Memorial Day

Belated blogging...I feel like Mikele...

On patriotic holidays, our street has flags lining it. It looks really pretty.

Our plan for Memorial Day was for Lee's parents to come over and help us replace the bottom half of the screens on our porch. The bottom half had seen better days. People ran into them and poked holes. Sometimes I would levae Petunia on the porch and she would run into/through them. So...they needed help and that help came in the form of "petproof" screens. We'll see.

Before:

During (notice the girl "helping" in the background):

Lee's sister, brother and nephew stopped by to "help." And by help, I mean stand around and wait for us to serve lunch.

Lunch:

Some parts needed four people to get the job done.

As they were leaving, the Girl wanted to learn how to drive their big truck,

She especially enjoyed the old school cell phone. It one of the ones that is bolted to the floor next to the steering wheel. It kind of made me nostalgic for the old bag phone that plugged into the cigarette lighters.

Happy family that can now use the porch without fear of bugs.

Murray Visit

As you know from Katie's blog, we went to visit last weekend. We couldn't stop taking pictures of the 10 and 11 month old cousins. I promise we talked to Scott, Amelia and Junie, but alas...no pictures to prove it.

The cousins were hanging out and playing before bed.

After a battle, the Girl finally fell asleep. She won. Don't try to hold this girl down...she will writhe until she is free and exactly in the position SHE wants to be in.

A little Sunday AM dance party with the Murrays. We were teaching the kids that classic dance...the Macarena. Even Macker got in on the fun.


At church after we picked up the little ones form the nursery.

New Toy

Thanks to Aunt Kerstin, the Girl got a new toy this week. We love our hand-me-downs.


As you can see, she isn't quite walking yet. No hurry...then it will just be harder to catch her than it already is.

Something Smells Fishy

This morning we decided to go to the 8 o'clock service because the girl was up and it fit best into her nap schedule. We dropped her off in the nursery (this was only her second visit there). They asked if she could have Cheerios or other crackers and I said, "yes, she can have anything."

Little did I know...

We picked her up at 9:15 and the lady said that she was very friendly said hi to everyone repeatedly and didn't cry at all. Yay. Then she said, "we had some goldfish and she really like them. She ate a lot of them and probably won't need any lunch."

She has never had a goldfish in her life. It is no big deal, but I wonder how many she had. If the lady is telling me at 9:15 that my child doesn't need to eat lunch...that has got to be a fairly substantial amount of goldfish, right? She sure loves to eat. I have no idea where she gets it.

Mother's Day

On our first mothers' day, we went to church and then out to the farm to celebrated with Lee's family. We have graduated to slightly larger slip in bows. Also, I read that wearing one thing from head to toe is slimming; did it work?

After lunch we went outside. We visited the horses. I am not sure she is destined to be an equestrian.

Family pick up ride. Jerry, my father in law bought some adjoining land and took us to see it. Notice the dogs in the back. Laine is sitting there with all four of them...yes, they now have four.

Lee was trying to get the horses to run so the girl could watch them.

A little ATV action. Aren't they cute?

The cousins hanging out in the wagon: Jared and Lucia.

Eating flowers:

Uncle Lance is home from college for the summer. He thought her outfit needed a little "bling." Notice the goofy teeth.

Grandma LuEllyn's toy storage spot.

Lee's strange form of bonding.

A helpful smile in every aisle...

So...the other day, I was at HyVee (our grocery store here in Iowa) with the girl. I was walking to the produce section when a man wearing a sleeveless shirt walked out of the deli area and stopped to talk to the girl. He was smiling at her and talking to her and she was smiling right back at him. He asked about her age and such.

Then he turned to the side and pointed at his left upper arm and showed me the tattoo of his 3 elementary age sons' faces and names. It was huge; from his shoulder to his elbow. What was I to say? SO, I politely asked how old they are now. They are 21, 23, and 25 if you were wondering.

Then he pulled down the neck of his shirt to display his entire right pec. It was his mom and dad with a large banner reading, "in loving memory" (may they rest in peace). How Sweet!

It was quite a morning at the grocery store. Very friendly. You have to love Iowa.

Happy Birthday, Chunk!

Today is my best friend, Chunk's birthday (AKA Kristy).

I hunted down this picture for the occasion. This was the first time we met. It was at East Iowa Bible Camp. In 1987 we both attended 3rd grade camp. We were 8. Now we are 30. Yikes.

I love you, Chunk! Thanks for 22 years of fun. Welcome to your 30s.

No Turning Back

Guess who had her first Chick-fil-A waffle fry?

She liked it so much, she had to have one for each hand.