Photoshop Fun.

Well whenever I see something new on my fellow Bloggers blog sites, it is a must that I learn how to do the latest tricks. Recently my friend Kim, Dawn, and Cassie (sites located off of my blog list) added a collage of pictures as one of their posts. Well after 2 hours of working on it, I finally put together my own collage to see if I can handle the quest. Well here is what I came up with. I don't think it was too bad for my first attempt. This way when I have several pictures of the same thing, I can now add them into a neat little collage like I did below. I tried to keep with the same theme and it looks like Quin was my volunteer to put it together. Thanks girls for the tips! It may not be as creative as yours, but I now know what the heck I'm doing!

A League All of His Own.

We often wonder what goes through our kids minds sometimes. Conner is obsessed with sports of any kind! He will play it, observe it, and loves to watch them on TV, especially the Cardinals. As we were all sitting around watching television last night, Conner disappeared to his room. We didn't think anything of it since he loves to play by himself. Well he came down dressed in his Cardinal jersey, white ball pants, and went out in the garage and got his glove. Creative mind is all we have to say. Anyway, he can't stand the fact that he is not old enough to participate in the summer baseball league, but he will soon have his turn. We ended up getting our ball schedules last night for both boys and it looks like I will only be spending 3 nights a week at the ball park compared to 5 like I had originally thought. Although it is going to be a lot harder this year because some of Corby and Preston's games overlap or even start at the same time. Looks like I will get my exercise running from field to field watching every other innings to share my time equally.

We are even amazed that he has the proper pitching stance and motion. Once again...watching enough of it on tv will do that to you.

The serious ball face.

Checking the players on base.

And he throws...Outta Here!

Gina's Baby Shower.

What a busy weekend...on Sunday I then had my niece's baby shower. It feels like she was just telling us yesterday that her and Jason were expecting!!! Gina use to be one of our baby-sitters when she was in college. Then she met Jason and it soon became both of them baby-sitting which the boys loved! Now it's hard to believe she will be having her own little one in a few short weeks!

We are also super excited because they are moving from Minnesota to Illinois next week and we will only have a 2 1/2 hour drive to visit them!

Andi (Gina's sister Jessi's daughter). She too will also have a new sibling in July.

Gina and Jessi pregnant together. This reminds me of my sister and I who were pregnant 2 times together, and both within a matter of weeks of each other.

At the shower you also had to decorate a onesie for the new little addition. I'm not that creative so here is mine.

My niece Alicia made their very own Mizzou onesie since they will need some Black and Gold living in Illini country.

Congrats Gina and Jason and we can't wait to meet my newest Great Niece/Nephew soon!

{Maggie's 1st Communion}.

On Saturday night, we celebrated Maggie's First Communion with her. She looked like a princess and almost brought tears to my eyes (I'm sure her parents too), because just thinking that time will fly and she will be wearing a white gown walking down the isle before we know it. She did a wonderful job and we were all very proud of her on her special day. Sorry for my camera lighting in the church. We were also not allowed to take pictures during the actual mass, but they did have a professional photographer for the entire class that completed their 1st Communion.

Super beautiful in her white gown.

It seems that these past 8 years have flown and we can't even imagine the next 8 years! Seems like just yesterday that Corby and Maggie were beginning to walk and talk!

Maggie and her proud family. Notice Kohler had enough of his suit..too funny!

Maggie with her Godparents, Uncle Matt & Aunt Quinn.

Maggie with both sets of her grandparents.

Maggie with both sides of her cousins...minus Quin who was completely "churched" out by this point. Also notice Preston's lovely expression...upset that he had to sit in front. AIYIYI!!!!

Afterwards, Chris and Sheri treated us to a very nice dinner at Madison's Cafe. It was delicious. Maggie then opened her gifts and we had cake. It was a wonderful celebration!

Miss Delaney was showing off her new walking skills and is now beginning to be full of curls! What a Doll!!!

Beware of Bruisers.

Last night we had our monthly haircuts for the boys. Corby is still insisting that he wants to grow his longer. Little does he know that he has his fathers coarse hair and it won't grow long but up! Hopefully when summer heat kicks in, he will soon change his mind. We took 2 cars to town so I could come home with the older 3 and get them fed before we left for our night out to eat with our friends. Heath stayed back with Quin to get his cut. When they walked in the door I felt like I no longer had a baby boy but a big boy. Heath told the lady to take the clippers to him like she had cut Preston and Conner's. His little cheeks are so fat and he looks so grown up. It's shocking to me that he will turn 2 in July!

