Kings Island

It was a nice day yesterday, so Mike and I decided to take the kids to Kings Island. We loaded up after Michael's nap.




Going to an amusement park is definitely different with kids. It's nothing about you and all about them. There are no more rides on the Beast, Vortex or even the Racer. Still, there's something priceless about seeing your kids smiling, laughing and having the times of their lives. It's kind of a second-hand happiness, something only a parent could really understand. Taylor had a blast and Michael hung in there like a champ.


I love this picture. Daddy and his little girl...

...and his baby boy!

We started our day in the Nickelodeon kids' park, which Taylor LOVED! Michael even got to go on a couple of rides, including the Scooby Doo adventure and Lazytown helicopters. He was mildly impressed. Taylor even got to meet one of her favorite characters - Scooby Doo. Most of the kids just shook his paw. Not Taylor. She's charged him and clung on with the biggest hug. Too cute.

Scooby, Scooby Doo, she loves you!

While I fed Michael and got him down for a quick catnap in the stroller, Mike tricked Taylor into going on the log flume water ride. Even with her newfound braveness, there's no way she would have voluntarily ridden it! I stood at the bottom of the big drop and saw Taylor's expression go from panic, to tears. Of course, Mike put the poor kid in the front seat so she was drenched! I changed her into a dry shirt and she ended up being pretty proud of herself for riding it. She and I hit the Scrambler later and a few other small rides before we'd had enough and decided to head home.

Check out that drop! You can barely see Taylor's little head above the log.

Michael took a catnap and missed Taylor's plunge.

Both kids were wiped out and slept most of the way home. I'd say fun was had by all!

Taylor won this doggy all by herself!

Until next time,

Mommy Kel

Walkers, Strep Butt & Photo Ops

You know it's been a long time since you last posted when you have to try and remember your blog password. Sorry I've been MIA! Work has been pretty busy and that's where I usually do my posting. Our home computer is so slow and I'm too tired by the end of the night to be very creative.

Taylor has gained a new confidence this summer that I'm so impressed with! She's riding her bike like a pro, swimming without clinging to one of us and even tries the monkey bars sometimes now. I'm spoiled by the fact that she's always been very cautious. I never had to worry about her falling off her playset or putting herself into too much danger. She never climbed on the coffee table, jumped off furniture or darted into the street. Yeah, the Worm has always been super-easy in that regard. I think things might be changing a little! She yelled for me the other day and I found her dangling from her monkey bars, about four feet from the ground. She likes to ride her bike over sewer covers now because she wrecked one day doing it. My chicken has flown the coop!


She's too much.


Michael has discovered a new love for the camera. He's quite the little charmer and will smile anytime I pick the camera up now. What a little cutie. He loves peek-a-boo and giggles so loud when we play. I've been teaching him how to point and now when he wakes up from his naps, we walk around his room pointing at the animals on his wall. "Michael, where's hippo?" He'll move his eyes to the right picture and stick his little index finger out. It's darling.

He's cute and he knows it.

He stills hates being on his tummy, so I think crawling might be another month or so away. He wants to be mobile though, so we broke down and bought him a walker. (I know, bad Mommy!) It's so fun watching him cruise around. He's got a little bit of Mommy separation anxiety going on right now, so he's taken to following me around in the walker, whining and holding his arms up. Not exactly what I had in mind, but this little cutie is hard to resist.

This is fun!


The Pear is recovering from a case of Strep Butt. Yes, you read that right. I took him to the doctor on Saturday because of a nasty diaper rash that I couldn't get rid of. Dr. Dooley took one look at his bottom and wanted to test him for strep. It was positive. Poor guy! I guess the same strep virus that affects adults' throats can show up on a baby's booty. He's on amoxicillan now and on the mend.

Here are some recent pictures of the kids. Enjoy! I'll update again soon, I promise!

Got your nose!

Taylor took this picture of Champy. Not bad!

Until next time,

Mommy Kel

The Macker

Sunday marked six years of wedded bliss for Mike and I. In all seriousness, it's been a wonderful ride and I can only image all of the great times our family will have in the future. Mike is a good person - he'll help out anyone without asking for anything in return. I love to watch how he operates. I've never seen him look uncomfortable in a social or work situation. His confidence is amazing and I hope our kids inherit that trait from him. He challenges me and doesn't just tell me what I want to hear. I feel like I'm always growing as a person because of him. Oh yeah, he can be pretty sweet, too.

We met at a 3-on-3 basketball tournament eight years ago, so I guess it's not too surprising that I spent our sixth anniversary watching him play in the Muncie Gus Macker. Just like the day I met him, his team won the top division. You have got to give these guys credit. Most of their competition is in their 20s. Mike is 37, Doc is 42, Greg is 38 and James is the "baby" at 31. These guys have been playing together for years (along with a few others) and really know the game. I love the frustrated, "WTF?" expressions their opponents have as they're getting their arses handed to them. The old days involved lots of late-night, pregame drinking and other debauchery. Now, they have 10 kids between them (8 of them girls). Yesterday, I overheard them talking about things like chiropracters, sports/muscle creams and kids. I spotted Greg sporting Taylor's pink sunglasses and Doc talking to her about Dora the Explorer. Too cute.

