The New Tat.

Something I thought I never would have a got today. A tattoo!! For my birthday and a thank you from Sarah she bought me a tattoo. After much thinking about what I wanted the tattoo to be I finally decided. Like most other people I thought for sure I was going to get the good 'ole Iowa State one, but I wanted something original and something with my girls in it. I decided on a family tree of sorts. That tattoo itself was designed by Robbie, my artist, at the Pink Elephant. The tree represents my family and I had the girls' names written about it. I left it empty below just in case there are more little ones in the future (Now I don't want everybody reading into that one!!). It took about 1 1/2 hours to complete and the feeling was like none I have ever felt. It wasn't really a pain but a burn that lasted for the entire time. It really was not as bad as I thought it would be. Now to figure out what I want for my next one!!




The outlining is done. Shading is next.

The tattoo all finished.

Robbie my tattoo artist. The best I have had for any tattoo.

The Joy of Being a Teacher

When times are tough at school there is always Summer Break to look forward to. That has to be the biggest perk of all. It allows us to doing things on the spur of the moment and going to the beach was a perfect example. We got up and Sarah looked at me and said lets go to the beach and have a picnic. We did and the girls loved it. Well, just Ava. Ella was to much of a princess to go very deep in the water. She kept saying that she wanted to go to the pool. We went to Big Creek State Park and played in the sand and then had a picnic. It was a wonderful moment and made me thankful that I am able to do things like that in the summer. That evening we went to Northview Aquatic Center by Hoover High School. That is a gem in the rough. After 5:00 pm it is half price and the girls had a blast. So if you ever want to go swimming, cheap, give us a call and we will gladly go.
Tattoo countdown is at 3 days and counting!!



Ella doing the supervising.

The girls and I making a sand castle.

Ella the princess playing in the sand.

Dance Recital

Here are pictures from Ava's first dance recital.  She performed at CY Stephens in Ames.  The family turned out to sit for an hour and fifteen minutes to watch Ava perform for 1 minute 50 seconds.  But it was all worth it.  She did a wonderful job and she was so excited about being on stage and doing her dance.  It was one of the first real proud parent moments for Sarah and I.  I know now that I will be attending dance recitals for many years to come.

Looking a lot older then she should.

The end of her dance.

Ava and her teacher, Miss Amanda

Beating the heat.

With the extreme heat over the last few days we have put the pool out for the girls to cool off.  I am pretty sure that could stay in the pool all day if we let them.  They have a great time and love the water.  Hopefully we can get them to a pool over the next few days not just for them to cool off but for Sarah and I also.  

On a side note, I saw my tattoo yesterday that the artist had came up with.  It is AWESOME.  I can't wait to get it put on on Monday.  I am keeping the design a secret.  Make sure to check back and see the pictures.  I will probably have pictures of it as it is happening on Facebook on Monday.  I told Ava that I will be getting a tattoo and she was concerned that it would come off in the shower like the ones that her and Ella wear.  She couldn't quite understand that mine will never come off.  Wish me luck.

Ella eating her watermelon.

Me helping the girls through the sprinkler.

Ava running through the water and Ella looking out for bugs.

Down the slide.

Say cheese!!

What a Birthday Surprise

Try as I might I couldn't get the video of my gift online.  So here it is.  The gift that Sarah gave me for my birthday is a......TATTOO!!!  I will be going on the 29th of June to get my tattoo at Pink Elephant in Des Moines.  I have always wanted one but of course Sarah always said no.  So this was an absolute shocker.  I have the idea done and I will be going into the tattoo parlor this week to see what kind of design they can come up with.  I will keep the design a secret until I get it.  Wish me luck and look for more updates.

Zoo, Strep, and Birthdays

It is very hard to update this thing when half of the family came down with strep throat. Ava was diagnosed last Wednesday and low and behold I was confirmed on Saturday. So after a week on meds. Finally both of us are feeling better. We did make it to the Zoo last week and the girls loved it. They enjoyed everything. Ava's favorite were the tigers, or Raja, that she called it from Aladdin. Ella's favorite was the monkeys. All day long she made the monkeys sounds and could have watched them all day.
Monday the 8th and Wednesday the 10th Sarah and I celebrated our birthdays. We both had wonderful days with the girls and nice homemade dinners. Sarah even made a cake and decorated it with the kit we received from my parents. The girls got her a pink robe and I got her money to go buy clothes which she all ready spent. For my birthday the girls got be a Chuck Norris T-shirt and some water guns for outside. My gift from Sarah will be a surprise to you. I will post a video of me getting it hopefully by tomorrow. Lets just say it was a total surprise and I so excited about it.

Click here to view more pictures from the zoo and birthdays.

Doctors, Football Field, Library

A busy first official day of summer was spent at the doctor's office this morning finding out that Ava has strep throat. She has been acting great except for her voice has sounded like she has lost it. Now she is on anti-biotics for the next 10 days. After the doctors office the girls and I went to the football field. I had to talk to some coaches and the girls got to run on the new football field. The varsity head coach took them out to the middle of the field to run on the J-Hawk. They had a blast and can't wait to go back out and run. After football we went to the library to check out some books and join a book club where if you read 30 books they can get a prize at the library. I think that Ava is going to be a meterologist. She is obssesed with thunderstorms, tornadoes, and weather. Her favorite show on TV is Stormchasers on the Discovery Channel. It is amazing the things that she can remember about thunderstorms and tornadoes.
The last picture is hard to see, but that is Ella's potty chart. Now that I am home we are going to get her pottied trained if it is the last thing we do. She has gone twice today, so far, so good. We will keep you updated.



Reading our favorite, Thunderstroms.

Ella reading her book about tongues.



Ella's potty chart. You can see the two stickers for today.