Savannah, Fireworks, and Chloe

I am blogging again. I am going to think of the bright side and say that I have not blogged for three months because the summer has been so fabulous that I just haven't wanted to take the time... that's a good thing, right?

And also I am looking for brilliant suggestions on what is the best way to schedule in blogging - like is there a certain time you always blog, so it has just become habit? I am talking to you amazing bloggers who hardly miss a week - I really need some advice!

So.... To my Beautiful Daughter Savannah, on your 10th birthday... (which actually occured June 27th - details... details!)

What I love about you:

1. You are absolutely beautiful - inside and out.

2.You are kind - you are always aware of other people's feelings. Compassionate.

3. You are an amazing friend.

4. You are a free-spirit.

5.You are an "old soul" - you have wisdom beyond your age.

6. You pick up on things - you are well aware of what's going on all the time.

7. You know how to be yourself (which if I was one of Sleeping Beauty's fairies blessing you at your birth, is exactly the quality I would have given you.)

8. You are incredible with little children.

9. You are super-duper talented (singing, acting, cheerleading, cake decorating, sewing, dancing, music, taking care of children... seriously!)

10. You are thoughtful - the sweet things you do for all of us - the notes you leave on my bed...

Happy 10th Birthday, Savannah - I love you truly!

4th of July

Sitting on the front porch swing, right before fireworks and after floating down the Boise River on inner tubes. Nick informed us that he officialy was Mutt Jones (Indiana's son) after his tube flipped through some minor rapids and he handled it with true bravery. He also warned us of those approaching rapids by yelling "Bunnies! Watch out for the bunnies!" (it took Jake interpreting for him to figure out that he thought rapids were actually called rabbits)

This year we went downtown to Ann Morrison Park to watch Fireworks. It was AMAZING!

This is Clara as soon as the fireworks began. She went facedown inside the blanket until they were over. Did not move a muscle. Incredible - I have not seen her that still for that long - well, ever. Fireworks apparently is the key. Who knew?

The other kids mesmerized by the fireworks. Magic.

Just a random picture of Clara.

And...Introducing Chloe!

This is our new bunny, which Jake (with some help from Savannah) used all of his birthday money for.

You might be wondering why all of the pictures also feature Clara. That is because that is how Chloe lives her life. In Clara's arms. Clara has not really let her out of her sight or arms since we've had her.

Clara truly loves animals with all of her heart. She can't resist them - anywhere and any kind. Sometimes it's in a "Lenny-from-Of-Mice-and-Men" kind of way, but so far Chloe has survived, and actually seems attached to Clara. At least she doesn't run away from her. Hopefully it's not because she is frozen in fear.


And that's our Summer Part 1. Hopefully I'll get the rest of July posted soon. Thanks for reading!

Jake and a lot of mini bike.

Ten Reasons I love Jacob, on his Eighth birthday…

1. He is kind of a genius. I quote him from today, “Hey mom, come into the playroom so I can show you the motorized pulley I just invented.”

2.He asks me questions every day, okay several times a day, that I not only do not know the answer to, but have never really thought about. Emberassing? A little.



3. His uncontrollable laugh when he thinks something is really funny. He has been known to be rendered completely useless laughing on the ground. If anyone ever wanted to beat him up they should start out by telling him a joke.

4. His soft,soft heart.

5. How gentle and kind he is with Clara and Nick and other little children. Always thinking about them.






6. He is – I am not kidding, the leader of the neighborhood boy’s gang. The oldest boy in the gang? Twelve. But he listens to Jake. Is this normal?

7. How he takes his guitar playing and singing very seriously and sounds very similiar to Alfalfa on Little Rascals.


8. He likes to be handsome. He likes to do his own hair, wear his own picks of clothes. His favorite? T-shirts with funny sayings on them and tuxedos.


9. He is a healthy eater. No stress over this boys nutrition. He loves veggie sandwiches with extra sprouts and thinks cake is just okay. I know it seems like a strange reason to love your son, but when you have another child who has approximately three items in their food repertoire, it is pretty endearing.

10. His utter joy over finally becoming a Boy Scout and how he has nicknamed himself "Jake the Snake"

I love you, my sweet boy.

So the mini-bikes... Jake and Savannah got these for their birthdays (early gift for Savannah). This was somehow in spite of my upbringing in which I was taught that riding a motorcycle was equal to imminent death.

