Roasting Hot Dogs & Marshmallows...

First off, meet Bo. Isn't he soooo cute!!? We invited my sister and brother-in-law and their kids over to roast hot dogs and marshmallows Monday night and they brought their new puppy. He is the cutest thing and is such a good puppy - you can tell he is going to be a really good dog. He is a golden retriever. He had fun exploring the yard and even learned not to sniff too close to the dutch oven - hot! It singed his whiskers a bit. Woops! He loved to sit next to the fire and sleep in a camp chair while he was getting rubbed and petted. Ahhh... the life. :)

With the way the weather has been - RAINY - we thought that we would get rained out but luckily it poured and hailed right before and then the sun came out and didn't quite "dry up all the rain" but it wasn't bad. Actually quite a nice evening. We roasted hot dogs and then broke out the s'mores - mmmm.... love s'mores. David enjoys cooking dutch oven - this time he made Blueberry Peach Cobbler - yummy!! Then the kids played and played. The boys always have so much fun playing with their cousins.

Sierra

Rachel

Jason

Bryson and Trevor eating s'mores.

The kids played until after it was dark - by the time we got them in the house I decided they needed a quick bath because they were so dirty. Bryson and Dillon were getting out of the shower and I went to go get Logan into the tub and came into the kitchen to find this...

No, he didn't crack open the watermelon and start chowin down on it all by himself (though I wouldn't put it past him :) ) - his dad decided to cut it open because we didn't get to it earlier and Logan really really wanted some - I think his dad wanted some just as bad. By this time the other 2 boys saw what was going on and wanted some and so we all sat down and had watermelon - it's like 10:30 at night! Ooops! Gotta love summertime though. Wienie roasts, s'mores, and watermelon...

Stealing...

I have stolen from two of my nieces blogs!! :)

My niece had this on her blog - Jon Schmidt - this guy is awesome! This is of him playing Love Story from Taylor Swift along with a guy that plays the cello. AWESOME!! Check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0v3d6SFcDys (Thanks Jill! :) )

Then my other niece posted this on her blog today.

I DON'T WANT TO MISS THE LITTLE THINGS

My hands were busy through the day, I didn't have much time to play,

The little games you asked me to, I didn't have much time for you.
I'd wash your clothes, I'd sew and cook, But when you'd bring your picture book,

And ask me please to share your fun, I'd say: "A little later, son."
I'd tuck you in all safe at night And hear your prayers, turn out the light,

Then tiptoe softly to the door... I wish I'd stayed a minute more.
For time is short, the years rush past. A little boy grows up so fast.

No longer is he at your side, His precious secrets to confide.
The picture books are put away, There are no longer games to play,

No good-night kiss, no prayers to hear.... That all belongs to yesteryear.
My hands, once busy, now are still. The days are long and hard to fill.

I wish I could go back and do The little things you asked me to.
By Author Unknown

Thank you Danielle for posting this - it truly reminds me of what is really important. All too soon I will also be looking back and wondering where all the time has gone. They do grow up so fast. Some days are crazy, wild, and stressful but I wouldn't trade it for anything else. Love my 4 sweet boys!! :)

Creative with Cans...

Well, the boys have been out of school for 2 weeks now. I wanted to go back a little before school got out - the boys usually take a little something for their teacher on the last day of school and I guess its because of having a new little one at our house that I totally spaced it and 2 days before the last day of school I remembered and so we whipped this up - we were trying to use things that we had around the house but wanted to make it cute and let them know that we appreaciated them as teachers!! I know I have mentioned this before but they truly had wonderful teachers this year. So, we decided to get creative with cans - green bean cans to be exact. It's a pencil holder (if you couldn't tell :) ) and we filled it with some peanut M&M's and attached a poem that reads:

Sweets for the Sweet!

MISS CALL,

Green is for the inspiration you gave to me each day,

Blue is for your patience in showing me the way,

Orange is for your warmth and your caring style,

Yellow is for the way you could always make me smile,

Red is for my life that you touched this year,

You’re a very special teacher, that is very clear!

Thank you so much,

(They signed their name.)

Some days are better than others at getting the boys to do their jobs. A couple of days into summer break I decided that their jobs needed a little spicing up - so we got creative with cans again - mandarin orange cans. They have had job charts for about 1 1/2 years now so I thought we would try this approach - painted sticks in a can with the job written on one end and once they have completed the job they get to flip it and it will be a solid color. As you can see, Bryson's favorite color is red and Dillon's favorite color is blue.

