happy 4th of july

it has been a cool and rainy 4th of july. . . so i guess it is a good thing we did our "celebrating" on the 3rd! the cousins {minus grace who was off with a friend for the weekend--missed ya gracie!} spent the day at our house. although it was a bit cool, we headed off to the splash park and playground--seemed that joey was the only one tough enough to play in the chilly water.

the kids decided they would rather swim in the pool where the water was MUCH warmer!then it was off to uncle j and aunt l's house for a camp out. . . mmmm hot dogs, s'mores and dough-boys all topped off with an outdoor movie [Pink Panther 2]. the kids seemed to like it more than the adults--check out how glued they are! We had intermission to go watch Conner Parairie Fireworks--great show--and of course there were sparklers {what would the 4th be without them?}.

of course there was a big tent sleep-over with the dads--thankfully the rain held off until today so the kids enjoyed some super-fun playtime indoors.
makin' memories.

arctic swim lessons

thankful for a really warm heated pool this week since it has been as low as 67 for a high one day and the kids are taking swim lessons in the morning. luke is taking a swim team prep class with his cousins {these kids absolutely LOVE being together}. . .their speed and stroke development are coming along!grant has started working in breast stroke, wow! can i see a lot of terry in him:)
a bit of diving practice for cole--they have all worked really hard and are coming along! and a huge thanks to miss stephanie who keeps cranking up the heater!

all-star game

luke made the all-star team again this year--always a privilege--and played a double header last night. the kids had a great time and luke enjoyed getting to play ball on the same team with his buddy {and our neighbor} drew.the boys got trophys for a great season of play

check out the headbutting. . . grant and cole shared a slurpee during the game and i think it was "game on" to see who could drink the most while trying to push each other's heads out of the way.

ahhh, the freedom festival

our boys always love heading out to the fishers freedom festival. . .new this year was a kid run. i think it could have been much longer, and so did they--maybe next year! of course, EVERYONE got a medal!

the favorite activity of the weekend had to have been the water balloon sling shots {every boy's dream--big boys included--}it seems that no matter where we go cole can manage to find dogs or puppies to pet. today he found two CUTE lab pups, i think he could have pet them for hooooours!another highlight was the rock wall. . .seems that cole blew his bros out of the water on how far he could get!

and of course, what would the freedom festival be without the p-a-r-a-d-e??!!! we always watch this one with grandpa and grandma. it seemed a bit sparse on the candy this year {a sign of our economy???} but the kiddos still had a blast.

beatn' the heat

so HOT here. . .as i am sure it is everywhere. the kids love, LOVE our neighbor's new triple slip n' slide. it was an instant hit and has kept them busy for the past 2 days--a treat to mommy!

father's day '09

we had a sweet simple day to celebrate. . .church, a little lunch with grandpa, home to open a few presents and then a quiet afternoon. one that fulfilled terry's father's day wish {a nap that lasted ALL afternoon, really it did, he woke at 5:30}. thanks to our fantastic neighbor we had some leftover pizza for dinner and grant and i made a lead cake for dessert. a perfect day in the eye of the beholder--we hope you loved it T!

last day of school. . whoohoo!!

Here already. . the last day of school! It's been a great year with super teachers who LOVE their jobs and their students! A quick pic of my now 3rd grader, 1st grader and Kindergartner!! Everyone will hop on the bus next year--crazy.
Luke with his teacher from both first and second grade, Mrs. Vadas--thank goodness for looping!! One of the other super duper room moms put together a 50 digital scrapbook of the past 2 years--yes there were tears!And, Grant with Mrs. Walter. She made his year super. Luke had her too and we are crossing our fingers that Cole will get her next year! She also got a scrapbook--each kid put together a page. It turned out SO cute. We officially finished 5 years at Castleview PreSchool. We will be sad to leave Mrs. Lamke (right), Mrs. Simpson (left) and the other super teachers there. Our kids have been shown the love of Jesus!