What is that?

I have always just loved how each of the kids have explored and discovered simple things. A shadow is one of those that always just cracks me up. When Drew found hers, she was scared, when the boy found his he kept trying to kick it off, and Leah, well, sweet little Leah just stood there staring at it tipping her foot up and down as if she expected it to just go away!

RANDOM: I have been listening to so much DMB in my car that the boy has been singing along, and walking around the house singing "american baby". LOL. Oh, how I LOVE LOVE LOVE that boy!

Drew~1st day of 2nd Grade

*1st Day 2nd Grade~Sept. 4, 2007

Drew's 1st day back to school was today! She is now in 2nd grade, WOW, how time flies! I cannot believe summer is already over, and it seems like just yesterday that Drew started Kindergarten. She is growing so fast. You can see such a huge difference between this year and last years *below* 1st day of school picture. She loves her teacher, and is ready to learn. She came right home, dug out her planner, and started trying to figure out what to do for homework, which there was none, however, she was focused on getting done whatever she may need to. I am so proud. I hope she continues being a very focused student. Funny, at home she's my ADHD child, and at school she is on task, takes her time, very particular, a perfectionist of sorts. She is my T.A.G. girl, talented and gifted...but also very type A. I love you Drewie!

*1st day 1st Grade

Pretty Flowers

*Wow! My surprise 'electric blue' delphinium, my biggest bargain, as I bought this from a local nursery as a plug for only a mere 50 cents! Well worth it huh?

*My Mom's Mothers Day flower basket from me, it has all new blooms, and is simply gorgeous!

Faces of Leah

*Rawr! I'm a monsta!*

*CHEEEEESE!?*

The Gorge

The drive to the concert was sooo long! But, it was beautiful! I have never seen some of the land as it was in the Gorge. Simply breathtaking! I love the look of the rolling hills, my kids would have loved seeing this! Overall, we stayed right on track, but passed one exit, costing us 30 minutes, since we had left an extra 2 hours early, we still made it on time, even a little early. Which was good thing, considering they strip searched everyone, and took my disposable camera (still had my cell/cam)! Then, ofcourse, once inside, hundreds of people were taking pictures! This made me so angry, how on earth did they sneak it past the gaurds? I just don't get it. Oh, and every now and then I'd smell a little bit of "smoke" blowing my way. Another mystery to me... Angela bought a beer, 24oz. coors light, it was $10.00!!!!
The Amphitheater is well hidden, and once inside, you can see why. It is an absolutely beautiful view. Truly one of the most beautiful things God made. I have never been there, and so it was so impressive to me seeing it for the first time. Definitely something worth seeing, and for a concert it is an amazing place! Once it started getting dark, stars were everywhere, and we were able to watch the moon rise from the other side of the gorge, slowly, orange, turning yellow.
I would say that THE DAVE MATTHEWS BAND is most definitely my most treasured concert experience. It was awsome! I think I must go again! Already planning, only getting home at 5:30 am, is not gonna work next time. Overnight stay next time! *Enjoy the new playlist...it's all Dave!
IMPRESSIVE: My Mom watched the kids for me, and reported just how angelic they were to me this morning. I am very pleased and impressed that not a single one had a meltdown, or tantrum! YAY!

Random...

Been working on getting all those aquarium pics together, since my camera broke. My mom uploaded the pics to her computer from the memory card, and has beens slowly emailing them to me, not all programs are working right to get them to me. So, soon I will have those to share!


Also been trying to get yard work done, WEEDS ARE TAKING OVER! And, Beau has had me out with him picking strawberries, and pear tomatoes. Kids have been hilarious at times. Leah is doing great with naps and bedime without her beloved ba-ba. Funny, she does occassionally ask for it, "Mom, where's my ba-ba" But, I remind her it's just 'all gone' and she moves on. Problem: she won't drink milk anymore though, rarely.


Missed my friday fave, so here it is:

Darrin bought this a year ago or so. Drew laughs hysterically when watching it, and Beau has recently discovered it. His favorite character is...drum roll please....YOSEMITE SAM...he is big into being a cowboy right now, so understandable why this character is a 'draw'...pun intended.
Funny: I took Grace to registration, and as I was helping Beau out of the van, his shirt lifted and he has one of his 'cowboy shooters' tucked into the waistline of his shorts! He just looked at me, with this funny look, "So? That's just what cowboys do Mom!" LOL.

Well, better get going...today is the most awaited DAVE MATTHEWS BAND CONCERT! Woohoo! A 5 hour drive ahead of me...*drag*...but it will be worth it!

My Handsome

Everytime I get this boys hair cut, it brings out this amazingly handsome face. I just cannot believe how much a simple hair cut can change they way he looks. I love it! Isn't this look sooo mischevious!

What a Weekend!

Art& Air Show was this past weekend...not too impressed, but kids had fun anyway...enjoy montage, music doesn't quite go along but it's Beau new fave song, LOL.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Spell it with Flicker!

This is so cool! Spell it with Flicker! A friend sent me this to try, go try it out! I LOVED it so much I changed my header using it!