The pictures below are of them while they were making the job cans and painting their sticks. I don't know what got into them but they were giggling and being as silly as a bunch of school girls! :) It was funny though. All through lunch I was telling them that we had a project to do. Bryson asked if it was going to be fun and I said that I thought it would be - who wouldn't want to glue paper on a can and paint sticks their favorite color? Well, turns out that as I got done explaining what we were making and why we were making it and that we were adding a few more jobs to the mix but raising the allowance just a bit, Dillon says, very dramatically I might add, "Ohhhhh.... I knew this wasn't going to be fun." Too funny! They ended up having fun. So - the first week was last week and they did all their jobs and they got paid - I had to go to the $ store and so they thought they would bring their money. They thought they had hit the jackpot!! Seriously - we were in there for over an hour. It was almost like Christmas morning for them. This was the first time they had been in the $ store with their own money and the concept of everything being a $ finally hit home and they were so excited!! So, on the way home Dillon says, "Oh... you mean I have to wait a whole other week to get paid so I can go to the $ store again?" Yep - welcome to the real world. They got some magic trick kits (which they totally loved and played with for the rest of the day and night), some big giant bug thingys, and a water whistle squirt gun. I should of taken pictures of their newly purchased treasures but I forgot. So far the excitement with the $ store is working - we'll see if it lasts the whole summer.

Batter Up...

Last week was the start of the baseball season for Bryson and Dillon. This is their last year of Pee Wee (coach pitch) and next year will be minor league. They have sure come a long way and our doing great with their throwing, catching and batting. They really are liking it and it is always so fun to watch them play. We got rained out today and the boys were pretty sad to have missed their game. They said they would try to reschedule it at the end of the season. I have to apologize for these pictures - these were taken at their first game and David hadn't gotten there yet, so I was holding a baby and trying to make sure a 3 year old didn't take off for the toys at the other end of the park and so the quality isn't the best and they aren't very close up -hopefully I will be able to get some more before the season ends.

Dillon - next up to bat.

Dillon - coming in to bat from right field.

Dillon - on 3rd base, getting ready to run to home plate!

Their coach telling them their batting order.

Bryson - waiting for the ball to come back to the pitcher.

Bryson - next up to bat.

Bryson - playing short stop.

Playing in the Rain...

Summer Thundershowers... love it!! I love when it's a hot summer day and the clouds come in, the sky goes a deep blue, almost violet and contrasts with the bright green of the grass and fields - everything goes still... and then the thunder starts and lightly the raindrops begin to fall. Love the smell of rain! Love the sound of rain! Love the feel of rain! I love to go out on the porch and watch the rainstorm and listen to the thunder and look for the lightning. We have had a few rain showers lately and this one on Saturday was perfect. It stayed warm and poured down for about 20 minutes - Dillon and Logan couldn't get enough. They loved it!

This is why Bryson wasn't in on the action - we had gone to the public library today and he had gotten some books. At the time of me blogging this, he has read 5 Hardy Boys books. So... that's 5 books in 3 days! Goodness!! What can I say? The kid LOVES to read!

Two Months Old...

Mason is 2 months old already!! Wow! They say it goes faster with each one - "they" are not kidding! Mason is smiling so much now and cooing (or "talking" as we like to call it). He is so much fun! We just love him to pieces!! He has even started sleeping for 5 hours at night - mostly on a regular basis - Woo hoo!!! :)

Retirement...

May 29, 2009

My in-laws decided to retire this year. Lynda's school had a nice luncheon for her with the other teachers there. She has been teaching for 22 years! I was in her 1st hour class, 8th grade, her first year being a teacher. I might add that is when David and I first started "going together" (as we used to call it back then). :) It made for some exciting drama when he would have to come in to the classroom and talk with his mom. I would almost die of embarrassment!! I was a LITTLE shy!

So, this morning at 8 a.m. Mike's school held a breakfast for him and family and teachers. He has taught for 35 years! Wow! These 2 teachers (Mrs. Dargie & Mrs. Ellis) would always give Mike gag gifts for his birthday, now that they won't be able to find him so easily on his birthday they gave him this sign and this very fitting hat. It was too funny!

Well - they are off and headed to California for a couple of weeks - enjoy it - you deserve it! :)


My mother-in-law was given these flowers as a gift of appreciation and congratulations on her retirement and since they are off to California she told me to take them home and enjoy them. Aren't they beautiful?