One Great, One Decent, and One Poor Picture of our Memorial Day

We had a great Memorial Day!

We made it to the post cemetery... even in the wind and rain.

And we had some SUPER special treats!

And, as alluded to in the title, sorry for the poor quality in the last pic.

Sometimes you have to let even fuzzy and grainy pics help you to share good memories.

We hope you also had a wonderful day!

Love, Us.

A Snuggle Shot for Memorial Day

We remember all those who have given everything for our country's freedom today.

May they rest in peace.

Love, Us.

Nothing Says Summer...

...like ice-cold watermelon slices on the back patio after a run through the sprinkler!

Happy Corpus Christi!

Love, Us.

The Summer of the Sprinkler

With Zika looming it's scary head (in the form of Mr. Mosquito), mom is an inside animal this summer.

The kids have been warned that, with dad's study schedule, the outside pools and splash pads are out of the question. 

So... bring on the sprinkler in the back yard!

Although it had poured rain in the morning, and it was threatening to do it again, the heat brought it out yesterday.

And, since Romeo was napping, swim suits were not an option.

Love, Us.

Cowboy Dave

We've had some rainy days here recently, so the costume bags have gotten lots of use.

The other day, David was upset because he didn't have a mask to wear with his cowboy costume.

I realized he needed a lesson in the cowboy bandana. 

He LOVED it!

Love, Us.

Thérèse "the Attack Dog" Librande

Her coach called T the "Attack Dog" after her and her partner started dominating in this game at Jiu Jitsu.

Here are their last three rounds as "the Champions", including the round where they finally got beaten.

I now realize that when I start the video on my camera it doesn't actually turn on for about two seconds.

Thus, the late start to a couple of the videos. 

I think you can still get a sense of her attacks, however.

She was having so much fun!

Enjoy!

In this round, the man that she tackles is her coach.

Love, Us.

The Best of Friends

I know I am biased... but these are the cutest friends EVER, aren't they!?

Love, Us.

Our First Real Summer with a Ginger

Last summer Romeo wasn't very mobile, so we didn't have to think much about him spending time outside.

But... this little guy is on the move and LOVES the outdoors, so the precautions have been put in place.

For the first time in my parenting career, I am 100% sure where my sun screen is.

We also have a good stock of hats sitting right inside the door for easy access.

And yes - I have already had to break out the aloe for this red head.

He isn't a pale red head, but he is still a ginger!

Love, Us.

Our Baby Robins

As we were having a pleasant Mother's Day picnic on the back porch, we first spied another mother enjoying her day.

We saw both mom and dad diligently feeding and caring for the fast-growing young ones over the next week.

By the next Saturday, they were getting pretty squished in that nest!

And when Monday morning arrived, our angle wasn't the best, but it looked like one of the kids may have already flown the nest!

So... after a Walmart trip, we weren't surprised to find only one little guy left in the nest.

We desperately wanted to see his "escape", but realized that our presence outside may not make that possible.

So, we set up our iPad's video and walked away.

Here is what we captured!

It looks like both mom and dad had to come back to the nest for some final encouragement.

The little guy was finally convinced that his wings did indeed flap, and he took the leap!

Way to go!

Love, Us.

This is for Nancy

So... when I was visiting my sister a couple weeks ago, I think I gave her a false impression.

I think I mistakenly caused her to think that I never have kid catastrophes to deal with in my home.

That is not true.

If Romeo is quiet and he is alone... trouble IS afoot.

Maybe I have, usually, had the luck to find him before it become truly disastrous, but he definitely tries his best!

Here he is the day after we got back from your place, Nancy.

I found him with both hands COMPLETELY inside a full jar of peanut butter.

Just imagine if I would have walked in 30 seconds later!

Oh... and just ten minutes ago, this was the situation here at our place:

All was quiet - I should have known something was up.

T sounds the Romeo alarm: "Romeo, No! Mom! Get over here right now!"

Romeo had colored all over my office table with hot pink Sharpie! 

Good thing I know the trick of using dry-erase to get that off.

(And my husband wonders why all of our dry erase markers are so beat up...because this is #4!)

Love, Us.

Another Climbing Tree

Boys and trees... when you have both, you can't keep both on the ground.

Love, Us.

Our Friend, Mr. Box Turtle

David (with Princess' help) found a very cute turtle in our yard this week.

So, we simply couldn't pass up the opportunity to have a nature study with a live specimen!

We set a time limit for about 30 minutes, so that we only kept him as longs it kept us to do a good study.

He turned out to be a male Three-Toed Box Turtle.

He was very active, and super cute!

 

We easily finished our sketches and enjoyed his antics within the allotted time.

We then released him where neither the lawn mowers nor the local dogs would find him too quickly.

