Benefit treasure...

Jill asked what I bought at the benefit. We really didn't plan to buy anything at the benefit, except maybe something small. Early into the auction we bid on a "package" consisting of 2 Cougar chairs (the kind that fold into a bag), a Cougar stadium blanket, and a Cougar pull over. We were excited with our purchase. And then "the bowl" came up...and we started bidding...and kept bidding...and won. We are now the proud owners of a one of a kind glass bowl handmade (hand blown??) by a local artist. It's gorgeous and now has a place of honor on the table in our living room (which is now off limits to all wrestling, ball throwing, dancing, etc to protect "the bowl"). It's really so much prettier in person, but I tried to take some photos to show it off.

Peer (aka Cousin) Pressure....

I'm giving into "cousin pressure" and participating in this fun little game. I have to admit that Lori and Kara's answers did make me giggle! :)

Alternate Names
Discover your 10 alternate names.


1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME:
(first pet & current car)
Andy Grand Caravan

2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME:
(fav. ice cream flavor, favorite cookie)
MooseTracks Chips Ahoy (hmmm..this one just doesn't seem to "gangsta" to me. I must need some new favorites!)

3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME
(first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name)
A-Cov (much, much better)

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME:
(favorite color, favorite animal)
Red dog

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME:
(middle name, city where you were born)
Lynne Ravenna

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME:
(the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first)
Cov-Am

7. SUPERHERO NAME:
(2nd favorite color, "the", favorite drink)
Pink the sweet tea (hmmm....this one doesn't work either)

8. NASCAR NAME:
(the first names of your grandfathers - paternal, maternal)
Thomas Richard

9. STRIPPER NAME :
(the name of your favorite perfume/cologne, favorite candy)
Eternity Resses

10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME:
(mother’s & father’s middle names )
Jean William

Becca's Benefit

Becca's benefit was held a week ago - September 29th. It was a gorgeous day! We spent the whole day at the benefit. We were there by 7:45am for breakfast and left after the auction ended at about 11:00pm. We had a great time visiting with everyone, eating GREAT food, watching all wiffle ball tournament, and of course watching the auction. We even ended up bidding on 2 different items and got them - FUN! The day was jam packed with activities - breakfast, wiffle ball tournament, softball tournament, volleyball tournament, kids carnival games, lunch/dinner, the auction, a reverse raffle, duck races and lots more. Becca was able to make it to the benefit 2 different times. I'm sure everyone was so glad to see her! My job for the day was to just walk around and snap photos. I had lots of fun just taking random photos and have over 200 photos so Becca can remember the day. Here are just a few....


Chris umpiring during a wiffle game...


Ryan...swinging for the fence...
Jenna, Jacob, Lauren, and Megan....
Ryan, Becca, Jenna, Debby (Ryan's mom), and Jacob....
Ryan and Becca....
DUCK RACES!!! Who knew these could be so much fun??? (right Celesta??)
Bob, Celesta, and Chris watching the auction....

Where did the last week go??

YIKES...it's been a week since I last posted photos. Where did the last week go? I have photos to share from the past week - Becca's benefit, Jacob's first soccer game of the season, my first senior photo session - but I thought I'd better get caught up with some older photos first.

We went to BGSU couple weeks ago to watch our neighbor, Craig, run in a college cross country meet. He is a former student and his parents live across the street from us. He is just an all around great guy...and Jacob and Jenna love him - especially Jenna. She thinks Craig is just "it". Craig runs for Ohio University and is having a great season. He finished first at the BGSU meet and we were so excited for him!!!

starting the race....

In the lead at the top of "the" hill at BGSU...
The winner with the neighbors...

( Marilyn & Bob Leon (his parents), Jim & Teresa Robideau (used to own our house), Kerry,Amy , Karlyn, & Landrie (our next door neighbors), Chris and I, and Craig)
With the kids....
Craig and Jenna (she took this photo to school for show and tell!)...

Welcome Home!!

After 5 months in the hospital and rehab, Becca was finally able to come home today!!! It also happens to be her birthday....so it was the perfect present! Jacob, Jenna and I left school so we could be at her house when they pulled in. The kids each made a poster and picked out some balloons. Ryan's mom and Chris' aunt Celesta also were waiting with us. Becca was beaming when she got out of the car. I think she was truly happy just to finally be home!! Chris was able to stop by about 10 minutes later. When he asked her how it felt to be home, she said "I'm free"! We're so excited to have her back home. Now we'll be able to visit more often. It will be so nice not to have to drive to Ft Wayne anymore...and to be out of the hospital setting!

Below are a few photos from her homecoming.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BECCA.....and WELCOME HOME!!
We love you!!

Little Miss Lollipop

I have been wanting to share these photos for two weeks and just haven't found time...until today! This photo "session" was totally impromtu. Jenna was eating a giant lollipop she had gotten on a recent trip to Chuck E Cheese with Uncle Ryan. I noticed how fun the colors of her lollipop were and how perfectly they matched her shirt...so we headed outside for a few (HA HA) photos. She had SO much fun just playing around and posing...so I just kept snapping away. We were only outside for about 10 minutes, but I got some really fun photos. I really don't know if I can choose a favorite. By the way...the poses are 100% her idea - no coaching from Mom on these!

