Opening Day of Baseball 2008!

It is here! Opening day of Major League Baseball for the 2008 season. I love baseball and can't wait to watch the Detroit Tigers make their run for a World Series Title. This team is being billed as a great team, at least on paper. I hope they are as good as expectations. They have been a pretty good team the last couple of years, so I don't see how the new additions could hurt. Comerica Park will be cold for the first month or so, but will heat up soon!

Payton Messing Around

Payton has started that stage of thinking food flying around the kitchen is funny. She looks at us and drops the food while saying "No, No, Paypay"/ She isn't getting the no no part.

Photograph of the Year

This picture won photo of the year for a photographer for the Free Press. I don't think I have to say much to explain why.

Snow Cave

We spent Easter Sunday up at Carrie's parents house. We watched NCAA games, ate good food, and watched the kids play. Most of the Elliott side was there and it was nice. The pictures are of Olivia's snow cave that Grampa Sheedlo built for her. It is a huge pile of snow that accumulated from snowblowing over the winter. Grandpa Steve made it for her and she and the other kids love playing in it.

Bowling for Olivia's Sake!

Olivia had her official birthday party today. We went bowling and had about 15 kids there to help celebrate her turning 6. The Bowl-A-Rama was packed and it was joy to hear crying, whining, and complaining. The kids also did a little of that too!! HAHA! It is hard to believe and I am sure she was the first to do so, but the theme on the cake was Hanah Montana. We came home with half a cake and two pizza's. Leftovers tomorrow! Or tonight!

Olivia is 6 Today!!!

Olivia is 6 years old today! She wanted to go to Ferdinands for her Birthday Dinner and have the staff sing Happy Birthday to her. She almost didn't get the singing, until Renee showed up and hunted down a waitress to make sure they sang to her. Thanks Renee! Liv had a taco and her Birthday cookie with a candle in it.

Four Wheeling and First "Bike"

The temperature him a little above 40 degrees so I took the girls outside for some fun. Olivia has been waiting a long time to get her four wheeler out and about and Payton got her first taste of riding her first "bike." Spring tomorrow and hopefully the major snow is done for the year. It won't be too long and we will be back at my aunt and uncle's cottage enjoying the warmer weather and being away from home.

Happy St. Urho's Day!!!

St. Urho’s Day reportedly began in the mid-1950s in Virginia, Minn. Oral tradition relates that some Irish-Americans were bragging during a St. Patrick’s Day celebration and Richard Mattson, manager of the local Finnish-American-owned department store, Ketola's, suddenly proclaimed that Finland also had a patron saint who rid that country of pests the day before, March 16.
The story says that, many years ago, there were wild grapes growing all over Finland. One season, grasshoppers with a voracious appetite arrived and began to destroy the vineyards. St. Urho, waving his pitchfork, chanted "Heinasirkka, heinasirkka, menetaalta hiiten" ("Grasshopper, grasshopper, get out!") and the pesky creatures went away.
Those who celebrate the day do not seem to care if the story is reality or fiction. The celebration gives everyone an excuse for a two-day celebration during long, cold winters. In honor of the Finnish and Irish traditions, the official colors for St. Urho’s Day are purple and green.

Easter Egg Coloring

Olivia and Payton spent some time today coloring Easter Eggs. Liv colored about 11 and Payton was allowed one by her sissy, big suprise.

DNR Finally Accepts Cougars in U.P.

ESCANABA — Michigan Department of Natural Resources officials have confirmed a track found in Delta County as that of a cougar. The track was spotted by Mike Zuidema of Escanaba, a member of the Michigan Wildlife Conservancy, who has studied the predatory cat since 1981. “They’re few and far between. I’ve seen them before, but not to the extent I could prove that’s what they exactly were,” he said. He was driving on his son’s property in the southern part of Ford River Township Saturday near Forest Islands Trail, on a road cleared for a recent timber sale, when he noticed he was running over some big tracks. He got out of the truck and saw evidence he’d been searching decades for. “I dropped to my knees and prayed,” he said. With great work like that, maybe this guy can finally find the elusive "BigFoot"!

Crazy for Elmo!

I know this isn't Elmo on the TV, but it was a small window for me to catch Payton watching Elmo and not trying to get my phone or crying to get my phone. I am just happy she doesn't like Barney as much as Olivia did! That freakin' purple dinosaur was just about to be murdered if I had to watch another minute of that crap.

Comics By Kids

Hey if you get a chance, check out the comic stories being created by Grub and his boy. here is the site: Comics by Kids. It can be clicked on here or check out my favorites on the sidebar. It is new and Grub said he will have to "crack the whip on Jack then!" to get more stories on it. Check it out!!!

What! When did this happen?

Tears roll down the face of Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre as he cries during a press conference announcing that he was officially retiring from football on Thursday, March 6, 2008, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis. Hey, unless you live in the crappy town of Green Bay, just let the bastage retire in peace and go away with his sensitive teeth. Are the tears from being washed up or did he just have some ice cream?

Snoring and Wrastling

During our annual fishing trip we had some fun. Once again Smitty went to bed with a little more than he remebered. He was snoring all night long with a cheeto in his nose. The next night was filled with some mano y mano combat. Christian and Dave mixed it up in the sitting room. It looks like a little more than wrestling, but that is all it was. Dave ended up with a bloody lip and Christian end up really drunk and felt it the next day. Oh yeah, by the way, fish were caught during the trip. Well, at least by those that put a line in the water!

Class is a rating, comfort is guaranteed!

Roy has done it again! He keeps sending pictures from his hometown on the bi-yearly trip home. This one looks a little worn out, but just think of the "good times" sitting with a beverage and swinging with pride. Awww, here's an idea, your old Lazy Boy hanging in the front yard, a swinging reclinder instead of a rocking recliner!

Reading Time

Olivia has become quite a good little emergent reader and Payton likes to mimic her older sissy on how to read. As a parent, this is great because the baby is learning from the older sister. But, she also learns tha bad things, like jumping off the couch, pouting, yelling for no reason except to keep your nerves on edge, and so on. Carrie and I were both only children, so the bad habits or unexceptable behaviors come from our parents. Thanks again to our Moms and Dads! Haha!

Ice Fishing Trip is here again!

The weekend ahead brings our annual ice fishing trip. We have gone to Minnesota and Land O'Lakes in Wisconsin. The last few years we have gone back to Wisconsin and actually stay on the Lac Vieux Desert lake. It is about 3 hours instead of 8 hours to drive, plus we have a crew from Grand Rapids and Petoskey that go also. Anyway, we always have fun and many stories are made during that weekend. If you don't know, ask about Crazy Karl, Chedder Bob, and Dave Elliott catching a canfish in Minnesota, Ooooooo!, feels like a big one! Right Dave? And some of the best stories you won't hear about, too bad! If you can't see, Dave has a black eye in this picture from last year, but I will keep you guessing why it is so.