Weekend Fun

Titus and Olivia hanging out with Aunt Joan at Jadon and Asher's last soccer game. We had a nice visit with Joan after the game. She came over for a light lunch and then we walked to Jimi Jo's for ice cream. Aunt Joan always likes to treat us to ice cream. We should have treated her though since her birthday is Monday. She'll be 52! Happy Birthday Joan!

Olivia and I played out in the rain last night while daddy worked in the garage. She was being so cute and loved watching the rain come down.

What started out as an innocent asking for a drink, quickly turned into fun with the hose. By the time she was done she was soaking from head to toe, but she had a blast so no harm done.

Watch out Pele, Asher is taking over!

Asher and his best fried Riley working together.











Asher is running to the goal in this photo. He did make the shot on goal! It was his first goal of the game that he made. He made two for the day and was a regular scorer all season!








Good sports giving high fives for the last time!











Jadon and Asher posing with their medals after the games! What a fun and memorable season you both had.

Soccer Star JADON!

Jadon and Asher's soccer season came to a close today. Here are some photos of Jadon in action.









Kick it Jadon!











Jadon was privileged to have his dad, Jared be his coach this season! It did come in handy since Asher's games were often scheduled at the same time. Elizabeth would go watch Asher, while Jadon always had dad right by his side.
Jadon was playing goalie during this shot. A player on the opposing team had made a high shot on goal. Jadon reached his arms up and the ball deflected over the net. He made the save! If you look closely you can see the ball is on the other side of the net. I love the look of anguish on the other goalie's face (the boy with his head tipped back wearing the black and yellow jersey). It was an excellent save.

Bee Bobby Boo Sparklies!

Sunday night Olivia experienced sparklers for the very first time. I was excited to let her try, but also very leery. I'm sure Andy thought I was being paranoid, but he didn't complain as I constantly told Olivia to hold it out further, or lower. We survived the evening with no injuries and loads of excitement were had by all.

Sparklers were not on the original agenda, but there wasn't much of an agenda to begin with. We decided to go on a family bike ride. Olivia did not ride her own bike, but in the cart behind Andy, which she loves to do. While out riding Andy had the great idea to swing by Miller's Grocery Store to buy a few items for grilling out. There was a display of sparklers so Andy had to get them for Olivia to experience.

After an enjoyable bike ride and delicious dinner outside we started up the sparklers, or sparklies as referred to by Olivia. Olivia was immediately smitten with them. She waved them around and pretended to be the Fairy Godmother on Cinderella attempting to say "Bibbity, bobbity, boo," but it always came out "Bee, bobby, boo!" It was a great family time together that I will treasure.

All of us ended up getting to bed late. When my alarm buzzed in my ear early the next morning to indicate it was time to get up to head to the flea market with Nana and Aunt Jen, I should have just gotten back into bed. Olivia was going with us so I entered her room to see my peaceful angelic daughter sleeping so soundly. I should have just let her sleep. She was so tired and ornery the entire day shopping in Shipshewana. It's the first time her Nana ever told her she was glad to see her go home. After a much needed nap she got back to her sweet self a bit, and is being a complete doll at this very moment using Andy's shop vac in our bedroom. Hopefully she's doing a magnificent job cleaning in there for me because it needs it.

FRIENDS AND TRACTORS - What more could a girl want?

We have started out this nice long weekend great! Olivia and I got to play with some dear friends Kylee and Emma on Saturday morning. Kylee, now almost 6, was Andy's and my flower girl in our wedding. She has grown up so much since then and is such a smart and delightful young lady. Emma is almost 3, so Olivia and she are very close in age. The girls' parents, Tina and Jer, are expecting their third bundle of joy in August. It will be a surprise as to what they are having. Tina's brother Geoff and his wife Stephanie just had their fourth daughter a couple of weeks ago so congratulations to them. Dave and Sharon, or Nana an Papa as Olivia refers to them, now have 6 grand daughters and a possible 7th on the way! Olivia was truly elated to have Kylee and Emma come over and play. They all shared and took turns so well with each other. The play house was a big success, followed by push ups, and then we had a picnic lunch in the house on the living room floor (Kylee's idea). I was able to have a nice short visit with Tina as well when she came to pick up the girls. It's so nice to have such good friends live so close, especially some girls!

