DRAFT TIME!!!!

Tom was home all day today and left for work around 4 tonight.  It is draft time!  Tom will be in the room with all the big time people involved with the Cleveland Browns.  He will be on the phone talking to one of the Browns video guys who is in New York.  GO BROWNS!!!!!!

Side note:  While everyone is watching the draft, I am watching the clock.  When a team picks before their time is up, I get really excited.  I probably won't be up when Tom gets home tonight but maybe the 1st round will go really quick and I will get to see him before bed :)!! 

Fool the guesser!!

This past weekend we went to an indoor amusement park at the IX center about 15 min from our house.  This event is held at the exhibition center every April.  There are tons of rides, lots of food, and carnival games as well.  This was the first fun thing we did in Ohio last year after we arrived.  It was very fun to go back with the girls.  It seems crazy that we have been here for a year.  Last year Kiara, Mckenna, and I arrived the day after Easter on April 5th.  This past weekend we spent a lot of time talking about the fact that it has been a year.  We had mostly laughs and fun things to share about our time here in Ohio but there were definitely a few sad moments as well.  It is difficult that Tom has not been back to Seattle in over a year.  The reality that we live here, set in this weekend big time.  Minus the moments of sadness, we are loving life in Ohio.  The fact that our house has been full of people visiting us has definitely been the highlight of our time here.  This weekend marked our first Easter by ourselves in Ohio as well as a full year of being in a new place.  I think it is time to stop calling it new :)! 

Back to the IX center...... We walked in and the first ride was the Merry go Round.  Thank goodness for Tom, because I did not feel like going round and round 100 times. 

The girls continued to go on rides and they were LOVING it!  During one of the rides Kiara and Mckenna were on, I looked over and noticed this booth.  

There was an obnoxious man screaming into a microphone that he could guess any persons age within 2 years and I had a GREAT idea.  "Tom, you need to go and win the girls a prize because there is NO way he can guess you age"!!  Tom gets carded everywhere.  There are times (way too many) where Tom gets carded and I don't.  So I talked him into going by himself.  There is no way with three little kids and with me as his wife (don't worry I am OK with it) that he would get away with being as young as he looks.  So he agreed!  LOVE HIM!!  The girls and I stood around the corner and he walked up to the booth, paid his money and.........

28!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tom won (he is 34 by the way)!  He called Kiara and Mckenna over and they got to pick out a prize.  

We continued to go on rides, play games and had a great time.  We didn't take any pictures of rides this year but I took a few last year that I think are important to share :).

Last year, on our way out the door, we saw a basketball booth.  To win a prize you need to make a basket that is definitely longer than a free throw.  $3 for 1 shot or $5 for 3 shots.  Tom said "I only need 1 shot."  I paid $5 to give him 3.  He made his first shot (figures).  This is what we took home.

This was something the girls remembered from last year and wanted Daddy to do again.  So before we left the IX center, we walked up to the basketball booth.  Again, I paid $5 for 3 shots.  Tom missed the first....... pressure is on...... second shot is up and IT IS GOOD!!!! Once again Tom won a gigantic stuffed animal to take home.

Daddy is the best!!!  He is such a great dad and a great husband!  I will say again that we are all so excited to have him come with us to Seattle the next time we go! :)!!!!

 

 

Ava, Ava, Ava

Ava has not been the most expressive baby.  She has never had any problems letting us know when she is mad but otherwise is a pretty level baby.  The past couple of weeks she has been coming out of her shell.  She laughs, splashes in the bath, gets shy around adults (in a super cute way), gets very proud of herself when she is eating or is able to reach a toy, and the best of all, puts both arms in the air when we say "YEAH AVA!!"  (well, most of the time).



Golf

Ben loved golf.  He loved watching golf, playing golf, and watching his dad and uncles play Tiger Woods golf.  He was a natural at the sport.  His swing and his follow through were off the charts.  Ryan has recently taken an interest in golf as well.  From what we have heard and seen on a short video Jeff sent, Ryan is a natural as well.  While watching the video of Ryan, Tom said "look at that swing!!!".

We can officially say that Mckenna is NOT a natural at golf like her cousins :)! In her sporties class this week they played golf.  I couldn't help it, I had to take a video. 

Of course, Mckenna had a GREAT time and was so excited to tell her daddy that she played golf in class!  

Flying a Kite

Is it windy in Ohio? 

Soccer in Ohio is not that different than soccer in Washington.

I want to say THANK YOU to our parents for enduring youth soccer in the rain.  I have much respect and new found admiration for watching soccer in the rain, something I know our parents did for a long time.

This morning we woke up and got everyone ready for our normal soccer Saturday.  It was anything but normal., 20+ mph winds and a driving rainstorm on a field of mud.  Kiara had the early game, Mckenna's was second, we didn't make it to the second game (pretty sure they cancelled it though).  Here is Kiara at halftime...

 It is a little hard to tell, but she is drenched, had to completely undress to get in the car.

So we thought being from Seattle we could handle the rain.  This rain was different.  Deborah, MC, and Ava retreated to the car early that I had brought around so they could watch the game.  I was not going to abandon Kiara on the field.  At times the wind blew the umbrella so hard I had to move my feet, seriously had to keep my knees bent and in an athletic position.  Kiara had a lot of fun, but complained of being cold and wet in the car on the way home.  Here was the view for Deborah:

 It is a little hard to tell how hard it was raining, except for the RIVER that is flowing down the street in front of the car...Kiara is the one with the pink hood.

