Halloween 2009

John's Kindergarten class had a party Friday. Centerburg kids parade around the block in their costumes. Dave got to see them from the bank. John is the tin man in the back row. Ella (Aimee babysits) is the cheerleader in the front, right. Cowardly Lion and Tin Man ready for Trick or Treating.

So cute from all angles.

Of course the whole family joined in the fun. Dave popped an allergy pill and made a great scare crow. Red duct tape over tennis shoes completed the Dorothy look. And of course, Oreo, enjoyed her first Halloween as Toto.

Summer 2009, can't believe it's almost over.

John's swimming lessons at the YMCA. He loved his instructor because she reminded him of his Aunt Kim. As you can see he still isn't a fish, but has become much more comfortable in the water this summer. Grace and Dave at the end of one of many trips to the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium.

Keeping cool and clean.

Camping with the Carter's in Greer.

More camping with Aimee's extended family in Newton Falls. This was Grace's catch, a large mouth bass that put all of her uncles' to shame. She was excited as everyone cheered for her as Papa Streby reeled it in on the little pink fishing pole, "You've got it Grace, you've got it!" As soon as she saw the huge fish come out of the water, she cried and yelled, "I don't want it!"

More camping.

I took the kids to "Pretty Land" behind my parent's home. This is the part of the "crick" Henry and I spend almost everyday of our summers growing up. It was so much fun for me to see the kids enjoying wading and exploring this place that holds so many memories for me.

Grace at mom's company picnic just a couple of weeks ago. Both kids had a great time, and since Nana was doing the face paining, they were well decorated!

John dressed up as the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz. Nana Humphrey took him to see the play and gladly took him out when the witch got too scary.

This was taken outside a restaurant where we celebrated Dave's parents 40th wedding anniversary.

Soccer started tonight!

John had his first soccer practice/game night tonight. I'm coaching an older team while Dave and Grace cheer him on. He had a great time. The Preschool team John is on has 23 kids all 5 years old. Dave described it as the coaches herding cats most of the time. John said he learned that "you never use your hands in soccer" tonight. He has 5 more Tuesday night soccer games.

The Pittsburgh Marathon

We did it! All six Humphrey kids ran the Pittsburgh half-marthon last weekend. What an exciting weekend! Here we are with our medals.
This was my first and Dave's second half-marathon. He met his goal and finished in 2:10! Nice work honey. I can't imagine running your pace.

Here are the girls (minus Grace who stayed home with friends).

Barb (Dave's mom), Danielle and Lydia (Aaron's wife and daughter), me, Kim, Ella, and Luci (Mark's wife and kids), and Carol (Danielle's mom).

And the guys (minus John who was home with Aimee's parents). Dave, Dan (his dad), Mark and Aaron.

Kim and I ran together. She's done many of these before and has even completed a full marathon. Fortunately for me she is 20 weeks pregnant and running my pace. Thanks Kim for asking me to run with you. I never would have signed up without you.

A very fishy Easter

We spent the afternoon visiting with Aimee's Aunt Terry and Uncle Willy, their sons and families and got to meet Malena, the newest Streby cousin. Grace was a bit overdressed for the afternoon, but didn't let that stop her from spending time with Papa Streby.

John got his first fishing lesson from Papa.

Dave proudly diplays his catch with the kiddie fishing pole.

Papa got one...

...and Uncle Willy (Aimee's dad's brother)...

...and John! He casted out, slowly reeled it in and caught a monster fish. Not bad for your first few minutes of fishing.

Papa was pretty proud too.

Grace had much more fun inside with the girls. Here she is holding her beautiful cousin Malena Mae Streby (Jacob and Carrie's second).

These are from earlier in the day. Just some shots of good looking kids.

John proudly displays his bow tie (hand-made by Nana Streby) and new shoes (thanks Nana Humphrey).

My mom made Grace this adorable dress and hat. The child spent most of the morning in front of this mirror admiring herself.

These are from a local Easter egg hunt.

John was explaining to Grace how the hunt works. She hangs on his every word. I can only imagine the things she'll learn from her big brother in the future.

John is reading!

John has been working on a computer program called Head Sprout Early Reader for about 9 months now. Dave's dad asked us if we would test out this 80 30-minute episode program with him. John loves it and so do we. It challenges him and he has fun too. I love how proud he is and you'll see it in his face at the end of this video. It's taken us this long to get throught the first 45 episodes, hopefully he'll finish all 80 before he graduates.

Grace's Birthday!

Now that we're well into March, here are some pictures from Grace's 2nd birthday. A Sesame Street theme.

My mom made this great pin-the-nose-on-Elmo. We kept this up for a week after the party. I found noses all over the house.

I have such a respect for cake decorators every time I attempt it. Grace recognized Elmo, and that made it worth all the work.

Grace models a princess crown from a new set of dress-up clothes.

and she was also very excited about these big-girl undies.

Thank you dad and Uncle Aaron for taking the time to untangle every wire and tag on these child (and sometimes adult) proof packages. You see Grace waiting very patiently here.

Cake and ice cream. We don't have one of these pictures from her 1st birthday because Grace had a cold for most of February last year. She had such a great time this year and so did we!

Sledding, snowman, ice skating and more!

Olivia and John had the best time last week sledding on the hill behind Centerburg Elementary School (right behind our house). The hill goes from the playground down to the football field. They were able to get that sled to go half way across the field! Grace went down a couple times too. She actually travelled under the other two on the sled and loved ever second of it.

Our first snowman this winter! Notice the four arms and two stick feet. And thank you Papa Humphrey for the perfect hat.

John jammin' in his friend Christian's room last weekend. I know the picture doesn't really fit here, but I thought it was hillarious.

We took the kids ice skating last weekend. Look at her little tiny skates!