Go Buckeyes!

A couple weeks ago we loaded up the crew and headed to Columbus to catch a Buckeye men's hockey game. We had gotten a suite through a charity auction, so we invited the family to join us for a night of sporting fun. We stopped first at my sister in law's house, where Grandpa Mike had a chance to spend some time with his "silly monkeys".


Soon enough it was time to head out to the game. Mommy and Kate were all decked out in their Buckeye gear and ready for the game.


The boys very quickly found their seats in the front row of the suite next to Uncle Greg, a position they would retain for most of the night.


This was the scene for pretty much the rest of the night, 3 boys focused on the action on the ice.


The game itself looked like it might turn out to be a disappointment. However, the Buckeyes managed an impressive rally from 2 goals down in the 3rd period and managed a win for us. Some of us were extremely excited about the goals and the win......


... while others were a little more reserved albeit still impressed....


...while others were just overwhelmed by all the excitement. :-)


As usual, lots more pictures out on Picasa, but there's also some videos thanks to an early visit from Santa. Some cute pics of Kate on the ride up to Columbus enjoying her first donut (a definite hit), and some more sillyness at Aunt Brianne's house, plus lots of action at the hockey game.

Turkey Day fun with the Family.

Mom and Dad a.k.a. Grandma and Grandpa in most stories :-) had thanksgiving at their house this year. With Mike and Betty Ann in town they had all their grandkids around, so why not fill the house up completely with family. We started things off with some football and soccer in the backyard with the kids. Kate even got into the game. Next time, I'll have to remember to bring my camera out for that!

Grandma Eifert got there, and it was time for the turkey day fun to begin. Uncle Mike had to get in and pose with his favorite 'mom-in-law'.



Before long the kitchen was abuzz with people getting the food going, grabbing wine, and chatting. I'm pretty sure Aunt Rosie was stirring the gravy for half the night!


Dinner was fantastic, and I even managed to live up to a promise I never imagined I'd be able to keep for my Grandma. She and I always have nice chats, and let's just say that certain promises made to a nice Irish lass have to be kept. After dinner it was family photo time....


With things starting to wind down, some of the girls had a chance to hang out on the porch. Kate decided she was going to be a part of the girls too. :-)


All in all a great Thanksgiving. A few more pictures out on Picasa. The usual selection of the kids, with lot's of family sprinkled in doing the usual Turkey day stuff. :)

Aidan's First Birthday

Mike, Betty Ann, and Aidan came to visit for the holiday and we got a chance to celebrate Aidan's first birthday with him. It was of course a natural opportunity to take pictures of the little ones together. They weren't too sure about all the fuss, but they are definitely a couple of cutie-pies.


Kate is more than willing to talk to anyone that will listen, and she will be glad to tell you that she's so funny. She is also happy to tell you, especially when she's wearing a pretty dress, that "I So Pretty"....


Aidan is noodling around with walking. He could totally do it, and when he's not thinking about it and we're only half paying attention he's taking a few steps here and there. But when we try to get him to do it for real, like here, he's a total faker.


Aidan like his guitar we got him. Mike and Betty Ann realized that all those noisemaker gifts to us before they had kids just might come back to haunt them. (cue Aunt Beth giggling mischievously in the background....) Owen was happy to show Aidan how to work the new toy...


Kate was also happy to show Aidan how to work a noisy guitar and showed off her Henry the octopus dancing skills on her Wiggles Guitar.


Owen decided to take a few pictures when it was time for cake. Turns out he's pretty darn good at taking pictures. Here's one of Aidan getting started on his second birthday cake of the week.


Mike and Betty Ann said Aidan wasn't quite sure about his first cake. This time however, there was no mistaking it. Aidan fully immersed himself in his cake eating experience and enjoyed every bite he could smash in his mouth, or his hair as the case may be. :-)


After cake, it was time to ride the sugar buzz for some cousin play time.


More pictures as always out on Picasa. Happy Birthday Aidan!

From Aidan First Birthday

Visit from the Cincinnati Cyclones' Twister and the Kelly Cup.

Got a chance to see the cyclones mascot and pose with the Kelly Cup, courtesy of the ECHL 2007-08 champions, the Cincinnati Cyclones.

Twister even signed a poster for the boys....

Halloween Party 2008

We headed up to Columbus for an early Halloween party for the kids (and brave adults) at my sister in law's. We had a great time, and the kids loved trying out their Halloween costumes. Being the huge Star Wars fan (ok, fine, geek) that I am, it brings a tear to my eye that the boys picked out their own costumes this year and went with Star Wars characters. And Jango Fett and Clone Trooper, ready to hunt for candy, decided that their baby sis should get in on the act too. They toyed with Queen Amidala, but utlimately decided that Kate should be Princess Leia.

Here's the whole crew decked out in their costumes.


Ton's of pictures of the party, including Jake's Scooby Doo theme, and even my sis-in-law getting in on the Scooby Doo act, all out on my picasa site if you follow the link.

Here's a slideshow version if you prefer.....

Friday night lights

The boys and I headed down to catch the last high school home game of the year. It was their first high school game, and they were jazzed. We met our neighbors and the two pairs of boys proceeded to ham it up like 'big boys'. Cheering, waving the school colors, knocking back some hot dogs and pretzels.... A fun night indeed.

Attached are a couple of shots of them and their buds hanging at the game.

2008 Sigma Phi Epsilon Golf Outing

Thanks to everyone that participated in and helped make this year's outing a rousing success. Here's a quick slideshow of some of the day's festivities. Thanks to Mark for most of these pictures.

