Father's Day

 Father's Day was celebrated after a return from a family reunion. The kids were tired and beyond silly. They all presented their cards to him, I love the picture of their excitement over watching him review each of their cards.

They seemed a little less interested in his opening gifts. We are a very lucky family to have such an awesome tickle monster daddy!!

Mary Poppins!

 I had several family members come into town to enjoy the show Mary Poppins at the theater! I was a very well done show. We had a large group and I think everyone enjoyed it! I did not feel like we had this many people in the show but the after picture on the street makes us look like a large group!! I love big families!!

an injury kind of day

 The kids went to the zoo and were walking thru the jungle. Makayla is a bit taller than the last time she was there and when she ducked under a rock passage she hit her head. It made a puncture wound in her scalp and was still oozing a bit of blood 4 hours later when I got home. I ran her to our wonderful pediatrician who said we could put a staple in or you can try a very tiny braid and pull it together that way. We went home washed her hair carefully and put in a tiny tight braid and in the morning it was no longer bleeding. We removed the braid Sunday and checked her about a week later and the wound was completely healed up!! yea for easy fixes!

I did a quick run to the store after getting Makayla settled and Brie tagged along. She insisted she push the cart and I said fine. I was leading and the poor little thing can barely see over the handle and caught the edge of a pallet and the shopping cart jerked and the handle caught her right on the tooth/gum. There was a lady passing us and she saw it happen and gasped. I turned picked Brie up and headed down a less busy isle. She did great! Wanted to cry but held it in, used a tissue for the blood and we quickly made our purchase and exited the building! The tooth was a bit loose but I checked it yesterday and it has tightened back down again. The gum looks great also, phew another potential bad that did not turn out to badly!!

Father Flanagan

 Pete has had the privilege of working on the committee for sainthood cause of Father Flanagan. A couple years ago this task took him to Ireland. It has been a 3 year process on his part and now the cause is being sent off to Rome for further investigation. Pete's good friend Omar has had a significant part of this process as well. I dressed the kids up and we all went to the mass and were part of the witnesses to sending off of the Father Flanagan sainthood cause. It may be 10 years or more before a final conclusion is made as to whether he will become a saint but such an amazing event to be a part of and great piece of history for my kids to be so close too.

 Officially sealing the final box with a wax seal for send off to Rome.

Vacation - Cabin fun

Pete and I were part of a fundraiser back in November for school. A school family donated their "cabin" for auction and we were the lucky winners. We gave it to the kids for a Christmas gift knowing we were going to try to keep vacation expenses reasonable this summer due to our September blessing. Little did we know how fortunate we were to win! This 2 bed 2 bath cabin was PERFECT!! it was only 35 minutes away and came with everything a family needed. The kids LOVE to fish and this lake was loaded! Kayla at one point tried to count to 20 and could not reach it before someone had another fish on their line. It was just a beautiful setting and we all had a great and relaxing 4 days!!

 Roasting marshmallows and making S more's was a must! We all partook in many a roasted mellow!

Did I mention the fishing was fantastic! Small fry Brie pulled in the largest fish of the weekend! a 23", 3.5# large mouth bass. It took all of her night to hold it for a very quick picture!

Makayla pulled in the second largest and only our 2nd large mouth bass. Hers was a couple inches shorter and  1.5# lighter. The lake was over full of crappie but it was a catch and release lake so we were unable to eat any of them.  The kids still had a blast!

 The cabin had a kayak and the kids had to have a turn trying it out. PJ has no fear and scared me the most! He was very proud of himself and his ability to row it himself.  At one point during the weekend the kids were swimming and PJ had the famous scuba mask on and was seeing fish. He came up, grabbed his net and then went back under. Not long later he surfaced with fish in his net! crazy kid, who needs a fishing pole. A boy and his scuba mask!

 This next series of pictures is just a fun set with a sport setting on my camera. The kids attempted to jump off the dock together. They almost made it! This process repeated for over an hour I bet. No one ever got hurt though it looks like Kayla went completely on top of Brie!

 This is the view from the back door of the cabin down to the dock, looks far but really is only maybe 50 yards. The inside of the cabin was used for relaxing while watching movies and reading books. A few games were enjoyed as well. We were supposed to have several ball games/practices while we were at the cabin but all were canceled due to rain, of which we never saw. It was a lovely time and the kids are begging to return. We will have to see how the fundraiser goes this year.  A huge THANK YOU to the family who donated their cabin for our enjoyment!!!

Uncle Mark and Auntie Carol

Uncle Mark and Auntie Carol made a special trip into town to hang out with Maggie for a late birthday day. Carol is always so sweet and sews with Maggie and really helps her to learn how to sew. Carol has a lot of patience!! Uncle Mark had to do a couple handy man jobs but then was as silly as Brie and PJ are being in the picture. We sure do enjoy their company and always have fun when they are in town! Thanks for coming and making Maggie feel special! we love you guys!!

grandmas back in town

My mom came in the last week of May to hang out with the kids. She was here for a week and it is never long enough! We all enjoy her company so much and the kids just love to play games and do puzzles with her.  This lady still has crazy amounts of energy and makes me tired watching her some days! We are so grateful as she is scheduled to come in the last week of each summer month to "play with the kids". We all look forward to her visits! Thanks for coming and spending time with us, we love you!!