Not only did it make his cheeks look fatter, but he looks meaner!

Ok, enough pictures mom...here is begging to go "out-tide".

Play Ball.

Our first real taste of spring came yesterday!!! We finally hit temperatures in the low 70's and tomorrow and the weekend we are hopefully going to make it to the 80's! Well with the warm weather in our house comes and abundance of outside time playing baseball. Let the grass stains begin as I say...but like I say they are all boy! We loved spending time outside yesterday with the beautiful weather!

Conner really doesn't realize that he is 4 years old! He pitches to his older brothers like he is just one of them.

They were nice enough to let him bat a couple of times.

I even got in on the action of pitching. I realized why I never pitched when I played....that darn ball can whip right back at ya! Corby thought he needed to get some pictures of his mom playing...like it was proof that I actually played ball with them.

Quin just loved playing with the dog and yelling.

Down He Goes....

into the mulch that is.

While I was playing baseball with the other 3 in the yard yesterday, Quin decided to go up on the porch and missed one of the steps. Luckily just a few minor scratches to the head. Conner at 17 months took a fall off of a porch and broke his arm, leaving him in a cast for 6 weeks right in the smack dab of pool season. We are going to hopefully be preventative with Quin and our project in the next few weeks will be to add a railing to enclose the front porch so we don't have any tumbles off of it. Is it bad that while he was eating the mulch and crying I was grabbing my camera??? He will love me one day for it or think I was a bad mom!

Country Living.

Yesterday while I was dusting the kitchen, I happened to look out and noticed this turkey the adjacent field. Of course when I told people that there was a turkey this close to our house, the questions followed.....was it strutting, were the feathers out, do I look like a hunter???? I just thought it was interesting enough to take a picture of a wild animal so close to our backyard. The joys of country living. Heath is thrilled in the fact that a deer has managed to eat through one of our trees and killed it. We now have come up with a solution that is hopefully going to resolve that so it doesn't happen again. Anyway, I never thought I would love living in the country again, but we think it is a great place to raise the boys.

316.

You might be wondering what the heck the name of my title means. Well when I was getting ready to start posting this new post, I noticed that this is my 316 post!!! Can you believe that since I started blogging in September of 2007 I have had that much to blog about?? Anyway, I really was sitting here pondering to come up with a creative title, but the creative juices weren't flowing. So there that is how 316 came to me!



So I know, I know, I've heard it from several of you that you have thought I have fallen off the edge of the Earth since my last post of over a week ago! See that is what I get for posting the entire month of March. I spoiled ya didn't I! Well truth of the matter is, it is like Groundhog Day around here....different day, same routine. Nothing exciting has really been going on. I continue to work a couple of nights a week, the boys went last night to my nieces softball game in O'fallon because I had a very important hair appointment (I was getting a little dark) and Heath went for the annual baseball picks. The boys were anxious when they arrived home to see who they got on their teams. Heath has come to the point that he will only be coaching Corby's team this year. This will be the first year that they will be on separate teams. We were not given the schedule yet, but I'm afraid (not that it's a bad thing) that we will be at the ballpark 5 nights a week starting the last week of May-first week of July. By the end we will completely turn into ballpark hot dogs and snow cones! So pretty much this has been our exciting lives. So I know, now you want me to shut up and get on with the pictures. Here goes.....

My sweet innocent boy, Quin playing with his new favorite toy! Farm Puzzle! He gets highly frustrated when it doesn't match up just exact.

He knows all of his animal sounds now and is quite humorous when you ask him.

Ok...getting bored and starting to bang them together.

Completely had enough of the puzzle and off he launches. He has been known in the last week to be scolded for his throwing actions. He hit Corbin in the face 2ft away with a Rubix cube. Corbin tried to scolded him which was quite funny. He even got mad the other day when I would not allow him to take all the pots and pans out of the cabinet again and in a matter of seconds pushed over all 3 bar stools. We are thinking the Terrible 2's have come a little early!

Oh and the other new thing. CLIMBING!!! Here he managed his way on top of the bar to reach whatever he can. As you can tell he is also working on new back teeth and constantly biting the side of his mouth. Maybe I can use that as an excuse for his new temperament!

The Mischievous Look...Lord Help Us!

