Our impromptu picnic at the lake

...and it was so much fun!  We called Mike hoping he could skip an hour of work and join us, but alas, he couldn't, he was in meetings all afternoon.  But the sun was shining and we had to get out and enjoy it!

Aren't they cute!!! :D

Even though there were picnic tables everywhere, the kids thought it would be more authentic and picnic- like if we used a blanket.  So we did.  They sat here, oh, about long enough for me to take this picture, then they were off.

The kids really enjoyed just chucking little pebbles into the lake.  And I enjoyed sitting on the blanket, soaking up some good ol' vitamin D and listening to their giggles.

I think this picture was taken right after I realized that D was eating his dessert before eating even two bites of his sandwich.  He though he was pretty tricky and cute.  I agree with the cute part.

As you also can see here, D is going through a chubby phase.  It makes me smile.

AND can you tell his sisters adore him!

just a shot I got of D looking awfully adorable with his long, wild, curly hair (or "fur" as he sometimes refers to it as), and yes, I know I am biased.

All four of them hanging out by the water.

J finally got a rock to skip!  He was thrilled!

Here is our "pet, Sally, the salamander".  

She was our pet for less than a minute before she was returned to her natural habitat.

Mike saw this picture and said sarcastically, "that looks safe"  referring to me being decently far behind the kids as I took this and D being scarily close to the edge.  No worries, babe, I would have ditched the camera and jump in after him if need be. :)  

Can you guess what J was looking for?...FISH!  Like father like son.

Walking on the bridge.  Have I mentioned how much I love these guys!!

I snuck in a little shoot time.  And here is my dashing young man with his o' so cute grin.

and here he is again with his cheesy smile.  Those of you who know him know this little crooked grin well. :)

And his, "I'll do anything for you if you _____ (fill in the blank) smile."  LOVE HIM!!

and them S was 1/2 way willing to pose for me. :)

Her serious look.

A little smile.  And I am reminded of how much I love her little sassy haircut.

And true to her S self, a little crazy face, as well.  She is a nut!!

I plan on getting some nice photos of J and A before school starts,  hopefully I'll be able to take them out without the other two so I can focus and not worry about D falling in a lake and stuff. :)

Don't worry, I have plenty more to share...photos for the whole month of July and then some snippets of our trip to UT and then the time with my sisters here.  It has been a busy month. :)

Love you all!

Oh how I love little newborns...

I took these pictures this week.  There are more, but this is all I have gotten to so far.

One of the first pictures

with a little edit

I have some better ones in the carriage, but eh. :)

and her mommy

sitting patiently and quietly (the next few she is SCREAMING-so cute)

that is all for now.
she is a doll.

all June...

Well, I have surely fallen behind in posting, so I am going to do one big catch up post.

our June included...  

1. an online class for me

2. visit from Mike's parents

3. heart attack for my Dad (2 stents later he is well and on the mends)

4. all night relay for life cancer walk in town

5. baptism for our A

6. afternoon with a house full of family and friends and food, of course

7. one of Mike's co-workers stayed with us for a week

8. open house for Mike's work (which was a HUGE success--more that 400 people came in two days to tour the new building) for which I designed and printed invitations, posters, handout cards, after photos, as well as a before and after slide show.

and we are only up to the 9th of June so far...

9. strep throat for the 2 girls

10. many extra trips to help out at school with projects and activities

11. trip to McCall, ID

12. end of school

13. strep throat for J

14. J ran in the Hersey track meet in Seattle (placed 10th in his age group for the state, with a fever and strep throat)

15. quick solo (sans any and all children) trip to check on my Dad

16. Mike's annual work family party, which I missed because...

17. an all day baseball tournament for J in Yelm.  (D and I took him)

18. start of our summer schedule (workbooks and chores)

19. going to my sister's to celebrate Ty's birthday pirate style

20. J earning his Bear in Cub scouts

21. and possible alien abduction

Needless to say, we have had a busy month...

and here are the photos...

(so not fond of how mushy blogger makes my pictures look)

we discovered that S will wear tights if I cut the feet off of them. hahahaa!

she doesn't like the restrictive feeling of tights on her feet

my mother's day flowers from J growing.

getting the guest bedroom ready for my in-laws

making sugar cookies with Grandma Clegg

A's baptism

wishing for a pedicure

the empty ink cartridges piled up, and I even had thrown some away already.

the front of Mike's building.  

There are some pretty awesome before and after pictures on my Facebook page.

some doodles I drew for my shoppe

My mother's day plant from A finally has a bud

a handful of neighborhood kids at my house.  

my girls had strep throat, otherwise they'd be out too.

I left Mike with 2 sick girls and the 2 healthy and busy boys.  

I took off for the afternoon to see my Dad.  

He is doing alright, and thought he was well enough to mow the lawn this day, a little more than a week after his heart attack.

He was teasing me and as ornery as usual. :)  love you Dad!

Spent a few hours drawing for the kids while they colored in what I drew.

random pile on my desk.

D smiling at me.

my cool new rainboots packed for our trip to ID.

Mike's fish

Our cool plane we flew home in

unpacking

Happy Father's Day!  We love Mike!

Some of the workbooks.  I have my kids do a reading, writing, and math page daily, as well as a journal entry

My mother's day flower from A with it's flower

D munching on a strawberry

A new hair cut!  She loves how easy it is to brush!

cute plate I got

The underdogs- J's traveling team, and he chose MY number! :)

D munched on these while we were at the tournament the day before

some ribbons I put in my shoppe

Our pirate family (minus Mike) for Ty's party. :)

a typical expression from my oldest once he sees the camera out. 

Hopefully it won't be a full month before I post again. :)