A rare moment of not "helping" paint

"This new house makes me want to Jazzercise!"

Daddy starts painting the fireplace

"It's my tape cape."

A snooze with our new friend from the zoo, "Bob" the elephant

Maybe he would like some of my birthday cake

It is MUCH easier to see the animals from up here!

Nothing beats a clean pajamas and reading a new book with your godmother

After she ate her shirt, she started eyeing the high chair belt

"I am the cake monster!"

"Oh No! Part of my hand ISN'T covered in frosting!"

"Forks are for wimps."

"Everyone gets a peice?"

"I see CAKE!"

Eight game losing streaks will make you sleepy

"So what's it LIKE having one of those in your house?"

Left to Right...Maddie, Ben, Kate, Sam, and Ella

This group just LOOKS like trouble.

Floatin' along

It does a body good...

"Look at THAT!"

Hangin' with Uncle Ben at Trinity's Field Day

A Pool party with cousin Ben turns into...

a HULA party!

Lydia's Confirmation

Warming Up in the Pen...

As a Tigers' fan, with my team clinging to a thin lead in the AL Central over the Chicago White Sox, I was pleased to see that the defending World Champions would be facing the NL Central leading St. Louis Cardinals (whom so many of you so passionately, though perhaps misguidedly, support).

"Surely such a series will create some breathing room for my beloved Tigs!" I thought, "If nothing else, they will present a stern challenge for the South Siders."

Apparently though, GM Walt Jocketty had mistakenly sent not the Cardinals, but the roster of the Concordia Seminary Preachers.

Final score, White Sox 20-Cardinals 6 (they missed the field goal).

A New World Record...

Achieved this morning during the sermon at Trinity-Klein by Madeline Janetzke when she dropped her sippy cup (which was louder than the Word of God at that point) and it rolled underneath the pew...not one row...not two...but FOUR rows! Hopefully the assembly line of people passing the cup back wasn't TOO distracting.

Back to Reality...

School is out and a few weeks in Wisconsin later I am back to reality.

We had an absolute blast seeing everyone and hanging out in Michigan and Wisconsin.

Congrats to Brad and Kel on their wedding, Lydia on her confirmation, and Maddie on turning ONE!

Ryan and Kate, thanks for a fun evening of hanging out and catching up.

Jon, Elsa, Jill, Jay...it was awesome to see you guys! Wish you could have stayed longer...we will have to make it up to you later!

Upon arriving home, Erin and I picked up the keys to our new house. The bright mint paint in the living room and hideously ugly wallpaper in the kitchen and bathroom has been torn down and painted over this past week (BIG Thanks, Mom and Dad Heff). We hope to be all moved in by next weekend.

(Note to all future and current homeowners: DO NOT PUT UP VINYL WALL PAPER IN ANY PART OF YOUR HOUSE. IN 3 YEARS IT WILL BE OUT OF STYLE ANYWAYS SO SAVE THE NEXT OWNERS THE TIME AND EFFORT!)

Now we anxiously await the arrival of "Almond". We are Texas bound for the remainder of the summer, but are ALWAYS open to visitors!

Our soccer, your football...

I realize that this is my first post in over a month. Much has happened and I will comment on all of it. But I MUST get this out first.

In light of the World Cup, a few observations:

You want to KNOW why soccer can't catch on in the United States? Diving. I haven't seen that much diving since the Summer Olympics! Seriously, how can you get into a sport where the players keep throwing themselves into the ground whenever an opponent breathes near them and are rewarded with the ball, a penalty against their opponent, and pop right back up after rolling around on the ground for five minutes. Its like taking a trip with your family, your sibling making a smacking sound withTHEIR hand on THEIR leg, they bust into tears wailing that YOU hit them, your dad pulls the car into the next rest area, and you can't sit on your rear end for the rest of Missouri. Now, how is that fun to WATCH? And anyways, how manly is that? In football the whole point is to stay on YOUR feet and knock the other guy on HIS butt. What if diving caught on in baseball? Can you imagine the scene? Every time a guy hit a routine grounder he runs into the first basemen, flies through the air and writhes around in "pain", and then he's safe. Yeah, sounds like a real winner. Be a man, throw a couple elbows and put the ball in the goal.

Oh and while I am on it...a large grassy area, whether used for sport or not, is commonly known as a field. A pitch is the musical tone a sound makes in correlation to agreed upon musical note measurments. STICK TO THE FORMULA PEOPLE!