Little league night at the AquaSox game

We were excited to take Ashton to the AquaSox game tonight. Mark found out it was Little League night and bought the tickets. Then we heard that the kids could be out on the field during the National Anthem.  How exciting!

 He looked pretty nervous heading out to the field with the other kids. Mark was right there at the gate and I was in the front row of the stands.

He seemed so small next to all the other kids out there.

They high-fived the players.  Pretty cool!

Waiting for the catcher to be called so they can run out with him to home plate.

 We didn't get to stay for the entire game, since it was past his bedtime already. But I am glad we took him. He even received two new baseball hats. The first 1000 people received one, and then he received another one for getting out on the field with the players.

What a great experience!

Ashton's T-ball is officially over

Today Ashton's team got together one last time for Trophies.  It was a great group of kids and we really had a good season with them and the parents. We may be seeing some of them for Soccer in the fall.

 One shot of the kids with silly faces!

Ben's has no more braces!

Happy Father's Day

Hannah Made this mug for her dad. Gorgeous!

This was before they fired it up

This is after.

This has nothing to do with Father's day, but Hannah painted this.  It looks so much better in on the wall (took this photo with my phone) But it is beautiful.  Love the lavenders!

My work in progress for Mark's Father's day gift. Hannah laughed at me because I took FOREVER to just do this part.

It is amazing the before and after difference. All the pencil marks disappear  once the fire it up.

Daddy loved his new M&M's jar!  Ashton was excited for him  too, because that meant M&M's!! 

Ashton Made this at school for a Father's day gift.

Ashton's Pre-Kindergarten Graduation

Ashton had his Pre-K Graduation today!  It was quite a production. That is one thing about this school, they really know how to put on a party. (And with the price we pay them, they better!)

In the classroom before the ceremony

His friends Liam and buddy Cooper.

Ashton was walking down the isle. His eyes caught Hannah. As soon as I snapped the photo, he waved and smiled. 

His Teachers. Mrs. Kelly and Mrs. Milne  They will be missed!

They sang a song for us too.

(He possibly could be the class of 2027.  We will know in one year)

Below is a photo of his first day of school in Sept. 2012.

He was pretty excited!

This was taken Friday on his last day of school:

He was bringing teacher's gifts to school today.

My friend Dawn. I have known her for 14 years. She introduced me to my love of Longaberger Baskets! She now works at Ashton's school. I have enjoyed seeing her weekly this year, and I am glad Ashton will be coming back next year!

Above:  After school the boys took photos of their last day.  Below that is their first day of school in Sept. 2012.  We will miss Cooper so much when he moves in July. :(

Ben's Surgery

Pre-surgery in the waiting room

Last Thursday Ben had surgery on his foot.  We were told to check in at 9:30am and surgery time would be 10:30. It sounds like it should only take about 30-40 minutes and then a small window for the spinal to wear off and we should be good to head on home.  A quick easy in and out procedure.  Ashton and I arrived with Ben at the check in time, but we didn't get out of there as soon as we had thought.  Ben's stomach didn't seem to like all the drugs he was given and was nauseas and throwing up for a while. The poor guy was just out of it.  He finally was able to keep down some of his food for half a hour so they released us close to 3:00pm. Fortunately Ashton is such a great kid and was well behaved for that amount of time in the clinic. I didn't even pack a lunch thinking we were going to be home in time, so he was living off snacks but loving it. His favorite thing was the saltine crackers they gave Ben to eat. He tells me that he loves those.

The doctor says Ben's surgery went smoothly and as planed. If you'd really like to see what the surgery was all about you can go to this website to see more graphic photos and details about what Ben had done.

http://www.orthopaedicsone.com/display/Main/Endoscopic+Os+Trigonum+Excision+Through+a+Posterior+Approach

The rest of the day for Ben was still hard. His stomach was still pretty bad until after 6pm. We finally got him to eat something and elevate his foot. The middle of the night was tough because the anesthesia on his foot wore off in the middle of the night so I had to give him medicine and then wake him to give him more throughout the night. Tough couple of days of pain, elevating, icing and being immobile.

Every day seems to be better. It seems like the pain is less and he is able to do a tiny bit more. He still can not put pressure on it, but is learning to get around on his crutches better.  He has to go to school tomorrow and finish out finals week. He has had a hard time studying, so I am hoping he does well this week.

He is having a hard time mentally because he isn't used to sitting around so much, in addition to every pain he feels he worries if it should be that way. I have found the only thing to keep his mind off of his foot is his girlfriend Sarah. I am actually very glad when she is around. He seems happier and less worried about all the pain.

He had his first outing today for Mark's Open house at work. He was still in some pain and probably should have been elevating more, but I think mentally he needed a break from the house.

Ben and Sarah at Mark's work today. Gave him a smile for the day!

June 4th

Amazing what happens in a couple weeks:

The hummingbirds come out

Ashton and I enjoyed watching this Hummingbird eat and then rest on a chair. We were worried at first if something was wrong, because I have never seen a hummingbird just sit.  My have been digesting his food.

Ashton likes a new game

I used to play this with Ben and Hannah to teach them the game of Monopoly. It is for kids ages 5-8 and much more simple then the regular game. Ashton has really been enjoying it.

Hannah lost.....

Ashton Can ride for miles

Ashton loves to ride his bike. He is getting so big on it. Daddy had to raise the seat so the tippy top. We will ride for miles! He really seems to enjoy the trails, and when we find a hidden park.

Ashton boxed up his Mario K'nex racing set

We put his set back in the boxes and he wanted to bring out his old wooden Thomas the Train set. Silly kid. I guess he was reliving some old memories. The trains are out, but instead of playing with them he likes to rebuild the track and just set up the trains.  He recently is into watching Thomas shows again and wanting to put more electric Thomas trains on his birthday list.  I wonder how long before he wants his Mario K'nex track out again.

Took Hannah painting

Hannah and I went painting. She is making a mug for her dad for Father's day.

My bowl from a few weeks ago. (This is after they fired it up)

Wow- Those mountains and trees are amazing.  She said she watches Bob Ross paint a lot. (This is before it is fired up. Can't wait to see what it looks like afterwards!)

Update on Ben:

Ben goes into surgery for his Os Trigonum on Thursday morning. He will be in a boot for 2 weeks, and no tennis for 8 weeks. Crossing our fingers it all goes smoothly.