Fun with cousins...

Just a couple of pictures of the fun we've had with cousins the past couple of months.

Taking a tour at the Sweet's candy factory. Even more cute when everyone had their hats on.
Swimming all together at the pool.

Whenever these girls get together, the dress-up clothes come out. So cute :)

Some of the cousins together for a picture at Jessica's wedding. She is the oldest of the 22 cousins. I think we'll be doing this a lot in 10 years.

Pizza, football, playing in a great backyard, then a huge movie projected onto a building. What makes it more fun? cousins and lots of candy from Uncle Jay.

Catch Up!

Life has been so crazy for the past couple of months that I haven't even read my friends' blogs, let alone updated mine. So I will try to update a bit and just move on. We had 4 kids in sports, 2 were in football with practices or a game each day, the other two were in soccer (much more manageable), and Brianna started a competition team in dance which requires class 3 times a week. Needless to say I lived in the van for 2 months and not near my computer.

During that time we also started school. David moved on to Junior High. Wow, is he old enough for that? Even more so, am I old enough for that? The scary thing is that some of the same teachers are still at the school from when I attended. He now has the same English teacher I had. Luckily, he's a great teacher, and I wasn't a bad student :) And my little Ty Ty started Kindergarten. He is having a great time and I am adjusting.

September brought sadness as our dear friend, Brian passed away. He has lived in the basement apartment the entire 9 1/2 years we've lived in this house. He was part of the family and we miss him. We all learned a lot from his awesome attitude and kindness.

And at the end of September, my sweet Brianna was baptized. It was a fun, wonderful day where she got to be the princess of the party. It was so much fun to go shopping for just the right dress. Mikinna didn't care much what she wore, just so long as it wasn't white or frilly. Brianna was just the opposite. We searched for just the right white princess dress. She found the perfect dress, but I wouldn't spend $90 for it, so she chose her second favorite. Once she spun around in it, she knew she had the right dress. She glowed as she came out of the water. Thank you to all of the family that came for this special occasion.

Beyond Obsessed

Top 10 reasons I think Zachary is beyond obsessed with balls. Keep in mind, he is 21 months old.

1. Any ball seen by Zachary will be claimed and held until another, more desirable ball is found
2. When that ball is a football, he will say "hike, hike" before taking perfect aim.
3. Before the football can be thrown back to him, he will say "go deep" and proceed to run as far away from you as he can before turning around and awaiting the pass
4. Any book with a picture of a ball in it will be an instant favorite and will be read at least 5 times in a row, each time. The favorites this morning are a book about baseball and one about a balloon. Balloons are balls, too.
5. We all have had at least one cut between our eyes from blocks or other hard objects being thrown by Zachary. The aim is perfect, the warning system isn't.
6. Walking the kids to school has become a new level of adventure as each and every pumpkin spotted warrants a "basketball, basketball !" from the stroller. There are lots of pumpkins between here and the school!
7. Grandma was driving by and stopped to visit with me at the end of the driveway. Zachary had a football and proceeded to throw it through the window and right into her arms from at least 6 feet away. This was repeated perfectly three times.
8. Marbles are considered balls and will be thrown like a baseball. Be careful! (see #5)
9. Mikinna put up a new picture of a basketball in her room. That night, she had to listen to "basketball, basketball, basketball" for 5 minutes straight, even after the lights were out. I think Zach almost got sent back to his own room and his own bed that night.
10. Even dinner is a sporting event. Peas. They are round, so they must be..... balls. Zach picked them up one by one and called each one a basketball before popping it into his mouth. Next time he will get a smaller pile of peas. :)

So he is cute, he is adorable, he is persistent, and he is OBSESSED!