outdoors....

Checking out a very pretty but very dead dragonfly.



These are a little grainy as I am trying to figure out some things on my camera.



They both wanted to take a picture, I suppose you can figure out who took which. E says "I don't care if he pulls my hair." I wonder how long that will last.


Before any locals attack me for this, let me say that I asked Martha (pictured above) if photos were against the rules, and her answer was, "no it's just that amish people don't have cameras". She said it was fine for friends to take pictures. I have been told by my husbands family that her mom might have a different answer, but it's not like I'm a tourist or anything. I promise not to turn any pics of their family into postcards and sell them.

They are playing with clear marbles that they found in the garage. They dumped them in the wheelbarrow and filled it with water. Then they dumped it and had a blast trying to find them.

Saturday we spent the afternoon at the farm and we were able to finally meet...


Joash David...I wish i would have taken a pic of his hands, they are huge!


First ride on a quad.


Trying to catch frogs in mom mom's pond.


Success!


J was actually driving this! (on daddy's lap of course)

also took some pretty pics of a butterfly, check it out here

More Summer Fun

I discovered these pics from a couple of weeks ago that I forgot to share.



We met mom mom and some cousins at aunt grace's pool.



We spent a fabulous Saturday evening with Uncle Dwayne and Aunt Abby. She has the big box of random toys that the kids love. Let's just not think about how many kids/adults have sampled the teeth.


V and unky D



They have the whole kit and caboodle for guitar hero (2 guitars, bass drums and mic). Dennis even started us out on the mic, I always wanted a family band.


I told den to get me one of these instead of a gym membership.


One sticky day we met some friends at the park. They loved letting E boss them around. Mostly she wanted them to take her on the big slide over and over and over again.


Puppy love....




One Saturday that J spent at mom mom's house she let him and Rustin spend about 2 hrs playing in the mud. Yes, that's my son flexing his guns. What's hilarious about this is that I have seen countless pic of Den doing the same thing when he was a kid.


I think they thought they died and went to little boy heaven.

7

Last Thursday, my firstborn turned 7, yes 7. This is only 3 years away from 10, yikes.

The celebration started with Den taking J and some cousins to a miniature golf course. I stayed home with baby and miss E had a sleepover at mom mom's. He said they were so speedy as they couldn't wait to see what kind of hole was next.

"Ducks?", you might ask. I asked the same thing when my hubby returned w/ the camera and had 5 pics of cute little ducklings that were at the course and 3 shots of the pose above w/ the boys in it. He claimed they were moving too much to get a good golfing shot. hmmm....

Thursday evening Den's parents came up for a birthday dinner as well as cake and ice cream. That day he spent swimming with cousins and helping me with the baby at Costco.

Lego Cake

E made her brother a bday card.

Now....

and then....

a weekish old

7 or 8 months

18-20months (ish)

2ish

It was this guy who taught me a whole different level of love. I remember holding him in the beginning and wondering if it was possible for all mom's to feel what I felt at that moment. I decided it was impossible, because he was the most beautiful baby in the world, and too bad for them. He has brought me joy, and challenged me in ways I never thought possible, and I still want to squeeze him any chance I get.

Freaking Me Out

Last night I looked over and there he was, freaking me out by rocking on his hands and knees. I'm not ready for this much mobility at 5 months! However, it is adorable and exciting!

Summertime Sweetness

Me- "j, want do you want for dinner on your birthday?"
J- "Do we have any corn?"
(when I said I wasn't sure if it would be ready, which I did find out it will, he then asked for broccoli <3 )


poor kitty

Yesterday Morning Sweetness

"V is smiling at me!" (he was)


Ran upstairs and came down to find this...J is telling V who is who in the photo album, "here's Uncle John.."


Ran up again and came down to find them like this. "We're camping with V," they tell me.

Happy 4th 08

In honestly I had resolved that the 4th of July around here would just suck and I'd have to deal with it. There are rarely any convenient fireworks actually on the fourth. The fact is that growing up in Btown, we had the best Independence Day. Community spirit overflowed as we piled onto the lawn of the high school football field and stretched out the orange blanket to bask in the firework lit sky. Not to mention there were always free popsicles, the orange and red ones we called Big Sticks. I loved it. Though even that has changed, a new location, a new show, things change. However, in my state of acceptance, our fourth of July turned out to be rather nice. Friday night we had dear friends call and offer us KFC. The greasiness was good and the meal was rounded off with fresh green beans from the neighbor's garden, salad (lettuce from my MIL's garden) and watermelon. I was excited because I was sure I had sparklers and then Dennis approaches me with a look asking me if I actually opened the cylinder container. I did not, but glow sticks are safer anyway!


Our guest, O-man showing off his glow stick. That smile..could I get that on a plate? yum.


So the next night we ended up going to a firework show with some friends. Despite the traffic, distance, and expensive food, it was a good show and I'm very glad we went. They played "Proud to Be an American" which for some reason I cannot listen to with a dry eye. V was a champ and only started to fuss during the finale, otherwise he just stared up at the sky.

He's finishing of Den's milkshake, not drinking french fries.


My kids hate loud things (j seems to have gotten over it) and so this year we were prepared.


Ready to start!


The friends we went with brought glow sticks for all, but when E's didn't work Matt went and bought this fancy doo-hickey for her. Totally unnecessary, extremely generous. We had fun playing with the different settings on my camera.





I love this! Sweet family shot of our friends Matt, Jen and Madison.


Have I mentioned how much J loves his brother?


Dearest Tina has graciously allowed us to use her exersaucer. New fun for V!