Could it get any better?!

I had a great laugh today--being the end of the school year (for year-round students), Mikey brought home some new reading material for me to enjoy. And enjoy it, I have!!!!


There were many works of art--pictures he had drawn, collages he had made from leaves, paintings, etc. Then there were many 'poems' he had written--one quite creative poem about 5 little leprechauns (Two little Leprechauns Singing with a bat.. One said, 'This is too silly', So they sang with a rat.), though the ending has me a bit worried: "One little Leprechaun , Guarding with polite, He was so polite, So we started a fight. I was fighting alright, But he was too fast. He hit me and he kicked me, And so I had a cast. " (anyone else a bit concerned?)


There was even an apology note to one of the other 2nd grade teachers, Mrs. Cheek. (Mikey had an interesting year). My favorite part, I found, was in reading all the little 'creative writing' entries. They are a bit hard to read, so try clicking on the picture to see it bigger. That might help. :o) Or just read the translations I worked so hard on. That just might be a bit easier.

This one is for you, Uncle Kelly!

TRANSLATION (no corrections made): "I have an Uncle named Kelly. He is realy fun. He has an ex box. I love to play a game on it and I am the captain and I go in a plane. And I beated the hole game once. Oh my uncle Kelly beated it once to. And I feel realy good that he is in my family. Oh and he is maried to somone name Mary."

I'm sorry, Mary, that you are just 'someone'--you think he would have realized you were his Aunt Mary long before Uncle Kelly joined the family! :o) Maybe he saw the joke in the wordplay. In any way, it's amazing the power an Uncle can have if he owns an X-box & loves to wrestle with his nephews & nieces. :o)


This next one is a bit incriminating. Just for the record, Mikey...Mom ALWAYS knows!

TRANSLATION: "I went to my grandmas house. My mom said I could not play computer games. But I sneaked into the computer room and played computer games. When mom came home I went into the bathroom quickly. Then I told mom I only went upstairs to use the bathroom. When we got home it was 9:11. So we went to get ready for bed and read scriptures. Then we said prayers and went to bed."

So...Mikey? Did it ever occur to you that you shouldn't put your lies on paper for all to read & discover? MOM KNOWS!!!! (It gets pretty obvious to deduce when you see your son diving towards the bathroom from the other side of the hallway where the computer room is located!) :o) You think there would be a degree of guilt in what he did when he got to the scripture & prayer part.... Hmm.....

This one is for Mikey's other favorite Uncle, Drew (not that he doesn't have any other favorite Uncles!--he has lots!)

TRANSLATION: "I went to my grandmas house. The first thing I did was I kicked off my shoes and ran upstairs and played computer games. I played for a while then my dad came up, he told me to come down stairs and play with rest of the family. When I came down uncle Drew was here he was my favorite uncle. I saw my aunt Ambree was here. She was playing uncle Drew's Wii. I played with her. Before she opened the leaf cup. It was hard."

Sorry Ambree. The Wii is now Drew's property (at least according to Mikey). Congrats on the Leaf Cup--no one told me! We should have thrown a 'leaf party!' Sorry Drew--I don't know if Mikey actually meant 'was my favorite uncle' or if it was just the trend of past tense/present tense Mikey used when writing. I'm sure he still likes you! :o)

Here's a bit of good news--Mikey has finally finished all the requirements to earn his "Bobcat" in cub scouts. I'm pretty sure that the reward of picking two 'things' from the "Magic Bag" helped Mikey get motivated. He didn't know what was in there, but was very pleased when he got to choose--the "Magic Bag" is full of Nintendo 64 games we recently got. Here he is playing the Star Wars game he picked out. It sounds like he plays games all the time, but he really doesn't. I'd say he gets in more reading time & homework time & scouting time each week than he 'gets in' gaming time. You can see why he loves it so much--he has to work hard to get it!

Great work Mikey--we're very pleased with you (even though you try to get away with playing games, claiming to be using the bathroom!) Love you, kiddo!

Nice to Meet You!

...Or should I say, "Nice to meet-cha!" This is Addie's favorite phrase to ask Taylor. :o)




It looks like these girls could be best of friends! (Though I probably shouldn't count my chickens before they're hatched!)

CUT!!!