The kids (and I) LOVED getting a chance to study him up close.

There sure are some wonderful things connected with living "In the Woods"!

Love, Us.

Helping a Little Feathered Friend

We have found this location to be our most fruitful in terms of wildlife so far among all of our homes.

It seems like at least a few times a week we encounter a new "friend" in our yard.

Today and tomorrow we will share with you two of these that we have "caught and released" for various reasons.

First of all, we found this bird under our front tree.

He (or she) seemed to be wounded, but we couldn't see what the problem was.

The kids were very gentle with it, and it even ate a few worms that David dug up for it.

However, after some research, it looked like the best thing we could do for it was to simply put it in a safe place outside.

So, we let it go, only to see it hobbling around in our back yard a few hours later.

David was so sad that we couldn't do anything else to help it. He had a little cry on my shoulder.

I encouraged him to maybe just carry it into the longer grass, 

where at least the local dogs would have a harder time bothering it.

So... he put on a good face and went out to move it.

He easily picked it up, but as soon as he started walking, it flew out of his hands! 

So... I don't know if we really helped it, but it was very wonderful to see it better and flying all on its own!

And it sure did put a great smile on David's face!

Love, Us.

A Visit to the Cousins Before Josie Arrived

We snuck in the last possible visit to our cousins in Kansas before their new little sister arrived.

We had a wonderful time playing.

I hope that I also gave Nancy just a few extra minutes of sanity and sleep before Josie took some more of both away.

Here is my only picture with the whole clan... sorry it is not great.

David and Gus were always off scheming, and I think Dominic (or at least his great smile) is allergic to cameras.
Seriously... he (or portions of him) are in 5 of these pictures. See if you can spot him!

We took a Dog-and-Wagon trip to the park around the corner.

The kids basically lived on their backyard play set.

T loved watching over the 4 young ones, and Patch and Berna were quite the pair!

We had inside adventures as well.

It was hard to disconnect David from the Lego table.

P and B were absolutely adorable one afternoon as they played family.

They kept calling back and forth to one another: "Mom!" "Dad!". It was SO CUTE!

We even broke out the swimming pool and the kids took a very chilly dip!

To top it all off, we had our last meal at a great little diner where the kids got conductor hats

and trains brought us our meal!

It was a great time... now we just need to get back there to see Josie!

Love, Us.

What We Do During BJJ

We have a tradition, Romeo and I.

Every day that we drive to Jiu Jitsu with the big kids, Patrick falls asleep on the way.

Then, Romeo and I get to have some hang-out time while we have a snorer in the back.

He is a pretty cute buddy!

Love, Us.

Daddy's Big Girl

Joe called me over to snap a picture of him and his big 8 year old. 

He was shocked when he took a moment and realized how big she has gotten!

They aren't amazing pictures, but they'll do to document dad's pride in his big girl.

Love, Us.

Animal Encounters

We had to go get Princess a leash last week, and we came to the local co-op on the perfect day...

they had baby ducks and chicks!

Patrick wasn't very interested, but the other three LOVED the little fuzzy friends - even when they got pooped on!

     

And... a little super-cute video for your enjoyment.

Romeo saying good night to Princess.

Love, Us.

My Mother's Day So Far...

To be completely honest, when Joe asked me if there was enough butter for Sunday morning pancakes yesterday,
I was a bit sad.

I was kind of hoping that I would not need to get up and make pancakes (which I don't eat) just this one Sunday.

So... I was very pleased to wake up to hot pancakes, eggs, juice, yogurt and fruit brought to my bed!

I ate it all down without a second's thought.

The resulting sugar-high was wonderful!

And these shots were taken just moments ago.

It is a wonderful, almost hot, day here, so we broke out the pool for the first time.

Luckily, the kiddos had an entire bucket-full of toys in the laundry room sink that were waiting to be washed after 

some use in the sand box, so they now have a plethora of fun things to play with in the chilly water.

I will soon bring out a picnic lunch, followed by Icees. 

I haven't thought about supper yet... but we'll get to that when it comes.

Happy Mother's Day!

Love, Us.

We're Back!

Sorry we were "gone" for a few days without warning. 

We had a couple great days with family, but we are back home now.

For today, here is my little Romie being VERY tired. 

He NEVER falls asleep in my arms... so I know he was VERY tired.

It was wonderful!

Love, Us.

It's Official: We Just Adopted a Little Girl!

Meet the newest member of our household: Princess!

She is a 6 year-old beagle, and she has won all of our hearts (even mine - the biggest shock).

She is a very good girl, and we are helping her to lose a few pounds so that she can enjoy life a bit more.

Don't worry, though. It isn't all exercise around here. 

She is getting LOTS of love!

Love, Us.