Meanwhile classic Mckenna in the car with Momma and Ava.  Of course we didn't let the rain stop us too much, hit up Five Guys in wet jeans for lunch on the way home.  Hope everyone is having a good weekend.

Go Browns!

Mckenna Kay

I love Mckenna's hair.  It is beautiful and fun, just like her.  Here is a progression of Mckenna's hair over the past 4 years......

This picture was taken on Sunday when we went to visit the Easter Bunny at the mall.

Mckenna's hair is beautiful.  I know that she will be self concious of her hair for the next hmmmmmm.... long time.  But we will continue to tell her what she will eventually realize for herself, that her hair is AWESOME!!  So, onto the next picture......   Mckenna asks to have her hair straight (like Kiara's) about once a week.  She sees Kiara get her hair blow dried (every few weeks) and asks if she can have hers blow dried as well.  Every once in a while I dry it for a minute on the low setting but can't do it much longer than that.  Last night she had a shower.  Kiara was playing and Ava was sleeping so I asked Mckenna if she wanted me to blow dry her hair.  She was SO EXCITED!  So I dried her hair.  When I was done, I asked if she would like it straight, and once again she was so excited.  Are you all ready??  Drum roll please :)

Tom walked in the door and couldn't believe it.  She was so cute.  She kept touching her hair, tossing it to the side, and brushing it (which she never has a chance to do).  The best part of this story is that on the way to preschool this morning I realized that Mckenna had school pictures - whoops.  I had fun doing this with Mckenna and took pictures at home but definitely did not intend for her hair to be straight for her preschool picture.  Not to worry, Ms. Dianne made a special exception for Mckenna to have her picture taken on Thursday.  So back to curly we will go tomorrow and I know this will be fun for her as well.  Mckenna is beautiful in every way and I love her so much!!  I still can't get over how long her hair is :)!

kiaras week in seattle

The arplan was long but it was wrth it. I had rily rily fun in seattle.

I had a lot of fun with Emoly.

Ava and Copr had fun togethr .

I had fun plaing nintendo  with mason.

I had fun with robby and  allison.

I olso plad bascit bol with Ryan. I had an ovr nite with Grandma and Grandpa.  It was fun with Gram and Gramps.

I love seattle.

Seattle

Where do I begin?  The last minute trip to Seattle was a great decision.  The girls and I had a fantastic time at home.  We were only home for 5 nights but it felt like it was longer (in a good way).  Everyone went out of their way to spend as much time with us as possible, and for that I am grateful.  I wanted to see all of our siblings (check), spend time with all of the cousins (check), and have quality time with our parents (check).  We also got to see Tom's grandparents and Great Grandad.  An extra (big extra) bonus for me was getting to see Brooke and Carrie for a drink.  Here are some of the highlights......

One of my favorites.  Ava is very happy with Uncle Jeff (and Barney - ha).

Grandma feeding Ava.  Getting ready for Grandma and Grandpa to come to Ohio to watch the girls while Tom and I head to Cannon's wedding in Texas (yeah).

Uncle Craig is so funny and so snuggly :)

Emily watching a video with the girls.  This only lasted a few minutes but long enough for me to get a pic.

CHEERS!! The kids getting a drink after open gym. 

Kiara reading to Great Grandad.  She was only going to read him a couple of pages but they both got into the book and ended up finishing it. 

Cooper and Ava "sharing" a water bottle.  This was by far the favorite toy of the weekend.

Can you tell who is who???  Love this picture.

Great Grandpa, Kiara, and Mckenna

Mckenna doing stickers with Great Grandma.

Lunch time!  Hanging out at Brian & Holly's with the cousins = lots of fun!!

Ava having a great time with Gram.

Bead city!  Look how happy Mckenna is :)!

Gramps reading to the girls before bed.

Perfect, just perfect.

Spending time with the Headlee's is ALWAYS so much fun!!

Snuggling with Ava and playing on the IPad.

Uncle Rob and Ava.  It was so fun to have Rob and Allison in town with us.  The best part is, now they will always be in town when we come to visit!!!

Great Grandad hanging out with Ava!

I tried to pick just a few pictures but had trouble (obviously).  Again, thanks to all of our family and friends to make an effort to spend so much time with us.  It was great to be "home".  Coming back to Ohio was exciting as well.  I walked into the house late Monday night and felt at peace.  I love our house, I love our life here, and while we miss our family terribly, it was nice to be back at our new home.  On Tuesday, Mckenna was back at Sporties for Shorties, and Kiara went to Girl Scouts.  Our life here in Ohio continues and that is nice as well.  We missed Tom but not to worry he had a GREAT time in Palm Desert with his friends :)!  The next time we will be traveling to Seattle, he will be with us - how fun will that be?!?

whoops

Walked away for a few minutes (I don't remember leaving the food on her tray) and this is what

I came back to........ 1 happy girl!!

The Seattle trip was great and Tom had an awesome time in Palm Desert as well.  Pictures to come.....