Budding Scientist

This year was our first year to experience a science fair. Darren worked hard on his project and did almost everything by himself. He learned how to make several different kinds of airplanes, then tested them to see which one flew the farthest. He has always liked making paper airplanes, so this was a fun project. (Please excuse the "mad scientist" hair, as we were too busy experimenting to get a haircut!) We were pleasantly surprised when he won first place for his grade! We saw many other great ideas there. Darren is already trying to come up with a good idea for next year.

Memorial Day

We spent Memorial day with some of Jerry's work friends. We grilled hamburgers and hotdogs, and the kids played outstide in the water. It was nice to meet some of Jerry's friends from work.

Girl's Weekend and Campout

It was the weekend of the Father-Son Camp-out, so Claire and I decided we needed to have a special "girls weekend". We went to the Olive Garden, shopped for swimsuits at the mall, got haircuts, and made a craft for Claire's room. Claire LOVED the Olive Garden, and says it is her new favorite restaurant. We didn't even have time to do all the fun things that we had planned. We had so much fun, and are looking forward to many more! By the way, the boys had fun at their camp out, too. Darren's friend Gavin was there, and the two boys had fun exploring trails and staying up until midnight.

Car Troubles

Poor Jerry has been driving a purple Nissan Altima (that looks brown) almost since we've been married. When we bought it, it had 119,00 miles on it and we thought it would be something we only had to keep for a while while he went back to school. We sold his beloved Toyota Tacoma and paid cash for it. Anyway, one-hundred thousand miles and eight years later, it's still going, albeit the minor repair now and again. One such visit to the shop occurred a couple weeks ago. I told Jerry he could take the van to work and we would just walk everywhere. I ended up having "car troubles" of my own! The front wheel of our jogging stroller kept popping off and I couldn't get it to stay on. I had to throw it into the back of the stroller and go on the two back wheels, hoping no one would notice! We ended up having to walk to preschool, the grocery store, and the doctor!!! Good thing everything is so close. That's why I love living where we do.

School's Out . . .

. . . wonder what kind of trouble these little rapscallions will get into this year!

Mother's Day and Dad's Birthday

Our Mother's Day celebration this year was combined with my dad and Sammi's birthdays. It was great to have our family together.

Grandpa is 52!

I think I have the best kids in the world!

and the best mom, EVER! She actually took care of Miles and Claire the week before Mother's day so that I could do a big accompanying job without having to worry about babysitters. Miles had a ruptured ear drum while he was there, and she took him to the doctor and gave him lots of TLC. They are best buddies now. Thanks mom, I love you!!!

Happy 1st Birthday, Sammi!

Happy Birthday to our sweet Sammi-Mammi, Sammi-Bear, Honey Bear, Baby-Bear, Boo-Bear! You are such a sweet, beautiful little girl! You always make us laugh with your growling! We love you so much!