Swimming Lessons

As usual, we did swimming lessons this year.

Tea is now in the big pool and actually learning strokes, etc.  She's totally getting the hang of it!

Crackers is still in the little pool and still does not like to put his head under water, but he'll get there.

Birthday Party

Because the kids' birthdays are close together and right now, all of Crackers' friends are Tea's friends, we usually have a joint birthday party for them in the summer.  This year, we borrowed a friend's water slide, set up the bounce house and had ice cream sundaes.  It was lots of fun!

Only the Shadow knows

Yes, we have added a new member to our family.

Her name is Shadow (I know, unique!)  We got her when she was just at 6 weeks old and didn't even weigh 2 pounds.  She is now almost 9 weeks old and goes to the vet for shots on Sunday, August 1st, so we'll see what she weighs then.  Gabe is not too sure about her and they tussle now and again.  The kids adore her and she is a welcome addition to our family.  Finally, the girls and the boys are even again in the house!

Crackers and His Birthday Presents

Our cute little family party was a hit last night. The little guy got tons and tons of Legos, a Pillow Pet, some clothes and a bunch of other toys.

Opening presents:

We're Baaaaaaack

Life has been complicated . . .

Today is Crackers' 5th Birthday.

I came across a post I did on my favorite message board about his birth. I'll save you the gory details, but here are the pictures:

Minutes after his birth











Meeting the parents











Meeting big sis











Big sis is so proud! (and so tiny!)











Everyone napping











I'll keep up, I promise to try, at least.

Goooooooooooaaaaaaaaaallllllllllll!

Yes, Tea is officially a soccer player! We signed her up for the Great Basin Youth Soccer League recreational division. Her team happens to be all girls and they are the "Cheetah Chics." Their jerseys are gold and the rest of their uniform is black.






We had our first practice last week and our first game last Saturday. They do not keep score, but the Cheetah Chics outscored the Orcas, by far. They have some girls on their team that have obviously played soccer before.










Tea is #7 - appropriate for our hometown.







My sister calls it beehive ball - this is such an accurate description.
The ball gets into play and then all of the kids swarm around it until someone breaks it loose and then they head for the goal. Not always the right goal, but what the heck!

Tea's Birthday

Tea turned 6 on August 18th. Just like Crackers, we had a small family get together in our backyard. These are the best birthday parties in my opinion.

Best Laid Plans . . .

Well, I was going to try to update on a regular basis. Life gets in the way sometimes. So, let's get caught up.



















August 1st was Tea and Crackers' joint birthday party at Coconut Bowl at Wild Island. It appeared that all of the kids had a great time.

Happy Birthday, Crackers!

Crackers turned 4 on July 14th. We had a small family BBQ at the house with cake and presents. We will have the kid party in a couple of weeks, for both Tea and Crackers.




















I think he liked his cake!








Making a wish.

Swim Lessons

It's that time of year, again. Tea and Crackers are taking to the water like little fishies. They are in the same class this year and they are both doing very well.

Crackers' group went into the big pool last week, with life jackets on. He got to float with the instructor and by himself. He is a little hesitant, but he does fine.

Tea's group went into the big pool today. She chose to go without a life jacket. So she got to "swim" with the instructor and then went back to the training pool.

She is getting very brave and is jumping in, putting her head under water and seems to be truly learning the concepts that they are teaching.

Wedding Weekend

On Saturday, July 11th, our oldest nephew, Shanti, married his beautiful wife, Ashly. We absolutely love both of them and are so happy that they have found each other and are embarking on their life together.

They were married at the Grand Sierra Resort wedding chapel in a small, intimate ceremony. My mother took pictures for them before and after the ceremony. Every single picture I have of Ashly, she is sticking out her tongue. So, here we are, before the ceremony.










After the ceremony, Tea and Crackers wanted to get a picture with the newly married couple. Here they are.








Later the same day, the couple held a reception at the Hacienda. Bubba was a "bouncer" for them - not that his services were needed - so he got to dance with Tea.







Crackers got to dance with Tata (sorry the picture is crappy, I took it.)








And, Shanti danced for his wife, to the hoots and hollers of the guests.



All in all, it was a wonderful day, celebrating the joyous union of two wonderful people. We got to share it with our families, and, we got to welcome our new family members.

Overheard Conversations

This is too funny to ignore!

Tea and Crackers are talking about birthdays and being born (since that time of year is upon us). Tea asked me what day of the week she was born on, I told her Monday. They were both born on a Monday.

Crackers replies, "No, I was not born on Monday, I was born on a motorcycle." He's been hanging out with his Bubba too much!

Then, Tea tells him that she will tell him how babies are born. My eyebrows hit my hairline. She tells him, "First, your mommy gets a baby in her tummy and it gets really fat. Then you come out. That's really how it goes."

They slay me!

Caught Up

I think that I am all caught up right now! I promise to make a better effort to keep caught up in the future.

Some of the things that happened that I don't have pictures of:

• I was elected Vice President - Fundraising for the PTO at Mamie Towles.
• The Girl Scout Troop went roller skating. My kids missed it because we passed around the yucky stomach virus for about two weeks in our house.
• Stampin' Up! has come out with a new catalog that starts in July - it is so very pretty!
• We painted the kids' bathroom - gave it a little spruce up.
• Tea went to Vacation Bible School for a week right after school let out - she had a lot of fun.
• Swim lessons start in two weeks!
• She will have a team of teachers for first grade - there are two teachers in her classroom, so she gets a bigger class. We are both looking forward to it.

Thanks for reading!

June

June was a big month! Tea got her ears pierced and graduated from Kindergarten!






























They also got to practice having lunch in the cafeteria, so they could be prepared for next year!