Riding in McCall. If you are wondering if these are the same bikes featured in Dumb & Dumber, the answer is Yes. Which is why I have omitted the picture of me riding one.

Nick and his two-wheeler.

Grandpa Dan pulling Clara and our neice, Jessie.

Saturday night in McCall we got a babysitter for the kids and went out to dinner and for a boat ride. This is Chad's parents, Dan and Joan, at dinner.

Chad and I

Todd and Lisa, who came with us to McCall on a farewell trip before moving far away to Arizona...


Joe and Amy - our friends in McCall, the coordinator of our babysitter, and owners of this fine boat. Amy and I met last year at an Arbinger conference, in which we paid a couple hundred dollars to learn how to be nice to people. That one still baffles Chad. We usually just don't talk about it. Especially because I'm so nice now, I really try to avoid conflict.

So this is us, in the middle of the Lake, far away from the boat dock, moments before a torrential rain and lightening storm took us a little off guard.

Chad during the storm

Joe, our fearless captain, being pelted with rain.

And where is Todd? Protecting us girls, of course. Naturally not taking up all of our space and blanket. He just wanted to make sure we were okay up there.

The next day... a campfire at Joe and Amy's

Jake performing Ode to Joy at the campfire.

Savannah and Jessie on the mini-bike. Jenny, if you are reading this, they are not really moving. Like I would do something as irresponsible as letting your three-year-old ride with Savannah with no helmet. If she tells you anything different don't believe her. It's my word against yours, Jessie. :)

The kids taking a bow after their performance of the generationally famous skit, I don't have the money for the payment of the rent.

And a picture of a girl's night Twilight party. At which time we played the Twilight board game which apparently was made for eleven-year-old sleepovers and included such questions as "everyone secretly write down who they think is the prettiest person in the room". Evil game-writer.

And of course they are also not moving, because what kind of mother would let her two-year-old jump on a mini-bike without a helmet, at night, no less?

And why I haven't been blogging... I have been organizing, okay?

Look at this mother of a pantry. And now I can blog in peace.

Random picture of Savannah riding her mini bike because I am still inept at placing pictures. I don't want to talk about it.

We love, love, love, LOVE, summer.

Please don't give up on me my blogging friends, in spite of a broken camera, still unorganized kid's closets, and a recommitment to read New Moon before the movie comes out in November - I will persist until I become a consistent blogger!

One Incredibly Long Post

So it's been a month since my last post - my computer broke down and I couldn't find my camera charger for about a week (unfortunately that week included Mothers Day).

But I am pleased to report that after being transferred to approximately 56 different customer service reps somewhere in the heart of India, I was given the good news that my warranty did in fact cover Nicholas sticking a pencil where the laptop charger gets plugged into, and I have my laptop once more.

Okay - one thing that I definitely discovered. I really, really, really love blogging. The separation from my laptop was exactly what I needed to finally understand that my blogging experiment has gone from, "I'll try it." to "I can't live without it." (am I still talking about blogging, because I think I had this same experience when I was dating Chad.)

And so I have moved blogging completely to the top of my priority list. Actually I have revamped my entire priority list. The Previous Number 1 Priority:"Stay so busy that you are running full speed ahead all day until you crash and don't get nearly enough sleep or have any fun but definitely get a million things accomplished." has now been replaced with things like: watch movies and listen to U2 and blog a lot. And also garage sale more often and go on walks (not runs) and hang out on the couch. Life is going rather well.

So if you can't tell from my title - having not blogged in a month, this is an incredibly long post. But I can't help it. Okay, I won't help it. So first an update on all the kids...

Clara

Is seriously cute.

I know there is a similar picture of Clara on every post I make - but if I didn't think of every time a situation like this comes up as a blogging moment, well, she might not still be with us.

This was me putting mascara on upstairs and her downstairs by herself for 5 minutes.

Close-up.


Nick

Riding his bicycle. All of the pictures are of Nick riding his bicycle, because that is pretty much what Nick does all day every day. I will post some more bike riding pictures next time, because on Saturday Nick....Learned to ride a bike without training wheels! I wish I could say that we taught him in a wonderful bonding moment, but really it was more like Chad unscrewed the training wheels, and he just sort of rode away.

Nick has also decided that he knows Spanish. He speaks Spanish to us all day, actually. Except his Spanish goes something like this, "Ooga boogala aci waci", and then we reply, "what does that mean?" and then he replies something like, "oh, it means I like you but maybe I love you and if I love you maybe I will kiss you or something."

