Aunt Jill's Birthday

Friday night we went to the Barley House in Akron for Jill's birthday. (The kids went to a petting zoo with Aunt Lindsey and Uncle Con.) George learned to play cornhole. We had terrible service, but the food was good and it wasn't very crowed. We noticed a cool limo outside and got to take a pic in front of it. A good time was had by all!

Proud Parents

I experienced a few proud parents moments today. I took Sammie to Mason this morning for a tour. The secretary was super nice and a gave Sammie a gift bag full of school swag: a pencil, water bottle, and a pin. She is now excited to start school at Mason! Such a relief! The "I hate that school" comments really had me worried. Then on my way to work, I heard that our friends had their baby this morning. I stopped by to see them on my way in to the office and they were both beaming with first-time-parent pride. After work, George and the kids came down and we all went to see the new baby. Sammie kept stroking her face and Erin was in awe. Of course George and I both held her. You forget how small and sweet they are! When we got home, we found a letter from the school district. Sammie scored at a gifted level on her Terra Nova Achievement Tests in Math, Science, and Social Studies. We didn't tell her she was "gifted", but did tell her she scored really high, high enough for the school to send us a letter! Hive fives all around! I was so proud, tears were swelling up!! George said his first reaction was "Of course she's gifted!"

My Baby's Birthday

It's hard to imagine that Erin is now 2! Declaring her independence as all toddlers do, but always my little peanut. She had such a fun day today. Yiayia took her to Walmart for birthday pictures and then Sammie threw a tea party lunch for her with Macy and Nick. For dinner, we headed to Texas Roadhouse and had them sing happy birthday to her. As we were eating, the Beck family sat down behind us! Erin, who is obsessed with babies, could not take her eyes of their littlest one Madeline. Nana and papa sent up gifts for Erin and yiayia got her a new baby doll.

Week of Birthdays

It's hard to imagine, but Erin's 2nd birthday is Tuesday, which is also Nicki's birthday. Jill's birthday is Friday and Cassandra's is Saturday! Our friends are expecting and if nothing happens by Thursday, they'll be induced. We're hoping for Tuesday!! It's neat to have so many family members and friends with birthdays so close together!

Catching Up

Aultman Family Fair

We met up with Con, Lindsey, and Giovanni for dinner and fun at Aultman's pinic at the Stark County Fair Grounds. It was a lot of fun.! We all ate a lot of really good food along with cotton candy, popcorn, and snow cones! Then the kids got to ride ponies, which I think was the highlight. Giovanni and Erin we were both bursting with excitement! There were also a bunch of blow of bouncy thing, several of which the adults could take the young ones on. Giovanni and Sammie loved the big slide and Erin loved the caterpillar. It was a great event and we look forward to what's in store for next year! There are also some great pics on Con and Lindsey's blog.

Computer Issues

Erin loves to help me around the house. It's to the point where we have to give her a screwdriver and let her help. For example, I bought new window well covers today (thanks hail storm!) and Erin had to help remove the old ones and install the new ones. I had to get her own screwdriver because she through a fit when I tried to use the she was holding for me. Anyway, the computer is up and running again!Time Out

I've been using time out for Erin lately. She thinks its a game and occasionally puts herself in time out. She threw a block at Sammie yesterday and I asked what she should do, thinking she would say sorry and give Sammie a kiss, but she decided to she should go to time out, but wasn't too thrilled when she couldn't up when she wanted to!

Home Repair

We are making a giant effort to get a ton of house cleanup done before the party. The driveway is getting sealed this week, so George and I had to clean it up and dig parts of it out Friday night. We will be trying to pressure the house and garage, get the carpets cleaned professional, and the deck and fence in the back yard stained. I have most of the paperwork in the computer room sorted through and the toys have been sorted through! Such a relief to see the floor in the computer room again! lol!

The Test

We had dinner at Taggart's tonight and George got a malted milkshake. As a test, we let Erin drink a good amount to see if the hive culprit from a few weeks ago was malt. I didn't notice anything during her bath so maybe it was the strawberry. It's going to be hard to run a home test though since Erin doesn't eat strawberries. Never has. Maybe that's her body's way of avoiding the hives!

Speaking of Bath. . .

I told Erin to wash her baby during her bath while I gathered dirty laundry. When I went to check on her a minute later she had emptied out her shampoo onto her poofy and was wahing her baby. Her shampoo is head and shoulders, which is not only expensive but very blue. The water was blue and I had to run fresh water just to get her rinsed off. Next time I'll have to be more careful of what I tell her do! So smart!!

New Daycare

A spot has opened up for Erin at the Aultman daycare center. I turned in a notice for both of the girls at their current daycare since they'll both be starting their new places on September 3rd. Erin was very excited about going to daycare with Vanni! Sammie is still unsure about her new school, but is excited about the Jewish Center after school except for the fact that her sister won't be there!

I think that's everything!! lol!

Coming Soon. . .

I'll be posting soon. We had major computer malfunctions and I just am getting things pieced back together. Technology is only great when it works correctly!!

HOF Weekend

We started our HOF celebration with a trip to the ribs burn off Friday night. The girls really enjoyed the food, but who doesn't love good BBQ!! Saturday morning we headed downtown for the grand parade. Erin was a little scared at first, but calmed down eventually, sort of. She has been very sensitive to loud and sudden sounds lately.

The "pride" of East Canton marching band. Yes the whole band is in the picture! George and I noticed how much smaller the marching bands are compared to when we marched. It's so sad how the arts are one of the first thing cut when funding starts to disappear!
Saturday night we headed to St. George's on Cherry for a cookout and to watch the fireworks. Our friends Phil and Anica are very active at this church and help plan the event. This is the second year they have invited us. The girls had a lot of fun! We were scared of putting the jumping thing, but Phil's dad cleared it out completely a couple of times so Erin could jump safely. He had so much fun playing with the girls and is definitely read for his first granddaughter! (Anica is due the 14th and is counting down the hours! I remember those days!!) Grandpa, Grandma, Jo, and Art joined us as well and really had a great time. Good food and a pretty good view of the fireworks!

Erin way past bed time! You can see in her eyes how tired she was! She almost fell asleep in her stroller, but fought to stay up for the fireworks. The red mark on her cheek is from running into a table. It went away by the next morning thank goodness! She liked the light of the fireworks, but not the sound!