maren's turn for camp

with her counselor Courtney and her friend Caroline

I miss her already!!

shhhhh

We've had some pretty windy, stormy nights around here over the last couple weeks, so when I started finding lots of leaves and pine needles in the mailbox I assumed they'd been blown in, but I didn't hurry to clean it all out. A couple days later, I was surprised to find the leaves and needles took on the shape of a nest rather than just random debris blown in. The next day, I discovered one egg. The day after that, two eggs. Then three. And today there are four. So precious.

garden--2 months in

a few shots of how things are looking these days

peppers

cucumbers (you can see one all the way to the left)

a random surprise tomato plant has sprouted up in the row in front of the cucumber vines... apparently from seed of last year's leftovers all tilled and composted into the soil

nasturtiums--pretty and yummy in a summer salad

tomatoes

full shots--potatoes on the far row and herbs in the middle (best I could do anyway with Ramsey's Kodak)

I weed and water, but it's definitely more Aaron's baby. I think it's looking great! Click HERE for a reminder of how it started off about 60 days ago!

summer strings bash

Maren and her friends Brittany and Paige after a week of South Area Summer Strings Bash, a great camp for 6th-7th grade strings students to brush up on some technique and skills and to keep them from getting too rusty or their instruments too dusty.

patty-cake

Call me nostalgic. I just keep finding these old videos that pull at my heartstrings and want to document them here so they don't get buried deep down somewhere and forgotten. This is cutie pie Curran exactly 9 months old trying so hard to pull himself up on the mesh of the pack-n-play, but he just cannot help himself from patty-caking every time I'd start to sing the song. And my goodness, I swear he's even trying to say some of the words!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

happy birthday to my mom

posting two very cute photos here today in her honor!

and this one goes back even farther. It's the youngest photo of her I've seen. What a precious little baby with her two pretty big sisters.

pretending

Just Alaire having a little fun after her bath with the head band hair extensions she got herself at Dollar Tree with some tooth fairy money...

Quite versatile, no?

What's amazing is that by age 4 Maren had real hair as long as this! I'm not sure Alaire's will ever grow this long naturally! :-)

vacation bible camp

super quick pic taken on the last vbc day of Alaire and Curran with Father Greg (aka Sensei Cure')

camp tekakwitha pics

you're just gonna have to trust me that Ramsey's in this huge group shot!

and here she is with the girls from her cabin

such a very fun week for her! Family and friends, you really have to see the awesome dvd she got of her week there!

father's day flashback

Aaron and Pop share a proud father-son moment quite a few years back...

And a little cuteness of my own dad not quite so many years back...

I just couldn't possibly dream of a better dad or father-in-law or better grandfathers for my babies. I hope you two had a really wonderful Father's Day, Pop and Paw!! ♥

big sis

Maren has taken the role of biggest sister very seriously this week while Ramsey's been away at camp. She seemed even more patient and more available to her little brother and sister than she usually is. They spent many hours in the pool, and the little two deemed her a really fun pool toy. :-)

fireflies

I have only one memory from my childhood of catching fireflies. I was 7 years old, and my family was on a summer trip visiting relatives in South Carolina. Just before dark one night my sister and brother and I chased lightning bugs around Aunt Sally and Uncle Felix's yard trying to catch the little boogers in jelly jars while the grown ups chatted and watched from the front porch. Poof!--that's it, the memory vanishes, but it leaves behind warm, happy feelings in me.

Do we not have fireflies in south Louisiana? I don't think we do, though I have seen a couple at Cook and Pop's camp. But we've got 'em in Kansas, and the kids love that same catch and release game my siblings and I played all those 30 years ago. I think it's a universal kid thing!

birthday wishes for Travie

An old photo I found buried in a box inspired me to make a special birthday card for my brother this year-- too often, a pre-made card from the drug store simply can't deliver the very personal message I'm wanting to send. Shhh, don't tell Travis, though. I want this to surprise him in his mailbox!

5x7 Folded Card

View the entire collection of cards.

And for the same price as a drug store card, I even got Shutterfly to address it, stamp it, and send it to Travie directly!

about 6 years ago...

baby Alaire was learning to walk! oh my goodness, between her cute teensy little self and Ramsey's cute little voice I think this clip might make me cry!

off to camp!

Just dropped our Rammy girl off for her week away at camp! I was really nervous and apprehensive until we got there and a counselor stopped us in the driveway of the ranch to lead us in prayer for Ramsey right there in the car before we moved another inch. Then I felt all better because I was reminded that she's always in God's hands even when I'm not around for her to hold mine. Still gonna miss her like crazy, of course!

more summertime fun

So the days have been hot, and these guys have been itching for some pool time. Aaron and I have opted out of getting passes to our community pool this summer for a few reasons. First of all, the kids and I will be gone for the 4 most prime swimming weeks when we take our annual trip home to South Louisiana in July and early August. Second, while the temps have gotten really hot in the last week or so, the pool water is still unbearably freezing to me, so there's no way I'm taking them someplace where *I* have to get in the water. And last but certainly not least, Aaron and I are holding our own personal little 6-man standoff against our aquatic center due to their decision to no longer offer family pool passes. All passes must now be bought for each individual family member, and the cost increase is rather substantial for a family of six. I don't think it's so much the additional hundred bucks that it'd cost us as it is just the principle that's feeding our desire to "stick it to the man," but we're very stubbornly proud and pleased with our decision! :-) I've been checking into other options of where to spend our time and $$ for the few weeks we will be able to utilize a Kansas community pool... but in the meantime Aaron picked up a cheap back yard pool for a little over $20 at his most favorite hardware store, and so far the immediate need to cool off in a pool has been met! Yay Daddy!

the first pic I tried to take of them jumping ended up in a couple of chopped off heads, but I just love Curran looking like a superhero

I also like these pix and video from our quick playground trip last night!