Ross Reflections. . .

So today started out a bit slow. You never know why but we soon came up with a couple of reasons. First, no signs were up to advertise our Saturday sale because there were terrible storms and a tornado warning late last night that sent our family and the Demorest's to the Raike's basement. The signs from the day before were no longer legible. Or the sale could have been very slow due to graduation weekend and a ridiculous amount of open houses for people to attend. But we made up our own fun and by 9:30 our husbands had arrived with the kids and we had a little party. Again, this is why I LOVE garage sales. We also found some "winner" t-shirts that were on the tables to be sold and decided to model them. 100% Beefcake is by far the best!! Then we had a "Garage Sale Glamour Shots" photo shoot and laughed hard. This lady was very interested in purchasing this mattress. At one point the lady was lying on it and Beth was too. I missed the real Kodak moment but...

Desirae, Beth and Kristin working the cash box. (Kristin trying to appear shorter than she really is.) Traci, Erica and I are not pictured but were the others included in the sale. As I write I am exhausted and I ask myself, "Is it worth it?" Having a garage sale is A LOT of work and if I would divide the money I make by the hours I put into getting ready, purging my house, pricing, setting up, etc. it wouldn't be worth it so I don't figure out that little equation. Instead, I LOVE having garage sales for the following reasons: 1. My mom did them when I was little and I have great memories of eating doughnuts for breakfast, being allowed to collect money when I got a little older, getting lunch at Smokehouse, and hanging out with my childhood best friend Jenny while our moms worked the sale. 2. Anything I put in the sale I am so sick of and don't want, so to get ANY money for my junk is a bonus because I am ready to trash it all. I just pack up what is left at th...

My Big Slugger Hint: Open your eyes and aim a little higher. All I have to say is I am so excited for soccer season . Nothing against t-ball but Logan is a runner. I LOVE these pictures of her running. She has got that down and takes running the bases very seriously. She is having a blast playing t-ball. The first time she got on first base tonight she yelled at me, "I need my water bottle." Her head isn't quite in the game but she is having a blast. Running from first base to second, her feet aren't touching the ground. Fielding, an action shot. Logan seemed to get frustrated because she really wanted to catch/touch the ball. Minutes later, Logan not caring about anything. This is typical T-ball. Snow cones: the real reason the game is played. Logan yelled to me from the outfield, "Can I have my snow cone now?" Again, not totally into the game but having so much fun. Logan is also thrilled to be playing with Kailey and Gabe Demorest. Miss Dorothy came to...

We woke up Monday to an unexpected sunny day and we were off. Mom and Dad took the boys on a walk to "campus" and my dad took these pictures. Noah joined me on my run when we crossed paths on the loop and he biked along. It was fun be with him, a very good distraction to me since it was very hot. I realized I never trained for the mini in hot weather. As soon as we got home the "boys" Gary, Dad and Noah headed to the golf course. Another perfect day for golf and Noah parred hole 3 legitimately. Way to go buddy! Mom and I stayed home with Logan and Isaiah and Logan kept us extremely entertained. I could spend hours watching Logan when she is in her own world, singing and living in pretend play mode. She loves her water table and spend hours watering the dirt, making mud for Isaiah to stomp through or sit down in. This is going to be a GREAT summer (ha, ha) I have already decided that I can NOT fill the sandbox this summer for my own sanity. Logan would lo...

I am declaring today Memorial Day and we celebrated the holiday outside ALL day knowing that it is supposed to be raining all day tomorrow. The guys skipped church and went golfing, (actually they attended Fairways Baptist and heard a delightful sermon from Pastor Bogey.) Jamison said it was golfing 101 for him. My dad had made him golf clubs for Christmas and Jay took the plastic off them this morning. Gary was just happy to be on the course on such a beautiful day. Noah also missed church due to a fever he has been fighting since Friday afternoon and tonight we took him to the Dr. because I was worried he might have strep. Negative. Wait it out. Crap, there went 35 bucks and a lot of gas to Muncie. But, I do have peace of mind knowing that it isn't strep. We had a great day and packed it full. We are also quite tired and sunburned. Isaiah is showing signs of loving sports more and more. Golf is the sport of choice right now. Gary was helping Isaiah hit balls in the yard...

Today I tried to relive a piece of my past. I have the fondest memories of family friends coming over in the summer for homemade onion rings and frozen nectarine drinks. I was reminiscing about this one time when I was with my sister and she recently bought me a deep fat fryer. So today we made onion rings. My mom (pictured above) and dad and Amy and Jamison came today for the weekend. Needless to say, many things went wrong starting with not having enough oil and having to run to the store, and my timing of how long this process would take was a bit off, ok WAY OFF. Everyone was a good sport, we ate in shifts and I think everyone had a good meal and fun. Our dear neighbor Dorothy joined us for dinner, we love having her over to be part of our family. Round two of onion ring making will take place tomorrow night This is "Miss Dorothy" as we call her. My kids LOVE her and she means a lot to our family. Noah has enjoyed reading to Dorothy consistently over the winter, although ...

