February pics/Spelling Bee Champ

Here is a picture of Natalie after winning the 4th grade spelling bee at Northwood Elementary last week. She won with the words "moccasin" and "tournament." I've also loaded some other pictures for the month.

Igloo

We have had some great winter weather here in the last few weeks. Karen and I have been out cross-country skiing and snow-shoeing. There have been some good sledding too. Yesterday it warmed up some that the snow was packing really well, so after a snowball fight, I got to working on an igloo. A few hours later this was the result. "If you build it, they will come..." and so pretty soon it was full of most of the kids on the block. We are having some warm days ahead so I don't anticipate it lasting to long...

I just posted several other photo albums. The new ones include The Christmas Clinic play that Natalie performed in at Christ Presbyterian. Of course there is opening presents and gingerbread houses from Christmas 2009. And then our trip to Mississippi where we played a lot with my in-laws new kitten "Useless."

Anniversary Surprise

Karen and I celebrated our 18th anniversary yesterday, but Natalie and Oliver commemorated it this morning with a specially prepared breakfast in bed for us. We sat in bed amused (and a little concerned) by the strange sounds and occasional shouts emanating from the kitchen. Course 1: Scrambled eggs a la Oliver. Oliver also prepared coffee for me (using what tasted like half a bag) and tea for Karen. Course 2: A Christmas cookie with 2 chocolate dipped peppermint sticks. We decided to save these for later. And half and hour later, Course 3: Cinnamon muffins freshly baked from Natalie. These were delicious! Anyways, I had to get a picture of what the kitchen looked like...

Natalie Turns 10

It has been a while since we updated the posts on the blog but we have been adding many photo albums since Karen's birthday in August. We have taken a few trips - one to Chicago, Rockford and Lakside, OH and then later one to Pittsburgh. So enjoy perusing. The latest album is from Natalie's 10th birthday party. That is making us feel older than turning 40 this year!

I am 40.

Amidst black balloons and carrot cake, we celebrated my 40th birthday this past weekend. The kids and Daddy made the cake from scratch while I got to enjoy some time to myself at the pool. Earlier in the day we ate lunch at Carrabba's. Where have those mini-desserts been all my life? Friday night before my girlfriends and I enjoyed a night on the town at Canton's First Friday. Yea for the Blue Olive - great atmosphere and music.

Balloon Festival

We enjoyed the Hall of Fame Balloon Festival this year with Aunt Kathy, Cousin Dennis and his wife Michelle and their two daughters Megan and Madi. We were thankful for clear weather as last year the balloons were not allowed to go up.

Camp Wakonda

Natalie enjoyed her two nights at church camp - Camp Wakonda. She made new friends, swam in the lake, and enjoyed camp chores such as serving the food at meal time. She's ready for a full week next year. As you can see, she cut off her hair to donate to "Beautiful Lengths."