Of course Conner Bear didn't want to miss out on a photo shoot. As you can tell, tears were streaming from his face. My mom dropped him off from preschool and all of a sudden bursts into tears. When I asked him what was the matter, he proceeded to tell me that he pouted at school. (I guess the teacher must have gotten onto him). He told me he wanted the swing and a little girl got to it first and I'm sure if it was his brother he would have taken it into his own matter, but obviously he diverted to pouting. If that's all he has to pout about we are good!

Well I promise I will have lots to posts about in the next few days so sorry for my lack of no news from the Eckler household! Off to do my next Groundhog Day routine and go pick up the boys from school....let the fighting begin...Ding Ding!

Easter at Grandma & Grandy's.

Easter night was spent at my parents for a delicious supper and another Easter Egg Hunt. Once again due to the weather it was held inside. If I can recall...the last 3 years have been held inside.

Uncle Matt having some fun with Conner. I'm just glad the Easter candy didn't come back up!

The kids were all excited to count their money that was placed inside the eggs.

I think the men were more interested in the Masters golf tournament then helping with the egg hunt.

Poor Delaney was not herself and didn't fell good. Seems like there is always one sick on the holidays!

Once Quin caught on he was not only putting his eggs in his sack but any others he could find as well.

We had a great Easter and hard to believe it is spring as cold as it is! We are suppose to get some warmer temps later this week, so I'm sure we will be putting the lawn mower to use for the first time!

FaMiLy EaStEr PiCtUrEs.

Once again the Easter Bunny found us! This year he thought it would be a good idea for the boys to have their own monogrammed beach towel for the upcoming swimming season (Thanks to Pottery Barn!). They also got their loot of candy much of which I think has already disappeared...into their little mouths.

We had a very busy Easter by first attending 8am mass. Do you know how frantically we were running around trying to get them all snazzy and all with their anticipation of seeing what the bunny brought them. Luckily I got some quick snaps before we left for church.

Before this picture was taken, Quin had already started in on his basket...I know he's no dummy! Luckily my spray and wash came to the rescue before church as he had drooled chocolate down the front of him.

Corby showing off his own beach towel.. Ahh I'm so relieved that hopefully we won't go through the daily fights of whose towel is who. Pretty smart thinking on the Easter Bunny's mind if I do say so myself! :)

The last thing they wanted to do when we arrived home from church was set the camera up for some quick snaps. I was pretty proud of how well they all did.

All dressed up with my boys!

I'm not for sure what Preston was thinking in this one as this was the only shot I got with Heath and the boys...guess I should have edited better. You can also tell that Conner is a little red in the eyes. I can't even remember now what that was all about.

Wow they are all full of smiles!

Of course couldn't resist the bunny ear pictures...of course with a little bribe of candy as you can tell. Whatever works!

I then worked the lunch shift and waited on my entire family and extended family. Heath headed with the boys to my great aunts house for an Easter Egg Hunt. We then celebrated another supper and egg hunt at my mom and dad's house in the evening. That post will happen hopefully tomorrow! We could have stood for a much warmer Easter though as our temps only rose to the low 40's. I still ponder as to why they sell all these cute little Easter dresses and short sleeve shirts when Easter is always so dang cold!

{Final Day}.

Our last day was spent with packing and a little relaxing...well that was until Preston locked the keys in the rental van. Yep, that's right, Preston took it upon himself to go out to the van while Heath was in the shower and I was busy packing to get his slinky that he so desperately needed at the time, only to come inside to let me know that he had locked them in the van. Luckily while I stayed calm and collected, I called the rental car company and they had a spare set. So Heath and my Aunt Darby made the 1 hour 30 minute round trip trek back to the airport. Luckily our flight didn't leave until 6:45 pm. Meanwhile why I was packing and they set off for the airport, my Uncle Quintin and Aunt Tracy took the boys on a walk up to the mountain with Quintin's dogs.

After Heath and my aunt got back we headed over to my Aunt Lori's house to pick the boys up. They were in seventh heaven with a putting green and swimming pool in the backyard.

Quintin had called to have me bring over their swim trunks, but I had already gotten everything packed.

Quin taking to the greens.

As you can tell, when we arrived they couldn't stand the fact that there was water and they weren't being allowed to go in it. My Uncle Quintin let them jump in the water in their shorts....you can tell they are country boys and didn't care.

Having a blast in the pool with the dogs swimming with them.

My Uncle Quintin helping them to the top of the waterfall.

Once we made it back to my Aunt Darby's, they were dying to try out her pool also. The pool was a balmy 50 degrees! Can you imagine jumping in that freezing cold water! They have just began warming up so needless to say the pool hasn't had time to reach its peak temperature yet. Once again it didn't stop the boys.!

