Someone's a year wiser...

So look whose birthday it is!!! I thought I was doing pretty good when at the 11th hour I came up with the brilliant idea of getting Jack a beach cruiser for his birthday with a nice soft seat since he loves taking mine out for an occasional spin! But I was wrong. In the end I think he was more concerned about losing some of his precious garage space so back to the bike shop it went! I guess his mountain bike with it's hard, tiny seat will have to continue to do...To rub salt in the wound Michael had to one up me by taking Jack on a helicopter tour for his special day! It's a wonder that thing got off the ground...lol! Thankfully my Hello Dolly bars are always a hit!

Lara's baby shower!

I have been blessed with some fantastic friends and neighbors here in OH. One is my sweet neighbor Lara who moved here last year from Switzerland with her husband Marcus and daughter Linn. They had been really hoping to have another baby and finally we got news that they were expecting. Of course we had to celebrate! Here is beautiful Lara and my sweet neighbors Julie, Robin (and her sweet grandson), and Andrea celebrating! Lara had never had a baby shower before because they aren't very common in Europe which made this one even that more special. We were small in number but large in spirit!!! Sweet Niklas was born on July 1st!

2013/2014 School year done!

Once again we were blessed with a couple fantastic teachers for Sage's second grade school year! Both Mrs. Elsasser and Mrs. Krugman were wonderful. Team teaching has been a new concept for us since moving to OH.  Both last year and this year Sage has been in a class where they share a wall with another class and the teachers of both classes spend half their day with one class and the other half with the other, teaching to their strengths. Sage has really enjoyed this style and it has given her opportunities to meet that many more friends. Here is Sage with Mrs. Elasasser, her homeroom teacher. Sadly I don't have a photo of Mrs. Krugman.



Caeser Creek field trip: Here the kids went on a scenic walk and then dug for fossils! This was the first time I had ridden a school bus since I think I was close to Sage's age...



Of course we couldn't miss the 2nd grade school skate night fundraiser!



Always love seeing what my little artist is up to at her school art show!



Just another fun day at school!



Pajama day!



Authors Tea/End of Year celebration!



We have been soooo happy with the schools here in Mason! The kids are doing fantastic and thankfully all their teachers have had such wonderful things to say about each of them. Next up: Two new schools to get acquainted with and two new bus pick up times, one of which I'm not looking forward to at all! Hello 3rd and 7th grade!!!

It's great to be EIGHT!

We have been blessed with kids that rarely ask for anything and when they do it's usually something simple. Well for Sage's eighth birthday, all she asked for was breakfast in bed. When she got up that morning and headed into our room to shower like she always does I asked her why she was up already as I needed to get her her breakfast prepared to serve her in bed. Her response was, "No Mom, I'm going to shower and get dressed first and then you can serve me breakfast in bed!" So that's what we did!



She selected curry for dinner and ice cream sundaes instead of cake for her family birthday celebration!



It was a given I was going to be more excited about Sage's main birthday gift than she was. After all I had procrastinated until three days before her big day in search of a cute bike for her and it was becoming clear very quickly that putting off a purchase like this until a couple days before the big day was a mistake. So you can imagine how excited I was after searching high and low at all our local stores and bike stores to finally call REI in Cinci and learn they had one last 20" pink beach cruiser in stock. I was over the moon! A new bike wasn't even on Sage's radar but I was certain that she'd be excited even if not to the degree I was. So the moment had finally come that we asked her to go up to her room while we set up the birthday room with her gifts. With the phone in video mode we asked her to come down stairs. As she entered the room it was clear her attention went straight to the few gifts on the kitchen table and she didn't even notice her new bike standing right next to the table. After laughing from disbelief that she wasn't going to notice the elephant in the room unless we pointed it out, on video she can be seen glancing over at it and saying (with as much enthusiasms as someone learning they took third place in a three person race) "oh, so now I have two bikes." After reminding her that this one is more size appropriate and way cuter she goes on to explain how her old bike still fits her perfectly... So that didn't go over as planned!!! Thankfully after putting the bell put on and taking it for a spin she realized how much more she loved it and how thrilled she really was for it! Thankfully she recovered...

