Last Day of School!!!

In addition to Kyler's graduation, Jayden and Makenna were both thrilled to celebrate the completion of sixth and third grades. On the last day of school I attended a special mathematics ice cream sundae party. The kids had to earn each part of their banana splits, like the bowl, spoon, each scoop and topping, the banana, etc, by memorizing and passing off parts of the times tables. Makenna maxed out her sundae, and loved every bite!



I also attended the ceremonial burning of what remained of Jayden's school binder. I'm not sure a good mother would have allowed that, let alone photographed it. But it seemed like a satisfying conclusion for a long and difficult school year for him. Let him celebrate - he did it!

Kyler's Kindergarten Graduation

Sitting in Kyler's kindergarten graduation program someone asked me which one was my child. I told them it is the little guy in the striped shirt who is having WAY too much fun. Several people around me all commented that they had been laughing themselves silly watching his antics. He was hysterical. He was doing the same songs and dances as the rest of the kids, but he had that huge grin and some extra pep and boogie. They sang songs about things they'd been learning and it was so cute.









That's our Bubba!


But he's officially a first-grader, and we've got the diploma to prove it!

Memorial Day, 2010

We found ourselves with a free weekend and decided to enjoy some family time up at the cabin. The Thuesons joined us for part of it, and we were glad! Here's my quick memory recap; the best parts were....

The musical performances on the deck Hailey, Shaylie, and Aubrey.

Makenna, Kyler, and Brooke spent an entire afternoon creating their "secret fort."

For some reason, Jayden wasn't interested in joining in the performing arts show, so he spent his time chopping dead wood with a hatchet,

and climbing WAY too high! Do you see him up in the tippy top of this tree? I just about had heart failure. He must have been two or three stories up there. He tied a piece of string around a branch just to show off later to his other cousins that he'd been up there.

Suzanne, I know these won't still be blooming when you arrive up here, so I wanted to snap a quick shot so you can see how spectacular they are!

We took a quick fishing trip with the Thuesons. Not many fish, but we had cookies, so it was still successful. ha, ha...



We spent Sunday afternoon playing games. The kids are getting a little older, which makes it possible to branch out a bit from Candyland (thank goodness!) and we found several that most of us could play and enjoy. Yay!

Grandpa built a terrific outdoor fireplace which made some mighty nice s'mores. Here are some shots of the kids being silly with their marshmallows.









And finally, the perfect touch in a relaxing weekend...a nice nap. Looks comfy.

Great family, great time together, great blessing!

KITTY MAMA

I'm such a sucker... but when Carter called home from work and told me about a litter of three-day old kittens which had been found bagged up at the garbage dump, I agreed at once to take them in. They were sooo tiny and sweet and looked like drowned rats at first, like most newborns, hee, hee. My heart instantly went out to them. I don't think I realized at first what I was getting myself into. They had to be bottle-fed every three hours...around the clock. At first it took 45 minutes for each feeding. Carter was wonderful to get up with me at the 3am feeding so we could both feed and finish in half the time and get back to sleep. Middle of night feedings were bringing back memories, although I decided that bottle-fed babies are the way to go - that way Dad can help, too.


Now, four weeks later, the kittens have grown huge and plumped up adorably. Our cat Ginny despises them, but the rest of us have really enjoyed having the sweet little babies around.

Here is Shaylie reading a book to a kitty...



And Kyler helping at feeding time.



Who could resist such little sweeties as these? Which brings me to an important point... I have started the process of weaning them from the bottle and teaching them to eat cat food. They are doing great at it, so I figure they only need another week or so and then they will be ready to find new homes. Is anyone out there thinking you need a new feline friend?? Do you know anyone who might like one of the sweetest kitties ever?