Young's Dairy

If you've never been to Young's Dairy and you live within an hour's drive (Springfield/Yellow Springs, OH area)---you are deprived! MAKE PLANS to go there. It's an awesome family-owned dairy complete with goats, chickens & milking cows. They have delicious, made-on premises ice cream...YUM!!

My favorite part of the dairy, however, is the Golden Jersey Restaurant. They serve home-cooking....don't go if you're sticking to your diet! :-)

On a recent trip home from Cincinnati (for baseball), we stopped at the dairy. I love this picture of the girls...

Spring Sports

As usual, sports dominate the Howard Family. We LOVE it that way. No complaints. This spring, Libby pretty much demanded that she get a shot at being on a team. A four year old girl was never so excited to get a uniform, go to practice & play in a real game. She has been a great listener at practice and a hard worker during games. We are really proud of our little soccer player!

Happy Spring & Happy Easter

Seems there is no time for blogging these days....or everything has just gone over to facebook. Nevertheless, I still like to document things here.

Happy New Year 2010!

Welcome 2010! Time is going entirely too fast, kids are growing up way too fast, years are flying by......Time Please slow down just a bit....

Happy New Year to all of our friends & family!

Love, The Howards

November is a blur...

The past few months, actually, are a blur of hockey practice, hockey games, jewelry parties, show choir practice, playdates & lots of fun times!

One of the more monumental occasions happened over the Thanksgiving break. After a full day of binge-eating @ the Adams Family home (Mike's sister Judy)...Grant's hockey team played in the CCYHA Thanksgiving Tournament. The championship game was played at Nationwide Arena on the ice where the NHL Blue Jackets play their games. It was exciting enough to dress in the locker rooms, and to take the ice for warm ups. They topped the weekend with a WIN in the Championship game! Congrats!

A Field Trip for Libby

Last Tuesday, Libby had a field trip with her preschool class. We went to the Columbus Zoo. She was so excited for the trip! The weather was chilly but the animals were very active. Libby had a great day with all of her friends!

Pumpkin Picking

Last Sunday, October 11th, we packed up the family & headed to Lehner's Pumpkin Farm in Waldo, OH. This was our 2nd year in a row for this farm. It's a laid-back place where you can relax & have fun. We picked some great pumpkins, took a hay ride and had lunch. Most of all, we enjoyed family time without the normal distractions of our busy life!

Grant turns 13

Grant turned 13 this September. This fall has been more chaotic than most. Between trying to juggle three school schedules, practice schedules for hockey, football & cheer--I forgot to document this momentuous occasion.

The day Grant was born was undoubtedly one of the happiest of our lives. It was Friday, the 13th. The doctor even asked if we wanted to "wait" for the 14th to arrive before he was delivered via c-section. It was 11:45 PM when he came into this world. We knew from then on that Friday, the 13th was a lucky day for this family.

Grant, We Love You & Hope that your 13th year is wonderful in every way!

School Begins

I was sad to see summer come to an end this week....

We started school on Wednesday. Grant started 7th grade @ Bunsold Middle School and Shelby started 5th grade @ Creekview Intermediate. Libby will start preschool in two more weeks! It was a crazy busy week with new schools, new schedules & new "wake up" times! :-) Everyone survived and I think we've gotten into a routine. Grant is playing middle school football and hockey this year. Its pretty hectic right now but he's really enjoying the chance to play football with his friends from school. He had his first hockey game of the season this weekend as well. As usual, he is making us proud on the field (or ice)!

Everyone leaves the house at different times this year...so I didn't get a chance to take the standard 1st Day of School pictures...but here are some from Friday night when the kids were getting ready to go to the 1st High School football game of the year.

Happy 10th Birthday Shelby

Saturday was Shelby's 10th birthday. Where, or where do the years go? Seems like just yesterday we were anxiously awaiting her birth, Grant was "almost 3" and Libby wasn't even a thought.

Shelby has grown up so much this past year. She is excited about starting Intermediate School this week & she loves cheerleading! I can only imagine the wonderful things that are in her future!