Crawdads & River Fun

The other day we took the kids crawdaddin'(is that how you spell it?) Beau was so excited, he kept sayin' "We're goin' crawdad fishin'" all the way there. And, ofcourse, there were many, "Are we there yet?"'s, LOL. We only caught 2, seemed to be that everyone had been thinkin' the same thing, and so most of them were already caught, cooked, eaten and shells were lying everywhere! In any case, the kids had a ton of fun on the 'riber'.
FUNNIES: Grace was quite daring and would not listen to Dad telling her that the rocks were very slippery, and so she tried making her way across the river, and fell in not once, but 2 times! Ha! She also coaxed Drew to come with her at one point, Drew was very hesitant, but they mad thier way to a rock to sit on *in montage* and Drew cut her foot on a rock. This ofcourse, crippled her in her mind, and so they sat on the rock refusing to return unless I came to get Drew. I was like, "No, you got out there, you can come back!" So, they sat. Just about the time they were gonna try to get back into the river, Drew's letting me know her toe is bleeding. I said, "You better hope the crawdad's don't get a taste!" Her eyes got so big, she was even more glued to the rock after that! Sissy girls!
Beau was so excited to catch a crawdad, he truly had no idea what that meant, but when Darrin finally caught one, he was scared to death and would not even take a picture with Daddy holding the crawdad.
We stopped at a few different river parks, and at one, we ate lunch on an old picnic table. All kinds of strange bugs came crawling all over the table, inch worms, caterpillars we had never seen, tiny spiders, etc. One tiny caterpillar was going along the edge of the table near where Beau and Leah were eating, and Leah freaked out! *That is in the montage*

Here is a montage of some of the pics I took. Enjoy!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Made some changes!

I have made some changes to my blog. I have added permissions, this is to safegaurd my information, and photos of my children I post. I was deeply disgusted and provoked by the review I was emailed by a friend, Child Predators on Ebay. It got me thinking too about my blog. I love blogging, but I do not want something I love doing to risk the safety of my children. I hope anyone that may read my blog, without ill intent, understands this action. Lets keep blogging about out children fun AND safe!

Dilly Bars & Fountain Fun!

*Lulu trying hard to eat her first Dilly Bar, cherry, mmmm!

I went through the DQ drive thru today, and got each of the kids a dilly bar. I haven't had one of those forever! And, I had forgotten how fun they are for kids, Beau and Leah had never had one. Then, we drove around searching for a spot to eat them, and found this great little spot by the river. There was this HUGE water fountain feature, coming up from multiple grates in the ground, it was great! The fountain height varied, shut off, then would spout up again, almost 10 feet high. We were not at all prepared for water play, but they didn't care, as the photos show!!!

Even the preteen drama queen couldn't resist!

Beau was saturated head to toe!

Lulu just tried to kick the water and for the most part, was the dryest one of them all by the end!

Countdown!

I am getting sooooo excited! Only 13 more days til the DAVE MATTHEWS BAND Gorge concert! I cannot wait! I can't believe I am going!

My Family

This is a pic of my Great Grandma Marie to left, my Dad's Grandma, far right is my Daddy, my Grandma Nancy is holding him. Wasn't she lovely?

Handsome Men here! My Grandpa, my Mom's Dad to right, and then, I think my Uncle Leroy to left. What a great old b&w shot!

My Dad and Mom on their wedding day! How sweet!

My Grandma Georgia with my sister and I! I sure miss her!

I gotta go pee Mom!

Leah Lou has been taking her diaper off constantly, refusing to wear one at all! The other night she took it off while we were outside, I was watering flowers and Beau hollers, "MOOOOM! WEAH POOPED ON THE ROLLER COASTER!" I look over, and she had taken off her diaper, which she had pooped in, then sat on the roller coaster car and smeared poo all over it! GROSS! So, I hosed her off, and let her run nakey all over the yard. She loved it! So, yesterday I put the 'baby potty' back together, and she has been spending most of her day there when home! I now have to hide the toilet paper though, or she's gonna use it all up!

*BABA NEWS: I threw her bottle away today, just finally decided she is done with it. She asked for it a few times, but no whining, until bedtime that is, but she fussed a minor amount, and is already asleep! Woohoo!

Blackberry Pickin'!

Island Way Sorbet!

Today I went to Costco to pick up a few things, and they were sampling this amazing dessert called Island Way Sorbet. OMG, you have to try this! I bought the 12 pack that Costco is selling right now, not sure if it's gonna stick around, but I love it! The sorbet in served inside the fruit shell! So, the pineapple sorbet was in a 1/2 pineapple shell, frozen, and individually packaged. I am not one for eating pineapple or coconut, but these are simply delicious!

Friday Fave

Last night I sat down with Beau and Leah, and we read tons of books together. One they really really enjoy is this, "WHOSE NOSE AND TOES?" There is also another called, "WHOSE BABY?" Very cute books!

Garden Pics & Strawberry Harvest

My Coleus, first year planting one, and it has gone wild! I had bought a tray pack of 6, only one decided to grow, and it blooms this charming little purple/lavendar flower stalk at the top! I love the verigated leaves!

A volunteer sunflower that has grown to be absolutley huge! I cannot believe how tall it is, and it must have about 30 blooms! I plan to try and dry the seeds if I can.

The Boy posing with his days pick of our strawberries, and a few ripe pear tomatoes, which he decided are not very good, so Daddy can eat them!

MATTEL TOY RECALL

Yet another recall...this one from Mattel, including many Polly Pocket items, but luckily none of which my daughters have. I know we have owned one of the items described for Doggy Daycare, but I honestly think it has all since been randomly scattered about and lost, so I won't bother filing 0n this one. However...take a look at the list of recalled items here to see if you might own some of the toys affected. It will all be processed via email, they will even ship you a prepaid shipping label to ship your affected items.
I just received reimbursement today for the shipping cost to return my affected Thomas the Tank Engine trains, as well as a new free train that Beau did not have already, so it was nice! Still waiting for replacement trains.