We all find this very endearing and so, yes, we encourage him. It was not, however, so endearing to the waiter at the authentic Mexican restaurant we went to on Cinco de Mayo, who after greeting us with "Hola", Nicky very seriously and confidently replied, "Oogay moogay Wocka ocka noby goo choochi." Apparently the Spanish language is taken a little more seriously in his household.

And Jakey.

Jakey has lived and breathed baseball for the last 6 weeks.

His birthday is in one week, and oh my, he is going to be 8.

I will gush over him more in a separate birthday blog - but I am seriously, seriously crazy over this boy.

He is like the coolest kid ever - smarter than me.

The leader of the neighborhood boys gang (which actually includes 12-year-old boys).

Hilarious and, did I mention? Smart.

We have been spending time every afternoon together talking about questions he has about the church and his baptism.

I have never felt so proud of him.

And Savannah...

Still making cakes. She is hoping to start a business after she gets a few more cakes under her belt. This is Heather - a friend of ours and professional cake decorator who spent about 2 hours with Savannah teaching her to make...

This Mother's Day fondant cake. We were very grateful to have gotten this one lovely picture before Clara scooted her stool up to the counter while we were all upstairs, dug her hands in and devoured about 1/4th of the cake. Love you Clara!

And her tap recital...

Okay, so this was actually her dress rehearsal. Her dance studio sent out a recital schedule with a typo as to what time the recital started, and so we missed the actual performance. I can't really talk about it more, because I am trying to keep my blood pressure in check.

But fortunately I seemed to be more upset than Savannah, who handled the entire situation with absolute grace and maturity. Seriously. Where does she come from? She is absolutely incredible. I mean, I have heard of mother's looking up to their grown daughters, but Savannah is only 9, and I am giving myself lectures on being more like her.

I know I am her mother, but the girl has talent.

And as for me... well besides having the best Mother's Day ever, one event that I actually took pictures at, was an insanely crazy party hosted by - Jennie and Leah, who secretly came up with the idea of having a mock beauty pageant at what the rest of us thought was a simple going away party for our dear friend, Lynnelle. We were met at the door with horrendous shades of eyeshadow and lipstick, hair bows, and gaudy jewelry (why did they only ask to borrow mine?)Here Jennie and Leah are as the MC's of the evening.

Here I am doing my talent portion of the contest as a singer in the video game "Rock Band". I was originally on the drums but was kicked off because I had no rhythm. Seriously, like zilch. I even got a cramp. It was kind of embarrassing.

Here is Lynnelle receiving the prize as Mrs. Universe. And I um, don't want to brag, but I did, um, win

Mrs. Congeniality

but you know, it really wasn't any big deal. I am probably not like seriously actually considering running for Mrs. Eagle next year or anything.

Okay, so Lynnelle. I just want to say - I love this girl. No, really I do. She has been a mentor in my life in so many ways. Did I mention that she is moving because her sister-in-law died and she is taking her family to live with her brother-in-law to help raise his children, and oh yeah, did I mention that she has eight children of her own? Oh yeah, and she homeschools. Take a good look (but ignore the blue eyeshadow)- this woman is a saint.

So the Zoo!

We visited the Boise Zoo this week, which was special only because they just got giraffes and lions! Which was such perfect timing because we were just starting to become disenchanted with the squirrel and hamster exhibits.

This is the Jarvis Family with us - fellow homeschoolers...

We really couldn't tear ourselves away from these amazing creatures.

You see, Savannah - there is advantages of having been named for a flat, barren, grassland. Your name pops up on zoo signs!

And the lions. Savannah did Jake's hair that day.

I might have to splurge for an annual pass to the zoo, just for how much joy this place brought Clara. Finally, a place that captured her full attention. She loved every moment of it. Her favorite was the monkeys. She was so overwhelmed with emotion at seeing a real monkey, that she did not know what to do but to stand and sing with all of her might and devotion, "5 little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed." It was a moment that only could only be rivaled by immigrants first setting their eyes on the Statue of Liberty.

If you have ever been to the Boise Zoo with a camera, chances are you have this same picture of your child in a photo album someplace.

The penguins were seriously confusing for Clara. She kept saying, "Birdy!" Then, "Fishy!" over and over again. I know Clara, it baffles the best of us. They're just, you know. Penguins.

I have decided to start having my children suck on outdoor handrails at public places to boost their immune systems. I'll let you know how it goes.

