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!

Visit with Grandpa Collingwood

Grandpa Collingwood stopped to see us for a few days! It was Sammi's first time to meet him, but her reaction was precious- she leaned right into him, smiling and cuddling, like she has known him forever. Unfortunately, Jerry had to work, but the weather was nice and we spent a lot of time at the park and fed some ducks. Grandpa got to go with us to one of Darren's baseball games and his 1st grade musical. We are so glad he came! We love you, Grandpa Collingwood!

New Job

After being unemployed for almost six months, Jerry has a job!!! (Actually, two. One is just temporary freelance work for an old manager.) He will be working in the area for a company that he's worked for before. We are so happy that we don't have to move. We are thankful for the time we got to spend together as a family. It has been wonderful to realize that we can make do on much less, and that money doesn't buy happiness. We are also thankful for a good savings account, good health, and food storage and all the other little things we were blessed with along the way. We will miss you, Jerry! Good luck!

Jumping Machine

All through the month of February, Darren's school was raising money for the American Heart Association by jumping rope. He got really good - he can even jump rope on the trampoline! One day when I picked Darren up from school and asked him how his day was, he said it was the best day ever - his name got picked out of a hat to win a new jump rope - just what he had been needing!

Spring Break

Spring break was so fun this year!!! We visited Grandma, Grandpa, and Paul. It was Jerry's first week of work, so he couldn't go with us. Samantha was really crabby for a couple days and didn't sleep. My mom and I had to make a midnight run to CVS for some motrin but it didn't help. I took her to the doctor the next day, thinking that she had an ear infection. I ended up paying $160 to find out she must be teething. They also told me we had the worst insurance they had ever seen. This further reinforces my resolve to not go to the doctor unless it seems like a matter of life and death. (Maybe if I had better insurance I wouldn't make my kids wait that long.) Other than that, we had a wonderful week. The weather was really nice. We went to the Clown Park and the Rocket Park almost everyday, and spent one day at the zoo. My mom also made a bunch of Barbie clothes for Claire. We are so thankful to be close enough to my family to visit often. The kids love them, and always ask when we can go back.