Music Time

Dalton is on the keyboard, Karl is playing the guitar and Braden is assisting on the guitar/rattle.

Dalton and Karl decide which chords they need to play.

Doesn't Dalton look like such a cool dude in his shades?

My Brother Did It!

How true is this?

Dalton's birthday & a few other pictures

I love this picture of Dalton. He was ver anxious to eat the cake & cupcakes that he helped decorate. As I was getting out the icecream, he sat there with his head in his hands. It was too adorable to pass up taking this picture!

Braden says "Hello!"

Dalton got a new bike for his 4th birthday & Braden got his very first tricycle. Karl took them to get their helmets & they each picked out Thomas the Tank Engine, which also came with knee pads & elbow pads. Those already came in handy, when Dalton fell off of his bike & said "It didn't hurt when I falled!"

I think that Shelby has permanently dented this cushion on our sectional.

Mommy has to have her picture taken every now & then!

Post Secret

It takes a very brave person to admit your faults & your secrets to the world.



Click here to vist Post Secret's website every Sunday to view the next 20 secrets!

Oops! Forgot to post 4th of July pictures!

I guess I had a total blonde moment & forgot to post pictures from the 4th of July. These were taken at my Mom & Dad's house. They were gone for the 4th of July, so we had our celebration with them a few days early.Oooh! Says Braden. This was before the loud, up in the sky fireworks!

My Mom takes a turn, soothing Braden. He clung on so tight around our necks, he just about strangled us!
Dalton loves the fireworks. He kept clapping! It was SO cute!

More of the 4th

We were driving home, after watching the fireworks & I saw this flag, blowing in the wind at the new library, just down the street from us & told Karl to stop the car.

Braden waits for the fireworks to start. See? He's smiling now!
Dalton watches the fireworks in awe!

Braden clings to Karl. They spent most of the show in the car.

After the fireworks were over, Braden wanted to know "Why fireworks all done?"

Gold Cup 2007, Detroit

On the weekend of the 14th & 15th of July, we took a trip to Detroit, to watch the Gold Cup. The Gold Cup is the oldest active trophy in motorsports. It was 2 beautiful days of hydroplane racing. The boys (Karl included) thought that it was pretty cool. Here is a sampling of pictures of our weekend, that was filled with loud, fast races & even a boat flip!Here's a picture of the Gold Cup. This year was the 99th running of the race. It was only out in public for a few minutes & then they whisked it off in this very secure metal box, surrounded by guards. It was almost as if the president was in that box!
Braden cheeses it for the camera, as Dalton watches a race.
What an intense look on his face!
The water in the air is part of a "rooster tail" from a hydroplane.
Dalton & Braden watch them lower an offshore racing boat onto the trailer.

Detroit Gold Cup 2007

The boys anxiously watched the races. Braden did much better, once we got him some ear plugs. I wish I thought about that on the 4th of July!
Here are 2 boats racing. The red one, on the left, was the one that flipped over in the final race for the trophy. Luckily the driver was okay.
You can see in this picture that the boat is just barely skimming on the surface of the water. You can see how easy it is for these boats to flip.
Braden, Karl & Dalton hang out under a tree, getting some shade, in between heats. Megan & Braden

My Birthday

Today, I turned 26.

Life is so crazy & busy that it didn't really feel like a birthday, but that's okay. School is taking up every spare minute that I don't spend with the kids. The kids are being very sweet in "helping" me study. And Karl is doing his best to keep them out of my hair for a few hours each day, so that I can concentrate. Luckily, my iPod has been GREAT for blocking out the sounds of home, so I can give my full attention to school work.

I will post more pictures soon, so be sure to check back. (Maybe after I do my homework!)

Dalton helped me blow out the candles on my cake!

Braden wanted to help me open my presents.

My 2 boys! The only one missing is Karl, but he is taking the picture!

Day Out With Thomas

We got to take a ride on Thomas the Tank Engine!
Dalton, Braden & Karl got to meet Sir Topham Hatt.
Karl & Braden enjoyed looking out the window.
Dalton cheeses it for the camera!
Braden will be very happy. I chose not to put up the picture of him with his finger up his nose.

More pictures

Conner, Danielle & Me!
Mommy & Braden
Mommy & Dalton

I wonder where he gets his squinty-eye smile from?
Is Braden taking after Mommy?

Happy Birthday Dad! We love you!

Here is a picture of the cake that I made for my Dad. I promise the golf ball & golf tee are new & have never been used!
My Daddy!
The boys sing "Happy Birthday" to their Grandpa.
Everyone enjoys cake & ice cream.
My sister's dog, Glacier helps clean up the kitchen!