Today was Logan's photo shoot for her four year picture. Noah (seven years old) had his picture take a couple of weeks ago but I never posted them. Would you believe these were taken downtown. . . . Upland?? Traci Falder, (my running partner) has abandoned running with me to pursue her dream of starting a photography business. (no hurt feelings) She is extremely talented and I encourage you to check out her photography blog at tracifalderphotography.blogspot.com. In between these two photo shoots, I took Isaiah to JCPenny's for his picture because my membership runs out at the end of this month. After trying to keep my active 18 month old on a red dot, in a tiny room, with a billion props to look at, (but me not letting him hold any), it was all I could do to not walk out and call Traci to redo his pics. Which I will in the next week, hopefully:) When I first saw Noah sitting like this, I immediately thought this is exactly how Gary would sit. Traci told Noah to sit on this ben...

Hey baby, are you ready to take a nap? Do you need a blanket? Here you go baby, I hope you are comfortable. Go to sleep. Lately, with all the babies and mothering going on, Isaiah has been playing in the pack n play. He really loves it despite the many times he topples over. He just climbs back in.

This is Pablo, the penguin for those of you who aren't up on the Backyardigans characters. I think we are a couple of years behind the trend but we are embracing these adorable characters and belting out their music. And I do mean we, including Gary, we all have our favorite songs and think the music is extremely catchy. Gary and I find ourselves singing it at the strangest times even when the kids aren't around. The party was so much fun and Logan was as happy as can be. These are Logan's three closest friends, except for Millie Raikes who was home with a cold. Oh, and we can't forget Olivia Greene who is always on the invite list but lives in Michigan. Maggie Spiegel, Logan, Kailey Demorest, and Ella Crouch. Maggie and Ella are going to be in Logan's pre-school class in the fall which I am thrilled about. Kailey is in kindergarten and Logan's waits patiently many days for Kailey to get out of school at lunch time. You can't tell from this picture due to t...

As I checked on the kids before heading to bed to blog this is what I found. Logan was put in her own bed at bedtime but once in a while ends up right next to Noah. You would never guess that Noah wasn't the kindest brother to Logan today. I wouldn't consider these two rivals in any means because they do laugh A LOT and play together, but they know how to push each other's buttons like any brother and sister do. You can't tell from these pictures but Logan and Isaiah are my sibling rivals. Watch out! As soon as Isaiah sees Logan coming towards my bed in the morning, he lays right down on top of me with his head down, this looks and feels an awful like snuggling but it is him claiming me as his own and if he could talk, his words might be "Back off, Logan." Logan isn't innocent in this rivalry either, choosing to play with the exact toy that would upset Isaiah the most. It can be funny but gets old by 8 a.m. Obviously from these pictures they do have peace...

Gary took Logan to Indianapolis today on date. Logan didn't know where she was going but was anxious to find out her surprise. Gary took her to the Murat Theatre to see the Backyardigans LIVE. Gary said she was mesmerized and at one point she reached up and just hugged him because she was so happy to be there. She was crying and was very sad when it was over saying, "I don't want to leave this place." Tonight when Gary was putting her to bed, Logan said, "Remember when we went on that date tomorrow?" She had a blast and will talk about it for weeks. I sent my camera with Gary, knowing that this was the biggest event of the day and I would want to blog about it. These were the best two of what I had to choose from. One of Logan in front of the car???? Why??? and her jumping in front of the theatre before they entered. I am thankful for Gary's efforts at capturing the experience and his willingness to take any pictures at all. He is an amazing daddy, Logan...

Noah as "Lead Off" Batter, which has become Coach Spiegel's nick name for him. This weekend we had a game Friday night and Saturday afternoon. Noah's team is 2-2 and Noah is having a great time. He is batting well and improving out in the field at his new position of pitcher. Last year he played third base and really liked that. Noah is learning to think about where he should throw the ball to get someone out BEFORE the other team hits. He has fielded well and then made errors in where he has or has not thrown the ball. This will come for him as he keeps playing. I hope this doesn't sound critical, I think Noah is a fantastic athlete for his age (I hope that doesn't sound braggy) I just want to journal where he is ability wise so we can look back and see where he improves over time. Noah at first base. Justin Singer as first baseman, a friend of Noah's from church and King's . Noah, Bailey Spiegel, and Conner Raikes. The Three Musketeers. Snow cone ...