Oh Sweet GRADUATION!!!

I am so extremely proud of my sweet husband! Four and a half long years of College and it finally is over! Dave actually finished school in December, but just Monday night, was able to walk in his Graduation Commencement! Dave graduated from Purdue University, North Central Campus! He was one of the only ones in his Major that graduated 'With Distinction', which means he had an awesome GPA, and got to wear those awesome yellow cords at graduation. The graduates that received 'With Distinction' and 'With Highest Distinction' were recognized during the graduation ceremony. I was so proud of Dave when he got to stand up among about 30 others out of the whole school! It was great!

Getting his diploma (I was disappointed because the lighting was terrible for taking pictures, and most of my pictures are blurry! doh!)

Me and my Graduate! I love you Dave!!!

Our Family - typical poses :)

It has been a long four years for me, but we made it through! I'm so very proud of Dave! He has worked really hard! Throughout his schooling, he not only went to school full time, but also worked full time to support our family so I didn't have to go to work. What a MAN! Thank you, Dave, for your diligence in this grand adventure in your life! We are all so proud of you!!!

The boys were there too, and thanks to Grandma and Grandpa, they were kept pretty occupied!

(the ceremony was at 7pm, so it was 9 by the time this picture was taken, they were TIRED!) I'm so thankful for my mom and dad for showing Dave the support too! They love him very much and are proud of him as well!

My Mom, Dave and Dad.

Dave and one of his favorite professors! She loves Dave!

Visiting with Family & Friends

This past Sunday, we had the chance to go visit Dave's brother and his family and also his Grandparents which we haven't seen in a while! It was a great time at their house, just relaxing in the warm sunny weather outside! The boys got a good chance to visit and play with their cousin Kaitlyn, and their great grandparents! Missy cooked up an awesome lunch for us all and it was so nice! The boys had a great time and were good and worn out when we had to go home!

We went to church that morning in Frankfort, IL, and got to be reunited with the Mahoney family. Dave's friend, Kevin, was one of the awesome teenagers when Dave was a teen, that introduced him to the LDS church. I am so ever grateful for him for being a good example to my sweetie, because if it wasn't for his example, I would not have my sweetheart today!

Luke's a Preschool Graduate!

Yesterday was Luke's Preschool Graduation! He made it through the whole year and improved in many areas! We are so proud of his accomplishments! He was very well behaved during the program, which consisted of 2 songs that the kids didn't know very well, and the presenting of the certificates. It was so cute to see them in their little caps & tassles! Luke should be ready for kindergarten now! Great job, Luke! We love you!

Luke and his Teacher, Mrs. Mosely.

There's a first time for everything!

AH! Luke got a Dog Tick on him the other day! This was the first time Dave or I had to deal with getting a tick off of any one! I was a little freaked out, but luckily the tick had just barely gotten on him and was barely attached to his skin. The head wasn't even in yet, it was just hanging on with it's teeth (or whatever part holds on!?) I had never seen a tick in person and up close, so of course I needed to take pictures! haha! So here is how we found it and what the conversation was like...
I'm giving Luke a shower, and washing his hair, and noticed a bump... split his hair and saw it! AH! And 'ewe' was my first thought! Luke noticed I stopped washing and was poking around, and he said, "What is it?"
Me: "It's just a bump!"
(I then peeked my head out of the bathroom at Dave and whispered, 'I think Luke has a tick!' If I said it to Luke he would freak!)

Luke: "Mommy, what's on my head?"
Me: "Just a bump.. when we get you out of the shower we'll get it taken care of... don't worry about it"
Luke: "what kind of bump?"
(as you can see, the more we talked about the 'bump' the more he wanted to know)
Me: "It's just a bump that likes your head a lot!"
(his eyes are getting bigger now, and not sure that I can hide it from him!)
By this time, Dave is on the internet looking to find out how to remove ticks safely, and he spills the beans to Luke. I took a picture but refused to show it to Luke. (he freaked out about a tiny spider on him the other day) Luke started crying, but eventually we appeased him by making sure he knew it wouldn't hurt, and he could have cookies after he was done. He was good with that!
Long story short, we tried the alcohol, liquid soap, but eventually, Dave had to work it off by tugging softly at it with tweezers. Again, it wasn't in the skin yet, it just pulled of one piece of tiny skin, and didn't even leave a mark. Thank goodness!

Baseball has begun!

Ian started his baseball season a few weeks ago and is trying his darndest to improve each game! He has had 4 games, and still has only gotten one foul ball at bat. poor kid! He's not very interested in fielding either. He likes to bat, but hates that he strikes out all the time. He'll get better though! Dave is one of the assistant coaches this year, and I think Ian really likes that. I know Dave is having a great time! He's happy he's finally available to be a part of his kids activities! This year, Ian is REALLY excited about being the catcher! This is a major change of heart as I look back at all the tears that were shed in fall ball because he was afraid! He now prefers to be the catcher, and I like it, because he has more fun, and he pays attention to the game! I think he likes all the gear he gets to wear! haha! He looks so awesome in his uniform and I am proud of him when I get to watch his games! Keep up the good work, Ian!

Strike three... again. :(

Coach Chad and Daddy making him feel better after batting.

Ian's way of playing second base! aha!

Ian loves to organize the bats... hmmm.. maybe he'll be a manager or bat boy? ha!

Our 10th Anniversary Get-a-way!

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For our 10th Anniversary, we decided to do something special! We decided to go on a mini vacation to Turkey Run State Park! My mom watched the boys so we could go alone, thanks Mom!!! We stayed at the Turkey Run Inn and went hiking a little to the suspension bridge and some some rocky trails, went to the nature center, played pool and arcades in the game room of the Inn, went for a dip in the pool, had lots of yummy food, and talked to each other without being interrupted by 3 crazy boys! It was a dream! We both agreed that we need to do this more often - get away from the boys... not that we don't love them, but so we can just do something together without having to worry about who's fighting with who, someone getting hurt, who has to pee, and so forth! We also traveled a bit to go see some of the covered bridges in the county, but after 4, we were done with that. They all look the same anyway, so we figured we got to see all of them! haha!

The second day, we went for a canoe trip on the Sugar Creek! It was so much fun! We went on a 5 mile trip, which was easier than expected and didn't last as long either! I was a little sad when it was over, I could have canoed for much longer than and hour and a half! ;) But we had a great time being on the river by ourselves and soaking up all the peaceful nature around us! We only almost biffed it once in the canoe right at the very end, but in the end, only my foot took a swim in the river! haha! After the canoe trip, we went down to Lafayette, because we thought it was going to start raining, to try and find something indoors to do. We walked around the mall a bit, but that was boring, so we headed home, stopped at the Bass Pro Shop and got Pizza for my parents and us to have for dinner! It WAS a great trip and I'll do it all over in a heartbeat!

Happy Anniversary, Dave! I love you so much!