Family Updates: June 2017

Our spring tradition of picking strawberries and eating them all in record time. I still remember Figgy letting me skip school one day every May so we could pick them!

My babes took me to my favorite Chinese restaurant for Mother's Day dinner!

Yummy!

Working so hard to make the glider go all by himself.

The first of many days at the pool! Hannah only needed the vest for a week or two, and now she and Care are swimming around like little minnows. This has been SO much fun, I hope we can join every year.

We got a new fur baby in May! After looking online at various shelters for over a year, I was feeling more rushed since Bogey's health was declining so quickly. We found this golden retriever pup for an amazing price, talked it over, all jumped in the car (the puppies were going fast and we wanted the last male), and drove to Fredericksburg to pick him up. Then we went to the pet store to buy all of his supplies and finished off the night with some Wendy's on the way home. It was such a fun family memory. My sweet hubs tried to have the kids vote on the puppy's name: "One vote for Shadow, one vote for Gideon, one vote for Brownie, one vote for Edward Robinson..." Finally we made the executive decision to name him Cub since he looked like a fuzzy little teddy bear.

Sweet fuzzy boy

Our good loyal Bogey was in bad shape, blind & disoriented, kidneys failing, abdomen swelling, etc... he just wasn't happy being a dog anymore. It was hard to take him to put him down, but it worked out well because we were in Harrisonburg. The kids were able to stay with family and Mike and I took him in together. He was the sweetest, most gentle dog. Our first "baby"! We miss him so much!

Okay, this is a canine-heavy post, but we've been doing two things lately: pool, dog, pool, dog.

Needless to say, with someone stealing the pencils, we haven't gotten much math done.

This guy is an absolute rascal every morning for about 2 hours, then he takes a good long nap.

THIS GIRL! Her ears poke out from her goggle straps, she has NO fear at all, and she has to stay right next to me because she sinks straight down into the water. When I pull her up, she has a big, goggly, drippy grin all over her face every time. With her float on she can swim all over the place by herself, and she loves the independence.

He's almost too big for the kids to hold now.

"This is my puppy."

Hard to believe he's filled our backyard with holes, bitten 3 pairs of my jammie pants, torn our plants apart... but it's worth it! He's learning to be a good boy.

Picnic time with Pop!

Who, me?

Dance parties with Fig

We had a birthday party for Uncle Steve, complete with karaoke time and a dance party in the garage!

Saying goodbye

Uncle Ben had his first babysitting stint while I had to make some phone calls. He is a good babysitter! I think he went home for a nap after this. ;)

That dimple

We own the pool if we get there early enough!

Just so cute with the goggles.

Someone fell asleep in Daddy's spot

Learning to go for walks again

Thirsty

Walks

Pretty lady

That girl needs some makeup

Get a drink, Cub!

Hopscotch

Another pretty lady

BIRTHDAY GIRL turned SIX! Yikes!

Rascally boy.

Getting lanky & awkward

Happy birthday to Hannie!

My girl Hannah, you are so special! Creative, unique, artistic, & feminine... you add beauty to our lives! This is the girl who sits at her desk trying to draw pictures to match the ideas in her head, crumpling up paper after paper trying to get it just right, the girl who abandons the lego directions and creates her own awesome ideas (while I reach for the directions like, uh... honey... it's not supposed...nevermind...) We're just beginning to catch a glimpse of the awesome visual way she thinks, and all the possibilities the Lord might have for her. We love you tons, Hannie!

Snuggling Daddy at her birthday dinner

Love these girls!

She wanted a pink parasol and a vanity...

She also wanted a pretty store-bought cake, which no one really liked, but it was pretty and meant a lot to her. So that was all that mattered. ;)

It is now June, and there are more recent updates I want to give (along with pictures), but first need to document the past couple of months in photos! We've had a beautiful spring, and it's been fun to see everything bloom and get green again. The kids spend tons of time outside, especially now that they have a swing set to play on! School is winding down for us, although we'll keep doing a little work each day through the summer, it'll be more laid back. Here are some spring shots I loved!

These were the pictures we took before the girls' spring music concert.

Little man gettin' big.

She can't read the music yet, but boy those "piggy buns" looked so cute!

She is almost 8, and we can't believe it.

The girls finished their spring swim lessons! Now we joined a pool for the summer, and we are LOVING it & going as frequently as possible.

Aunt Sarah & Mom babysat the kids for two nights so I could go to a conference. They did such a good job - the kids still talk about how much fun they had. Uncle Stevie surprised everyone and brought down a table & chairs and some garden trugs for us to plant veggies!

Picnic

School in the front yard at the new table

Bethy LOVES to do school and begs me for more work. She tries to read on her own because she's tired of always waiting for Mommy to help the big girls!

What 32 year old still gets to have a birthday party at her parents' house?! I felt so spoiled. Thanks Mom, Daddy, Aunt Sarah & Uncle Steve. xoxo

Baby Mary arrived! We got to meet her right away, but this pic was taken when Uncle Mike got to snuggle her for the first time.

Hannie's fairy garden

One weekend, each of the kids got to go on a Daddy Date to their choice of location. Nathanael & Daddy had fries at Burger King, Hannie got to go shopping for flowers and get a milkshake, Charis picked a Mexican restaurant (for nuggets & fries), and Bethy chose the donut shop.