Culver's Soccer Ball Event

Matt worked at Culvers handing out the food one day while he was home. People donated either money to buy soccer balls or a soccer ball to be sent to Iraq. (Crue thought he should be able to take one home- he's so selfish!) There were 140 balls donated, and Matt has been able to hand quite a few out so far. He said it's so amazing to see how excited the kids are to get these soccer balls. He said that a couple days ago, he almost started a riot, and the soldiers had to get back in their vehicles and lock the doors so that the kids wouldn't get in and take more balls! They have so little, and this is such a great way to give them just a little bit of fun in such a dark place! Thanks to everyone who came out and supported this great event!

Crue's Big Top

Here's a little glimpse into my world- which I like to call the "3-Ring Circus." Crue loves animals, so there are quite a few different kinds in our circus. His favorite is the black lab that he seems to be be-heading in the picture- he loves both his dogs- Bella and Bailey. He also loves his turtle named Camo- he feeds him 2 pieces of food in the morning and at night. He also has 2 goldfish- which are not pictured- named Maggs and Inge. Those are the animals in our circus, but there are many more that make guest appearances- like the aligator he is kissing, the goat he is feeding, and the cat he is taking a ride with.

Crue's "big boy" room

Crue is a "big boy" now! I found him a quilt that he loves- because it has trucks on it! I put him on the floor on his crib mattress at first, and he did really well. The first day he kept getting out and when I would go in to check on him, he had pretty much all his books in bed with him! After that he only got up a couple more times, and now he stays right in there! Now that he's in his twin bed, he wakes up in the morning, and knocks on his door to let me know that he's awake! I have some old mini lockers that I'm going to paint, and make into his headboard. Once I get it done, I'll put some pics up for ya'll to see!

Daddy's Home!

Matt got to visit us for 12 days in the beginning of September- we had such a great time while he was home! Here are some of the pics that we took when we picked him up from the airport. He had quite the welcoming committee! It took Crue about 20 min to warm back up to him, but after that, it was like he had his best friend home again!

There's a funny story with the balloons. We got a special pass to go past the security check point- and when we got up to where we take our shoes off and put everything on the belt- one of the balloons popped, and it seriously sounded like a gun shot! The security guards stopped everything immediately, and every single person in line was staring at me (of course I was the idiot who thought it would be a good idea to take balloons through a check point)! I naturally turned every shade of red, and the guy told me I had to put the balloons on the belt and through the security machine. That's when I decided not to take the stupid balloons- I don't know if I would have been able to get them through the machine even I wanted to! So that's a lesson learned- don't bring helium balloons when you're planning on flying!

At the Zoo with Daddy

We got to spend the day with Matt at the zoo while he was home for 2 weeks. Crue loved looking at and touching the sting rays, riding the camel and drinking daddy's Jamocha shake. It was an amazing day of family, sunshine, and laughs!

Camping in Traverse City

This is the beautiful Grand Traverse Bay- we went Sea Dooing on it, and it totally looked just like the Carribean!

Crue had a ton of fun playing in the dirt while camping in Traverse City- in northern MI. Every single outfit we brought got dirty and he never had clean feet- even after a bath! Even the inside of his nose and eyes had dirt in them! It was a lot of work taking a 20 month old camping, but totally worth it!

Baseball game

Crue had a ton of fun playing with his cousins while at a baseball (or as Crue would say-BBall) game earlier this summer. My sister-in-law took this amazing picture of him on the old bleachers. One of the only times he was a ham for her while she was taking pics of him. EVERY single photo shoot we've done with her, Crue has been totally cranky and this was no exception for the shoot we had before Matt went back to Iraq- We'll be lucky to find 1 or 2 smiles. There will be some pics posted of that shoot soon! Also I'll try to get some pics of all the fun we had while Matt was home!