Crazy Man!

Some how I accidentally deleted this picture from the post below. This is my husband looking like some crazy, deranged man. I was standing on the patio taking pictures and he thought it would be funny to chunk a water balloon at me.

Again, don't pay attention to the tree that is in pieces.

Summer Lovin'

We were so busy this weekend getting our garage and shed organized that we didn't get to make a trip down to the pool. Pool time is an absolute must for every weekend during the summer. However, we tried to help Jonathan have a good time in the backyard. By the way, I do have a daughter. She was inside working on a project that she put off. However, she didn't seem upset to be missing all of the fun. I think she has grown out of slip-in-slides and water balloon fights.


Trying to beat the heat, I made frozen popsicles out of lemonade. Jonathan was very impatient. I can't imagine how they were able to freeze, because he checked the popsicle container every five minutes to see if they were ready yet.

Glad to see that he has all of his ribs!


I really wanted a small pool for the backyard. Unfortunately our backyard slopes and I was informed (as I am every year) that it would be a big pain to try to put a pool back there. As a consolation, I bought a slip-in-slide. Otherwise, I end up living at the community pool.

Big fun with the slip-in-slide

I bought this $10 water ball from Walmart. It didn't take long for the boys to figure out that it was a waste of money. The water balloon didn't explode inside it like it was supposed to. (Don't pay attention to the tree behind Fred. That is another one of our summer projects. Right now, the main part has been cut down and it is in pieces in the backyard.)



Therefore they switched to the $5 container of water balloons. Much more fun and cheaper! Who knew?

Pack Meeting

Last Tuesday we attended the last Pack meeting of the school year.

The Bears did a skit for everyone. It was a little strange, but very cute.

Ooh, ooh... pick me, pick me!!!

Receiving 3 beads. By the time we meet again, he will have earned his Bear badge. He was so close. I was hoping that we would have completed it, but we didn't quite make it.

Memorial Day Weekend

We had Fred's parents in town for Memorial Day weekend. Unfortunately, Fred had to work on Monday. I helped Jonathan finish up a math project and then we went outside for some fun.



Even at the ripe old age of 9, Jonathan loves his bubbles. He especially loves his big green bubble wand. They cost $1 each at Walmart. The last time I was there, I stocked up on green bubble wands!

Jonathan has this teeny-tiny little kite. He was so excited that it was flying. Of course, it was flying because he was running around like a crazy man. Oh well, at least he had a positive outlook. I would have been grouchy that I was having to use so much physical energy to get the dang thing off the ground.

Sidewalk chalk and paint are always fun.

BFFs

Missy, Gracie and Mollie

The sweet girl on the left is my mother-in-law's dog, Missy. We kept her for five days while her parents visited the Grand Canyon. She and Mollie had a blast. They romped and played from sun up until sun down everyday! They were both exhausted by the time Missy went back to Arkansas. Thank you, Grandma and PawPaw Larry, for letting her stay with us!

Workin' Hard

Jonathan decided he wanted to pot some flowers. Last night while we were shopping for a new lawnmower, we found the perfect ones. We pulled out some old flower pots that we had in the garage and he chose an array of non-matching pots. Here he is also using his SpongeBob gardening tools. He was quite impressed with his work.
He wasn't as excited about cleaning up, though. Unfortunately, there is almost always clean-up involved after a fun project.

We discussed the daily care that he would need to give his flowers. He wondered aloud if caring for the flowers could be considered a chore. (Which means, will you give me money for taking care of my own flowers?)

American Idol Review by Jonathan

Fred, Jonathan and I were watching the American Idol finale tonight. (Jessie had Young Women's at church.) Danny Gokey and Lionel Richie performed together singing a medley of Lionel Richie songs. After it was over, Jonathan piped up with "I just love Danny Gokey. I like that other guy he sang with, too. He is really good. He sounds like the original singer of that song." What??? Trust me, we don't have Lionel Richie playing at our house. I don't know where he had heard it before.

I told Jonathan that Lionel Richie was the original singer. He said very seriously, "I thought so. He is really good." All of you Lionel Richie fans (if there are any out there), don't get excited by Jonathan's discerning taste in music. He later rocked out with Adam Lambert and Kiss. He also claims to really like Jorge who got voted off at the very beginning. Jonathan definitely likes all different types of music. No girl singers, though. Girls are gross!

Johnny and Little Kaitlyn

This is our neighbor, Kaitlyn. She and Jonathan are buddies. She likes to call him Johnny and he calls her Little Kaitlyn (so that she isn't confused with a teenage neighbor). Neither one seems to mind that the other has given them an odd nickname.