Another Summer Day

Braden, fixing his bubble mower.
Now he can mow the yard! Too bad it doesn't really cut the grass!
Dalton has a great arm!
And a great leg!

What have we been up to?

Well, it has definately been a very busy couple of weeks for our family. I realized that I haven't posted anything new since June 15th, but I promise I have a good reason!

On June 16th, my husband, Karl, had a heart attack. We were sitting at home, watching a soccer game on tv & just having a very leisure Saturday afternoon, when Karl told me that he didn't feel well. "What does that mean?" I asked him. "Well, I have this pain in my chest," he says. I said "Let's go to the ER." But stubborn Karl said, "No, let me just lie down & rest for a little bit & see if it goes away." But then even-more-stubborn Megan (and you will probably never hear me refer to myself as stubborn again!) said "Okay, how about if we go to urgent care instead?" Luckily, Karl agreed to this. Once we got to urgent care, we weren't there very long before he was rushed to the hospital. He had a couple of stents put in that evening. On Monday afternoon, he was released from the hospital. However, he will still be needing bypass surgery later in the month.

Then a week and a half later, I started back to school. I am taking online courses to obtain a Criminal Justice degree. I will have my associates degree in 18 months & my bachelors degree in 3 years.

I will be posting pictures soon of what else we have been up to, so check back soon!

Splish-Splash!

The boys had a blast one hot summer day recently. They kept asking Karl to spray them with teh hose! Then I took the hose & acted like I was going to spray the boys, but instead, turned it on to Karl. He was surprised & the boys were THRILLED! It was a fun day for all of us!
Dalton and Braden check out their new pool! Dalton insisted on buying the green swimming pool, because green is his color!
More Splashing!
Somehow, the soccer ball ended up in there!
Braden laughs after running across the pool!

1st Year Wedding Anniversary!

We celebrated our first year wedding anniversary on Monday, May 28, 2007. There are no pictures of me ~ since I am the photographer, after all, but here is a cute one of Karl & the boys, after he opened my presents to him. Dalton told me that Karl wanted a racecar shirt. I told him it was a sweet idea, but that Karl didn't watch racing. He insisted that he would LOVE the shirt. I'll keep it in mind for our 2nd year anniversary.



FYI: Karl gave me a beautiful necklace & 2 pairs of earrings, that were fabulous! He has awesome taste! Afterall, he did pick me to marry! And since the first year anniversary is traditionally celebrated by giving something paper... I got Karl a book on Hiking in Indiana (something we have been talking about doing for a while) & I also bought a beautiful frame & printed off a sheet with our wedding vows on them, which we had written ourselves.

Karl & Megan’s Wedding Vows
May 28, 2006

I vow to encourage you in your personal growth

I vow to laugh with you, cry with you & have fun with you

I vow to be an equal partner in the building of our family

When times are tough, I vow to try to think about the positive qualities that brought us together

I vow to trust you & show you that you can trust me

I vow to continue learning about you & growing with you

I vow to be honest and communicate my feelings, even when it’s hard to do

I vow to make time to listen to your feelings

I vow to be a comfort and safe haven in your life

After 2 days, it's finally built!

I love this picture, with all 4 boys on the swing set!

More pictures!

Karl, Nick & Conner were still building the swing set & Dalton & Braden were already on it!

Our weekend project continues

My brother, Nick.




















I set up the sand box for the boys, that way they could at least have something to do, while they waited for the rest of the swing set to be built!




















It's looking more & more like a real swing set!




















Dalton decides to play some soccer, while waiting for us to finish!


























It's time for the slide! Now how are they going to get up there?

Building Dalton & Braden's new swing set!

Dalton, Braden, Karl, Nick, Conner & Grandma all help build the frame of the fort.





















The whole time that we were building the swing set, Braden kept grabbing the boards & rearranging them. It made it very difficult to find what we needed, when we needed it! Just look at that impish grin!




















Dalton tries out the new picnic table, that I built, so that I was at least somewhat productive, other than capturing the event on camera!




















Dalton & Braden want to know "When is it going to be finished?!!"




















"Hey Conner!" says Braden, "Come on & get back to work!"

Braden got a twin bed!

Braden got a twin bed, just like his big brother! He is very proud of his new Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends sheet set!




















Dalton has had Lightening McQueen sheets for a couple of months, but was surprised by a new McQueen-shaped pillow!

Dalton & Braden on our Road Trip!

Aren't these two just too adorable?!!

Road Trip!

