Little Miss Steuben County

Maddie did Little Miss Steuben County tonight at the fairgrounds. She was not allowed to wear anything too exciting, everything had to be solid colored, this was her outfit. She posed at home for a picture before we headed to the fairgrounds.
Here Maddie is posing with the County Queen.
Maddie got to answer questions on stage. She had so much fun and she did an extraordinary job.
She did not win but I could not have been more proud of her. She was not shy at all and she spoke loudly so everyone would be able to hear her.

Happy Birthday Macy

THE BIRTHDAY GIRLPapa and Nana got Macy a new "big girl baby" for her birthday. Maddie got an American Girl doll for her 5th Birthday so Macy wanted one. Hers is from Target but she calls it her American Doll. She has put some serious miles on it already. She loves it.
All Macy kept saying since she turned 2 was that she wanted a pony cake. Her Nana made this and she was really excited, she has carried the ponies from the top everywhere she went all day.
We picked up Olivia for the day and she went to grandma's with us swimming. Macy has the best birthday because she gets to have swimming parties. The kids played great together all day.
Olivia and Maddie picked flowers from the kids garden. They played with them until the were destroyed. It was a fun day but now we need to focus on preparing for our camping vacation in Michigan.

Sweet corn!

The kids husked 13 ears of corn all by themselves tonight. They took it pretty serious. The corn was really good, but I think the only reason they like it is because it is fun to make and eat. Dylan doesn't even get made fun of for being messy. I also noticed he says "corn" rather than "torn" this summer. He is doing terrific on his speech.
Macy just likes to cause fights, she could not stop picking on Maddie and Dylan. She was stealing all of the corn they had already done and hiding it and taking it out of the bag.
I love this photo, for some reason I think Dylan really looks like his papa in it.

Pool Day!!

We had a great day sun bathing and swimming!Here are the kids hanging on grandma. She is probably thrilled that we are going to be gone for a week and a half so she can just float and enjoy her pool all to her self.
Maddie cannot let an opportunity pass to strike a pose. She is quiet the little water fairy. She swims like a pro now.
Dylan also has learned to swim this summer. Let me tell you, he is soooooo proud. He tells everyone he can ride a bike and swim all alone. He has really grown up this summer. It is a little bittersweet.

Miss Steuben County 2007

I am the co-director for the county fair pageant. My friend Megan and I have been working really hard to get the program built up, and we had our pageant last night. It went terrific, and we had wonderful girls and we were thrilled with the girl who won. They were all so sweet and talented.

Dylan's Birdhouse!

While us girls were being girlie at the shower Dylan, Dawson and Papa made bird houses. They are the cutest thing I have ever seen. Dylan was so very proud of his, he has had it in the van so we can take it and show it to everyone. Michael and Dylan are going to find the perfect spot for it when he gets off work.

We hosted a bridal shower for our dear family friend Nicki Reas this past weekend. I say we but really my mother and law was the creative touch behind it all. She put together a bridal tea party and it was the most unique shower I have ever attended. Here are a few shots from the party, you can see how much attention she puts on the details. Take note of the individual cakes. TOO CUTE.
Macy, Maddie, and Mackenzie are all awaiting their guests at the tea party. We had menus printed out, and Macy offered each guest a cookie, the girls each took their job very seriously. We were a little surprised Macy did not just eat all of the cookies, she has a seriously sweet tooth.
Macy was ready for the good food to start coming. She ate a dozen cookies and meatballs and that was about it.
All the little girls wanted to sit with Nicki and her friend Autumn. They most have been having a serious conversation about something. Macy was putting the food she did not like on Autumn's plate.

Kris made each person an individual cake. You can see how they were individual wedding cakes. She always seems to outdo herself in the cake department. They are always one of kind. A lot like her.

We really celebrated the 4th of July!

