where did you get those shoes?

john david's birthday was in may, but jane could not come to town until this weekend so we waited to celebrate.  don't you just love bowling shoes?  actually, i do!  i think they are kinda cool... except for the fact that like a gazillion people have worn them, too.

john david hitting a strike... i guess it helps if you took bowling in college p.e. class!

 

 the kids had fun.  m2, m1, and i bowled on one lane (bumpers were up).  little man chose the more competitive lane with john david, nana and jane.

after bowling we headed to nana's for dinner and to open presents.  taco salad and fruit pizza followed by a round of spades for the adults.  happy birthday hubby ~ you are catching up!

memorial day weekend

fun weekend at the lake... it's going to be a great summer.

m2, sugar and charlie... seriously, does life get any better for a four year old?

m2 and little man 

 little mand and dude in the johnboat... they take a minnow net and then head a few piers away to catch minnows for fishing.  only here do we let them have that kind of freedom.  normally we make them wear life jackets, they were only in 18 inches of water.   

one more full week of school and then the last doesn't even count... field day (3rd-5th grades) field trip for m1, school picnic, pool parties, class parties and awards chapel.  then it's summer time!  so glad for this school year to be over!!

oh duck

i was driving the children to sunday night ramp up and miss lisa was tagging along (she was early for bible study at our house so she rode with me to take the children up to church).  we were talking about summer plans when this dialogue happened:

miss lisa: oh... duck. (m2 lowered her head).
m2: why did you say to duck?
miss lisa: well, pumpkin there is a duck crossing the road in front of your mother's car and i was just pointing him out.
m2: oh.

i don't know why but this cracked me up.

a lake wedding

while packing for this lake trip i packed things never packed before... a brush, hot rollers, hair spray, three church dresses, ties for little man and john david, dress pants and shirts for the boys... well you get the idea.  normally a two week lake trip consists of one laundry basket of clothes and bathing suits.  the wedding was supposed to be at our neighbor's house, but the weather was going to be questionable so a nearby church was the last minute destination.  other lake neighbors were in attendance but we had to keep introducing ourselves to one another because as someone put it, "i've never seen you in real clothes before", much less with makeup and hair done!

 little man, micadoodle, m2, m1 and dude... all acting silly.   

a more serious pose... with the sun shining directly in faces.  sister has some other pictures so hopefully i will get those soon. 

mother's day 2012

i was served breakfast in bed ~ in courses ~ by the children.  m2 walked in and whispered, "nice mother's day.... no that's not right.  oh yeah, happy mother's day".  then she handed me a plate.  m1 walked in and placed orange slices and tortilla chips on my plate.  little man gave me three almonds and some juice.  john david fixed my favorite egg dish (which doesn't have a name or maybe it does and i don't know) an egg over easy, fried into a hole in a piece of bread.  after realizing they had forgotten a fork i was finally able to enjoy my feast.  we got ready for church and i had my favorite activity ever (sarcasm is dripping from every word here!) sunday school helper for m2's room.  after church we joined my parents for lunch. 

grammy and three of her five 

m2 was not happy with her *placement* on the limb, but i wanted the picture anyway.   

me, m1 and little man (the crying girl was on the ground at this point)

 granddaddy grilling up some chicken... he is the best chicken griller ever!

i have a high regard for professional photographers!

we took nana out for dinner on saturday night and then stopped by the chinese pagoda to snap some pictures of her and the children.  m2 has a great smile ~ when she wants to use it.  after looking through the lens of the camera and taking more shots than necessary i have a new regard for the professionals.  we did get some nice ones but the bloopers far outweigh them!   

see m2's wonderful expressive face!  oh my the child is a hoot.

and then there are the times where you just crop out an entire person because they are picking their nose or adjusting their underwear.  whatever!  at least the others are smiling.

and then comes the moment an hour later (when you thought you would only spend about 15 minutes) when her smile just melts your heart.  if i were a professional i could figure out how to crop that smile into every picture. 

don't mess up the play room m2!

 

before m1 got out of the car this morning, her last instruction for m2 was to not mess up the playroom, because she had cleaned it yesterday.  do you think m2 listened?  before school, m2 had asked little man to *draw* her a basketball court so her animals could play.  he used painter's tape (i have plenty of that around here) and marked off free throw lines.  after returning from the grocery store, m2 gathered all of her stuffed animals and placed them around the free throw line.  she even gave one of them a ball to use.  i was putting groceries away and overheard "let's go upward let's go" coming from upstairs.  silly girl, she had put on m2's upward cheering uniform and was cheering for the basketball players, umm, stuffed animals.  after the game the players had snack time and celebrated a birthday party.