She Shed Wall

I'm constantly looking for unique things to add to my She Shed wall in the garage.

My newest additions are the picture of Violet with the #18 on top of the picture of Melissa playing volleyball. Violet chose #18 because that's her birthday. I also wanted to use the #18 patch because I paid $5.00 for it and didn't want it to be a one time thing.

Teresa has been listening to me complain and vent for months so I got the sister therapy sign in her honor. Teresa is a good listener and will never tell a secret!

Last is the picture Violet drew of the elephant. She know I love elephants (and flamingos) so I just had to frame it and add it to my wall. The wall's still pretty open so if anyone has any suggestions or wants to buy something for me, I'm open to all and everything as long as it's unique!

The Pool is Open

Even though the water in the pool is still freezing cold....

that doesn't stop the kids from swimming. I hate to wish for hot summer days but I know they're coming. Maybe I'd take more dips in the pool if Hazel would let me use her unicorn float!

Last Day of School and Another Day with Ma

After a half day of school on the last day, I had charge of Lincoln, Hazel and Goldie while Violet was with her friends for a year end school party.

Before Lincoln and Hazel could get into any arguments, I decided to take them to the fire station to visit Jamie. Then to the Lone Jack park where I asked each kid to pose in a funny way. After that we went to Sonic for ice cream. Before you know it, Melissa was home and I was off duty for this school year. Now it's on to summer fun.

Violet Works on the Yearbook Committee

Violet is very creative so it's no wonder she worked on the yearbook committee.

Her contribution was the 1st grade page and the therapy dog page. Yes, the school has a therapy dog. The top center photo is Lincoln who got to spend time with Darcie. Anxiety is a growing issue with young children so Darcie is there to help. Good work Violet!

End of School Activities Means Another Day with Ma

While Violet and Lincoln were completing their end of school activities with end of school field trips, Hazel and Goldie were stuck with another day with me.

Instead of trying to entertain them with another day at home, we decided to go to the open gym. Hazel and Goldie are very familiar with this gym and immediately went on their merry ways. I was frantic trying to keep an eye on both girls while Goldie was jumping in the foam pit and Hazel was swinging from a disc hanging from a rope.

At one point I thought I'd lost Goldie but she was hiding in a giant tire. Needless to say I got just as much activity as the girls. The best part about the day was instead of going to Chick-Fil-A, we went to McDonald's. That's almost as stressful as the open gym with me trying to figure out what Hazel and Goldie were wanting to order.

In the meantime, Violet had her formal graduation from elementary school. She's now on her way to middle school. She's a little anxious but she'll be going with her friends.

The Super Duper Bowl

Lincoln's flag football team (the Vikings) won the Super Bowl. This was a close game with both teams scoring 2 touchdowns. The game went into overtime. Each team got the ball on the 10 yard line for one last play. Lincoln's team went first and scored a touchdown. The other team hiked the ball, kept running across the field until Lincoln's team finally pulled his flag.

A big win for the Vikings, even getting Super Bowl rings.

But what's a football game without a cheering squad. Leave it to Violet to make a sign and cheer her brother on to victory!

Flag Football Playoffs

Lincoln has been playing flag football. Their team has been in 2nd place most of the year and this was their last chance to win and play in the Super Bowl.

The whole season Lincoln has been wanting to score a touchdown and in the last game, his wish came true. It wasn't the winning touchdown because they creamed the first place team 32-0.

What we thought might be their last game of the season turned in to a victory and a trip to the Super Bowl. Way to go Lincoln!

All Day Long

Some people say the Summer solstice is the longest day of the year. Those people have never had the pleasure of watching Hazel and Goldie all day long.

After walking around WalMart for an hour, we stopped at Chick-Fil-A (of course) for lunch and went back to my house.

I tried everything to keep those girls entertained. Puzzles and games - about 15 minutes.

