Happy Father's Day!

We'd also like to wish Papa, Pepaw, Great Grandpa Schulz, and Great Grandpa Kerber a very happy Father's Day, and look forward to spending time with them. We are so blessed to have so many wonderful men in our lives! Thank you for loving us and for being such good grandpas to Holden.

Love and Marriage...

Do you have the song running through your head now? :) 5 years ago from yesterday, Jay and I took this picture at the Chateau hotel in Bloomington:

I can still remember what a beautiful evening it was as we took pictures and prepared for our reception. Thankfully, it was very different from the weather we had yesterday: pouring rain, pea sized hail, flash flooding, and major lightning and thunder. I had hoped to take a new picture by the fountain, but that was not to be this year!

Yes, 5 years, a teaching position, a new home, and one special little boy later...we headed back to the site of our reception to enjoy our anniversary without that little boy. :) My school has a carnival every year with raffle baskets, and Holden's ticket was actually drawn for an overnight at the Chateau and a free breakfast buffet. We told him he won an overnight at our house with Memaw and Aunt Allie instead. Thanks so much for watching him, you two!

We had dinner at Carlos O' Kelly's. Nothing fancy, but Jay and both LOVE Mexican food, and the chance to eat and have adult conversation in peace was wonderful. I got the chicken picablo, Jay got enchilladas, and we split a delicious oreo/ice cream/brownie concoction for dessert. Yummy!

This was taken in front of one of the indoor fountains, but you can't really see the background too well. We made use of the hot tub and also ordered in the movie, "Taken." It was really good! One we both agreed on.

This is where the tour ends. :) Happy Anniversary, Jay! I look forward to many more years of memories together.

Summer Softball!

Summertime and softball are words that go hand-in-hand in our household. Jay is playing with Meltdown Graphics again, a team with his cousin, Tim, and some of their buddies. He plays Mondays and Wednesdays and really enjoys it. His grandpa, Bill, comes every week without fail and keeps score for the team. Holden loves coming to the games, too...although he doesn't necessarily watch much of the game. He loves visiting with the players and Great Grandpa, playing on the playground, throwing balls, and just generally letting off some energy. (While I wonder how to capture some of it for myself!) I got some cute shots at Wednesday's game and thought I'd share. We can't wait to watch him play himself some day when he's just a little bigger, and his attention span is just a little longer. :)

Daddy, Holden (totally cheesing it!), and Great Grandpa

"Wanna play catch, Mommy?"

Holden was hamming it up so much I almost forget to get an action shot of Jay! :)

Some more of my little cutie pie. Jay's cousin, Tim, made him his own miniature Meltdown t-shirt which he proudly wears each week.

Holden adores the fun time he gets with his Great Grandpa! They are very goofy together.

My funny little guy.

P.S. Happy 5th anniversary, Jay! I love you! (We are headed out to an overnight trip...more on that soon. Thanks for babysitting, Memaw and Aunt Allie!)

My little reader!

One of the things about Holden being 2 that I am really enjoying is his sudden interest in books. I have read to him since he was in my tummy, and as an infant he loved when Jay or I would read to him. He'd turn his tiny head toward our voices and wave his hands around. Eventually, when he could focus on things, he liked to stare at the pictures; the brighter the better. Then he started to crawl, and then walk. Mobility took away the interest he'd seemed to have in books, other than to chew on them, use them as a hammer, a step stool from which to climb onto forbidden areas, something to throw in his dump truck, etc. I dismayed at ever enjoying the reading time that I remember loving with my parents as a child. I LOVE children's books; in fact, when I head into a bookstore nowadays, my first stop is still the children's section. Teaching first graders gives me a great outlet for that end, but I still longed to enjoy books with my own child. Suddenly, at 2, he is interested! I guess I wasn't patient enough. He won't let me read all the words on each page yet, but he frequently brings me favorites and asks me to "rock and read." A few of his first favorites are "Love You Forever," which he calls the "potty book" due to his favorite page, coincidentally the page about the boy as a 2 year old making a mess, :) a St. Louis Cardinals book about the mascot, Fredbird (which is hilarious since he can't stand characters and would probably flip out if he truly saw Fredbird!), and this book my Granny gave me that is extremely old-fashioned, called "Canticleer and the Fox." It is about a rooster living on a farm who almost gets eaten by a fox, until he outwits him. Holden loves pointing out the "mean, mean fox," and making animal noises for all of the animals on the farm. It cracks me up how much he likes it!

I signed him up for the Normal Public Library's reading program this summer. They have a program for very young children that involves their parents reading to them and writing the book titles down. Each time he reads 5 books at home with someone, he can turn in his reading log for a sticker and a prize. We go through way more books than that in a given day! This morning was rainy, and Jay is off this week, so we took Daddy along. We turned in the first two logs, so he got to pick 2 prizes. He picked play-doh and a coupon for free McDonald's french fries. We have a million books at home, but he enjoys getting new ones from the library. There is one whole tub in the children's area that has Tonka books that are all about trucks and vehicles. Holden is absolutely obsessed with construction vehicles right now, and calls them all "diggers." He also loves emergency rescue vehicles. He knows fire trucks and ambulances, and calls all police cars "Daddy cars," since Jay is a deputy. (So cute!) Tonight we read 10 books before bed, then read his favorite one again. The majority were about motorcycles, trucks, diggers, etc. Such a boy thing!

