conditions for several years. This was the worst it has ever been. We all described it as John Deere tractor paint poured into the lake with an added bonus of a dead fish scent. My words don't do justice and I don't have any pictures to back up how bad it really was. We hope the water quality problem is solved fast so we can enjoy our boat rides more.
It was a great day despite the St. Patrick's Day water. Happy Fathers Day, Dad and Tony!

The List

I've been transitioning into the stay-at-home mom role for just under two weeks. I think I have the handle of it. I have figured out the basics; wake time, walk time, lunch time, nap time. This pretty much makes up our days. I try to do something special with the kids on most days.

It is my nature to make a list for everything. I have a grocery list, projects to do around the house list, school work list, items we need to buy for the house list, book I want to read lists, and the list of lists goes on. I LOVE making lists!

One such list is titled "Summer Accomplishments" These are all the things we accomplished in the two weeks I have been home with the kids.
*Dragons baseball game
*Jumpy's in Troy
*organize the art cabinet
*backyard pool and sprinkler time
*story time at the library
*purging the house for Goodwill items (always ongoing)
*baking cookies
*several play dates

There is also a list of things we still want to do before school starts.
*Idle-Hour Ranch in Troy
*New Bremen pool
*Columbus zoo
*strawberry picking
*blueberry picking at Kringles
*Boonshoft Museum
*The Greene (to let the kids play in the water fountains)
*several art projects I've collected from Family Fun magazine

Any ideas to add to my list? Send them our way!

Happy 1st Birthday Grant!

He's 1!!! My baby is growing up so fast. Most of our family was able to come and help Grant celebrate his first year. The day was perfect. The only small mishap involved the cake. I picked the cake up the day before the party and stored it in the basement fridge overnight. The morning of Grant's party I took the cake out of the fridge and noticed some very small fingers had poked the cake. Hmmm...wonder who the guilty one was?? As I set the cake on the counter, I noticed the cake's message didn't quite read right. "Happy irthday Grant" The guilty one (not mentioning names) not only poked her fingers into the cake in several areas, but she also decided to take a little taste of the icing...the entire "B" from the word birthday had vanished!



Grant's One Year Stats
weight-26.9 lbs (90th %tile)
height- 32 1/2 inches (97th %tile)

Dad's One Year Stats
weight- 27 lbs.

height- 31 1/2 inches

Grillin' Season

Let the grilling season begin. Pictured here are two "grillers"...my dad, the expert, and Josie, the griller in training.

It sure is hard to get the grill out with all this rain!

Pink Princess

It was a very big day just several weeks ago. Josie got her first big girl bike. Dad picked it out all himself and he couldn't have done a better job. The excitement a little girl has about her Disney princess bike is in similar comparison to an adult winning the lottery. Josie is in heaven. She ooohs and ahhhs at the bike and absolutely idolizes the Pink Princess, but

THERE IS ONE (somewhat big) ISSUE...

she is scared to death to ride Pink Princess!

Easter

This was one of Grant's first experiences with grass. His dislike of the feel of it was very strong!

It was close to a nightmare trying to get the Bergman grandkids to pose for a picture. This was the best out of my 20some.

Uncle Brandon and Aunt Jen loaded up the kids' easter baskets with lots of goodies.

Before I could even get a picture of Josephine with her chocolate bunny it was long gone. The only evidence was the chocolate all over her hands and face.