Ok. I know I just posted, but I would never forgive myself if I didn't document this event in some way. For those of you who haven't read our last post (posted last night, actually), read on after this to see what the family's been up to. Ok--here's the story:

Kelli's hair has been driving me nuts for the last year!!! She didn't EVER want a haircut because she wanted her hair long and beautiful...like Victoria's (her neighbor/friend). Since then, Victoria decided on her own to get her hair chopped short (THANK YOU!!!). So today, I told Kelli that it was time for another trim (she had gotten her hair trimmed a couple times, since I insisted her hair wouldn't grow properly without one). I asked her if she wanted her hair cut short like Victoria's for the summer, and she agreed! I almost didn't ask one more time to be sure--it was too good to be true! She was still excited about her choice....So to make it fun, we did some picture documentation of before & after. Way to go, Kelli! Next, I just need her bangs to either grow out, or convince her to cut them, too! Her cut isn't perfect, but it is an improvement in the quality of her hair!!! She wanted to keep some of her hair in a bag, so she could remember how long it was. I have to admit, it was the longest length I remember her hair ever growing to. :o)

The sad thing is that Addie wanted her hair cut short like Victoria's, too. I had a love/hate relationship with her hair. I loved it when it was brushed, but wasn't exactly happy with how it looked when Addie wouldn't let me brush it. So about everyother day for one hour, I loved it. :o( I winced when I took the scissors to it. I'm still not quite sure if I'm happy with it! ---Though Addie's thrilled!It'll probably grow on me. :o) It had grown (with a few trims) to her tailbone--which is within a few inches of the chair when she sat. We cut off a pony tail of a little more than 9 inches, then trimed a little more. She seems quite happy with it! Right after cutting her hair, we got her dressed to go play outside, doing her 'do' up into piggy tails on the top of her head--she promptly said, "I look like 'Ba-kenzie'," with a big grin. (That's her cousin, Mykenzie, Mary's little girl.) :o) Well, at least I'll get to use less detangling spray for a while! Addie now looks about a year younger. Too bad. I really need her to grow up a little more these days. :o)

Cheer up Joy! This is a good thing! Ok. I'm alright. Who knew haircutting could be such a rollercoaster?!! :o)

Bathing Beauty

H F.H.E Family Home Evening was great fun this last Monday night. We all went to Ambree & Drew's new condo for a swim at the clubhouse & a BBQ. It was Taylor's first experience with swimming, and though I was nervous, she proved me to be an overly concerned mommy!

The weather was quite hot enough, & there was enough shade from the surrounding buildings, and the water was perfect! Taylor hung out mostly in her jammies, but donned a bathing suit for a few minutes for pictures. I was quite nervous about her going into the water (I hadn't gotten in yet, & didn't know it was so nice--& I'm picky about the temp!). I actually said that I wasn't planning on her getting into the water (as I handed her to Mark, who was in the water...hmm...I was asking for it!). She wasn't so excited about Mark's freezing hands, but quickly calmed down & enjoyed it--especially when Mark moved into the shade so the sun wasn't in her eyes.

Ok. She's not exactly ecstatic, but a calm baby is good...right? Here's Lily & Griff. Lily thought the 'running around the pool' part of swimming was great! Griffin enjoyed playing peek-a-boo with his hat, though the water part was just great, too.

After the BBQ, Ambree & Drew let everyone take a turn on their new scooter. I was a bit wary to head out--maybe I was tired, maybe I feared for the care of my newborn...maybe I'm batty. :o) I'm sure Mark thought the latter.

Kelli was beaming--cheeks splitting & all-- to be on the scooter with her daddy. :o)

Mikey didn't seem to want to get off! I think this is his second ride.

Kelli was disappointed to report to me this morning that the Tooth Fairy Failed! I was shocked, of course, since Mark & I were talking about the tooth fairy just before we went to bed. I pointed out that she did forget to put her tooth under the pillow the night after she lost it (she accidentally waited a day), and maybe the tooth fairy had already come the night before. I gave her a suggestion to write a note. She forgot to do that, too. So I told her she had better leave it on top of her pillow, so the tooth fairy would not miss it for certain this time. I'm hoping it all works out. :o)




I forgot one detail about this last weekend--Mikey had his last soccer game on Saturday, & got a plaque/trophy for being a 'valuable player.'--as did every one of his teammates. :o) They were all quite indispensable. Way to go Mikey! Your first season under the belt, and hopefully many more to come. You can tell he's not exactly thrilled to be there-that's because we had just left the Harker reunion & all the fun there to go to his game, then head back for the rest of the fun. He hadn't exactly figured out how much fun he was going back for & thought the reunion was going to be all over. Buck up, kiddo! There's always more fun to be had if you keep a good attitude! We actually got back just as the pinata was breaking, so he got to dive into a pile of kids & candy...he quickly forgot how bummed he had just been. :o)


By the way--Mark has been spending some free time (I know--you all laugh, 'what free time?!') putting something together on the blog. We now have a collection of Mark's choice music selections for you to listen to and enjoy. We have it set up to play only if you choose, so check it out! It's on our side bar. My favorites these days is "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz, & "Over the Rainbow" by IZ. Great fun!