We had a fabulous vacation and a little rest and relaxation. I'm not sure how much with all the running we did! I think the highlight of the boys trip was taking daily morning walks with my Uncle Quintin to the top of the mountain. It was so refreshing to eat breakfast outside and just to sit outside and soak up some of the sun that we have yet to experience this spring! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to my family for showing the boys and Heath and I a fabulous time!

{Day 3-Grand Canyon}.

Wow is all I can say. If you haven't ever experienced the Grand Canyon, it is a must to do on the Bucket List!!! We stayed the night in Williams, AZ and stayed at the Grand Canyon Hotel. I had looked this up online and read several reviews on it. All the reviews highly recommended that this was the way to see the Grand Canyon. While lodging at the hotel we had a buffet dinner upon arrival and then a buffet breakfast in the morning. After we had breakfast we were treated to a Wild West show with true cowboys of the west along with their horses. As much as Conner has a love for horses he didn't care much for the gun fight. After the wild west show, we boarded the Grand Canyon Express Railway. Truly amazing to say the least. The train ride took approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes with lots of entertainment and history of the west and the Grand Canyon. There were several musicians that entertained us and our tour guide for our cab was fabulous and full of facts. A must do if you plan on visiting the Grand Canyon area.

This was the front of the hotel. It has lots of history behind it and was originally the Harvey House which was opened by the Santa Fe Railroad.

Conner was all about petting "Spot" the horse after the show was over.

And finally we arrived to the Grand Canyon. Simply amazing. Words cannot even describe the views of this amazing place.

That's about as dare devilish I got! There were several places with no rims or barriers which people got very close to the edge. A little too close for me to watch. We heard on our ride back that several lives are lost each year of people falling over, including a 6 year old last year. I am thankful we all survived.

We were worried that we were going to be way too cold when we arrived, so the night before we ran to Wal-mart to purchase extra sweatshirts and gloves. Luckily we didn't have to put them to use and it was a beautiful sunny day in the 60's. The next day however they were calling for snow and high of only in the 30's...glad we chose the day we did.

We got to spend 3 1/2 hours on our own to take in all the sights. With the kids that was plenty of time!!

On our train ride back to Williams, we were robbed by these cowboys. They then came aboard and took some of our money. Once again, Conner did not find this amusing and hid his face in my lap.

The boys with one of the robbers. You can see they were pretty scared.

I don't think it took even a second for Quin to pass out when we got back into the car. As you can tell he got some sun while touring the canyon. We then headed back on our 3 hour ride to Phoenix.

Another beautiful sight of the snow capped mountains close to the Flagstaff area.

It was a wonderful experience to see the Grand Canyon first hand. I hope the boys will remember this beautiful part of the country. We can now check this one off our list of sights to see.

{Arizona-Day 2}.

On our second day, we began our venture to the Grand Canyon. It is about a three hour drive from Phoenix to the Grand Canyon. We were highly recommended on our route to take a little detour to experience Sedona, Arizona. I'm so glad that we did. This place was once again breath taking! The town is known for its red rocks and it just glistens in the sun. All of a sudden you are driving along the interstate in desert country and then wham there is this beautiful town. Senator John McCain owns a home in this area...I can see why.

Our ears did lots of popping as we traveled to higher elevation.

This is coming into Sedona. I wish we had some time to stop and experience the town, but we were on a mission to check into our hotel.

Preston was amazed with the cacti that were everywhere.

Once we traveled out of Sedona, we took the scenic route to Flagstaff, AZ. Let's say we were in for a shock when we got out of the car. Due to the higher elevation, the temperature plummeted!!! We about froze, but made sure we stopped at the scenic overlook to look at the beautiful mountainous scenery.

We then made it to our hotel, The Grand Canyon Hotel where we indulged in a wonderful buffet. Quin was amazed at the train that circled the restaurant.

Of course what is a hotel stay without some swimming time. Heath begs to differ on the heated pool sign!

{Arizona-Day 1}

Well before I can post festivities our our Easter Day, I first have to post our awesome spring break trip to Arizona! We had a fabulous time and it was definitely very hard to come home to these freezing cold temps we are having...hello spring where are you??? Anyway I decided to break up my posts by posting our daily activities. This way I didn't bore you with a million pictures at one time. Did I mention that we had a fabulous time?? We were very gracious for my aunts to let us stay with them in their beautiful home and showed us a wonderful time! Oh and thanks for the warm weather I requested while we were out there...we are supporting some sunburns on our faces! So on with the pictures as promised....