Congrats to the Bulldogs!

The game-winning play.

The kids were so good!

When your dad is a basketball player/coach, you get to snuggle up with Gatorade towels.

I want to share a couple of pictures from Saturday, too. The kids and I hung out with Grandma, went swimming, then went up with Grandpa for dinner. It was fun!

I was so proud of Taylor for swimming without holding onto an adult! She was like a little fish and even jumped off the side!

Taylor and Grandma at dinner.

Pops and I.

I love this picture.

This one too!

Michael showing off.

Until next time,

Mommy Kel

Staying Busy

I've never been one to just sit around the house, especially when it's nice outside. A little TV is alright, but let's save that for those January days when it's 15 degrees and snowing outside. One of our summer adventures last week took us to the Clinton County fair.

I grew up about 10 minutes from downtown Cincinnati, so I've always loved going to "real" county fairs. What farm animals can you really have at the Hamilton County fair? All I remember about my childhood county fair was a rabbit exhibit, some scary rides and a bunch of rednecks. The Clinton County farm is a true testament to a way of life for many of our not-so-far-away neighbors. Taylor adores animals so she was excited to see the pigs (her favorite), cows, sheep, chickens, llamas, and, yes, rabbits, up close. Michael seemed vaguely interested. Here are some pictures from the fair and other recent cuteness.

Taylor favorite - a pink piggy!


Michael at the fair.

Yum - ice cream!


Taylor, ready for a walk around the neighborhood.



Yay - Michael can sit up in the pool by himself now!


Homemade snowcones!

Girl time

Until next time,




Mommy Kel

Wow, 7 Months!

I can hardly believe that my Michael Man is seven months old today! I look at the little guy sometimes and he doesn't even look much like a baby anymore. He so big and solid that it feels like you're holding a toddler when you give him hugs, kisses and squeezes. The Pear is great at sitting up now and will lunge forward onto his hands from a sitting position when he wants to grab something. He's still not a big fan of playing on his tummy, so I think this might be how he figures out how to crawl.

His strength amazes me sometimes. He's been able to stand up while holding onto to something for awhile now and can keep his balance while holding just one of my fingers. Someone joked yesterday that he's a future nose guard. The kid is solid - not really chubby, but big. I've pretty much retired the Bjorn because he kills my back now!

He's such a fun and happy baby a lot of the time. He gets so excited when Mike, Taylor or I walk into the room and he adores Champ. He's a good baby in so many ways **if** things are the way he likes them. Boy, does this child have a temper! If you force him to do something he doesn't want to do, like sit in the highchair or play in the floor while I use the bathroom, look out! He can scream like the best of them and it's usually a "mad" scream. He's strong willed, but I'm okay with that. I think it's a personality trait that will serve him well in the future. Like father, like son.

I love my little guy so much and I thank God for blessing us with him!

He looks so old here!

Standing like a big boy! Taylor sneaks into every picture of him.


A rare picture of just Michael.

Until next time,

Mommy Kel

The Birthday Extravaganza is Over

I feel like we've been celebrating Taylor's birthday for weeks now, but I think things were finally wrapped up on Sunday at her birthday party. Basketball tournaments, reunions and other conflicts kept us from having her party earlier, thus creating the Mardi Gras of birthdays (she loved stretching it out, by the way).



We were blessed with beautiful weather for the party. The forecast called for rain so I told Taylor to ask God for nice weather for her party. The Big Guy didn't let us down. We ended up with about six kids there, all of her grandmas and grandpas and lots of others people who love our little girl. I don't think there is anything better than seeing your children having fun. She told me it was her best birthday ever (all two weeks of it)!

Taylor opening gifts.

The kids gathering loot from the pinata.

Mommy and Taylor

Until next time,

Mommy Kel

My Little Comedian

Taylor is funny. Sometimes she tries to be funny, but most of the time, she makes me laugh without even trying.

I talked to her this morning (I'm at work - where I do 99% of my posting) and she and Mike are watching Revenge of the Sith. She told me that Anakin got "fired" and became Darth Vader. I cracked up.

The other day we were playing with her new Polly Pockets dolphin playset. She learned on Go Diego Go that dolphins eat crabs. She was pretending that one dolpin was eating, then had it "swim" over to its friend. I asked what she was doing. "Oh," she replied. "Pink dolphin just gave blue dolphin crabs." She couldn't figure out why I was laughing.

She loves to make up words. A screwdriver is a "screwer". "Daddy needs to get the screwer and fix my swingset." A gun is a "shooter thing". Something that happened in the past happened "lastertime". "I got candy out of the machine now, but lastertime it was empty."

The first line of the Ohio State fight song is "Drive, drive on down the field, men of the scarlet and gray." I hold her and we run through the house singing this. She refers to me as the driver and I'm pretty sure she thinks it has something to do with a car.

As she would say, she "cracks me out."