Another Conversation Between Nick & Ashlee

Nick: "Hey Ash! Can you get my cat's cradle book from my room for me? Tazzie is sitting on my lap and I don't want to stand up and make her go away."

Ashlee: "No. I don't want to."

Nick: "Pleeeeease? I'll give you everything you own!"

When Grandma Comes to Town, Do as the Natives Do

Again, I am still catching up on summertime. Grandma came to visit back in June and we had a great time with her. We took her all the places that would keep the kids happy! Poor Grandma! But she was a good sport as she always is and we love her for it.


The kids had to show her the Ann Arbor Hands On Museum. Here's Nick showing off his rock-climbing skills.


No, we did not execute Ashlee and Grandma. They were just having fun in the green room. They were in front of a camera and the green blankets made you invisible on screen.


There's no better way to refuel after a day of fun at Arby's with Dad. Jere is trying to suck down his vanilla shake before Ashlee asks for more! See how sneaky she looks?


The next event was to celebrate Grandma's birthday at the Olive Garden. Yum!


Afterwards, we took her to visit her old friends, the dinosaurs, at the University of Michigan Natural History Museum. Just kidding Grandma! :) We love to tease her!


The displays there are cool!


We really had a good time there and the kids learned a lot!


Then we dragged Grandma to the Toledo Zoo for some more kid fun!


Unfortunately, we got rained out, but the ride home was exciting with threats of tornadoes all around. It made the sky have a bit of a green tinge to it. Thanks for coming Grandma! We miss you!

Happy Birthday to Sarah!

Today my little sister turns 32!


Just wanted to say Happy Birthday to the girl who makes me laugh my head off!


Hope you're eating lots of cake & ice-cream and dancing to your Michael Flatley: Lord of the Dance DVD!

A Conversation Between Nick & Ashlee

Nick: "Hey Ash! Do you want to play a game?"

Ashlee: "OK. What kind of game?"

Nick: "It's called, 'Ashlee, You Are Evil.' "

Ashlee: "Ashlee, You Are Evil?"

Nick: "Yeah." [proceeds to explain the game to her.]

Ashlee: "No, I don't think I want to play that game."

My Book Worm

I don't know if you can tell from these pics or not, but Nick loves to read. We've read to him since he was in the womb and pretty much every night since. When he was a year old, he would make us read Dr. Seuss's ABC's to him over and over again, so much that I memorized the book! It definitely paid off because he was reading on his own before he was three.


I thought I would capture the moment with my new camera, which I am loving to no end! This is no small feat for a mom with a son who hates having his picture taken, but I got what I wanted without too many protests!

For A Good Cause

In March, at the age of thirty, my friend, Abbigail Israelsen became suddenly ill and on a ventilator fighting for her life for 18 days. She was in the hospital for 21 days, but thankfully she survived. It has been a long and emotional recovery that continues everyday.

She has joined the ARDS Foundation team to attend a fund raising walk on Sept. 21, 2008. For every donation that is made over $40, Abbi will give the donor an original drawing created specifically for them. The drawings will be done on 100% cotton rag paper with pen, pencil, and ink. You will receive your drawing in the mail by mid October, 2008.

After donating towards the Hike for Lung Health, email Abbi (abbiisraelsen@yahoo.com) with three words that she will use to inspire a drawing as a thank you gift.

The drawings will be shown at the Anton Art Center for a special fund raising exhibition Sept. 12-Oct. 3, 2008. All proceeds made from the exhibition will be donated for ARDS research.

If you would like to read more about Abbi's journey through ARDS visit her website.

http://drawingforards.blogspot.com
The website with her story is: http://mystoryards.blogspot.com/
Hike fundraising page: http://my.imisfriendraising.com/personalPage.aspx?registrationID=260155&LangPref=en-CA
Abbi's artwork website: www.abbigailisraelsen.com

The Month of June

June was quite a busy month with the school year ending and all the activities that come along with it.


Nick received his red belt in karate (this was technically at the very end of May) and we were so proud of him!


Ashlee graduated from Kindergarten. It's weird to think that she's not a baby anymore. Here she is with one of her best buddies, Lilly.


The kindergarten class had a little potluck get together with all the parents. This is Ashlee's teacher, Mrs. Duman.


The end of the school year also brought the end of Ashlee's soccer season. Here she is getting her team photo and medal from her coach, Don Packard.


She was so excited about this medal, especially since it had her name engraved on it.


These are most of the girls from Ashlee's team.


Ashlee also performed in a "Goldilocks & the Three Bears" play for Kindergarten. She got to play Mama Bear and said her lines perfectly. Good job Ash!


Jere took Nick to his first professional baseball game at Comerica Park in Detroit. It was the LA Dodgers (Jere's favorite team) vs. the Tigers.


Unfortunately, the grey skies brought a torrential downpour . . .


. . . and Nick was not excited about being soaked to the bone! Even their socks were full of water! Free air conditioning, right?