Little Friend Grace

We had a visit from our little friend Grace last week. It's been a whole month since we've seen the smiley girl. A week or so before Brandon asked, "are we ever going to see Grace again?? He really likes this girl. We gave her lunch. That is if you count a jar of baby food as lunch... She played with a toy that belong to Jess when she was a baby. And really seemed to like it. Then the kids wanted to play with Grace outside. We compromised by putting Grace in the little stroller and they took turns pushing her up and down the sidewalk. Seriously, I don't know which child was happier!

She is just a doll!

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More flowers

In going thru picture files, I thought that I would put some more of our flowers together. In doing so, I realized that I have pictures that didn't get backed up prior to my computer going on strike. Nothing major. (that I remember, at this point in time) Just our roses in bloom. And I also realize that I haven't really taken pictures of the back yard.

hmmm, must do that!

Saturday was Rib Fest. Always love it. Friends. Good food. Sweaty worn out kids.

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Dave and Missy, some wedding photos

Last weekend was not only Jessica's birthday, but also my brother's wedding. My brother had asked that I do the pictures for them. How could I say no? Who doesn't love a wedding? And any reason to take tons of pictures is a plus in my book! Let's face it, I would have had the camera in hand anyway. This way, it was ok that I could tell my brother what to do; and well, he just did it. :)

I have to say that one of the highlights, for me, was getting to see my nieces and nephew. It has been so so long. They have just grown right up when I wasn't looking. Unfortunately, my brother's other son, Rob couldn't make it. He is a military man stationed out of state and couldn't make home. I am so proud of my brother's kids. I think that I could have spent my Saturday just hugging them... well, that is, if I wasn't taking pictures.

And an adorable sidenote, at one point in after ceremony pictures, Brandon sneeks up beside me. He tugs at me so he can ask "mommy can I have a picture with my cousin?"  It was a collective "awwww" when I asked Andy if he would come back to the front because Brandon wanted his picture with him. Obviously, Andy obliged and Brandon was just so happy.

Hopefully, the newlyweds are happy with their photos. They seemed to like the few that I shared as a sneek peek. I am working on a little something for them as well. And I am excited to share it with them....soon.

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Birthday Girl

We had a low key get-together for Jessica's birthday on Sunday. She had picked the menu and helped shop for everything too. She chose Hannah Montana theme; this was a bit unfortunate as she was the only girl. But I'm pretty sure she was alright with it. We will get with her little girl friends soon. And the boys that were here are some of her best buds. She decided that since she was the only girl, that the boys had to put on her Hannah Montana wig and have their picture taken if they wanted a piece of cake. We didn't really make them do that, but Brandon was all over it. He was not going to miss any opportunity for chocolate cake!

Thanks everyone for her gifts. She has enjoyed getting them all out to try out and play with over the last few days.

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A few pictures for June

Brandon wanted to have the training wheels off of his bike. Well, we thought that we would let him try out Jessica's old bike first. If he seemed to have the hang of it, then Daddy would fix his bike up. He had this down in no time at all! Daddy said he barely had to hold the seat to help him balance. Stopping was a tiny problem. He wanted to just launch himself off the bike when it would lean instead of getting his foot down. In a matter of minutes, he had ridden completely down the street. This called for an ice cream celebration! The next day, he had figured out how to balance himself and to get going without us holding him up. He even manage to learn the breaks.
We also went downtown to the Strawberry Fest. It is oh so yummy! It was so so hot! After sitting in the shadow of the Soldiers and Sailors monument, we went inside to cool off and look around. The kids really enjoy their little museum. We also had lunch at Circle Center; then stopped to see Daddy at work on our way home.
Brandon took a bit of a tumble riding the "fast scooter" down the drive way. I thought they were pretty much the same, but I appear to be wrong. He didn't have any elbow or knee pads. Or even his helmet. So this was a learning opportunity.

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I will get some pictures from Jessica's birthday and my brother's wedding last weekend.

And, when picking pictures, I realized that Brandon is dressed in a black undershirt in all of them. Really, this was not all in the same day and the boy does have clean clothes. He seems to think that undershirts are the fashion statement of his summer wardrobe.

Happy Birthday Jess!

Can you believe that this girl turns 9 today??

I surely cannot!

Someone please tell me, where did the time go? How did my little girl grow up so fast?

Jess, you get more beautiful everyday.

And you are loved very, very much!

Mini Photo Shoot

After the kids' dress rehearsal on Saturday, I was able to talk them into a little "mini shoot."  I have not yet had their birthday pictures done, (gasp!) and thought maybe I could just wing it on my own. Jess was very receptive to the idea, and Brandon only mildly. Although, one of the pictures outside cracks me up. He wanted a picture of "me talking on the phone."  Sure, why not? Beats getting grumpy guss pictures!

This is what I ended up with...