Emma swinging away in the dolphin swing.

Kylee and Olivia taking a break to sit and smell the tulips.

While Olivia and I were entertaining our visitors, daddy and Papa headed out lawn mower shopping. After heading to Finnerman's and then The Home Depot, they returned to Finnerman's and purchased a new John Deere rider. Olivia was so excited! Tractors are her new thing. She can identify the brand of tractor by the color. She hollers them out as we drive down the road. Her favorite of course is the John Deere. After all, nothing runs like a Deere.

Papa got me a new John Deere Tractor!

Look out! Crazy driver on the loose.

"This is a hard one!"

Olivia has mastered riding her tricycle this year, but the dang handlebars always twist and end up perpendicular with the tires making it impossible to go anywhere. Against mommy's better judgement, daddy decided to spoil her with a new bicycle. We went around town and checked out bikes at a couple different stores a few nights ago. Andy couldn't wait any longer to get her one, so we headed out tonight and she got a new big girl bike with a starfish on it. She thinks it's Patrick's sister from Spongebob.
As she attempted to ride it around the store and the house she exclaimed "This is a hard one!" She's struggling with the whole brakes issue. She could peddle backward on her tricycle, and this one it stops her dead in her tracks. She's having fun, and I'm sure she'll have it down in no time. I would bet there will be many more bicycle photos to come on future entries.

Daddys' Girls!

Although Andy does not see it, Olivia is becoming more of a Daddy's girl daily. Whenever he is not around she is constantly asking about him or for him. The same might not always be true upon his return home, but that is just children for you. This last weekend Andy and I headed up to Alpena with plans of picking up my old bedroom furniture from when I was a little girl. To make life easier, with such hectic travel plans made, Nana and Papa (Andy's parents) volunteered to take Olivia for the weekend. We graciously accepted their generous offer. We dropped Olivia off at bedtime Friday night and went home to clean out Andy's truck and take off his toolbox so we'd have room for the furniture. The plan was to head out by 6 AM the next morning. I was getting the furniture from my cousins the MacNeill boys, since both their parents have sadly passed away they decided to have an auction. My mother had given my aunt Carol my old bedroom set years ago when I outgrew it. Truthfully I hated it as a child, but now it has so much sentimental value that it would be so special to have it for Olivia and any other children. I decided to check my email before bed and read an email from one of the boys telling me they had listed the furniture in the estate auction. I guess they thought I would have gotten it sooner if I wanted it and needless to say, there was a mix up. We decided to still head up since we also wanted to see family and had made all the plans. We figured we'd see what we could do to try and get the furniture anyways. Well, thankfully I got to see all four MacNeill boys if only for a short time, but we had no luck getting in touch with the auctioneer to see if I could take possession of my old bedroom set. We also enjoyed a nice visit with my aunt Julie and uncle Pat. I wish we would have had more time to stop and visit more family and friends, but we headed down to Tawas that night. My aunt Joan recently acquired a small cottage behind my aunt Judy and uncle Jim's cottage that she purchased from another aunt and uncle Mike and Ruth. Mike and Ruth built another cottage next to Judy and Jim's. Now there are three Doyle's all within one small block on the Martini Cove in Tawas. As the saying goes, "There goes the neighborhood!" Just kidding. We enjoyed a nice visit with Judy, Jim, Joan, and a Beth, a friend of Judy's . We had hauled up a few small items for Joan and in return she didn't want us to leave empty handed after our long trip up so she sent us home with a chair she couldn't find room for in the cottage. You can see Andy and Olivia trying it out in the back of the truck. They remind me of some rednecks. No offense to any of you rednecks reading.

While we were away Olivia enjoyed a fun filled weekend in Sturgis, with Nana and Papa. It just so happened to be weekend of the infamous Michigan Week Parade. Olivia was thrilled to get to go watch the parade at the Haas' house, especially since Jacob would be there. I think she has her first crush on Jacob. She even got to talk to the Lion and Dorothy from "The Wizard of Oz" play. She told us all about how she went on some rides, rode a horse, ate candy, and all the people she saw at the parade. She also went to the park to ride her bike and play. Nana even took her to the Rambadt's house to see the pigs, cow, bunny, and a goat! Needless to say upon our return home, our child did not want to go home with us. Nana had her at a friend's house when we drove back into town. We tracked them down and being the sappy mother I am I couldn't wait to see my little girl. I wasn't surprised by the greeting I received, but was hoping for different. As I was spotted walking down the stairs, my ears were pierced with a shrill scream of, "No mommy, you go away!" It took awhile to round her up and she proceeded to whine and cry on the journey home, but eventually she warmed up to us again.