So that's our month - thanks for reading till the end - I will post again as soon as I get caught up on reading everyone else's blogs!

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer & Easter

I just want to start out by seriously complaining about blogger. Seriously, it's like it has a mind of it's own. I carefully post all my pictures in a particular order, and using the blogger guidelines (like please post all pictures backwards, upside down and standing on one foot) and they still end up a mess and completely out of order. And yes, I have figured out a very complicated way of reworking them back into the correct order- but seriously, I am already defying the odds of homeschooling four kids and blogging too, like who has time to do that?

And I am pretty sure blogger is run by ex-KGB and they are hearing everything I am ranting about and probably in the middle of this post I will not be able to keep my text from being blue and underlined (does that happen to anyone else?) but I am at my breaking point! Does blogger not know that the majority of it's users are not highly trained professional computer people but mom's who are usually blogging in the wee hours of the night with half opened eyelids? Would it really be so hard to make their system a little more user-friendly?! I know. It's free. I am obviously dealing with reprecussions of having been born in the Entitlement Generation.

So moving on...

Todd and Lisa came for Easter weekend. This picture was supposed to be about five down, but whatever, right? I can go with the flow. I'm a calm cat. Can't get to me KGB-people! Okay, I'm done. So Todd brought a basket full of items such as his own cooking knives, his Kitchen Aid, a scale to measure ingredients in ounces instead of with measuring cups, and fine spices. He cooked for us all weekend. This is a picture of him making incredible, I mean incredible pancakes. He actually drove all over town looking for whole buttermilk, because 1% apparently doesn't do the trick. And he lost all confidence in me when I suggested he simply add some vinegar to whole milk and let it set a few minutes. I have never seen such a look of disappointment in my older brother's face.

Todd and Lisa at my mom's Easter Egg Hunt.

An Easter Tradition... Hot Cross Buns on Good Friday. The vision of these little beauties is what got Savannah through her fourty days without sugar for Lent. Way to go, Savannah!

Easter Morning...

The Easter Egg Hunt at Grandma Rosie's...



Yes, her hair started out all cute and frilly and bowish. I don't want to talk about it.

This picture takes the cake.

Grandma Nita Easter Morning.

The problem with Clara and an Easter Egg Hunt is that she does not understand why you would not stop to open up the egg and eat the candy inside before finding the next one. Thank goodness her siblings were in a sharing mood or this may have been her single claim to an egg.

And ...

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer!!

After two months of daily practice - it was showtime for Tom Sawyer! I know I am the mother & wife of these fine actors, but seriously, this show was sooooooooooo cute!!! I wish I could have taken pictures of them on stage but it's against the rules, so these backstage pictures will have to do...

And these are science club pictures in the middle of my play pictures because of, well perhaps I have whined enough?

This week they were split into two teams and with a box of random supplies, and competed to see which team could create the fastest paper airplane, the best contraption to keep and egg dropped from 10 feet to keep from cracking, a bridge that would hold the most weight, and a way to carry a cup of water without spilling it holding only a metal hanger.

Oh! And look, another Easter picture. Jake wanted to make sure he didn't miss any eggs during the hunt.

Savannah and her beloved Grandma Rosie. They look quite a bit alike, wouldn't you say?

Now back to the play. This picture might betray some true emotions for Jake and Nick after a week of midnight dress rehearsals.

And Science club again. This is their bridges which ended up being exactly the same. Great minds think alike!

This was my favorite. It's the paper airplane contest and Jake's team decided that if they attached a balloon to their plane and then popped it as the race started it would surely jet propel the plane to an unheard of distance. Unfortunately the plane made a dive after being in flight for about two nano-seconds.

This is our adorable Savannah as Lucy Harper, with a whopping five lines (that she delivered with unsurpassed grace and emotion)

Nick's cousins and friends came to see the play opening night, and he gave them a personal tour of the auditiorium. He was feeling quite popular.

Okay, I know I am his mother, but Nick was a show-stopper. The boy is born to be on stage.

Savannah with friends Morgan Clinkscale and Jessie Walker who came to see the play...

Nick practicing his sword fighting.

Jake was incredible in this play. He was even able to withhold acknowledging my cousins, Jennifer and Stacey, who sat on the third row and waved at him through an entire performance.

This was Jake's best friend during the show, Holden. Coincidentally he was also Savannah's dance partner and his parents reported to us that he fell heartwrenchingly in love with his leading lady.