We had so much fun over the 4th of July weekend. It was really busy, and it seemed to be one party after another. The kids got to swim and play with their cousins and lots of friends. They would be so tired at night I would just carry them in the house and they would sleep until morning. They are growing up too fast, it's nice to take a weekend and only think about fun.Macy got to pick out her own outfit for the parade this year, she was so proud of her kitty shirt. She wants to wear it everyday.
Dylan and his best friend Dawson are waiting for the parade to begin. They were so excited to get lots of candy, we had to go to two parades for the maximum potential.
Maddie thinks she is an olympic swimmer now, she went of the diving board at Knox's pond like a pro. She even dove, she got water in her nose though, and now she is scared.
I am not sure what my friend Amy Gaerte was saying but it must have been important and intently as this crowd is listening. I thought they looked so sweet, you would have never guessed that they are usually beating each other up.
Macy has always loved Kylie, she says she is Kylie's girl all of the time. She has liked her since she was big enough to talk.

My friend Megan and I are am directing the county pageant again this summer. Our girls were in the parade on the 4th of July. Maddie and Olivia that they were really cool in their shirts that matched the girls. I have to admit they will probably both do terrific in the pageant someday, Maddie thinks she is already ready, she may do the Little Miss Pageant this summer, I have not decided yet.

Trenton and Becky Knox's Wedding!!

Maddie thought she was quite the little diva in her dress. She picked it out in April and was saving it for the wedding. She could not wait to go.
Here are the Oberlin and Manahan families are posing for a photo, they all look pretty innocent, you should have seen them dancing.
Dylan and Logan Hamilton are best buddies. They look so cute together, we are so lucky to have so many nice, sweet kids to grow-up with our kiddos.
Becky took time out to dance with Olivia Stoy and Maddie. She is so nice to all of the kids.
Trenton and Becky had such a gorgeous wedding, they are such sweet people. The kids all had a great time dancing, they were too funny.

Fort Wayne Children's Zoo.

We love going to the zoo, we have passes so we go often. The kids like playing in the fountains more than anything else. We just load up and go, we all like eating at Subway while were there. It is sort of like having a mini vacation.My little monkeys are posing with the other little monkey, it is nice getting a photo with all three kids in it.
Maddie chose the carousel as her one ride for the day. She never seems to get tired of it.
Dylan was having a little bit of a moment. He is so cute when he pouts, I had to capture it on film.

Strawberry Picking!!

I have been wanting to take the kids to pick strawberries for a couple of summers, this year we finally made it. They had a blast and stuck with it a lot longer than I thought that they might. We picked some for the grandmas and we even had enough to make pies and shortcake. They were very yummy.

As a gift for Maddison's 5th Birthday, her Nana takes her to the American Girl Store in Chicago. Maddie has been looking forward to it since March. We went on the train, the girls were very excited to get to eat breakfast on the train on the way. We had such a special and fun day.Maddie's cousin's Kenzie and Kacey went too, here we are waiting for the train to arrive early in the morning, they were pretty perky for getting up at 5:00 am.
We were just arriving at the store, Maddie had no idea what to expect. She already has the Bitty Baby but she did not really get what the day would be all about.

Maddie is having lunch in the American Girl Cafe. As you can see she loves her doll, after much deliberation she choose Kit. I was okay with that because of her shorter hair, less maintenance.
We went to the Hershey's store to get trip prizes for the boys, and they got to make their own container of Chocolate. Maddie was not too shy, which is nothing new. We had such an amazing time. We can't wait until Macy is 5. Thanks NANA.

Camping with the Knox's

The whole gang are posing on their bikes. These kids rode their bikes for three solid days. They are standing by the chalk drawings, they did a lot of drawing also. Dylan learned to ride his bike without training wheels and he was so proud.
Tom and Megan came up to visit us also, after the kids hung out at the beach we had to stop at the camp store for some a snack. Evelyn may have been the smallest but she ate her's the quickest.
We had such a great start to our summer. Our family and the Knox family went camping at Pokagan State Park. It was really fun to see the kids play and even fight together. Everyone was really good and we all had a blast.