Click play to see the fun, or follow this link to browse them full screen....

Adam also shared a bunch of his pictures which you can find out here on Flickr. Always good to see a little tomfoolery on the course. ;-)
http://flickr.com/photos/sonnett/sets/72157607372547472/

Congratulations to this year's winning group, Team Zog. We look forward to next year's outing being a similar success under Todd's experienced eye. :-) And just let me say that I have never been happier in my life to be second place. hehe.

I hope everyone had as much fun as I did, and I hope to see you all, and many more, next year!

Well into the school year its time for first days of school pics

Largely because I've been busier than a one-armed picture hanger I'm way behind on posting pictures. And now, largely because I'm tired of yelling "answer the question" at the TV, I figured it was a good chance to post a couple of pictures that were hanging in Cyberspace. ;-)

Our proud little first-grader was thrilled to be headed back to school to see his friends. He wasn't entirely sure about the "full day" thing, but he was ready for that first day back on the bus!


In fact, the whole gang was happy to be headed to school again (wonder how long that will last!). So far, they are all eager to be on their way to school each day, although there isn't always the same amount of enthusiasm as there was in this picture on their first day back.


A few days later it was Owen's turn to head out to school. Kate made sure that she got in on the action. Owen was clearly excited about heading back to his school and making use of his nice new backpack.


Of course, once Kate had the house all to herself, it was time for a party with her friends.

From School Daze 2008

Follow the link to the album for a more pics of first days of school.

Day trip to Annapolis for a Pirate Adventure.

While we were visiting Mike, we decided to load up the families and take a day trip out to Annapolis. We found a cruise for the boys called "Pirate Adventures" and figured it might be a fun adventure for them. We were absolutely right. The trip starts off with everyone putting on pirate outfits and getting tattoos. Then it wasa time for a little sword play before boarding the ship.


Then it was off to the 'Sea Gypsy' to sail the high seas.


After sailing around and practicing their pirate speak, hoisting the flags, and being on the lookout for other pirates and treasure, it was time for battle. With water cannons lining each side of the boat, the boys manned their station and let Pirate Pete have it.


From there, the boys got to retrieve some treasure, with Patrick getting to provide one of the keys. They also got to sample some "Pirate Grog", and even launch an attack on some "innocent bystanders" that had their own hoses and told the captain they wanted to get in on the fun. After the trip, the boys posed with the rest of the crew and celebrated their adventure.


Wrapping up the day in Annapolis there was just enough daylight left for the cousins to pose for a picture to wrap up the day. As usual, there are many more pics out on Picasa to show off the full adventure.

From Annapolis in August

Museum of Natural History

We took a long weekend just before school started and headed out to Washington D.C. area to visit my brother and his family. We had a great time visiting him, Betty Ann, and my nephew Aidan. The first full day we had in town, we made a trip to the National Mall and headed into the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. It was a lot of fun checking out the exhibits, and the boys loved it, especially the dinosaur and other pre-historic exhibits.



Kate had a great time too, although she enjoyed looking at pretty jewlery and other shiny artifacts....


Aidan just thought hanging out with all his crazy cousins was the cool part!


They even have a kids "Discovery" area which gave the boys and Kate a chance to wander around and check out things up close. Here Owen checks out some bugs under the microscope while Kate and Mommy look on.


Be sure to check out the Picasa Album for many more pictures of our adventure in the Museum.

From Museum of Natural History

Star Power

Check out our family celebrity. Kate's shining face is featured for the event my sister in law is pulling together for the March Of Dimes in Columbus. The link takes you directly to the event page, but you can also find it by going to http://www.ohiomag.com and then clicking on CE for Central Ohio Events and you'll see her on the front page if you scroll down.

More pictures coming this weekend when I have some time.

And if you feel moved, come join us for the Signature Chef Auction for the March of Dimes on October 20th, and help support a great cause, babies like Kate, Patrick, Owen, and cousins Jacob and Aidan.

Kate walking and dancing video

Here's a video worth 4 mins of your time hopefully. Kate started trying to walk in June and has gone from a few hesitant steps to a walking machine. She's even starting to add in some dance moves. And now that she's mobile its even easier for her to pose for the camera and say "CHEESE!".

Enjoy the video!

Kate Walking and Dancing

I'll help watch...

...for the tooth fairy of course.

"Sleep tight and don't let the bug bites get ya!"

Time for another visit from the tooth fairy

Patrick is halfway to living out the song "All I want for xmas is my two front teeth!"

A strategic sucker helped break it loose and now it time to see what the tooth fairy has in store this time...

More photos from the holiday weekend with the family.

The holiday weekend had more than just the 4th of July's fun. Back at home, the boys broke out the jeep, and soon got Kate into the Jeep for a ride around the yard. She loved every minute of it, and Patrick and Owen were cracking up at how much fun their little sis was having.


Next the boys and Mommy got Kate to go down her mini-slide all by herself. With Patrick waiting at the bottom to catch her, she had a ball!


On Saturday, back at Grandma and Grandpa's, it was time for some water play. The boys had fun taking water out in the yard and engaging in their own little science experiments.


Even more fun was showing Kate how much fun playing in the sprinklers would be. We weren't sure she'd be into it, but the boys had her in the thick of it in no time. Owen dives right into the spray while Patrick and Kate wave their arms in the spray.


Lot's more pictures from the weekend's fun can be found out on the Picasa site. Click on the picture/link below to see all the fun, and even a couple pics of cousin Aidan.

From July 4th week...