{I'm that Mom}

the one who makes their kids do homework in the summer.

the one that bans you from anything fun unless your homework is done. no swimming, no wii, no reading, no movies until the work is done.

well, i have let up and they are doing homework after lunch now, but it isn't a fight and they do not happily but without whining so I let it go and just hope they are still able to do what they could do when school let out!

{Not the FRUIT of our labor}

don't these look great!

we are so lucky to have 2 fruit tress in the backyard. we don't do anything to them really, Chad prunes them when he thinks they look like they need it but besides that no work.

And we still get some yummy fruit from them!

{Where we spent our Saturday}

Aren't we lucky? Doesn't it just look relaxing?!

Since Grandma and Grandpa stayed in a hotel this trip because of all the moving and unsureness of where people would be living....but the hotel had a wonderful pool. So grandma rented us a cabana for the day and one of those big beds.

We spent the WHOLE day at the pool.

Relaxing.

Swimming.

It was very relaxing and fun.

{Apo Tradition}

It seems that when we have Apo family in town we can always end up at the bowling alley. All the kids love it and it is cool inside which is key when you live in HOT las vegas.

It is also very family tradition-y. You see as kids we always went bowling in Graham, NC when we would visit my Grandma and Grandpa Mann. It was a part of the trip tradition we had there...we would bowl, putt putt, and eat out for lunch. If it was a longer trip I would go with my Grandma to watch her get her hair done and maybe out for breakfast to "biscuitville" to get biscuits and gravy, and grits. And she'd always let me get a Sprite with my breakfast.

So bowling in Vegas brings the circle to a close....we'll have to start bowling in Utah when we visit Kris and Elisa, and Virginia with Blake and his family to keep the tradition alive!

(Uncle Kris with all the kids)

{Pack Meeting for June}

One of the two pictures I got before my camera died...stinky batteries!

They were having a recycling race and here's our K in action.

{To the Mountain}

After the boys asking all week we found a few spare hours to go hiking today in our local mountains. The only problem was the weather. Since it has been so "cool" in Vegas (cool being under 85) the mountain weather was "freezing" (for us that means 52 degrees). And I forgot to bring sweatshirts or have everyone dress in jeans so our time up there was only 2 hours.

But the boys have a lot of fun and any boulder, stump or tree they could climb on their wanted their picture taken. This is the first time in at least 2 years they have happily taken pictures and K even put his arm around his brother without any prompting! AMAZING!

{boredom}

Well this is what the boys will do when their cousins are here and after about 15 days of summer break and they are already "bored"



My little ponies! who knew....


They have also been talked into playing "barber-e" shop. But they put their boyish twist on it. L. is the "barber" and E is the customer who happens to be a policeman. K comes in with his sidekick A to rob the "store" and a chase begins.


Girl games provide some new entertainment around here.


And when you don't want to play with them you can always sit in a bucket and play DS!

{3 is better than 1}

E can now hula hoop 3 hoops at a time....he got two hula hoops for his birthday and with L's hoop he can do three.

it is very entertaining.

(this week)

I am going list style this week....becuase...i'm not sure why but it seems easy to post tonight!

--my brain is overfull from learning new things to help with my new job in the fall (very good but a bit stressful thinking of all i can do, need to do and want to do with my 1st graders!)

--E's birthday!! he is 7!

--3 soccer games this week! (we won them all....but we aren't counting :)

--the nicest weather we have EVER had in June in our 9 years in Vegas...it has been in the 70s the last 3 days and breezy...no A/C and just fresh air...we have loved it!

--two kids already claiming "they are bored" and it's only the 2nd week of summer break

--a trip to the movie store...3 wii games and some old but good movies for me and Chad.

This week brings more fun before we get some summer visitors! We can't wait to have our family in town!!

{Today is your birthday}

Well it's E's birthday!

He is 7!

Seven fun filled years....from baby to toddler to now 2nd grader....where does the time go?

(E in 2006)

He has grown from a non talking (b/c he didn't want to ) to a story teller and a wonderful reader.

(E back in 2007)

He has discovered he loves to play sports and still likes to tag around with K.

K. is his bestest friend and I love that.

E is quiet and tenderhearted but is still all boy all the time.

We love having him as part of our family and know that with him our family is complete!

Happy Day E!!