A quick update from us....

We're still here...staying busy...and neglecting the blog! I thought I'd better post a quick update before I start my Saturday morning errands.

• The kids' activities have all started back up and are in full swing - soccer, piano, and Mustard Seeds (Children's church group) for Jacob and dance for Jenna. Jacob decided to not participate in boy's choir this year - he just felt like he was involved in too many things along with increased homework in 4th grade. It was hard for him to choose which activity to give up.
• We spent last Saturday at BGSU with 2 sets of neighbors. The son of one of neighbors, Craig, runs cross country for OU, so we went up to BG to watch his meet. The weather was perfect....and he ended up finishing in 1st place. YAHOO! In fact, the first place finisher for the girls also is a VW graduate. That was kind of neat. After the race we went to eat at Pollyeyes (no Myle's for me this trip...I was bummed) and then a trip to SBX so I could buy some new BGSU gear. I got a fun new hooded sweatshirt - dark grey w/hot pink letters - a little different from the usual brown/orange - Jacob got a cool brown/orange long sleeve tshirt, and Jenna got a hooded sweatshirt (pink, of course). Then we went shopping in Perrysburg. The guys (minus Jacob) all went golfing. Photos from our BG trip will be coming soon!
• Last Sunday, Jenna and I made a trip to Urbana for my cousin Lori's baby shower. We had a great time visiting with everyone and "oohing" and "ahhing" over all her cute gifts. Jenna broke out in hives during the shower....but Uncle Tom came to the rescue with Benadryl. She also broke out in hives on Friday at school. Not sure what's going on with that. Photos from the shower coming VERY soon (I promise Lori!).
• Monday I stayed home from school. I woke up feeling really dizzy. This is the 3rd time in 3 months this has happened. The dizziness wouldn't stop and was really frustrating, so I went to the dr. that afternoon...and made Chris drive me. After throwing out terms like "verticular dysfunction" and "labyrynthitis" and "nsytagmus", it turns out that I'm not making this up. I basically have fluid in my inner ears, which causes the extreme dizziness. There isn't much they can do for it, except to treat the underlying causes (allergies and sinus). So I have allergy pills, sinus spray, and anti-dizziness medication to take. Hopefully that clears this up because I hate feeling like that.
• Big news of the week: Becca is coming home next Friday (her birthday). We're all so excited!! Please continue to keep her in your prayers. I think the adjustment at home is going to be difficult for her as she tries to learn how to adapt at home.

I have lots of photos to share this week - our trip to BGSU, Lori's shower, photos from a fun photo "shoot" with Jenna. I need to get on the ball and get those editted and posted!!

HAPPY WEEKEND!!!!

Chicago - Part 2

Because our train back to Bryan didn't leave Chicago until 10pm, we had another full day to spend in Chicago. In the morning, Jenna, her American Girl doll, and I headed to the American Girl store for brunch. Our first stop was the doll hair salon (Yes....I said doll hair salon!) to have her doll's hair done. The doll's hair was out of control and after $15 it looks much, much better. (Who would have ever thought I'd pay $15 to have a doll's hair done? You just get sucked into things like that once you enter the American Girl store!!) Our next stop was brunch in the cafe inside the store. Everything in the cafe was decorated in black, white, and hot pink. It was so cute! Jenna's doll got a special high chair that hooked right on the table next to her - she even got her own doll-sized cup and plate! The food was really good and the servings were huge! We had cinnamon rolls to start. I ordered french toast with cinnamon apples and Jenna had breakfast pizza. Then they brought our dessert - white chocolate mouse with oreos crumbled on top and an iced sugar cookie. By the way, dessert at breakfast is a BRILLIANT idea! Our last stop was shopping. Jenna used some of the money she had saved to buy her doll a new outfit - jeans and a Chicago t-shirt - and then I splurged and bought Jenna a matching t-shirt.

While we were at breakfast the boys ventured to Mary's diner and had their own breakfast and then headed to some stores on Michigan Avenue. We went back to the hotel to get our stuff together and take a quick nap (I was starting to not feel well....which I later found out was strep throat). After we checked out, we walked down Michigan Avenue to the Lego store. We decided to get tickets for a double decker bus tour of the city. The kids loved it - esepcially Jacob. He can tell you all about the great Chicago fire and the Hancock building. There were 13 stops on our tour and with only 3 stops left to go, our bus broke down (the axle broke). We all had to climb off and wait for other buses to come pick us up! We eventually finished up our tour and then headed to the Rainforest Cafe for dinner. After dinner we walked along Michigan Avenue and bought Garrett's popcorn for a train treat (YUMMY stuff!). Then it was time to head back to the hotel, pick up our luggage, and take a cab back to Union Station to catch our train. Our train left on time (10pm central time) and we finally got home to Van Wert at 3:45 am!!
Buckingham Fountain (taken from the bus)
Michigan Avenue
Hancock Building
Tribune Tower



Our broken down bus
Waiting oh-so-patiently for another bus to come pick us up. Luckily it broke down near a big grassy area, so we had somewhere to wait!
Skyline along the Chicago River

Chicago River - and yes, it really is that green!