Painting - another 15 minutes. We even went outside to kick the ball around and that lasted about 5 minutes. The only thing they really wanted to do was watch my digital photo frame and guess who would be in the next picture. Goldie must have said "Who's next" about 100 times.

They are fun to watch but 6+ hours is a long time for this old Ma. Even Hazel was feeling the time. She said "I love spending time with you but this is too long"! But who can turn down watching these 2 little cuties. Just think. I get to do it all over again next Wednesday!

Meanwhile, Violet and Lincoln were having the end of the school year field trip at the school.

Both did well in this competition with Lincoln making it to the next to the last hoop before getting knocked out and Violet finished with the win. An exhausting day for all.

Mother's Day

On Mother's Day, or as I like to call it - early Labor Day - I have a list of things that need to get done around the house that I can't do on my own.

Michael braved the climb up the ladder with the help of Teresa to change the battery in my water sprinkler sensor. Who would have thought that might come up on a To Do list?

All of us pitched in and put a couple of rock borders around the back side of my house where the sod was pulling away from the foundation. I still need to put out my yard art to liven this area up a bit.

Teresa stepped in and did the grilling while I was inside preparing the side dishes.

The bad part about doing all this work is I looked like a homeless person in my Mother's Day photo. If that's what it takes to get a picture, then I'll take what I can. Once again I forgot to take a picture of me with Michael and Melissa. I'm going to have to start making a better list. I certainly can't rely on my memory and I fear it's only going to get worse. (That's remembering to take pictures....geesh!)

Hazel's Last Day of Pre-K

Even though Hazel had her Pre-K graduation a week ago, she still had another week of school.

She's officially heading off to kindergarten next year.

She stopped by a few days ago so we could plant a flower as a going away present for her teacher.

Hazel attended SonShine preschool, so what's more appropriate than a blooming flower to give her teacher to show how much she has blossomed in Pre-K. Underneath that shy exterior I do believe is a budding genius!

Yearly Landscape Flowers & Yard Art

Teresa and I headed to Lowry City on Thursday where my friend from high school has a daughter who owns a greenhouse.

Most of these flowers are mine but Teresa did purchase a few.

It's not hard putting out flowers when you just stick them in your favorite pieces of yard art.

There's my flowering bird bath which this year I decided instead of filling the bowl with water which gets a little murky during the hot summer days, I would put in a flowering plant. Also my bicycle, chairs and stone bench with a small watering can.

Let's not forget the back yard where I hang my hummingbird feeder. I actually saw a hummingbird right after I hung the feeder but hummingbirds are way too fast to try and grab a picture.

My newest piece this year is Fiona the flamingo. As soon as those grassy plants get a little bigger, she won't look so bad standing in front of the transformer.

Food Truck Fund Raiser and Pre-K Graduation

What a hectic evening.

It started with a food truck fund raiser for Violet and Lincoln's school. Violet's 5th grade class had a booth selling snacks which she had to work for the first half hour. While Violet was working, I stood in line at the food truck to get her some dinner which took over a hour to get. Then I had to get Lincoln in to the book fair so he could spend his money. All the while I'm trying to get out of there to make it to Hazel's graduation. Hurrying Lincoln is not the easiest thing to do. He couldn't make up his mind and finally decided I needed to loan him a few dollars! Typical Lincoln.

Then we rushed off to the SonShine Preschool barely making it into the door before Melissa had a heart attack. As usual, they were running a bit behind so we were in our seats before the procession starteds. There were 4 Pre-K classes and each class sang a song.

As each child walked across the stage, they said what they wanted to be when they grew up and took a flower to the teacher. Hazel wanted to be a doctor. They also received an award. Hazel won the award for being the Ray of Sunshine at school. It wasn't easy getting pictures of the kids in their caps and gowns because right after the program the teachers took the kids back to their classrooms to change.

Melissa is always prepared to get a picture of almost every aspect of an event.

Even a quick one of me in the parking lot while walking to my car.

Congratulations Hazel! Now you're off to kindergarten.