Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Farewell to Caleb

Stone and Caleb were best buds at Sonshine School this year! Caleb moved back to Minnesota in June but not after a hot day play date at the park! These boys are so silly and always had fun together!


Money Well Spent...

SWIMMING LESSONS!

Stone lucked out and got private swimming lessons this year! He began the summer in a swimming vest and now he never wears it... he can swim the length of the pool unassisted and can even get a dive stick at 5 feet! It has definitely opened up his world of swimming and he loves the pool... it makes me even more thankful that God let the house we were looking to rent fall through. I guess next year we will work on ditching the googles... he hates getting water in his eyes!



Monday, June 28, 2010

Wacky Weather

Late spring/ early summer has brought some crazy weather... Hail, floods, lightening storms and crazy high temps!

At the end of May we had a crazy hail storm... it caused lots of damage just a few miles south of us! Lj was flying in from Africa that afternoon and thankfully we did not get any damage and Lj was not delayed!

This was the biggest piece we had and I think it is tiny compared to some other sizes reported in the area!
One morning as I was waiting for work to open we had an awesome light storm... my iPhone does not do it justice but it always is amazing and humbling to watch.
A peaceful reminder after a crazy storm!

Then one crazy morning we received about 10 inches of rain in just a few hours... Our pond was at the highest level it has even been at. I was at work and I think it had receded a bit by time I got home and took this picture!
Our pond on a normal day!
This is becoming a normal occurrence here this summer! Poor Stone has not been to the park in a while... just too stinkin' hot! We spend most outdoor time at the pool!

Water Fun!

At the beginning of June we hit the sprayground with the Herndons, Gists and Chans! Ten years ago, we all were in Japan together and now we have 9 soon to be 10 kids between us! Unfortunately the kids were on the move so I was not able to get all the kids in a picture!

Ezra, Stone and Freedom were not scared of the water! Though Stone looks a bit miserable since I got sunscreen in his eye!
Stone and Freedom together man the sprayer while Courage looks on apprehensively!
What happen to the water?
Woo Hoo! Have no fear the water is back!
Fun times!
Baby Wes is definitely a fan of playing in the water! He is such a sweet baby!
All the kids had a great time but next time I will have to make it a priority to get a picture of all the kids together!

Let's Party... the Star Wars way!

We decided to rent out a pavilion at a local park to celebrate Stone's birthday! It was a great decision and so easy to pull off. Stone had so much fun and we really did not have to do much in the way of entertaining since the kids could play on the fun rocket ship and run around like crazies!

Here is the invitation Lj put together! I loved it!
I made the cake and added Stones favorite Star War characters to the top! Thankfully Stone is happy with simple cakes!
Since Daddy prefers chocolate cake and Stone prefers cupcakes I made some light saber cupcakes! A huge thank you to Karen for the fondant- it saved me a long time and I am sure a huge headache and possible panic attack!
The birthday cake spread! Surprisingly nothing melted in the 90 degree heat!
Happy Birthday, Little Man!
So sweet, content and mischievous!
For party favors we gave all the kids a light saber aka a bubble wand! The kids had so much fun playing and blowing bubbles!

I think these boys are conspiring against the girls!
Stone is there to pull the conspiracy off!
All in all it was a great party and definitely on the list for party locations for next year; it was too easy and so much fun!

Happy 5th Stone!

On May 25th Stone turned five! They say you will blink and your children will be grown... I believe it! Stone is growing so fast! Five is the magic age in his eyes. Five will also be a big year of new changes and growth for him; he ditched the swimming vest and is pretty good at negotiating the pool, in July he will become a big brother and will begin pre-K in August. Lots of changes and our little man is growing up!

We decided to begin the day celebrating with a muffin and a candle... of course he was more interested in the big present at the end of the table.
Stone got his present, gave it one shake and decided he know what it was; the Lego set he had been eyeing at every toy store! I love the expression on his face!
He was right and he was so excited!
Since we had so many snow days this year the school year was extended which meant Stone could actually hug Ralph the dog on his real birthday! It was bittersweet for me since he will not be attending chapel at Sonshine School next year!
We took Stone out for a birthday dinner. After being informed that McDonalds is not the place for a birthday dinner he chose to go to Tokyo Sushi! He has great taste and it definitely was fitting. He donned his jinbei and we picked up a little cake from Target and had a little celebration!
Stone is such a sweet boy and it has been a joy and pleasure to watch him grow and change into a little man!