Auntie Haley's Birthday Minions

And Jenn's kitchen art continues to amaze!  This time it was a birthday cake for Auntie Haley.  Jenn developed a cool idea and we took it up to Cleveland to surprise her after Bowling Green's match with Cleveland State.
Minions, cake, and Auntie Haley... three of our kids' favorite things!

Playset Enthusiasts

There was a time at the end of last summer/fall and the beginning of this summer where the kids weren't into playing on the playset. It was disheartening to Jenn and me, and we thought, "Wow. I'm glad Grandpa Dave & Grandma Laura helped us put in this nice set. /sarc"

But as I touched on in my last post, there has been a renewed interest in the playset, and they're almost ravenous about it. Lydia can't get enough of the swing, Lincoln splits his time between the swing, the trapeze and the tire swing, and Henry spends his time on the ladders, the skybox and the slide. (Noooooo swings for Henry, according to him.) It's nice that they each have their own areas that they enjoy, and when a swing is available, you can often find Jenn or me on it.
And if Lincoln's hair caught your attention, Miss Dawn gave him a faux hawk with blue gel!

Kindergarden starts next Tuesday!!!

Underpants On The Outside

Ethan in Kansas' mom shared a blog on Facebook recently that I really liked.  It's of a family that recently got back from China, having gone to most of the same places that Jenn and I went, and they've got 4 kids now under 5.  And we think our home is full!  Our Eternal Treasures
Between the zoo, Szalays, the Riverfront Cruise In, and a renewed interest in the playset, we've been a busy bunch here.
In interesting news on my writing front, you may or may not be aware that I've co-authored a series of essays about the veterinary profession with a friend and colleague, Eden Myers, DVM, of Kentucky.  After an unsuccessful attempt to get them published in JAVMA (they're quite politically incorrect as far as the American Veterinary Medical Association is concerned), we had a letter to the editor published that was an abridged version of #4.  There was some apparent interest from Veterinary Economics, but that appeared to be a dead end, and after being scooped by the New York Times, we decided to get our thoughts out there and we published on Eden's blog.  Not long after that, the Student Doctor Network found the pieces and published our first essay on their site.  And most recently, Veterinary Economics has gotten back in the mix, requesting that they allow us to abridge our #2 for use in their Hot Button segment, so that'll appear in next month's issue.  The publishing world definitely works on a different pace than what we're used to, but it's interesting to see how one thing definitely leads to another.

And finally, if you haven't see the "Nailed It!" board on Pintrest, you're missing a good laugh.  After you see that board, you'll more likely find the humor in this...

NAILED IT!

Grandma Gates' Birthday

Yesterday we celebrated Grandma Gates' 92nd Birthday! She's one amazing lady, and she'd have to be to carry on the mature conversations that one would have with a good friend like Hope as well as the crazy kid conversations that she has (er, tolerates) with Lincoln, Henry and especially Lydia. (Lydia is in a phase now where any word with an "ooooo" sound in it is hilarious, particularly "dude" and "poop.")

Jenn made the birthday cake, and it was her best yet. A chocolate cake with raspberry buttercream filling and a fondant covering with some beautiful flowers.
Last weekend we visited Grandma Laura & Grandpa Dave and went to the Columbus Children's Theater for a production of The Little Mermaid, Jr. The cast was made up of High School and Middle School students, and we had front row, on-the-floor seats. The kids were way into it, and it brought back all kinds of memories for Jenn of singing the entire soundtrack when she was a girl.
Prior to Sunday's trip to the theater, I had the kids all day on Saturday and we had a lot of fun playing on the playset.

Diapers & Wipes for the Princesses

This past weekend was the fourth annual Life Answers ABF Men's Retreat at Leesville Lake.  It has become an event to which a number of guys really look forward year in and year out.  This year's theme was FOUND, and through a series of lessons and converations we explored facets of how we've been found by God.  Adoption has played an instrumental role in my understanding of how we've been found by God, and I shared a bit of what I've learned over the past year and a half.

The weather was beautiful, and during the lunch downtime, I got out on one of the trails and moseyed down by the lake.
Jenn and the kids spent Saturday driving down to Cincinnati to visit a bunch of the Mullen family.  This was the first non-holiday long drive for them, and by and large they did very well.  I saw them fast asleep in the car upon their return, and they all looked darn cute in the outfits Jenn had picked for them, and she reported that cousins Kelly & Patrick were really cool with occupying them during the day, and that given their lack of nap, they were all-stars.
Just the other day, Henry was building with the Mega Blocks, and Lydia came over to his tower and pushed it over.  Between the day prior to this and last June 2, Henry's response would have been screaming +/- crying.  But something very interesting happened.  He looked at her, worked very deliberately to form the words with his mouth that he was thinking in his head, and he said, "You knock my tower over.  Make me sad."  Wow.  Our little boy is growing up, and what a big step to witness.

Also the other day, Jenn found Lydia packing up her Disney^® Princess^TM suitcase with diapers and wet wipes.  When Jenn asked her what she was doing, her reply was, "I'm packing for Disney World.  The princesses are going to wipe my bum."