PTA Installation

Last week at the PTA meeting I was installed as the vice president for the upcoming year at the middle school. The installation luncheon and meeting had an OSU Buckeyes theme because Kathy, the new president, is a huge Buckeye fan. Here is a picture of the new officers showing their Buckeye spirit.

A Molly Dessert Creation

We bought fixins to make angel food cake and strawberries and Molly was very excited about creating Abby's dessert. Molly loves being in the kitchen and is showing great signs of becoming a little dessert designer.

Happy 40th Karl

Happy 40th Karl!

Molly wasn't sure how it would be without Abby, but she adapted quickly when she realized she would get the bed all to herself! Thumbs way down to the Browns!
Thumbs way up to the Steelers!

Mean Joe Molly?
Paul, Bart, and Karl with the Lomardi Trophy,
and they didn't even have to play in any Super Bowl to "earn" it.
The whole gang standing with Steelers' retired coach Bill Cowher
getting the water soak as we celebrate victory!
Molly getting the celebratory water dump all by herself.
Look at her expression -- she's a hoot!
A shot to document where we were.
Karl, one of our "college gang" folks turned 40 earlier this month and his wife Melodye planned a surprise weekend celebration to honor the milestone. Paul, Molly, and I were a part of the fun. Abby was able to go along since it was the same time as the Relay for Life fundraiser for the American Cancer Society and she was on a team for that event, so she stayed behind for that. The birthday celebration was a night's stay at a hotel and then a visit to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, with the party ending at dinner at Bravo! also in Canton. It was our first time seeing the museum and to the restaurant. It was a very fun weekend -- and I highly recommend trying Bravo! if you haven't before.

8th Grade Band Concert

Abby -- Playing

Abby -- Waiting
Paul and Betsy -- Enjoying the concert

Pop and Amma (Betsy's parents) -- Taking in the music

Abby was awarded the position of 1st chair clarinet for 6th, 7th, and 8th grade in band. Here are a few shots from her spring concert.

Misc. Snapshots of Abby

Just fun...

AWANA Awards

Molly showing off her awards.

Abby loved her award --a big Hershey's chocolate bar!

Seems like an annual picture in front of the balloons.

And Abby's turn (much to her chagrin) in front of the balloons.

Our friend Brooks and his parents Todd and Shari

as Brooks received his Timothy Award, completing all books through 6th grade.

AWANA has come to another year's end. Molly earned an Excellence Award as she was the only 4th grader who finished her book along with completing allof the silver and gold review. Abby was an LIT (Leader In Training) this year, helping with Molly's age group. Paul and I also helped with AWANA -- Paul helped in elementary girls and I helped to oversee Cubbies, the preschool part of AWANA.

Park Time

The girls and I visited a local park recently and here are the big rock was a perfect picture spot.

Molly and Neighborhood Friends

Jennie & Molly

Jennie, Molly & Lily
Back: Jennie, Molly, Lily
Front: Debora

Lily, Debora & Molly

Molly the Monkey!

Here are a couple of shots of Molly with her friends from the neighborhood.

Springtime Photoshoot

I love to take pictures of our girls! Our next-door neighbors' lilacs and crabapple and even their fence (as well as ours) made for nice backdrops this spring.

Late Bloomers

Later blooming spring flowers. Lilacs and forget-me-nots (bottom two pictures) are our neighbors', the rest are mine. The flowers at the top are columbine and they are growing in my flowerbeds thanks to my mom. She had columbine growing in her flowerbeds as long as I can remember and a couple of years ago I took some extras she had and now they are thriving in my flowerbeds. Guess they the offspring of the ones of my mom's flowers, just like I'm the offspring of my mom.

An Afternoon at the Animal Park

We live about 30 minutes from a mini zoo that we have visited almost every year since the girls were toddlers. Here are a few pictures from this year's visit.