bellflower update

I've also spent some time this week playing around with photo editing. I'm working on developing collage cards for "Bellflower Design Studio". I'm posting a couple of the designs, just so you all can check 'em out!

i had no idea...

I joined Facebook this week. This may be the reason I haven't updated the blog.

The children are clean, well fed, and happy...so I haven't squandered a scandelous amount of time. But, truth be told, I had no idea this beast existed for me. I thought this was some sort of taboo high school/college dating scene. I was wrong! (it has to happen every once in awhile :0)..)

I've found so many relatives and friends there...and was most pleased to find my old roommate and bridesmaid (hi Kelly!) whom I haven't talked to in six or more years! While I didn't find many high school friends there (come on Kentucky!!!), Jeff is in the midst of a virtual high school reunion (yes, he joined too).

What fun this is...all this social networking! It's a far cry from plugging 3 hours worth of code into my Commodore 64 just to make the 4-second sound of a baby crying. My, how far we've come.

cutey pie..

just had these photos to share...enjoy!

quoteable quotes

So...Lauren started riding sans training wheels about a month ago. Since, she's been perfecting making turns and going up and down hills.

I've wanted to start running again lately and thought the perfect strategy would be run next to Lauren on her bike last night. I actually did pretty well. I was puffing a little bit when I would talk to her and felt a little like walking, but in order to stay with her, I had to keep running. So here's the quote:

At about 1 mile, she said, "I'm tired".
I said, "I wish I had a bike."
She said, "You do. It's in the garage. You should've brought it."

Guess it didn't make much sense to her that I would run when there was a perfectly good bike sitting at home.

meijer gardens

We finally made it out to Meijer Gardens yesterday! It was a hot one, but the kids loved it and I loved remembering how painful it was to be out in the heat last year in the weeks before Julia's arrival! The sun felt good and the gardens were beautiful! I couldn't resist snapping some flower shots and the kids were very patient while I did (no joke!).

Below is sweet Julia, just wishing she was one of the big kids! (Maybe it's because they have candy.)

The "great lakes" were the perfect height for Julia to stand and splash her heart out. She was drenched from head to toe. She wasn't exactly happy to get back in the stroller after this!

Just plain, heart-stopping gorgeous girls! (if I do say so myself)

Julia loved the little cabin they have there. She was all over the place and they even had this little stuffed baby doll there. She had to get in a squabble with Sarah for snuggling rights...but Sarah found a broom to play with, so we were good.

It wasn't until after I took the picture below that I thought..."This might be icky." (I'm glad I got the picture...is that bad?)

take me out to the ballgame!

Monday nights for the last few weeks have been spent at the ball field for us. Lauren is in t-ball...and loving it. She likes batting the best and can really wham the ball. It's almost embarassing how proud you get when you hear parents yelling at their 4 and 5 year olds to back up when Lauren gets up to bat! (It's pretty perplexing to me how much yelling at kids actually does happen at t-ball games...yikes!).

As you can see from the photo at below right, the games don't always have the full attention of the kids playing. Note: Lauren is on second base...facing first base (she did not run that way, however)....and the second baseman is facing left field, but wouldn't see the ball if it came to him anyway (see glove over face). Awesome!!!

days of summer...

Parades, Cottages, BBQs and Fireworks...

Saturday began shortly before 7am for us and didn't quit moving until almost 11pm. That's a great summer day!

We caught the parade in Byron Center (just last year I first learned about candy and parades). The kids loved running into the streets after candy of any kind. Sarah would patiently wait for a horse to tromp by...all the while keeping her eye on a spangler mint of all things. Hey, candy is candy in our house. We are not picky.

After the parade and a little bitty rest, we headed out to our friends' very lovely cottage by the lake. We all had a great time with some pretty cool folks.
Dylan held his own pretty well with a gaggle of girls (l-r: Faith, Bella, Sarah and Lauren). What cute kids! Thanks for a great time! After the trip to the beach, we headed back to Byron for some much anticipated fireworks (the kids missed them over the 4th of July, so this was a must-see). My brand spankin' new camera did a pretty good job with the fireworks. Now I just need to figure out what all the other buttons are for on that thing!!!