We took a trip one day to Dayton, Ohio, to visit the home of Karl's great-grandparents. It's the home where his mom, Emma, was born. Here are some pictures of the beautiful house. I jumped out of the car & snuck up, like I was the paparrazi! I have to admit, I was nervous of what the neighbors would think!























Here is a picture of our car, with Karl & the boys, waiting for me, as I snapped a few pictures!

After visiting the house, we drove south a little further & met my Aunt Mary for dinner. I must have had a major blonde moment, because I didn't take any pictures of this gathering. I guess we will just have to take another drive & I will remember to take pictures!

Dalton & Braden

Bubbles, Bubbles EVERYWHERE!

Dalton and Braden enjoyed the warm, afternoon sunshine with some soccer & bubbles.
"Here's some bubbles, Mommy!" Dalton says.
Braden is learning how to blow bubbles!
Looks like both boys have finally figured it out!

From home improvement projects to family time...

The boys decided to help Karl install a new light in our guest area. They were very interested in handing him the tools that they felt he needed. Dalton also said that he needed to fix the door. Lucky for me, I have 3 little handy-men to do home improvement projects!
Dalton and Braden are actually playing with the same toy at the same time & are NOT fighting over it! It's amazing! So of course, I had to take a picture to document such a momentous occasion!
Karl was reading to Dalton & Braden when Lily & Shelby decided to join them!
Karl & I actually had a moment to kick back & relax for a bit! We are looking forward to celebrating our first year wedding anniversary next week!

Happy Mother's Day Mom!

Happy Mother's Day Mom! I love you!

Here is a Top Ten things that I love about my Mom, in no particular order:

10. My Mom has a great sense of humor. She always laughs at my jokes--no matter how corny they are!

9. My Mom has an amazing love for animals.

8. My Mom is able to fix just about anything around the house.

7. My Mom has a great smile.

6. My Mom is a strong woman.

5. My Mom is an excellent Grandma. My boys can account for this one!

4. My Mom teaches me something new almsot every day.

3. My Mom can always calm me down, when I am upset.

2. My Mom is extemely supportive of me & my decisions.

1. My Mom is my best friend!

Coloring Easter Eggs

Easter 2007

Easter Baskets 2007

Easter Egg Hunt 2007

Pictures from March

I have been really bad about updating this blog, so here are some pictures from a month ago, to catch you up on what we have been up to! I hope you enjoy!


















"Oh no! We have been caught!" The boys know that they aren't supposed to be playing in the bath tub & I just couldn't resist snapping this picture! I also got smart & found a little tote to put their bath toys in, so that they aren't in the tub, tempting them to go in & get into them.



















Karl & I, at my Mom's birthday party! Aren't we cute?!!



















My mom LOVES horses! And chocolate! Here is a picture of the birthday cake that I made her. I don't remember Julia Andrews singing about chocolate & horses, but these definately are a few of my mom's favorite things!


















Here is my brother Nick (standing in the back), my Mom, Dalton & Braden. Everyone was very anxious to be able to tear into the cake!

Lily's Puppy Preschool Graduation

Lily graduated from Puppy Preschool on April 10, 2007. She got her hair trimmed that day & wore her new pink bandana, which said "Voted Best Dressed at Obedience School" on it.

Karl, Lily & I completed 6 classes to work on the basic training with her. We really enjoyed the puppy socialization times, where all of the puppies just ran around & played with eachother. Soon, we will be starting the next level, Clicker Training.

Aren't they cute?!!

The boys had their pictures taken, a couple of weekends ago, when they went to their Dad's & he was nice enough to let me scan them & now I can share them with you!

Dalton is 3 1/2 years old.

Braden is 2 years old.

Have a Happy Easter!

The boys happily posed with the Easter Bunny, when we went to the mall the other day. We colored easter eggs today, which the boys thought was great fun! I will post those pictures soon.

Life

Things are really good here. Just busy. I need to download some new pictures to post here. Check back soon!

New Car

Here is our new car! It's a 2006 Pontiac Vibe! It's so cute & drives really well! It's smaller than my Chevy Lumina & not as wide, but yet, it feels like you are sitting in a chair!

I matched the car, by wearing RED today! Karl usually does most of the driving, when we travel together as a family, but he might have to fight me to get into the drivers seat now! :)

Friends?!!

I wandered into the family room today & saw that Lily (the dog) had climbed onto the back of the couch & plopped down on the exact cushion that Shelby (the cat) usually lays on. Then, right before my eyes, Shelby came running down into the family room & climbed up right beside Lily. It was very odd, but cute to watch. Of course, I had to run & get the camera, to document this occassion. Dalton said "Look! They're friends!"

