WW- 1, 2, 3......... JUMP!!!!

Wordful Wednesday - Hosted by Angie (no, not "MY" Angie)

Last night we went to my Dad's house to visit with my Aunts and Grandfather.... And since it is still blazing hot here, the kids were still able to swim!!

We thought it would be fun to try to get a picture of all of them jumping in together.... yea right... fun for them.... BUT for this mommy trying to get them all to jump on 3 (and not 2...or not after 3), it was...let's say... interesting!! :)

Always, Joseph is in first.... most of the time he can't even wait for me to count!!

Joseph and Ethan...but not Angie...

They were all jumping...just not at the same time...

This is a shock-- Ethan and Angie, but NOT Joseph (he probably wasn't listening to me)...

Once again...Joseph and Ethan, but not Angie.... arrrggghhhh...

OK, let's take a break.... Gamps, you just throw Angie in...

Ok... now CJ has decided to join the fun...

Finally-- Joseph, Angie and Ethan... but NOT Cj... I was ready to strangle them....

OK....here we go... 1, 2, 3.................. JUMP!!!!

My Little Fish

Angie has become quite the swimmer this summer..... She is the last of my kids to learn to swim and I will be SO HAPPY when she is fully "trained". Right now, she is so fearless and just thinks she can do anything in the pool without "danger"....
If I don't go in the pool with her, I make her wear swimmies....just a little extra reassurance that she won't sink before I can get to her!!

Anyway, we went to Gamps and Grama's house a couple weeks ago and she got to swim and swim and swim!!!

:)

:)

Look at her go......

Taking a break with Heidi.....

and Gamps......

and then back to swimming....

Tomorrow the boys get their turn and get to swim at Gamps & Grama's..... The kids are excited, as are Gamps & Grama since they haven't seen the boys for over a month....

My Little Olympian.....

....Science olympian, that is!!!

After 3 months of once-a-week practices, today Ethan competed in his first ever Science Olympiad!!!! His event was called "Picture This", which is sort of like the game Pictionary..... His team (of 3) had 5 minutes to go through 21 science related words (i.e. chemical change, evaporation, molecules, inertia, gravity etc...), draw them and have the other team members guess them without any verbal clues.

Ethan's team got through 20 of the words, only passed on 1 (one) and only missed 2 (two) of them.... at least that is what they told us..... We were not allowed to go in the room with them for obvious reasons (we could run out and tell other teams what words are being used....get it??) :)
Anyway, that is a great score and I am very, very proud of him...... of course I am proud of him no matter what, but as his mommy I do like to see him succeed as well!!!

Ethan and his teammates:

Gamps giving a "science" pep talk:

Ready, Set, GO..... (this is as close as I could get..... boo)

Congratulations Ethan...... my little SCIENCE STAR!!!!!

What a Weekend.... Part II

After my busy, busy Saturday, I slept in on Sunday morning...... I slept in and then lounged around in my pajamas until I had to get showered and dressed for my BBQ.

Joe and my Dad had planned a nice family & friends birthday party/bbq for ME... both of them knowing how much I enjoy get-togethers like that!! It was a day full of family, friends, LOTS of food, gifts, cake and FUN!!!

Joe made his "famous" ribs and I made my "famous" homemade mashed potatoes and fresh green beans.... I know, I shouldn't have cooked on my day, but since Joe really wanted those potatoes...and since he did peel them (all 10 lbs. of them) for me....well, I just did it!! And my dad my my favorite cake of all.... yellow cake with chocolate frosting...yummy!!!

Some pictures of our day...........

Joe and I waiting for the crowd to show up:

My dad worked up a sweat watching Joseph ride his bike:

Hanging out.....

....waiting for Joe to finish cooking.....

.....his famous ribs (and WOW are they good...I mean, great!!!)

I had to get a good picture of the kids before they ate and got all messy (yea, I'm a bit anal like that!!)

And mommy had to get a bit silly with them too........

Chowing down..... yummy, yummy!!

Happy Birthday to ME!!!! (they thought it would be funny to put 34 candles on the cake.... ha-ha)

It's all mine...don't try to take it from me!!!

Some of my gifts.... Some of my favorite things.... I love Brighton and Bath & Body Works and I love, love, love Willow Tree figurines!!!

Happy Tuesday Friends!!!!

You say It's Your Birthday.........

Today is my dear, sweet Dad's birthday.... he is the ripe ole age of.................. oops, can't tell that (did I scare you for a minute Dad??).
I am very lucky to have a close relationship with my Dad. And especially after my mom died he has been my rock!! He is always there for me to listen, talk, motivate and encourage me, and he is G-R-E-A-T with the kids..... they LOVE their "Gamps" (it's a cute story how the name "Gamps" was started....another time) and he loves them to. He loves to come be a big kid with them and he loves to teach them new things too....especially science related, as he is WAY into that suff.

Angie and I took him to brunch this morning at Cracker Barrel and we had a really nice time!! And of course they had to get in a game of checkers...... he was "trying" to teach her to play.... but she's 3 and well, you can imagine how well she "learned"!!

HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!!! Love, Halfpint (that's my nickname from my dad)

AND, yesterday was my best friend's birthday and we all went out for dinner and gambling at a casino about an hour from here (it's on Seminole Indian land, so I guess that's how it is legal).

I am not a gambler, but I do like to throw my money away in the slot machines.. he-he!!

HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, my friend!!!