Chad getting into character as the cruel schoolteacher.

Savannah on closing night (their where eight performances) with friend Nicole Purdy and neigbors Ari and Riley.

Nick on closing night with his "Aunt Polly's sugar cookie" (psuedo flowers) throwing out an "I love you" sign to his adoring fans :)

And that's that... we have a whopping 6 month break until Annie starts in the fall... just the right amount of time to forget the incredibly long practices and weekends minus a husband and my near nervous breakdown that always happens round about opening night. But I must say, this is play #4 and it's always worth it in the end. Showbiz ala' Nampa!

2 Birthdays, 1 Visitor, and a Conference

The first of which birthday was mine. This is a picture of Savannah making my beautiful, amazing lemon-poppyseed cake. This is the second birthday cake Savannah has decorated this month, which is seriously amazing considering that she has given up sugar for Lent.

I know, lousy job on focusing the camera, but you get the idea.

The Finished Product.

On my birthday Chad took me out to breakfast, lunch, shopping, and to get a massage. This is a picture of us at lunch at my favorite Mexican Restraunt, right after I got a free birthday makeover at the mall. The eyeshadow is hot pink, which apparently is supposed to make your eyes look bright blue. I think it just makes your eyelids look hot pink.
I just think that Chad is really, super cute.
(I didn't just say that because he asked me why I never post pictures of him on my blog. Of course I did it just because I totally love him and want tons of pictures of him all over my blog, I've, uh, just kind of forgotten to put any on it.)

Here is me about to blow out the - oops! Forgot the candles! After this picture was taken, Savannah grabbed a candlestick from the front entry way and stuck it in the cake so I would have something to blow out. I like how the lighting in the picture kind of makes me look like I am at a seedy bar. Or maybe my house really just looks like a seedy bar.

...And Nicole came to visit!

I have known (and loved:)) Nicole known since I was 10 years old. I like to lay claim on the fact that on the day she moved into the Portland, Oregon neighborhood where we grew up, I was the first to have her over for a playdate. So I am her oldest friend ( like by a day, but whatever.)

We were married two weeks apart, and since I moved to Idaho we usually do the trek between Idaho and Oregon to visit about three times a year. She was there for my birthday, which was really cool, because the lemon poppyseed cake recipe is hers. Okay, every good recipe that I lay claim to has come from her. She's also an amazing triathlete/marathoner and gets up every morning at 4am to run their business. Oh, and she's a dental hygenist, master gardener, and does wedding flowers, too. Did I mention she plays the cello, piano and flute beautifully? Nicole is seriously cool.

The highlight of our week was taking all 8 (!?) kids to the dollar movie to see Bedtime Stories. Once again, I was the loudest laugher at the kids movie, but at least this time I had Nicole to rival me. We kept trying to talk to each other over the heads of the 8 kids about how funny it was. I'm pretty sure we were the theater favorite. Hey, you guys only paid a buck, okay?!

These are pictures of Nick, Jake and I planting our annual bean pole tee-pee. Last year the pumpkins took over, so this year the tee-pee gets a spot of it's own.

And Conference Weekend!
...so conference weekend, when we listen for two days to church leaders speak by satellite on TV, is one of my favorite things in the world. When we started having kids, we realized that they were not so into watching 8 hours of talks on TV all weekend, so we decided to make it more like a holiday, to get them into the spirit of things.
So this... our 10th bi-annual Conference Holiday...

started Friday night with our hot dog and S'mores roast.

Does life get any better? Seriously - what is better than a S'more?

No, Chad is not wearing parachute pants - he just got back from skiing...

that fine moment of putting a burnt marshmellow between chocolate and graham...

Then...the tent...sometimes we sleep outside, but considering it snowed earlier that day (?!?) we decided to camp inside this year.

Here the kids are after reading the King Benjamin story, ready to sleep in the tent for the night.

Saturday morning - playing the conference game, where they put a candy corn on a picture everytime they hear it said. Then they get to cash in their candy corns for prizes at the end of the session. Clara was more interested in just inhaling the candy corn.

The Conference Store

Saturday Afternoon Session - the kids switched to conference packets, where they earned 10 points per page they completed to use at the conference store. Savannah was saving for straw glasses, Jake for Peeps, Nick for a slinky, Clara for whatever she could sneak while we weren't looking.

Saturday Night Campout in the Living Room

After Clara was told no to more candy corn fifty bazillian times by her serious game-playing siblings, she decided to take matters into her own hands. These marshmallows were on the top shelf of the pantry, hidden from view. How on Earth?...