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Recital

This past weekend was the kids recital. Saturday morning was dress rehearsal with professional pictures. Sunday afternoon was show time! They both did SO GOOD! Brandon, who seemed only mildly interested in staying in step with everyone else during class, was right on beat. And for the most part, looked out at the audience the whole time. Jess looked so pretty (and grown up)!  I love seeing her up on stage, my ballerina. Although, I think part of the fun for me, is just getting her ready. :)

At the end of the show, they dropped balloons onto the stage. Of course, all the kids loved this! Grandma and Grandpa were there to see the show and we all met up with Uncle Alvin, Aunt Shannon and Ray for pizza and cupcakes afterwards.

So proud of you both! Love you!!

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playing catch up, picture style!

Hurray! I have pictures to share!! Although I'm still not using my own computer, but I'm glad that I can share!

* Warning!*

May have picture overload!! :)

This slideshow was made using more than 100 pictures, but it captures 2 weeks worth of stuff. Mostly being a weekend of activities surrounding Brandon's birthday. On his actual birthday, we went to McDonalds and had cupcakes with our friend Anthony. The kids had field day that included box car races. Then the end of school convo.  Then Brandon's birthday party. We went to the Indian's game that night. The next day was a trip to the zoo. Carb Day at the track. We went to a cookout at my brother's house. And we had a cookout at our house on Sunday. Jess was bitten by a bug. By the following Tuesday, she was swollen on the forehead and between her eyes. Poor girl, the bridge of her nose just dissappeared. (she was better by Saturday 6/5 (thank goodness!!!) for the dress rehearsal of their recital... that's when they do their pictures.)

So even though this has tons of pictures, I'm not done yet. Recital pictures and more!

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Memorial Weekend

And before you go any further.... there still are NO pictures. sigh....

First off the kiddos finished school on last Thursday. We have survived the whole first week of summer break! Hopefully, they don't hold Memorial Weekend as the standard for which we need to keep up with.

Daddy was able to take Friday off. (from my point of view, I thought starting out just being able to sleep in a major plus in my book!) It was Carb Day at the track, so we headed that way. It has been ages since we've been to the track. Jess was coming up on one year old the last time. She doesn't remember it. So, it's been a few. And we actually went to the 500 the year she was born. As in about 2 1/2-3 weeks before. (funny side story... we used to live in the neighborhood near the 3rd turn of the track. That year, we received 2 free tickets. And even though I was very much prego (measuring way ahead of schedule, that I didn't really realize. It was my first. What did I know?), I was not going to pass up these tickets! I probably was not going to get another chance to go. Of course we would be seated in turn one. It is almost impossible to get any further away. But walked it, I did. And more than a few track employees that wanted to point me to the first aid station, you know, "just in case." Luckily, it was a very cool and drizzily day. To me it was perfect. I had my own little furnace. Everyone else thought it was downright cold. And to top it off, I won the race pool at work.) But back to 2010, this was Brandon's first trip. Overall, it was an enjoyable day. We were able to get up close to the Indy Lite cars. The one Brandon picked ended up winning. Jess picked the girl that had pole position. And when she was involved in a crash (not her fault) that ended the race for her, Jess sobbed. And sobbed. (it reminded me of this day)
"But I really really wanted to her to win!!!!"  I think she was being a tiny bit dramatic. We didn't know the driver. Don't follow racing much. Much less the Indy Lites. We just sat down in the bleachers and we all picked a number. Except for Jess. She picked "the girl."

Friday night, my brother called. "Hey sis, I forgot to call you days ago. Want to come over tomorrow? We're having a cookout." So that's what we did. We spent the entire day, Saturday, at my brother's house with  his family and another brother and his fiancee and our mom. The kids were pretty much water logged. They stayed in the pool the whole time; coming out only to eat lunch. All these days later, they are still saying how much fun they had!

Sunday evening we had our own cookout. This time with Daddy's side. We did a mini fireworks show when it finally got dark enough. Poor Jess was bitten my something. On her forehead. What started out as a red spot, by Monday it looked like a big goose egg. I gave her an allergy pill; hoping it would help. Tuesday morning when she woke up, she was all swollen right between her eyes. She looked like she should have felt terrible, but she said she felt fine. I did go to the pharmacy to buy Benedryl. By afternoon, it did not appear to have helped any. A call to the doctor, with one appointment left, we zoomed to their office. Since it was around her eyes, and she seemed kinda blah, I figured it wouldn't hurt to have her looked at. Andddd.... she's fine. A small allergic reaction to the bite. It will go away. The allergy pill, the Benedryl and the cold compress... all good.
Oh, and I forgot to add in the middle of that last paragraph that 3 nights of the kids staying up late and having lots of fun in the sun means that all of us slept in way way late on Monday. Crazy kind of late. When we finally went downstairs, Daddy let the dog out. As the dog went running out the door, the trap door snapped shut on the cage we bought to catch our wicked bunny. We had a really quick breakfast and super short showers; then we took Mr. Bunny to our local park. Hopefully, he will enjoy the vegetation much better there. And it is far enough away that he doesn't come back!

That, I think, about sums us up....