Elementary School Graduate

It was so sad and disappointing that on the morning of Ramsey's 5th Grade graduation ceremony, while I was helping to dress her and getting her hair all prettied up, she came down with an awful stomach bug. Such an awful stomach bug, in fact, that although we made a few attempts of going to the ceremony, we never were able to get there without her getting sick in the car. :( Mary Maw, Paw, and Granny Joy were all here for the occasion, and we're all so sorry that we (and especially Ramsey) had to miss it. She looked so pretty and sweet, even while sick.

School's Out!!

I can hardly believe I'm already posting last day of school photos--it feels like just a few weeks ago I was telling of their first day of school here! I'm so happy the year went so well and the transition to this new place was a smooth one for Ramsey and Maren.

Maren was given awards for outstanding academics and physical fitness and also got a certificate for Most Improved Writer!

Ramsey got awarded for her participation in the school choir and for maintaining A Honor Roll for the year, and she was chosen to receive the Citizenship Award for her class.

They work hard and do their best, but they're also very, very sweet little girls, and I am so darn proud of what amazing people they are!

Friendly Visitors

We keep a closed container of birdseed on our back patio for filling our birdfeeders. A few mornings in a row we noticed squirrels and birds on our patio feeding right out of the container. I thought the kids had left the container open. A few nights in a row I closed the container only to find it open again the next morning. One night I saw a raccoon snooping around back there, so I suspect he was the one opening the container.

I decided to scoop a pretty generous amount of birdseed into a bucket and set it farther back in the yard. I was surprised the next morning to find a rabbit back there sniffing around the bucket as well as birds and squirrels visiting throughout the morning. So the following evening along with the birdseed, I put out several small pieces of cantaloupe. Next morning there were two rabbits out there... and then later a turtle!

I told the kids when we start finding alligators and bears back there I will no longer encourage these wildlife visits! ;)

A Manicure and Hairstyle

Just stumbled across some pics my girls took while we were back home the week of Mother's Day. This particular day I was feeling completely wiped out physically and emotionally, having made that drive so suddenly and for such a sad reason. While Alaire and Curran napped, Ramsey and Maren treated me to The Mother's Day Special, and all I had to do was lie down peacefully on the couch! Ramsey filed and buffed my nails while Maren did a hair makeover on me.

:)

Pics with Mom

Now that Ramsey and Maren have their own cameras I find myself in a lot more pictures than before!

Maren's Silly Putty Creation

I cannot even tell you how long Mamie worked on this--pulling pieces of the stringy putty apart and forming them into letters! And then she took a picture of it to make it last. I love that girl!

Trying to Capture the Peekshners

Almost every time we get all the cousins together, I like to snap a shot or two or 60 as a little memento of the fun times and ever-growing and changing Peekshners (their own self-given name). When I drove back home to Louisiana on Mother's Day to spend a few days visiting my sick grandmother, we happened to have a really fun and impromptu get-together of Peekshners at Gran and Pappy's house. Just as we were all parting ways and preparing to pack all Peeksners into their respective vehicles, Pop suggested we get a Peekshner shot... this was as good as we could get before cutie pie Charlie decided to crawl away! :)

Summer Fun with Cousins!

We had an amazing visit last weekend with my sister Kristi, my brother-in-law Darren, and their children Landon, Logan, Taylor, and Randy. I hope they come again soon so we can do it all over again!!

We had lots of fun (but only a few pics) spending the day at the waterpark. It was family day for all the employees and family members of Aaron's hospital.

After a long and exhausting day at the waterpark, we made a little stop at the beach. No visit here could possibly be complete without one! Curran missed it all as he'd fallen asleep immediately upon leaving the waterpark (the cutie was snoozing before even getting out to the parking lot!), Alaire pooped out after about 5 minutes at the beach, and the saltwater stung a little toe injury Maren had incurred at the waterpark... so Daddy sat in the car with all the pooped out Cajun Cuties, and Ramsey had a ball playing with her cousins until we practically had to drag the rest of them away and head for home!


We certainly enjoyed having you all here!