Happy Birthday Jacob!  It looks like he just woke up.. He probably did!  :)

August & September Birthdays

An official adult now - he gets to vote this year!

Isaac bears the nickname of Stik or Steak from Sheila, who, by the way is the ONLY one who calls him that and is even allowed to.  She thought of the creative idea to give him gifts of items that contain the word Stik in the name.   If you look closely there are 9 items.  The pipe cutter he is holding in his hand is his real gift!! It comes in handy when installing Vacu-Flo pipes.

Rebekah's gift was an alarm clock and a pair of Jeans.

Sheila received an Adidas backpack (for soccer)

and hidden within was her long-waited for ipod!

Sheila received an Adidas backpack (for soccer)

 and hidden within was her long-waited for ipod!

We celebrated the girl's birthdays with the Graf family and enjoyed a delicious DQ oreo ice cream cake!

Starting another school year on 8/22

Time for another school year - first day of school

Our senior

Sophmore

8th grade

6th grade & now in middle school

3rd grade & first year of public school

All smiles as he mounts the bus!

Update on my Babysitting 'Babies'

Below are the girls I have consistently, every Monday and Tuesday from 8-3.  I posted a picture of Eva on the blog about two years ago, but I don't think I've done Ashley at all.  They keep my week busy, but over-all, enjoyable to watch and care for them and see their little antics.  It makes me realize how swiftly time flies as I can hardly believe my are own are well beyond this!

Ashley (3 3/4 yrs) and Amanda (4 1/2 mo)

These girls live right around the corner from us.  They live on a farm and their dad help his in-laws on their dairy/grain farm, while their mom works part-time at Farm Credit Services.

 Eva (3 yrs)

Her parents are in the process of adopting a little China girl, hopefully in the next 9 months.  Her dad & mom are both teachers in our local school district (mom part-time).

Spring Break Project

Re-painting the den

The very last & hardest section to paint - the kid's height measurements for the past 7 yrs.

Freshly painted walls!

The layout for a built-in desk.  We are getting the carpet replaced so are going to do base cabinets for the new desk-work area.  Will post pictures once it's installed!!

Multi-tasker

I asked him to go gather the girls' room and boy's laundry.. This is how he came down with it.

A New Set of Wheels

As of March 3rd we have another licensed driver in this household, so a good time for another licensed vehicle..  This '96 Honda Civic was Mark's niece Heidi's car 'Carli', but as it started wearing out, adding up $$ to repair, she gave it over to Mark, who as a true mechanic, dug some life out of it, or rather dug some 'dead' out of it and put several new parts in it in various places, bringing some life back into it!!  We are appreciating the small little car to zip around here and there - Mark has been using it quite a bit for work, and it's been great for running errands as well as for soccer practice runs.  Ultimately, it will serve its purpose as Isaac's transportation for work & school (he will be driving to Wayne College for post-secondary this fall).  A huge thanks to Heidi for giving Mark a chance to revive it for our use!!  She has moved on to Chloe Gray - a very nice grey 2010 Honda Civic.