Father's Day, Part 2...

Happy Father's Day...Ta-da!

Just in the nick of time, we finished the project. Jason was out of town all week, which gave us time to get this completed. The kids (mainly Em) helped brainstorm the designs, did the sponge painting and handprints themselves (with a little supervision from their OCD Mom).

Jason LOVES it! We'll go today and get a paver to set it on in the flower bed, fill the top with water and watch the birds flock to their new bath.

Happy Father's Day, Jase!

You are an amazing father and your children adore you!

Oh, and so do I!

We love you!

Oh, it's going to be so cute...

The kids and I are working on a project for Jason for Father's Day. We are almost finished and it's going to be adorable!! I can't wait to post the pics... Stay tuned!

Yes, it's summer...

...summer time is here! This is our second summer in Ohio and Ohio summers are amazing! We have been outside every day, pretty much all day long for the past several weeks. The A/C's have been installed in the windows for the season but have yet to be turned on. Windows are open at night. This is NOT Houston! So, what else is there to do to kick off an amazing summer than tent camping in the backyard (notice Emily & I opted for the indoor suite) and a lemonade stand? How could you resist a cup of lemonade from these cute entrepreneurs? Oh, they did make $16.40 profit. Pretty good for a quarter a cup, don't you think?

Happy summer to you!

Off the Hook...

Got Patience?

Please send me some!

I returned home last evening from running an errand to the sight of various objects falling from the sky onto my driveway. Oh wait...not from the sky, but from Emily's bedroom window, which is on the 3rd floor. Toys, pencils, stuffed animals, the DS (yikes!), bracelets...about 25 things in all. And how, did this happen, you ask? Well, let me tell you, or maybe just show you the guilty one...

Have mercy!

Happy 9th birthday Emily!

How did we get from this...

... to this so quickly?

Yesterday, June 9th, 2009 was Emily's 9th birthday...her "Golden Birthday"! What's a golden birthday? Supposedly, it's when your date of birth is the same # as the age you are turning. I missed mine; it was when I was 4...oh well. But, Emily turned 9 on the 9th yesterday, so she wanted to make sure that we did something extra special on her golden birthday. I'm sure that she meant something extra special would be an extra present, but instead, Jason, Ben, Abby and I each wrote a list of 9 Things we love about Emily. Of course, it wasn't difficult to come up with a list. Emily's a great kid and we are so blessed to have her!

A few highlights from the list:

I love the way your dimples show

when you smile really big. (Dad)

I love how you work hard to make your friends

feel better when they are sad. (Dad)

I love how you are brave and share

about God with your friends. (Dad)

I love how kind and caring you are. (Mom)

I love that you are truthful and

do your best to do what's right. (Mom)

I love your shiny brown eyes. (Mom)

You play with me. (Ben)

You teached me how to blow up balloons. (Ben)

You love me. (Ben)

You kiss and hug me. (Abby)

You are funny. (Abby)

You draw with me. (Abby)

On to the presents...

I love it when I get a reaction like this:

All because of these; the new craze...

Japanese erasers!

And roller blades!

(pink ones, of course)

And on to the party:

Cupcakes....check!

Craft: this...

...plus this...

...equals this...check!

Can't forget the good friends...check!

Add a night walk complete with glow sticks...check!

Top it off with sleeping in the tent in the backyard...check!

Oh yeah, almost forgot...

Add Mom sleeping in the tent, too...oh well...check!

Hope your birthday was fun, Em!

We love you and are so proud of you!

Catching up...

The Curtis Crew has been quite busy, thus the lack of blogging for a while. Hopefully, this post will serve as a quick catch up! These are in no particular order of importance, just as they pop into my brain, which is usually in random fashion!

We enjoyed a trip to Blossom Time over

Memorial Day Weekend in Chagrin Falls.

Benjamin is reading...so amazing and so sweet!

Abby is completely potty-trained!

Benjamin is registered for Kindergarten...please pass the tissues!

Emily took a trip to NYC with her Grandma to celebrate her upcoming 9th birthday!

We have FINALLY found a church home!

We have these growing in our flower beds...

gotta bring a little TX into the area!

Jason and I have lost a total of 23 pounds together!

Thanks to these folks...

Emily bought herself a new bicycle with her own money.

She saved and saved...so proud!

Ben bought himself a new scooter with his own money.

Congrats, buddy!

We attempted to grow a garden in our too shady backyard...

However, we have 10 very healthy radish plants!

I'm the only one that likes them...

I started this challenge this week...bring it on!

All is not quiet, but very well on the Curtis home front!