We love you & are so proud of you Shelby...our sweet, caring, kind, beautiful middle child!

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Shelby with Libby at her birthday party

Happy 4th Birthday Libby!

It's hard to believe that she is 4 years old. She is such a sweet girl in every way & truly the light of our lives. It's really sad for our "baby" to grow up....but we've enjoyed every minute of these past four years! We LOVE you Libby!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

My Champion

Grant's baseball team is AMAZING! I know I've said it in previous posts....but seriously, this team is unbelievable! This past weekend they won the USSSA AAA 12U State Championships. This is a BACK 2 BACK State Title for 5 of these boys. Amazing! Grant pitched on Friday night, 6 innings, allowing only 1 Hit! Great Job Grant and Coach Mike!

Wow....

In an effort to NOT top Mike's running accomplishments--I've been holding off on Grant's.

His baseball team is off to a superb start this season. After 21 games, their record is:

20-0-1 (including 2 Tournament Championships!)

WOW is really all I can say about this awesome group of boys. They are all funny, smart & talented kids and they also have amazing families. I'm sure most people think we're nuts....with the schedules we keep, but we wouldn't have it any other way! Congratulations to our Super Team! :=)

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Cap City Half Marathon

Mike ran the Cap City Half Marathon this morning in downtown Columbus. What an accomplishment! If you know our family @ all---you know what an amazing transformation Mike has made over the last 18 months. There are not words to describe how proud we all are of him.

Congratulations Mike!

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Congrats to our neighbors & friends who also ran (Brian, Eric, Kevin & Matt)!!

Shelby's DI Trip to Japan

Shelby was lucky enough to participate in DI (Destination Imagination) again this year. Her team & her fabulous coach (Miss Brown) worked very hard for several months on their challenge. Their competition was 2 weeks ago in Delaware, OH. They placed 4th overall...which is a HUGE achievement!

We are so proud of you Shelby!

Hockey Over?

Grant finished up his hockey season this past weekend in Nashville, TN at the Country & Western Showdown. His team had a fantastic season...with WAY more wins than losses. They were 1st place in 3 tournaments (including the one this weekend), 2nd in another. They tied for 1st in the league & won the league year end tournament.

Congratulations Grant!


Now...on to baseball!

Buckeye Cruise for Cancer 2009

Mike & I had the pleasure of going on the Buckeye Cruise for Cancer in February. We went with our great friends, Lance & Karla. It was an AMAZING time for a great cause. The men were star-struck the entire team & were smiling non-stop as they rubbed elbows with all the Buckeye greats! The gals were just happy to keep a drink in hand & soak up the sun! We stopped in Key West, FL & Cozumel, Mexico. Mike & I visited the Mayan Ruins @ Tulum during our stop in Cozumel. WOW! That was beautiful & very educational.

Picture Pages

A blog buddy tagged me for a photo meme. Like her, and many moms, I too have a mazillion photos. But here's the one and the rules.

1. Go to the the 4th folder where you keep your pictures on your computer.

2. Post the 4th picture in the folder.

3. Explain the photo.

4. Tag 4 fellow bloggers to join in the fun!

This is Mike running in a 5K this past August!

Fellow Bloggers being tagged are:

Brad & Angie, Lori, & Jaime. (can't come up w/4 who haven't already done it)

Merry Christmas 2008

Merry Christmas to All!

I've never been one to write a "Christmas letter"...while I really do enjoy reading other people's when they arrive in the mail! We've had a wonderfully blessed 2008. Our three children are healthy, active & successful in just about everything they do.

Thank you to all our family & friends who have touched our lives this year!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

See you in 2009,
The Howard's

Conversations with a 3 1/2 year old

Libby: (yelling) "Mom, I need to show you something"
Me: "What is it Libby?"
Libby: "My baby, her mouth, look"

I look. The baby's mouth. Has pepperoni in it.

Me: "Libby why did you put pepperoni in your baby's mouth?"
Libby: "Mom, she was really hungry"