David's 11th birthday!

It's so hard to believe that my boy is eleven!  How could he have gone from that tiny little guy (look at his size relative to my hand)...

...to this big strapping boy (he's up to 58 inches and 81 lbs) so quickly?!

 David had a very happy birthday!  Here he is with his sister and his "morning present" from her.

Boots for stream-wading out back, from Grandpa and Grandma McKee

A waterproof "man" watch from Grandpa and Grandma Minota

Airsoft guns from us (yes, we are definitely in a new stage of life!)

Airsoft eye protection and ammo from Grandpa and Grandma O'Gorman

Trying out the new guns

Sharing with his sister

Birthday dinner (with his friend Rory).  Ribs, mashed potatoes, broccoli and cauliflower with cheese sauce, carrots, and garlic bread

Ribs! (he did share them with us :-)

Camouflage birthday cake

That new stage of life I mentioned?  Just in case you needed more proof, here's a picture.  They spent a while shooting this ant hill...

 Molly doesn't often show up in pictures, because she's usually holed up somewhere sleeping, and always grumpy!  My mom's cat prepped this box before it was mailed to us with David's birthday present inside (see here) and when Molly came out for an inspection, she was quite miffed at the 'invasion'!!!

We are so thankful for our rough-and-tumble boy and look forward to watching him learn and grow in the year ahead!

Our week ~ April 15

Our days have continued to be filled with busyness -- but we have had a new energy to deal with the busyness as the excitement of closing in on the end of our school year builds!

Our friend Karen had an "ABC party" -- everything at the party was themed around the letters of the alphabet.  Each of the kids was supposed to pick a letter and then wear as many things as possible that started with their letter.  Can you guess our kids' letters (Abigail had 28 things that started with her letter; David had 26)?

 

Abigail and I took a stroll around the yard one sunny afternoon to capture our spring blooms.

Azaleas

Bleeding heart (from my grandmother Minota's garden)

Phlox

Clematis on our mailbox

Mystery flower.  Identification help, anyone?!

Blueberry blossoms!

We have a mockingbird who has lived in our "topiary tree" (a holly that we cut into a topiary shape) for years.  When we did a major pruning this last fall, though, she got very upset.  We were soooo relieved and happy to see that she forgave us and kept her nest in the tree this spring!  This isn't a great picture -- my aim was a little off! -- but it's proof of a very happy thing.

David celebrated his 11th birthday on Friday (separate post later).  Here is our first family picture with an eleven year old (!!!) boy!

On Saturday, while David and his friend were outside playing, Abigail set up a beauty parlor in her room and gave Angie a curly hairstyle.

Remember that end-of-the-school-year energy I mentioned?  Here is a typical school morning for us...the kids hard at work, Mindy napping supervising nearby.  We are on the final countdown!!!

Our week ~ April 8

This week was our first one this spring that was full of wonderfully warm weather...and we couldn't help but get outside and enjoy it!  We met friends at the playground after school on Monday...

...and more friends at another playground on Tuesday!

Abigail has been having a tough time with spring allergies, as she usually does.  Her allergic reactions got worse and worse until we decided it was time for some help.  Her allergist put her on a few days of steroids and that has done the trick in helping her body to get over the worst of it.

Abigail showing us how she was feeling while at the doctor's office...

...and David wanted a turn to make a crazy face since his sister got to!

This is why everyone's allergies have been so bad.  Look at the jump from almost no pollen in the air to a LOT.

My little girl is growing up so quickly.  She took off all by herself for her soccer field this week with a "Bye, Mom!" and a wave and that pretty 'new' ponytail swinging jauntily behind her.

We stopped at the library this week, which we haven't done in ages.  The kids were so thrilled to be back in the midst of that treasure trove of books...and we carted home 61 books between the three of us. :)  I LOVE that both of the kids got the reading gene!

Mindy likes it best when we stay home and she can be near us.

Yesterday I opened a kitchen cupboard to get a dish out and felt someone looking at me -- I looked up to see this cute little face staring down at me from amongst my canned tomatoes.

 It was a busy week but in lots of good ways!

Our week ~ April 1

Our week started off with a bang as Abigail decided to have her hair cut for Locks of Love.  We have never cut her hair -- only trimmed it an inch or two twice a year -- so this was a big decision!  She has been deliberating for months, but once her mind was made up, she could hardly wait to get it done, so we headed out Monday afternoon for her big event.

She donated ten inches!  For the first few days, she kept swinging her head back and forth and saying delightedly how "swing-y" her hair felt. :)  She looks beautiful!

Monday night we met RaDora for dinner.  It had been waaaay too long since we had seen her, so it was wonderful to spend some time together.  I was reminded why we love her so much...she is just a lovely person inside and out.

Our week ended under the black cloud of a stomach bug, so we did a lot of this...

...curling up under a blanket, naps, reading, and watching cartoons.  We are feeling all better now and back to our normal selves...and our normal diet, for which David especially is grateful.  He is convinced that the BRAT(Y) diet is a tool for starvation and torture!

I finally did something I have long meant to do...followed all of the instructions for forcing a potted amaryllis to go dormant and then bringing it "back to life" again.  It is blooming now -- a brilliant orange-red four-bloomer with a shimmery, sparkly sheen that I couldn't get to show up in a picture.  We are thoroughly enjoying its beauty.

This past Friday, I finished writing out my lessons plans for our LAST FOUR WEEKS of school -- I can NOT believe we are so close to the end of the school year!  We are all excited at the thought of summer vacation and so we are hitting our schoolwork with a new level of enthusiasm!