Spikey Mikey

Sometimes Michael loves to have spiky hair! Luckily, we don't own any hair gel , so it only lasts about 5 minutes...

Fourth of July 2010

We had a fun 4th of July! We started the day off watching our neighborhood parade, then got free sno-cones and cotton candy and played in some bounce houses before heading off to church. When we got home, I somehow convinced Paige to take a nap when Michael did and Ashley and I prepared a bunch of bbq food and made some red and blue lollipops. (We tried to make them red and blue to be patriotic, but they just goo-ed together to make purple!) When Michael and Paige woke up, we had our bbq and then invited some of the neighbors over to watch James light off a bunch of firework fountains and eat popsicles. After that, James put Michael to bed while I took the girls to find some "big fireworks in the sky." It was a little disappointing because we got there too late to park in the park where they were lighting them off, but we found a nice church parking lot and watched fireworks from there. It was a busy day!

Picking up candy during the parade!
Too bad I cut the flag off!

Livin' on the edge--walking in the road! Watching the fountains with our neighbors:

Ashley's 7th Birthday!

Ashley turned seven on June 20th! She's growing up so fast!

Here are 7 things about her on her 7th birthday:
1. She's really outgoing at home, but quiet and shy at school.
2. She's a great reader and can read almost anything, but still loves to snuggle next to me and have me read books to her. (We've read 5 of the Ramona books in the last few weeks)
3. Her favorite color is light blue. She really wanted a new blue bike, but they were all "boyish blue," not "pretty, girlish blue," so she chose a pink one with blue accents.
4. Her favorite subject in school is science. The best science "experiment" her teacher did was give them root beer floats and taught about solid, liquid, and gas. Awesome!
5. She is really good at taking care of younger kids and she understands that sometimes they get their way just because they are younger and don't understand. She is Michael's "mama bear." If someone hurts him or teases him while she's around, they'd better watch out!
6. She's pretty tough. If she cries, you know something is really, really wrong!
7. She loves being outside--riding bikes, swimming, and exploring around the backyard.

Opening presents--Paige got matching "big sister/little sister" necklaces for them.
An alarm clock!

Her new bike!

GrandMama and GrandDaddy sent new outfits for everyone. Here's Michael in his new outfit: Everone all dressed up!

She got to choose between having all the girls in her class over for a party or taking her best friend with her to the amusement park. She chose taking her friend, so we had a little party with her best friend and her cousins on the actual birthday. It was really fun!

We got the slip-n-slide out and they played a little in between dinner and cake.

THE bike.

Slip-n-slide!

It has been so hot here recently! We got our slip-n-slide out the other day and had a blast! (Here's the view from our deck--Michael sliding down!Hi, girls!

Here's Michael thinking, "hmmm.....this is fun, but I think we can make it better!"

"I know! Let's have Daddy get home from work, get out the big tarp, and put the slip-n-slide on a bigger hill! We'll go way faster then!"

Rearranging... "Whoohoo! Now THAT"S fun!"

Last Week of School!

This week is Ashley's last week of first grade! It has been quite a busy week! It started out with the first grade family picnic, where Paige fit right in and played on the playground with Ashley and her friends. Michael guarded the really cool steering wheel.
We then had the first grade awards assembly. One boy and one girl from each class were chosen to get the school award and Ashley (and her second best friend, Connor) got it from her class!

Paige and Michael got a little bored, so they took pictures of each other.

Paige got a little more bored... Today, they celebrated Ashley's birthday in school and we took cake pops in for Ashley's class to eat after lunch.

They all sang to her in the cafeteria, which was very loud! Field day is tomorrow and then she is done!

Family Beach Pictures

Beach Trip 2010!

We spent all last week with the Gillespies at the beach! It was a great trip!

Here are all the cousins on the steps of the beach house: Paige, Ashley, and Madeleine:James buried Jack and Michael in the sand!Michael and Ben in their matching tie-dye:
Best cousins!

Nana and Papa with the grandkids: Abbey, Paige, and Katherine:

What a fun trip!