July 4th, 2011

Gem thumb-wrestles and plays with Daddy while he takes a break from the grill.

Just sitting on the front porch. Relaxing. Enjoying each other.

My Bike Route

I had a small dilemma this morning. I needed some items from the store before hubby left for work (we still have one vehicle.) I needed to exercise--if I don't exercise first thing in the morning, it's less likely to be done. And most importantly, I needed to spend time with the hubby before his long shift at the hospital. I had about an hour and a half to accomplish these three things. What to do?
Hubby and I decided to jump on our bicycles and ride down the back country roads to the store.
Dilemma solved!
(We are blessed with a terrific teenaged daughter, who not only watched the younger siblings, but she also cleaned the kitchen while we were gone.)
I couldn't help but pause for a moment to snap a couple pictures of the scenery...
  
And a picture of my stallion. ;-)

Father's Day 2011

The king of our castle was served his celebratory meal on Saturday evening. By his decree, we had spaghetti and meatballs, with ice cream for dessert.    
Then on Sunday, we attended Mass, and hit the road to spend the day with family.
Here are most of the cousins celebrating Dylan's birthday.

These are the people who helped shape my husband into the wonderful father that he is.

I would have liked to have gotten a picture of DaddyBear with all his cubs, but they were so excited to play with their cousins, they weren't still for a minute!

Picking Blueberries

The cost of package of blueberries from the store: $2.50.
A pound of blueberries from a local farm: $1.
Seeing the satisfaction on the children's faces at picking their own treats: priceless.

    
See the flash of red in the picture above? That's the mouth of a hungry baby bird. Its mama flew off just as I was taking the picture. There were three hungry baby birds in the nest, and of course we quietly crept away and left them undisturbed.

It's time

The time has come to say goodbye to Juju's beautiful curls. He's a big boy now. It's hot outside. Brushing his hair was bringing much tears and drama, and MamaBear tries her best to keep tears and drama at our house to a minimum.

As you can see, he is pleased with his new big boy cut. Big brother got one, too. And DaddyBear, but I didn't get his picture.

Now I can add "barber" to my resume.

Gigi's Baptism

 

Godparents Allen and Catherine

          
 
A special thanks to NaDean for snapping such lovely pics for us.

Mother’s Day 2011

 

Easter 2011

We gave up trying to keep Juju’s shirt tucked in and tie on. ;-) 

This is us...crying baby, frazzled mama, uncooperative toddler, grumpy daddy, sassy 10-year-old, silly 7-year-old, and 4-year-old who tries her hardest to be like her big sister. And in the middle of it all is our spacey teenager, in her own little world. This is our life, and I love it. Most days.

Happy Birthday, Daddy Bear and Caveman!

Announcing...

Gigi's Waterbirth Slideshow 

A thousand “thank yous” to my precious friend, Catherine, for the beautiful photography.