Birthdays and Cakes (Oct.)

So far this month we have had 2 birthdays and we have one more in about a week. Because the birthdays are so close together I have been busy baking a cake about once a week. The first birthday we had was Travis's mom. For her birthday I made cupcakes with chocolate butterflies on top. Here are a couple of the pictures that were taken the night she came over to celebrate.

The next birthday this month was that of our dear sweet Travis. For his birthday I decided I would try working with fondant although I really don't like the texture when eating it. It really isn't as hard as I thought it would be. Here is a picture of the "present cake." It's a shame that fondant has such a weird texture. I don't know who likes to eat that stuff but it sure does make a cake look pretty awesome.

September

With Halloween closing in on us, we began looking for the proper costume. I bet you thought it would be easy since Braeden had been all about pirates for the past couple months. Well think again! Being a pirate was just one of the six things he wanted to be for Halloween. He finally decided that he wanted to be Scarecrow from Wizard of Oz. I just happened to find, through first searching online, that Halloween Express actually carried the costume in their store. I thought since we had the costume that it would be sweet to go out to a cornfield and take Braeden's picture. Travis thought I was crazy for wanting to do this but look at how cute the pictures are. I mean have you seen a cuter scarecrow? I think not.

We are also planning a trip to TN in Oct. and Travis is so excited to get out and do some hiking and take pictures. Well, to gear up for the trip we took a little trip out to John Bryan State Park and take a little walk. Here a couple of pictures of that exciting outing.

August

Braeden has been going through a little bit of a pirate phase and his Grandma and Papa Chasteen were more than willing to assist him in getting the look just right. Earlier in the summer he got a hat,treasure box, gold, patch and earring. Then shortly after Papa, Grandma and Uncle Phillip got back from their vacation he got another package with a SWEET new hat and sword. We just happened to have a play kit that allows you to build a ship so here are a couple of pictures of Braeden all decked out.

In August Travis and I decided to take a trip to Columbus to visit COSI. Let me tell ya if you don't like crowds don't go to COSI on a hot summer day. Everybody in the state of Ohio must take their kids here in the summer. Braeden couldn't wait to get to the water exhibit and splash around I, on the other hand, was ready to go after I had been bumped into for the 800th time.

Towards the end of August Braeden and I took a little trip to Kentucky to visit the family. I didn't get a bunch of pictures while I was down there. Braeden spent most of the time sitting with my cousin Ronald because he was afraid to walk around with the dog in the house. He had a great time with Ronald playing, laughing and coloring. (Can you believe he conned Ronald to sit on the floor and color?)

Braeden was happy to help Aunt Mary get Ronald's dialysis machine ready for the night. You can't forget the face mask when being a doctor for Ronald.

Our last night in Kentucky we went over to my Grandma McDaniels to chill out for a little bit. Here is Braeden with his Grandma Who Who.

July

We really didn't seem to have very much going on in the month of July. There was a trip to the zoo but since we have about 5 billion other pictures on here of our zoo trips I decided to skip that this time. Here are a few cute pictures that I did find from the month of July. The first couple are my two men in the yard doing a little clean up after the tree was removed.

A trip to Cox Arboretum on a summer day is always fun. We were going to see the butterfly house but just like last year it was closed. Geez. Here are a couple of the pictures from that outing.

June

In June John decided to grace us with his presence. Braeden was sooo excited to get to play with Uncle John. They spent a good amount of time goofing off in the backyard with water guns and water balloons. After a small fall on Braeden's part, because he was trying to be like Uncle John, we decided to get out of the sun and took John bowling. It was nice to get to kick it with John for a little bit since we never get to see him.

It really didn't get too hot this summer but on the handful of days that it was really hot we took a little trip to Centerville to play at the splash park. Braeden LOVES to go out there and run amuck.

We also found ways to stay cool at home with the sprinkler ball.

May

Since it has been sooooo long since I have posted I am just going to drop in a bunch of pictures with short descriptions. Hopefully this will catch everyone up on what has been going on here for the past several months. So lets begin with MAY!

Rachel and I signed the boys up for free bowling for the summer and here a couple of pictures of the boys in action.

Braeden also got a little fire power this spring. Here he is schoolin' Travis on how to shoot a water gun. Don't forget the Charlie's Angels pose.

The three of us did a little hiking in Yellow Springs in May. Braeden was always willing to cheese it up for Travis to snap a quick pic.