"What a wonderful world!" Have a great day! Joy

She did it again!

That Kelli-girl...she sure has gotten over her fear of pulling teeth! This is what I woke up to this morning:

Holy cow, little girl! Last time she just about shuddered at the very idea of having a tooth pulled out--and that last tooth would have fallen out if she sneezed! Not this one. I didn't think we'd be visited by the tooth fairy for at least another 4-5 days. Kelli must be motivated by the $1 and treat the tooth fairy brought last time. :o) I had to tell her to not get too excited to pull anything else--both of her front teeth on top are loose as well!

Yesterday was a fun Father's Day--we celebrated by giving Mark the traditional hand print cookies (at least it was a fun tradition in my family when I grew up--we've at least done something with hand prints since Mark began celebrating his own Father's Day).

Breakfast doesn't look too appetizing in this picture, but it's actually pretty good--brown up some hash browns & sausage, then scramble an egg right into it, then sprinkle with cheddar. Mmmm. :o) He also got a couple of ties--which are always desperately needed. His other ties are starting to look a bit worn, thanks to Addie--she loves to sit on Mark's lap every Sunday & twist his ties. It's a bit annoying--especially for Mark--but we're working on it! After church, we spent some fun moments playing hide & seek, and a bit of Uno with the kids. Kids can be so funny about hide & seek. Addie's favorite thing is to wait until we've found everyone, then tell us she's going to be hiding in a certain spot--usually the spot we've deemed 'the best.' Her element of surprise comes from a frightening tiger growl she yowls when she's 'found.'

Mark was worried about this video being published, with the fact that he was wearing a necklace that Addie had strung around his neck--I think of that sprite commercial, with the daddy having a tea party with his little girl, then she starts dressing him up until you see him answering the front door, letting his buddies in while all covered with make-up, hair extensions, & jewelry. I don't think Mark would let it go that far, but he is a good Daddy for his little girls! What a great sport! :o) Oh yeah--this next clip shows where Addie gets her growl:

We definitely had our fun with Hide & Seek. :o) We're quickly running out of spots, though. I had the thought to move all the furniture & hopefully create a few more options for hiding. Just a little note to you, Mark--I love you! You are a hard worker, a peacemaker, a teacher, & a wonderful father for our kids--it couldn't get any better. :o)

Saturday was the Harker Family Reunion--held at Ponch & Rochelle's home. It was a blast! We had lunch (traditional picnic-style), then a lot of activities. The kids had a 'fish pond', there was water-balloon volleyball, regular volleyball, a water balloon toss, then water balloon fight, a pinata for the kids, gunny sack races, bubble popping, the Jello Drop, and then fun on the slip 'n slide. We all came home thoroughly exhausted, & thoroughly happy! Here's a bunch of random pictures that we managed to take--though it was very hard to leave the fun to 'press the button' for a while. :o)

Here's all the kids with their pinwheels & super-star sunglasses.

Kelli & Grandma Harker tossing water-balloons

Addie & Brooke--before all the water fun 'broke loose'

Addie hopping in her gunny sack.

After the pinata....sugar-happy kiddos!Mikey felt the pinata fun wasn't over until he had worn the chicken on his head. :o) (The pinata was either a chicken or Big Bird. Who knows.)

We had lots of slip-n-slide fun. Mikey did much better this year than he has ever done!

Mark stretching back for a slightly misplaced volleyball. He actually did jump--it just doesn't look like it. :o)

Kelli was pretending to be a little water horse, and did a great job of it. I think there was more water out of the kiddy pool than in it. If you haven't seen the movie "Water Horse," I'd suggest it. So would Kelli. So would Addie. :o)

Brooke with her cupcake.

Taylor, wishing she had a cupcake.

Kelli already enjoyed her cupcake.

I wanted to share these pictures of Taylor. I promise I did not comb her hair up in the back--this girl has a serious cowlick!!!

Oh, I just want to snuggle her! Isn't she a sweetie?!

The look of perfect innocence.

Mark went paint-balling for the first time & got a few war-wounds that he was quite proud of. These aren't all of his wounds--there were a few more on his back that we found after all the dirt was washed off. :o) I think he liked going! This brainy accountant has more 'army' in him than you'd think!

Well, that's all for now. Hope you are all having a wonderful week so far! :o)

Joy