Saturday, August 30th

1. Learning that Ella will have Howie's teacher (Mrs Keifer) for sure. We requested her for Ella but there was a slim chance that her class would fill up do to request.


2. Ella holding a snake. Yes, I am very afraid of these but to my surprise I walked outside to see Ella holding the one the neighbors caught.

3. Ella finally feeling better come Tuesday. Seems to be she needed tons of sleep because Tuesday Morning she woke up and was back to her old self. Including eating 2 Breakfasts only a couple hours apart.

4. We had a visitor come Tuesday night and tell me to get a quote for the van and that it would be taken care of by his friend who hit the van. I was very surprised that he would even have the nerve to show his face at my door because of how furious i am with them after lying to the police about it. (come Saturday night i have the estimate at almost $1700 but no one has returned to pay for the damages.)

5. Finally getting MI plates on both vehicles. Yes, we are procrastinators but the job is finally done now.

6. Going to the schools for a ice cream open house. Better then ice cream both of the kids got to see their classes and Howie got to meet his teacher for the first time.

7. All summer I have been meaning to take the kids putt putt golfing and just haven't done it. So we finally went on Thursday. The kids had a blast but after trying to keep fair score after 2 holes i realized it wasn't possible. Howie kept picking up his ball and moving it to a better spot and Ella kept sliding her putter until the ball went in the hole. It really was too cute. Howie kept telling me "Thanks Mom!" I probably heard it 5 times during our game. It was so sweet.

8. After a FAIR game of golf the kids rode the kiddie go karts. This was Ella's first time riding a go kart and she did a great job of driving. Howie did great too but when it was time to stop he didn't remember to pick his foot off the gas petal. He drove straight into a wall. I was afraid he was really going to be hurting Friday morning but luckily he seemed to bounce back quickly.

9. After a hot afternoon of outside we cooled down with Mcdonalds Ice Cream. Nothing better then a hot fudge sundae!

10. One thing I thought you would all enjoy this week........Ella has been watching "Sit and get Fit" I am sure you all know the show on PBS. Where the lady sits in the chair and does exercises. Well, twice this week I have walked in on Ella participating in the program, doing everything the instructor does. She is so stinkin adorable these days!

11. Saturday afternoon we had a family day. We went downtown and played at the park next to the Grand River. The kids enjoyed watching the river.


Over all our week was pretty exciting. We hope you all had a great week too.

a week of ups and downs

1. Howie and Ella having new little kids next door to play with. They spent all Tuesday and Wednesday out side playing with them. After missing there friends all summer it is nice to have someone to play with again.

2. Jim got the sponge removed from the bottom of his foot. He is still in a walking boot for a couple more weeks but at least now he can swim.

3. Ella got a small hair cut. Maybe 3 inches but it makes it so much easier to brush out all those snarles.

4. We found out Howie will have Mrs. Freeland this year at school. We are looking forward to meeting her this next week.

5. Amy finally finished the curtains for Ella's room. We have had the material since before we moved here so it is nice to have finally completed that task.

6. The kids enjoyed a day playing with each other at the park.

7. Thursday night a vehicle hit the van at 1:15 in the morning and then drove away. If you know anything about our neighborhood I am sure you can guess where this vehicle was at and why they left the scene. We called the cops and filled a report but until that vehicle retuns there is not much we can do.

8. Camping at Jim's brother's pool. Camping is always fun but who can beat it when the pool is almost right next to the tent.

9. Howie and Ella catching Salamanders out of the pool. I don't think they have ever seen a salamander so this was pretty cool for them.

10. Jim caught a praying mantis the size of his hand. It was on our van at Mike's. it was awesome!

11. This has to be when we first arrived at the porchin party saturday night with a grand appearance of ella getting sick. We aren't sure yet if she is getting over what ever it is that has made her sick but we are thinking it is the long exhausting weekend of being in the sun and heat.

One more picture just for fun. There is a frog clenching to the top of Howie's finger. They caught this in Uncle Mike's pool too!!

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Sunday, August 17th

1. Enjoying an afternoon out on the boat with Aunt Cindy & Uncle Gordon and No kids!

2. Having a friend come and stay to whom Amy hasn't seen in a long time.

3. Jim surviving the week with Ramen Noodles and loneliness. Amy and the kids were busy at her moms.

4. Canning 16 jars of sweet relish. Hope that gets us through the winter because once you have had the good stuff the store bought isn't the same.

5. Sweet Corn - not only were there 4 generations helping do corn but Howie seemed that he would rather eat it raw then help us husk the corn. Check the picture for evidence. In all we ended up with 65 bags of frozen sweet corn.

6. The kids enjoying a whole week of Veggie Tales Vacation Bible school. To my surprise they both learned their bible verses and got to walk the plank like the priates who don't do anything.

7. An afternoon of outdoor play with our family friends, the Bartletts. It's always great to see them but sad when it has to end.

8. Watching Howie read to himself everynight before bed. He is getting so grownup.
9. Howie completed 2 of his chapter books this week. After showing less interest then normal for him this week he really dove back into reading.


10. Watching the olympics and Michael Phelps. The kids know who he is and how great he has done this week. We think it is awesome that they can take this moment of history with them to remember during future olympics.



11. Another Kestner family wedding. We all had a great time but Ella sure did enjoy dancing with her Uncle Larry.

Saturday the 9th of August.

We have decided to copy a friend's blog idea (thanks Rebecca) and to keep our family & friends updated we will post 11 moments that made the past week memorable.
This week:
1. Howie and Ella rode 8 Miles on their bikes on Sunday! Yes, Miles! We took them to the bike trail and although we stopped in Rockford for ice cream and to play at the park they made the whole 8 mile round trip.
2. Amy learned the hard lesson once again...Muck likes flip flops more then anything else and does not return them. (silly me)
3. Amy, Howie and Ella enjoyed lunch with Aunt Cindy. It's always a nice treat to hang out with one of our favorite Aunts!
4. Howie Lost his second front tooth. Ella always seems to be able to help him get those loose teeth out with a boot to the mouth. He even realized he can talk normal if he really tries.
5. Jim found out he broke his right foot trying to favor and heal his left broken leg.
6. Jim will get permenant handicapped parking for the licese plates. The foot dr signed a form for him since he has frequent injuries.
7. The garden that is in pots in the front yard is finally starting to produce tomatoes and green peppers.
8. Howie and Ella met a new friend who will ride the bus with them this year. Amy will even get paid to put her on and get her off the bus.
9. The house is Clean!! yes, we are excited that the house is really clean. even the kids are doing their part to keep their rooms spotless.
10. This morning Jim went to cheer on his friend (spars) he convinced to do the triathlon.
11. As Saturday night is almost over the parents are enjoying the quiet house and slightly Thankful that the kids are with Grandma Vicky and Grandpa Roy.

Over all we have had a great week. We hope you all have too!!