Since our plane didn't get in until 10pm on Monday night we kind of slept in a little before we started our sightseeing. We started out by taking Corby to his favorite place of all...The Lego Store. We hadn't been one since we visited Chicago last year so before we went to Phoenix, I found out there was one really close to my aunts house. After that we then were in need of some lunch so we headed downtown to the Chase Stadium, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks. It is an amazing field which you can watch the planes fly over and even take part in eating at the TGIF which is right inside the stadium. The boys loved it and it was so hot that the crayons melted on the table right before our eyes!!!

Boys outside the Stadium. Oh did I mention that we took our GPS with us and it was amazing! Heath was thrilled every time I punched in a Starbucks! I think there were at least 3 every .10th of a mile! :)

My Aunt Tracy toured the Phoenix area with us. We had lots of laughs and the boys kept her entertained that is for sure!

We found the most beautiful waterfall park located downtown. Preston had fun skipping on the rocks in the water. Luckily he didn't fall in!

We took the Light Rail System and traveled to downtown Tempe which holds the ASU (Arizona State Univ) campus. It had a lot of neat shops and of course we couldn't resist the Cold Stone Creamery!

I bet you weren't doing this back in Missouri! The boys were so hot they had to cool off in the misters located at the restaurants! Boy did we soak up the sun!

After downtown we then headed back to explore South Mountain which is located right behind my aunts subdivision. We drove to the top and took in the breath taking scenery of Phoenix!

Overview of Phoenix...you can see the haze over the city.

That night we took our cousin Shannon and my aunts out to supper at our favorite Phoenix Mexican Hot Spot, Aribas! DELICIOUS and the margaritas are huge!

We then came back to the house to crash for the day. My other cousin Brody came over and played with the boys. We had a great first day and hopefully I can get the rest posted tomorrow!

Arizona Update.

Hello All,

We are having a fabulous time while we are enjoying 90 degree temps! I know you did not want to hear that! The boys enjoyed their first flight and really didn't know we were up in the air as we purchased the tv program for $6/each...well worth it!

Yesterday we started our day by eating lunch outside at Chase Field...where the Arizona Diamondbacks play, took the light rail to Tempe-home of the ASU campus, took a ride up South Mountain which overlooks Phoenix...breathtaking! We are currently getting ready to head to Sedona, AZ to see the red rock and travel onto Williams, AZ which is an old western town where we will stay the night. Tomorrow we will get on a train and travel to the Grand Canyon. We are having a fabulous time and do not want to come back to cold temperatures...that's for sure! Conner can't believe how hot it is and they are even supporting sunburns on their faces! LOVE IT!!

Well lots of pictures to post when we arrive home!

Until then....soaking up the sun!

{Coloring Easter Eggs}.

Since I had so much time on my hands today (hint of sarcasm), I decided that we only had a little window to get our eggs colored before we left for our trip tomorrow. I was afraid if we waited until we got back that we wouldn't be able to complete this holiday tradition in our house. I know mom...what would happen if we didn't??? So today after attending Palm Sunday mass, going out to eat, I squeezed in our egg coloring. I had a little remaining time to pack, finish up laundry, work, and come home to finish up packing. We made sure that Quin was snoozing away while we completed it, as I didn't think he needed to take part...just yet.

Here are the boys anxiously awaiting to dye the eggs. They didn't understand why I had to boil them then let them sit for 15 minutes.

As you can tell...not only did we dye eggs but our hands as well. I think it will take several rounds of baths and showers to see some fading.

I couldn't believe how Conner absolutely loved this! He was upset and wanted me to make more eggs...sorry one batch was enough for this mom!

Some of our finished eggs.

Now...I am relieved to knock this one off of my to do list before we left! Say a little prayer for us at 7:14pm (central time) tomorrow as we take off! We have a short layover in Denver before arriving in Phoenix. We are ready for a little R&R..but mainly some SUNSHINE! This weather here is for the pits!!! Snow today....this is ridiculous for April! Ok...Heath is taking his laptop and I asked him if I could download my photoshop program onto his computer...he said only if I wanted him to get fired. Well I opted that we need his job, so I maybe able to posts our daily happenings...but you will have to wait for pictures (I'm sure numerous) upon our arrival home! We will be home late Friday night! Until then...we will be thinking of each and everyone one of you while in the sunshine!