So here she is with her new wheels!



We laughed though because even though it's the recommended size for her height and age it still seemed a bit small but she loves it, feels fully in control of it and has told me many days since how much she loves it!

The following weekend she had her friend party. She was really wanting to have a gymnastics party but I just couldn't find any place with availability so I had asked her what she thought of a pottery party where they go and paint pottery. There is a cute place in Mason called the Mad Potter and they do birthdays. My friend Heather had taken Sage and Mackenzie to do this a couple years ago when we were out in CA and they really enjoyed it. After taking a couple days to think about it and ask a couple of her friends at school what they thought of the idea Sage decided it was a go! It turned out perfect. As much as I missed planning and shopping for a cute themed party at the house, this was so much easier and it was clear the girls all loved it! They each got to pick a piece of pottery to paint. I had prepared some snacks and cupcakes and then being it was an artsy theme we gave them each fun packages of glitter tattoos and some candy and gum in goodie bags. A week later they will be able to pick up their finished pieces and I didn't have to worry about filling time, cleaning up messes, and coming up with creative ideas to keep a bunch of girls busy for a couple hours! So it worked out perfect!

What a bunch of cuties!!!




I always try to keep track of the stuff the kids get each year so when the time comes and we need to buy gifts for others I have ideas of age appropriate gifts. She got a lot of great things including the pj's she's wearing and dog Molly gave her and her first Lego kits that she already put together all by herself that Annabella gave her! Looks like we have another builder in the house!!!



Happy eighth sweet Sage! Now we'll look forward to heading out to UT this summer to watch you get baptized!!!

Happy Mother's Day!

I am blessed. A day filled with cards, kisses, lilies, angel food cake, jewelry and most importantly my three amazing kids! Can't imagine a life without them.

20 years and counting...

Can hardly believe that April 30th marked our twenty year anniversary!!! Although we've had our share of struggles and at times have been tempted to kick each other to the curb, I know we'd both agree on how grateful we are that we took our vows seriously and through good times and bad have stood by one another. We've been blessed to share an amazing life together spanning through five states, three amazing kids, and countless cherished memories. I regularly thank God for how blessed I am for the life I have and the people who make it so special. I love you Jack!



In Roddy tradition a trip was in the works but unfortunately my dad needed surgery unexpectedly and since my parents were going to be watching the kids we needed to reschedule. Instead we settled for a dinner out. A shout out to my sweet parents who sent us this beautiful arrangement for our big milestone! My mom knows lilies are my favorite and ironically it happens to be the 20th anniversary flower! We are also so fortunate to have such good friends in our lives like Michael and Michele who take such good care of us and hosted a lovely dinner that weekend to celebrate our big day!





Here's to the next twenty!!!

Spring has sprung...well kind of...Regardless it's a happy, beautiful Easter!!!

Well it's been one awfully long winter and spring hasn't been too kind to us either. We keep getting teaser weather where we'll put on the AC and then a few days later the heater is getting put back on. Thankfully mother nature blessed us with a beautiful Easter weekend!

This was the first Easter in many that we didn't spend out in Utah with family. Although we were all bummed not to be going out there our quiet holiday spent alone as a family ended up being very nice! Here are a few shots from the weekend!

Great weather always brings out Kan Jam! A family favorite...



Getting our Easter Eggs ready! Sadly I can't remember the last time, we dyed eggs! The kids were so excited. We attempted to dye some using shaving creme... Connor stuck with the sure way of dye and vinegar.



Seeing only three Easter baskets lined up didn't seem quite right! We missed seeing Boston and Preston's elephant baskets in the group. Hopefully next year...



Easter shots...



The hunt! Ty learned the hard way that passing on all the easy finds to grab the harder ones may not work out. We spent an extra 15 minutes helping him find his final six! It's hard to outplay the Easter Bunny! :)



The dyed eggs! Now whose going to eat all those?!?



Happy Easter!