And this is a picture of her, only you can't see her, because she is hiding in the curtain with the one bag of sugar cereal in the entire house. Unfortunately the empty box that you see lying next to her gave her away. Oh, and the ferociously loud crunching.

Sunday morning session - the kids all won fuzzy posters to color from the conference store, and spent this session coloring them.

Why? Why not just color the poster?

Yes, she won the straw glasses - a true treasure. Well, the next best thing to Peeps, anyway, if you happen to have given up sugar for Lent.

...And my Grandma's Birthday...

This is my Grandma Spitzer on her 72nd birthday. Is she not just smashing? Seriously. Check out the turqoise ring. She is so cool. Oh, let me get her 70's genes!

Lunch at Olive Garden - my Aunt Leanne, Grandma, me, Savannah, and Mom.

After lunch we hit a few stores, and then let the serious shopping begin - Savers 99 cent Monday! Second hand shopping runs deep in our blood. (Don't worry Kristin, we'll re-enact the whole thing next time you're in town:)!)

I love my Grandmother dearly. She has truly aced the art of being a Grandma, and I am so glad that I get to live close to her and that my children can know and adore her as much as I do. She is the essence of unconditional love and devotion. She has spent a lifetime making sure her family was always close, and I am so grateful to her for it.

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

The Wedding of the Century

The following are pictures that Lisa emailed me of their wedding...

The Groomsmen


Todd and his security detail. Especially watch out for Brigg's lethal weaponry.


They served their missions together... and dreamed of this moment... don't worry, Todd - we're only 12 anniverseries and 4 kids ahead. (Should we blame the earring for the delay?)

Where is Nick? Sound asleep in the Groom's Room...

Bridesmaids


LOVE this picture.

My hair disclaimer: I did have the stomach flu.

Edward (ahem, I mean, uh, Chad) and I.

+-

Sweet Spring

I think Nick is about the cutest thing in the universe (at least my universe). If you remember the old Calvin & Hobbes comics, that is the life that Nicholas leads. I sometimes wonder what it would be like to live inside Nicholas' mind and see the world the way he does - like a continual adventure, where our home is really the treehouse in Swiss Family Robinson, and he is a daring adventurer named Mutt.

Also, he is becoming a ladies man. Recently he has gently explained to me that he will still be marrying me when he grows up, but also he will be marrying Natalie.

Upon seeing Natalie and her mom Jenny at a school carnival, I told Jenny to ask Nick who he was going to marry. She did and much to our SURPRISE he turned to Natalie with a serious look on his face, grabbed her in his arms, and planted (yes, a kiss) on her.

Later at home I asked him exactly what made him grab Natalie and kiss her. His response: "Because I am a boy and boys marry girls. That's what I am supposed to do! I am just doing what Rick did!" (referring to my mom's new husband).

I was just thinking how cute Nick was, so I grabbed my camera to take a picture of him. He said, "just a minute, mom", then struck this pose -

And when I served him this breakfast (a waffle, yogurt, and an apricot half), he said, "Thanks mom! This breakfast is even better than kissing girls!"

I 90% think he is absolutely adorable,10% am concerned.

Oh, and also he has taken up yoga with me. He just rolled out his own mat this week and started doing downward dogs.

...And

Why Blogging Makes Me a Better Mom...

The Perfect Example.

In my past, pre-blogging life, I may have thrown my arms up in despair when I noticed that Jake cut his own hair. Again. That makes it like, the fourth time. This year.

But now I simply say "Don't move!" and run for the camera.

Ahhh...Blog Material

This is a picture of Homeschool Science Club at our house. We made a human model to display the distances between the planets in relation to each other. The far distant boy is Pluto, which yes, I had to debate with the mini-geniuses as to whether or not is still considered a planet.

Clara's true desire - to just be one of the boys...

Isn't she beautiful? She is also kind, talented, and smart. What a girl.

...And Spring is Here!!!

This is Jake coming back from Kings (the variety store at the end of our street). The item that he purchased was, of course, water balloons!
Clara sat on my lap on the swings for about an hour. I wish I could take the scent of her soft hair in the sunshine, and keep it in a bottle forever.




After returning home with the water balloons, Jake engaged all of the boys in the neighborhood in a full-fledged water fight. Unfortunately I blew the cover of his hiding place by taking these pictures.

Mmmmm...Spring.