A celebration of all sorts!

We began Sunday celebrating Allyson's 3rd birthday.  Ally and E are becoming such great friends.  He talks about her a lot and loves playing with her.  She is growing so quickly!

Then we headed to Jim and Clare's house for dinner.  We began with a yummy wurst meal with the works - real sauerkraut made by Clare... not like the kind I buy in a jar from the grocery store! ;)  The children were content with hot dogs.  But MD discovered my Louisiana Hot Links and I had to share!  (Dang it that boy, how comes he likes spicy food?!  Oh, right.. he's MY boy! ;))

 Never ask them to smile for the camera...  :0  (cheers, Rita!)

 Hello there Jim (back to the camera), Dave (in baseball cap - he's hubby to Corinna), Corinna (such a sweet sweet woman and daughter to sweet, sweet Clare), and Clare (my adopted mother, thanks for sharing her, Corinna):

 So the children were busy checking out these bees that are hactching out of their honeycombs!!!

 They helped pick them out of the honeycombs (or scooped them after they hatched out of the honeycombs) and placed them in that jar (in John's hand) and then Jim (John's dad, not pictured here), the bee whisperer, took them to put in their permanent home/hive in the backyard.

 After dinner we went for a quick walk (it was a wonderful but heavy meal!).  After the walk, the children wanted to scooter -- so the adults joined in!  Look at how comfortable Jim looks!

 And he was off and quick as ever trying to show off to everyone watching!

 There they go!

 Here's John next to E:

 Even Rita gave it a go!

 She did really well!  :)

 After the scooter excitement, we gathered for desserts:

 But Corinna and the children stepped in for a few presentations...

 of lovely gifts for everyone...

 There were so many celebrations to celebrate!

 Jim's birthday and Father's Day:

 Corinna for being a sweet, sweet, person who does an amazing job selecting personal gifts for everyone! In addition to being Jim and Clare's wedding anniversary this month.  It was also Rita's, John's, AND Jim's birthday this month!

Rita was happy with her gift from us:

A pendant with her grandchildren's names:

 Then the evening ended with coffee and tea...phew!

 And some fashion advice from E... apparently Daddy needs a face lift!

 Oh, Lucky John, he needed some help as well!  All face lifts apparently comes with a quick and free belly button show! :0

What a great day!!!!

Special Drinks

We went to Matt and Leo's last night.  They were showing a movie in the backyard... it was cold and the movie was not children friendly (but we knew that already).  So we stayed inside and Matt made the children very special drinks (since he made Vince and I one too!  wink, wink).  So I give you mango nectar fizzies:

Don't you love how Uncle Matt decorated the cups too?!

 Gotta love that Uncle Matt:

 I told you, it was cold last night!

 

A few hours later.... he was snoring:

 He was out like a light too!

 And although she was pretending here... 30 minutes later, she was totally out!

Thank you Uncle Matt for the special drinks!  (Vince and I enjoyed our mojitos and the other blue drink you made me... that I can't remember the name of but was very yummy!) Thanks Uncle Leo for having a get together so Vince and I could have adult time!  :)

Good friends, Good food... and a few great pool dates!

A few hot days have forced us to evacuate the house for cooler... errrr, pools!  Since we do not own one we had to rely on the generosity of our friends.  :)
One day we went to Melinda's pool and enjoyed the nice cool water.  MD was beyond excited!  "This was a great day, mom!"  (sigh, that boy sure knows the right things to say to his mommy... simple things people, simple things!)

 Emma with MG:

 Olivia and mom, Melinda:

 MD diving:

 And up he came!

E having a blast, even though he recently woke up from a nap and was quite clingy... can't tell, can you?!

 BFFs -- It blows me away that they have known each other since preschool.  I know they will continue to be good friends.  Even though they do not see each other often, it seems they just pick up where they left off when they do see each other. I am so happy for that.  :)

Another hot day gave us the opportunity to see some old friends!  Becky's house is just across the street from this pool.  Upon arrival, we were all struck by this unusual sight... A mommy duck and her ducklings!

 After awhile, the children ignored the duck and her ducklings and went off to play, leaving them alone:

 MG and Emma Faye!  (only 2 days apart!)

 E was loving it!!!

 She's quite the fish, that girly girl! (But ever so cautious, unlike her little brother!)

 A quick cookie break:

 His second tooth is already loose!

 He loves to dive!

 After a few hours of swimming, Becky, made us a delicious dinner!  It's bow tie pasta with pancetta, cherry tomatoes, and fresh basil.  It was a delicious dinner!  Thanks again, Becky!  The children had at least 3 servings each!!!

 After dinner we went for a brief walk.  These two quickly discovered that they really do like each other!  So sweet that they are holding hands -- initiated by E! ;)

 The others climbed a tree...

 These 2 continued to hold hands... so sweet! (remember they are only 1 month apart!)

Hot days are more bearable with friends who invite us over to swim!  We look forward to more invitations.

Girl Scout Pinning

I can't believe today ends her 3rd year of being a girl scout!  3years!!!!  Where has the time gone?!

It was an extremely hot day so meeting at the park with a water feature was an EXCELLENT idea.  She left the house in uniform but upon arrival went straight to her swim suit that was underneath her outfit!

The girls meeting underneath a shaded tree...

 Melinda pinning her...another wonderful year added to her vest!

 Her BFF, Olivia:

 The troop:

 The boys... they always sneak into the meetings somehow... :) Just kidding, they were invited today.

 Yummy, cookies.... chocolate chips with M&M's!  Woohoo!!!

 Surprisingly, he chose a sugar cookie with sprinkles!

 Silly!

 Even more silly is this guy!

 What can I say?!

It was a HOT day!!!!!  

HOT!

It was hot today....

frozen gogurt anyone???
E asked, "Mom, you want to take off your clothes too?"
Um... better not scare the neighbors, Honey!
 (FYI - MG is wearing her clothes! :)  She's just reading and snuggling with MD)  E apparently thinks that taking off "any" number article of clothing is considered all clothing!  :)

Bittersweet... the last day of school

She has come a long way...

Here she is the first day of school:

And look at her now!  So confident and so glad to have a break!

 Here she is with her teacher and a "few"of her best friends, Lyra, Joelle, and Elsa:

 A few more friends jumped in;

 Look how she has grown!

 We had to say farewell to our crossing guard, Cliff.  We just found out that he is retiring... and this was also his LAST day. We made him a card, a bouquet of flowers, and gave him a gift card.  Such  a small token for a person, whom we trusted to help the children cross safely everyday to school - rain or shine.  He always had something nice to say to the boys (even when they were not the friendliest in the mornings!).  He also noticed when I walked to and from the school with Morgan BUT without the boys!  I always appreciated his sense of humor.  Happy retirement, Mr. Cliff.  If you want to read more about this wonderful man, go here.

 Auntie Clare made her favorite meal -- baked macaroni and cheese!!!!

Such a great year for her.  She has grown academically and socially.  She has shown me how easily adaptable she is when I was afraid she would have difficulties.  I am very proud of her accomplishments this year and hope that 3rd grade will treat her just as well.  Now... summer, here we come!!!!