Trying to fill Daddy's shoes!

















Olivia probably gets her daddy's girl gene from me, because I was a definite daddy's girl. My father and I had our differences in my teen years, but that didn't change how much I loved him and still do. Andy was and still is a Momma's boy! Here's a picture of my father, aka, "Grandpa McMeal" as Olivia states it, in the parade. I can't help, but see my own grandpa when I look at him in this picture. Olivia sadly never spotted him out during the parade, but when she saw this picture she did remember seeing the Shriners drive the little cars in the parade.

Princess Olivia

Olivia is developing into a definite girl and amazes us with all she is learning. As evident in the photo collage above she decided that Molasses needed to be a princess and wear a tiara, which followed by her wearing it, and then myself. Olivia even took the photo of me wearing it. I attempted to crop out how crooked the photo originally was. She now requests pigtails a few days a week. They don't usually stay in all day, but she will keep them in a few hours. Everybody comments on how different she looks with them in. What do you think?

Being a teacher, especially in a kindergarten through second grade building I find myself constantly amazed at the gadgets and toys of our youth today have. Just earlier this year I found myself saying "My child will never have an ipod at that age." I used to be surprised that they even knew what they were at such a young age. After all, we never had anything like that when I was growing up. Well, I am afraid I am going to eat my words. Andy had been wanting one for awhile, so we bought him one for Christmas, and then the Easter Bunny brought me the smallest of the ipods in my basket this year, so I can use it when I exercise. Olivia loves to use our ipods. She found my purse the other day and pulled out my ipod, put the earbuds in and said "I want to listen to my ipod Mommy." She is already attempting to claim mine as her own and I can't believe the thought of buying her one of her own for her third birthday has actually entered my mind. I don't think I will end up buying her one, but if I am already thinking about it at her age, I'm sure she'll have one by elementary school.

Roehrigs and Redwings

Saturday, April 26th is a day that will live in infamy for my husband Andy. His good friend Tom Roehrig called him up on Friday to ask him if he could go to the Detroit Redwings vs. Colorado Avalanche playoff hockey game in Detroit. Of course Andy was going to cancel any plans he had to go. The news only got better, not only was he going to a playoff game but their seats were right behind the Avalanche bench. The Roehrig's live in Adrian and have two wonderful children, Noelle almost 2 1/2 years and Max who was just about 4 months old. Olivia and I drove to Adrian with Andy so we could spend the day with Natalie and the kids. Olivia just loves Noelle and they are so similar in where they are at developmentally and how they act. We spent a nice afternoon hanging out and attempting a walk, but it was dreadfully windy. The men had to call us with even more good news shortly after they arrived at the game. They were in line to meet Gordy Howe and get his autograph. Andy is still ecstatic about the day. We are so blessed to have friends that would even think of us when they get the opportunity for something like that. We saw baby Max in January and it is amazing to see how much he has grown and changed in 3 months. He is definitely developing an adorable personality. Natalie is such a great mother with her children and it's so exciting to have another couple our age at similar stages in life as well as values. If only they lived closer. After a fun filled day, and a tired out daughter we did the long drive home. The Redwings did win, so the men came home happy. I think with the experiences they had, they would have been happy either way, but a win just made it that much sweeter.

Noelle and Olivia trying to catch fish out of the elephants trunk. Notice the tongue out in concentration on Noelle's face. Olivia just picked up all the fish off the floor when they landed and put them in her net. Also, take note of the excellent television programming playing in the background.




Baby Max, almost always all smiles. He giggles like crazy when you put his feet to his tongue.

REDWINGS ARE #1!

5 Years with Asher!

"I scream, you scream we all scream for cake and ice cream!"

What a sweet boy! At 5 years old he will still hug his little cousin without any embarassment.

Olivia loves hanging out with Gretchen, and I think Gretchen equally likes having another girl around.

Blow out those candles Asher! Go K-Wings.