Most of the time, they enjoy each other's company. However, there are times that they fuss a little bit. He doesn't like it when she blows too many bubbles with his special green bubble wand and she doesn't like it when he steps on bugs or burps. Jonathan is in 3rd grade and Kaitlyn is in 1st. Not the ideal match-up, but they make it work.

My brother, Jeff, had the same kind of relationship with our neighbor, Emily. They hung out together constantly and never seemed to realize that they had an unlikely friendship. I think they also fussed a little over silly things. Their friendship endured for many years. Thanks to Facebook, they have recently found each other again.

Gracie

I think this is my favorite picture of Gracie. She will be 12 years old this summer. Monday night, Jonathan and I took her and Mollie on a nice long walk. I had thought about leaving Gracie at home, but decided at the last second to take her with us. I usually keep her walks pretty short, but I was worried that she would get her feelings hurt. (Mollie gets to take extra walks, plus we are always taking her with us to PetSmart or to doggy daycare.)

Later that night, Fred mentioned that he was worried about Gracie. Fred, Jonathan and I started comparing notes and decided that we were all worried about her. The night before I had gotten up at 2:00 a.m. to take some ibuprofen. When I got up, I found her standing at the back door staring out the window. We have a doggy door, so she wasn't waiting on someone to let her out. I thought it was odd, but just dismissed it. When we got home Monday evening, Jonathan found her locked up in his room. Fred said that she was in the living room when he left, so we aren't sure how she ended up in there. Then, Fred said that Monday morning she was panting and following him around. With this on our mind, we all freaked out when she started making this weird noise.

Shih-tzus have short nasal passages, so they sneeze and snort a lot. However, Gracie was making a noise that we had never heard before. It was like she couldn't breath through her nose. I am sure she was allergic to something on our walk, or she snorted some grass. Regardless, we all watched her like a hawk. Fred kept asking me if I had anything to give her. He was really worried and he NEVER worries.

We sat in the glide rocker that I used to rock my babies. I cradled her and rocked her. While it soothed Jess and Jonathan, I'm not sure that it worked with Gracie. However, she did like the attention and it made Mollie mad with jealousy!

Once bedtime arrived, I thought about putting her in bed with Fred and I. But, I was worried that she might hurt herself trying to get down. Instead, I made her go to sleep on her pillow that we keep in our bedroom. I laid very still and listened to her inhale and exhale... MOST of the night. I was so worried that she would stop breathing during the night. I am happy to report that she is now perfectly fine. I think she was just having an allergic reaction to something we came into contact with on our walk. As far as the odd behavior is concerned, I think she was having a "senior moment."

At what point did she stop being just our sweet family pet? Somewhere along the way, both dogs morphed into our four-legged children. This was just a small glimpse into our future. How will I ever survive Gracie's senior years?

Graduation

Mollie graduated from her Beginner Training Class. Mollie does great in class and she does great at home when we are practicing. However, we haven't been able to apply our training to real life situations. For example, should you come by our house and ring the doorbell, craziness will ensue. The first thing is Mollie will run out the door to greet you. Then you will find me behind her. I am usually trying to give commands (sometimes I am caught by surprise and forget to use the commands) and she is too excited to obey.

Oh well, I guess we will keep trying!

Happy Mother's Day

"Motherhood is near to divinity. It is the highest, holiest service to be assumed by mankind. It places her who honors its holy calling and service next to the angels."
-James. R. Clark

We hope everyone has a great Mother's Day. We are so thankful for all of the sweet mothers that have blessed our lives.

Fred' s mom, Lois (Grandma). If Fred's stories are true, then there is a special place in heaven for Lois. For instance, Fred loves to tell how he and his siblings burned down the neighboring woods.

This is my Mom (MaMaw). I made her job as a mother very easy. I was a little angel - never getting into trouble. If my brother comments on this post, please do not believe a word of it. He is jealous that he didn't inherit the "angel gene." (Thankfully, his main form of communication is texting, so I should be safe.)

This is my Grandma. She will confirm my angel status, I'm sure. You should all be jealous of me, because she is one cool Grandma!

Ladies, I love all three of you and will be thinking of you on Mother's Day!

Just Because

I just want to say that I love these two amazing kids. There are many times that they try my patience (and there are also many times that I try their patience). This week, I have found myself being reminded again and again that they are truly special people.

Jonathan and I were at the grocery store this week. He picked out some roses and vase that he insisted I needed. Very sweetly, he told me that I was going to have to buy them because he didn't have any money with him. He really felt like I needed them. I relented and bought the flowers and vase. He later told me that he was so glad that he had picked out those flowers for me.

Jessie tried to save a baby bird this week. The bird didn't make it, but she and her friends were determined to try to help it. She has been really sweet and thoughtful this week, as well.

Jessie and Jonathan, I love you very much!