Date Night

Last night, Karl & I had date night. It's not something that we get to do very often & we had a great time. First, we went out for some italian food, at a local restaraunt. Then we went to see Music & Lyrics. It was a very cute romantic comedy. Drew Barrymore & Hugh Grant were so cute together! Not as cute as Karl & I, but close!

What was the last movie you saw or are planning on seeing?

Our family vacation

Not too much going on, so I thought that I would post some of my favorite pictures from our recent family vacation in Kauai this past February. It was a relaxing & beautiful 10 days for all of us!


This is a Hawaiin Monk Seal that happened to be on the North Shore, resting on Ke'e Beach. The boys were SO excited to get to see him! We even bought a book about a monk seal, named Hina & a couple of cute stuffed monk seals, to help remind them of their vacation.

The boys and I all got to go down the slide! Neither Dalton or Braden were very thrilled of the idea of playing on the sand, but they were VERY happy to check out this HUGE playground, called Kamalani Playground at Lydgate Park. All four of us had a blast.

Braden, Karl & Dalton pose in front of Wailua Falls (not able to be seen in this picture).

While we were gone, Indiana had 6 inches of snow and then a few days later, we had the Blizzard of 2007, where we had a record-breaking 17 inches of snow! We were very fortunate to have a very kind neighbor across the street from us, who plowed our drive way during both storms. Here is Karl, shoveling our sidewalk! It took a long time for all of that snow to melt. In fact, just the other day, we noticed that there was an area, along the side of the road, where the sun doesn't hit & there is a small patch of snow!

Sleeping Habits

We thought that it was strange, when we adopted Shelby that she didn't sleep with us at night. She would come up onto the bed & let us pet her for a few minutes each & then she would either sleep under the bed or sleep in the hallway, right outside our room. Here we are, in this huge king size bed, with soft sheets & a down comforter that is perfect for snuggling under & she doesn't want anything to do with it! So when Lily joined our family, we thought it was wiser to put away the dry-clean only down comforter & buy a cheap, machine-washable comforter, since little puppies often have accidents. The same day that I changed the comforter, was the same night that Shelby decided to come up & sleep with us all night long! I figured she just didn't like the down, which I would expect a cat to LOVE!

Lily likes the new comforter also! She's not picky, she will lie down just about anywhere. But her favorite place to snooze is on my lap or curled in, under my chin.




I am not sure how much Shelby likes Lily being in such close proximity to her! I mean, they are in a king sized bed after all. It's not like they have a TON of room. They are practically breathing the same air. Maybe Shelby is afraid that she will get doggie germs!

I guess they decided to take an afternoon
"catnap" together, after all! Aren't they cute, when Shelby isn't running around, terrorizing poor Lily?

Lily's Bath

One of Dalton's favorite books is called "Harry the Dirty Dog" by Gene Zion & illustrated by Margaret Bloy Graham. Harry is a white dog with black spots & doesn't want to take his bath. So one day, he runs away & gets into all sorts of typical doggie trouble, such as digging in the garden. When he finally returns home, he is a black dog with white spots & his family doesn't even realize that it's him! It's great fun to read & I highly recommend it, if you have young children or are a child at heart! Anyways, I digress, as usual. :) Now, Lily wasn't as bad as dirty Harry, but she definitely wasn't a pure white dog anymore! So I gave her a bath tonight & I was highly amused at how she looked, soaking wet!


After her bath, she even let me play Amateur Dog Groomer & brush & blow dry her fur. I think she much preferred the blow dryer, to air drying & shivering the whole time, like she did the last time I bathed her! How cute is she?

The First Signs of Spring

Here are some sure signs that Spring is quickly approaching!

As we raked tons of leaves today, we discovered the crocus hiding underneath. It was such a surprise! Last week, the temperatures were freezing. In fact, even today, we still have snow leftover from the blizzard of 2007. Unfortunately, we missed this phenomenon, since we were vacationing in Kauai at the time.

Here are all of the sticks that we picked up in the yard the last 2 days. We got most of them bundled together, so that they can go out with our trash on Monday morning. They were quite the pain in the butt to pick up. My hands feel like the have taken a beating from them. But the yard is looking much better now.

Braden, who is younger than Dalton by 19 months, decided to be nice & pull his big brother around the yard. I was so surprised! I didn't think that he would be able to do it, but he did! He pulled him quite a long way! It was absolutely adorable!

We bought a stake & tie out today for Lily, so that she can join us when we go outside to do yardwork or to play. We also bought her some outside doggie toys, because I didn't want her bringing toys in & out. Ewwww. Anyways, she seemed to think that it was great to be outside with us & not be on a leash. And now, she doesn't have any sticks to get tangled on, since they are all picked up!

