Dad's baseball party!

Emmy enjoyed Dad's end of the year baseball party. This is her new smile.

Daddy took advantage of a fun baseball game. Boy can he really hit the ball. HOME RUN!

What a cutie in the catcher's gear. Not sure why the batter didn't take his gear off to hit??

Chapter books and sun catchers.

Josie has been complaining of an ear ache on and off for the past couple of days. Must be all the time spent outside in the strong wind we have had is taking its toll. She stayed inside today and started her first chapter book. Go Josie Go!!

We picked up a couple of sun catchers for Josie to paint with the intentions of giving them as a gift. This especially beautiful one is going to someone on June 15th.

outside work

Today I tried tilling the garden again. It is taking me a while. Little people have a hard time keeping occupied by themselves so I usually only get one pass at a time
(if I am lucky)!

Josie and I decided to try something. We found some baby trees and dug them up to see if we can get them to grow. We have a LONG driveway and I would love to have it lined with trees but am too cheap to buy trees at the store. We will try it this way.

We also took care of the ducks today. When the ducks see Em they go right to their house- can you blame them.

Em is like her mommy, she loves animals. Here she is giving love to Tommy the cat.

newfound motor ability means newfound places to get stuck!

Remember the not so scary places Em used to get stuck in? Under the bed, under a chair. Well, while we had the dish washer open last night she decided she would crawl onto the door. It was all fun until she realized she was "stuck"!

For the first time since last year I saw "my" Northern Flicker yesterday!

duck enclosure II

Emeline the little rascal didn't help out much at all!!

We spent our Memorial Day at yet another parade (I thought I would spare you another picture of the girls in their crowns :) ). After the parade we ate lunch, the girls rode bikes while Brad and I played tennis then we went home and built a bigger duck enclosure.

Battle of the Bands

We spent yesterday at the Battle of the Bands Memorial Day Parade. It has been our Memorial Day Weekend tradition for years. It is a parade that I used to march in and it was always one of my favorites. The kids also had a riding lesson which I didn't get a picture of. They are getting more and more interested- I love it!!

Cookout!

The three little cousins sported some Patriotic crowns that I made.

Russell was a tour guide as he led us on a walk.

We realized after bouncing the babies for a couple minutes that they were all imitating eachother. They were making the classic baby sound of awwwwwwwww with each bump. I was honestly surprised that they all had their wits about them afterwards- it was a lot of bouncing. I videotaped it for Jessie because some thought it was sure to win the $ for a funniest home video.

The usual heated game of horseshoes was played. Rick you look like a ballerina!

What's the best thing to do after a cookout? Just sit around and enjoy one another.

working at the book fair

Em, Jo and I were asked to work at the book fair at "Georgia's" school. What fun. Both of my older girls aspire to be "check out girls" one day so this gave Jo a little taste. She, of course, loved all of the buttons (thus the reason behind her aspiration) that were required to check people out. It was also pretty neat to give back change. Georgia even stopped in to say hello.

Ready...Set...Read!

I thought I would add this picture of the ducks chasing the kids. It is a funny sight to see them waddle so fast. They certainly are followers- anytime someone walks or runs by them they follow.

We went to a reading event! The kids had so much fun. I think one of the most exciting points of the day was meeting Stacy, Ava, Brendan and Ava's friend there. We were to bring in a canned food item in exchange for a free book. There were tables from different community organizations where the kids could make crafts, see animals, experiment with braille, buy books, see science "stuff" etc.

Em got mail!

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa H for Emeline's birthday wishes and gift. She was thrilled to have something in the mail! We love you.

My Emmy is one!

Look- my little weed has sprouted into a rose!

Emmy your one!

More baby pictures to come!

A mystery on our hands!

Not one person could explain how these green dots appeared on Emeline's face. Any ideas?

Em came up to me all grins and all I said was "Somebody is in trouble!" She squealed and took off running!

Our little softball player.

Well here she is. Our little softball player. I should have taken a picture of her in her white baseball pants, red socks and red shirt that her dad the big PE teacher hooked her up with. I should add the new bat, glove and bag!! He went overboard- way overboard.

Right now she acts like that ball has fangs but she is getting better. I think she is pretty good of course but boy the little girl behind her in line thinks otherwise. By the looks of her she is not impressed with Georgia's ground ball skills. Her games begin in June. It will be nice to see her play but I must admit I'm not overly excited about the walk after walk, error after error etc. All in fun and part of the learning process I know but heaven help me keep my patience! It is hard enough to do that at practice!!

in the grass

Em was a little leery of the grass at first. She warmed up to it though. It was nice to have that warm weather a week ago. What a change to this past week.

By the way-just to spread my cheer. I finished my Bachelor's today!!! I am in the process of applying for graduate studies to become certified to teach Elementary ed. I AM SOOOOOO RELIEVED AND EXCITED TO BE THIS CLOSE!!!