Here is my little reader at the library with one of his Tonka books.

The children's dept. has a really fun playroom with books, puzzles, puppets, arts and crafts, a train table, and other hands-on activities. Holden loves it in there!

Here he is enjoying some of his library books at home one morning. I came into the living room after putting the breakfast dishes away, and he had them spread all around him and was quietly "reading" to himself, pointing and commenting on the various vehicles he recognized. :)

The "Z double O" and the torch run!

"Z double O" is the phrase that Jay and I use to refer to the zoo when we don't want Holden to know what we are talking about. Namely, because he LOVES the zoo, and saying the word in front of him is kind of like saying "walk" in front of a dog. Not that I'm comparing my son to a dog. But it does have a similar effect! :) If you say "zoo," you'd better be prepared to take him there! On Friday, Holden and I met up with Brady, Kylie, and Kam for a zoo visit. We had great weather, and spent a little over 2 hours there. Brady and Holden actually ate lunch "on the move" in their strollers.

I love that they had their opposing team hats on all day! They look so cute together.

Holden loves smiley little "Ky-Ky," as he calls her.

Climbing on the tiger statue is a "must" each time we are there. Holden calls it "the Roar."Can you tell I slathered him up with sunscreen? His forehead is glowing!

The petting zoo was open, and Holden loved brushing the goats! When he wasn't pointing out the "gross poopy." At least I've taught him to look out for it! :) It was neat to see how fearless he was this year; last year he was too timid to even touch the goats.

Buddies taking a break. They have so much fun together!

I took a ride on the carousel with the boys while Kam and Kylie watched and took pictures. Both boys wanted to ride the elephant, so I really had to play up my sales pitch for how awesome the Dalmatian was. Luckily, Holden bought it! :) Upon exiting the ride, the man running it asked me how my "two cute sons" came to be wearing opposing team hats. I explained that they were best friends, not brothers. The man raised his eyebrows and said, "We'll see how long that lasts with the team thing!" Kam and I laughed and told him the boys' daddies have been friends for years and haven't let it get in the way. It makes for some fun ribbing at games.

Some more zoo shots. We saw the sun bears get fed, the hungry tiger roaring (to Holden's delight! He roared back at him), and had some hands-on fun in the zoo lab. The boys love the kitchen area in there. Holden was extremely brave and held a millipede! EWWW! I don't have an actual shot of him holding it, because it was a split second before he realized he didn't like the tiny legs crawling on him (again, Eww!) and flung it in the air! Fortunately it landed on the carpet (and not on me!!) and the zookeeper said it happens pretty frequently. I love the shot of Kylie in her sun hat. She is such a happy baby, always grinning, drooling, and showing off her dimples and those big cheeks!

After the zoo, Holden and I hunted Daddy down on his second torch run with the county deputies for the Special Olympics. The deputies made sure to put all the lights and sirens on for him, and he of course ate that up.

Jay ran with him for a teeny bit of the way. Holden thought he was hot stuff.

Kinda blurry, but Jay is the third one from the left.

I love this father and son shot. Holden thinks his Daddy is the best! He cried the whole way home for nap because he wanted to "run with Daddy and the beep beep lights." :)

More fun with friends

I decided to host a play date for some of Holden's friends and their Mommies at our house this past week. I was hoping we could play out back, but of course it was crummy weather, as is always the case if I plan something like this! :) No matter, the kids made thorough use of all of Holden's toys, we all enjoyed a yummy lunch, and Holden napped VERY well that afternoon! It was fun to get everyone together for a visit. I enjoyed the adult conversations!

The "culprits," err, I mean, kids. Holden, Cade, Baby Corinne, Bella, Colin, Natalie, Kylie, and Brady. Note the only picture of my son has him fighting over a toy with Cade. A toy that he normally could care less about. Until he sees someone ELSE playing with it! There is only one Corinne...I just couldn't choose between the two cute pictures of her!

I took a few shots of my demolished playroom. They did this in seriously the first 2 minutes they were here! What can I say, they know how to play hard. I should have taken a picture of my living room, too. On the plus side, both rooms are now super organized after my clean-up session!

Holden, Colin, Cade, and Bella had so much fun playing in the Elmo tent! Annie would wait until they crawled in, then lift it up and they would all scream and squeal. :)

My little painter

We got Holden one of those cheap plastic baby pools for the deck this summer. He loves filling it with the hose and splashing water on anyone nearby more than actually swimming in it! :) We put water in it in the morning and it is freezing cold, but by afternoon after he's done with his nap, the sun has warmed it up.

Testing with one foot...it's cold!

Filling his pool up! He frequently refers to the "free truck man" (translation: a firefighter) when he uses the hose. :)

Easily entertained. Yep, that is the vacuum attachment. Don't ask.

Memaw brought some washable paints over the other day, and we got some cheap brushes at the hardware dept. at Walmart. We let him paint his clubhouse and picnic table. He also decided painting HIMSELF was a good idea. I love how seriously he is taking his job!

I stripped him down since his outfit was a mess...and he was having so much fun sans the swim diaper, I let him have a little nude painting time. :)

Next he decided to extend the painting experience to his legs, lawn chair, and the deck...don't worry, it truly was washable and all came out with the hose. Somehow he managed to get it in his hair as well...

Just some other action shots in the great outdoors. He is such an outside boy most of the time, so we just love summer! (Can you hear him making "vroom vroom" noises pushing that truck?)