Here is Karl, working in the yard. Doesn't he look cute? I love the look, with the gloves sticking out of his back jeans pocket!

And last, but certainly not least: Daylight savings begins tonight! I am so excited about this, because hopefully, Dalton will sleep in. Normally, Dalton wakes up & then immediately wakes Braden up (we discovered on a weekend that Dalton wasn't here that Braden slept for an additional hour or two, without his little alarm clock!) Then Braden is cranky & starts fighting with Dalton. Then Dalton starts fighting with him. (I am not talking about fighting-fighting, just arguing over who gets which toy ect). It's so not pleasant, waking up to 2 screaming boys! Anyways, I digress: Don't forget to "Spring Forward"!

I feel a cold coming on...

I think I am getting the kids' cold. I am supposed to go to the gym tomorrow, but we will see how I am feeling. If my body tells me it's time to rest, then it's time to rest.

On the plus side, both Dalton & Braden are feeling better. :)

New car?

Karl & I have been discussing maybe getting a new minivan. But then after seeing what kind of mileage they got & after watching the gas prices skyrocket here, we decided that that probably wouldn't be such a great idea. But now we are thinking about a car, either the same size as the Chevy Lumina or maybe even a little smaller & more economical. Plus, the chevy has some sort of transmission problem. It just doesn't shift very smoothly. And all of the fluids were changed at the beginning of winter, so it's not that.

So we did some searching online & found the 2007 Honda Civic Sedan Ex with manual transmission. I think we would be interested in at least going to a car lot & looking, but we don't want to be hounded by a salesman.

Hopefully, there will be some good deals, with tax time fast approaching.

The kids are sick today

It's so hard when your kids are sick. There really isn't much that you can do for them & it's frusterating. Both Dalton & Braden were sick today, but Braden was definately feeling worse. He cried all through dinner. Then, he finally quit.

Here he is, smiling, after finally letting me get him changed for bed.

In other news: Dalton finally tried my meatloaf. First, he ate all of his macaroni. Then he asked for more. I told him he couldn't have anymore until he ate his applesauce & tried one bite of meatloaf. He said "Okay." I was SO shocked! He didn't fight me on it! Dalton then took a few bites of applesauce. Then he took a bite of meatloaf and said "Mmmm. Can I finish this?" Gee... let me think about this. Um, no. I want you to act like I just served you worms, like you normally do. Then he even asked for more.

So even though, they were fighting off colds today, all in all, it seemed like a good day. Karl & I even got to go to the gym today. We had to go separately, since we can't take sick kids to the gym daycare.

It's Raining Cats & Dogs!

Okay, it's not REALLY raining cats & dogs. It's not even raining at all. It's a little on the chilly side today, but Spring is just around the corner. The weather forecast is predicting temperatures in the 50s next week! All I can say is, "Thank God!"

Anyways, I digress. Don't worry. You will get used to this happening. I tend to get sidetracked really easily. Then I always ask my husband, "What was I talking about?" And he always tells me, if he remembers himself. I guess the Blonde Moments are contagious!

So at the end of last year, we adopted Shelby from our local humane society. She is a beautiful & sweet 2 year old cat. She is very laid back & extremely good with my 2 toddler boys, who can be a little rowdy & rambunctious at times.

Then, a week and a half ago, we bought a puppy. Normally, I am against purchasing a dog, when there are so many in shelters all across America. But I wanted a smaller dog or puppy. And unfortunately, they seemed to have all larger dogs or cute puppies that were going to grow into large dogs. The local shelter did have one small dog, but it specified on the website "No small children". Well, with 2 toddlers, that little pup just wasn't going to work out for us. So one Friday evening, we went to the mall to go to the pet store. And I fell in love with a little West Highland White Terrier. We named her Lily (as in Lily of the Valley, because she is small & sweet--just like the flower). She is very sweet. Karl suggested naming her "Kitty Toy", which I actually LOVED but I didn't want to confuse the cat, by calling the dog "Kitty".

So now Shelby & Lily have become fast friends & playmates. But they both know that Shelby could take her, if she chose!

I might be the only human girl in the family, but it's kinda nice to add a little more estrogen to the household!

If you are interested in adopting an animal, please visit your local shelter or visit www.hsus.org or www.petfinder.com to find a shelter near you.

Welcome to my Blog!

So I decided to get into blogging, one day a couple of months ago to help keep me accountable on my journey to a healthier lifestyle. And since I have found blogging to be so much fun, I decided to create this blog, to keep track of our family's daily activities.

I hope you enjoy! I know I will!