S-P-L-A-S-H Into Summer!!!

Using a water balloon to cool off

(as demonstrated by N2's friend)

N3 proving the theory

If at first you don't succeed...

TRY.....TRY....AGAIN!

SUCCESS!!

Of course Sis has to try too

Such a girlie reaction!

A Graduate's Prayer

Dear Father, I come before You as this ceremony begins.
Be with me as I march into a new life,
and bid bittersweet farewell to teachers and friends.

Adorned with this cap and flowing gown that I now wear,
I pray that wherever my future takes me,
I will always find You there.

I step into the aisle as I hear them call out my name.
Escort me to the podium that looms before me, Lord,
so that I may receive my diploma, for which I came.

Before an audience my tassel is turned.
I hear the music of clapping and cheers,
and I am thankful for this honor that I have earned.

I glance over at my classmates as we stand in line.
We will soon be going our separate ways,
but I will not be leaving my Guidance Counselor behind.

The graduating class gathers one final time.
As our caps soar through the air,
our voices tease the skies with a victory chime.

Thank You, God, for bringing me this far.
I pray that You will continue to lead my way,
as I venture out in search of my own star.
Amen.

Cake Trifecta

7

12

18

May Event List

• 2-3: City-Wide Garage Sale DONE
• 5: My grand-niece's birthday DONE
• 7: My daughter's birthday DONE
• 9: Wedding ATTENDED
• 11: Mother's Day DONE
• 11: Party for the girls DONE
• 18: Graduation Party DONE
• 19: Last Bunco night for the season PLAYED
• 22: 1st grade's school play ATTENDED
• 24: Teenager's birthday SURVIVED
• 24: Party for boys DONE AND HAD A BLAST!
• 25: Memorial Day DONE
• 28: Middle DS's Birthday DONE
• 29: 1st grade end of the year picnic DONE
• 30: See Sex and The City with my sister DONE
• 31: 25th Anniversary party for friends DONE

Signs of Summer

Chalk Art

My first attempt at growing Strawberries!

The lawn in all its glory!

Finding Greener Pastures

The kids took Scooter for a romp in the yard

Once Upon a Time in a Galaxy Far Far Away...

...I had a baby boy.

We were living in Sacramento at the time

He was two weeks late

I was miserable

They scheduled an induction

I woke 2 hours before my alarm went off

Because my water broke

Off to the hospital

15 hours of labor later and one Emergency C-Section

Our first child was born

8 lbs, 2 oz and 21 inches

ALL BOY!!

*
*
*
*

*

Fast Forward 18 years!

He's 6'2" and wears a size 12 shoe!

We had a party for him on Saturday

Here he is (on the right) with a good friend!

Happy Birthday

You're becoming a fine young man!

'sniff'

Porch Update

I posted a year ago about our Porch Improvements here

http://robinsnestful.blogspot.com/2007/06/invitation-to-relax.html

Wow! I'd forgotten how horrid the 'BEFORE' porch was - why did we buy this house again? Oh yeah, we have that thing called 'vision'. Well, at least my dh does. Thank goodness I trust him.

We installed one fan last year.

Notice, our new neighbor made some improvements of his own. He just had that new retaining wall put in to replace the old deteriorating railroad ties. Much nicer.

So this year we completed 'Part Deux', and added some furniture at the opposite end.

I LOVE these chairs (they recline).

Next, came the table that converts to a fire pit. It only uses propane and lava rock so no worries about burning the house down!

Then we installed the matching ceiling fan to the one we installed last year. And by we I mean my husband. Oui' (I'm French) LOL.

If you look closely into the window you get a peek at my laundry/mud room. I should do some pics of that room since I spend so much time there! ;-)

The second fan 'we' (there's that French again) installed this year.

Future plans include a new entry door. This one will do for now. The storm door is a different color because we replaced the old fly-a-way-in-the-slightest-wind one with a sturdier full view and plan to install a darker (wood) entry door.

Another closer look and you get a glimpse of my 1980's entry wallpaper (installed in 1991). I haven't begun de-papering the first floor yet. Oh I take that back; I did strip the powder room of MORE floral paper (had to rid ourselves of previous owner's DNA).

My goal was to give the porch that 'extended living space' feel. I underestimated how ginormous the space is. Any ideas on how to fill in the gap between the two seating areas or are we good?

I'd love for you ALL to stop by for a visit and have a sip of lemonade! (only in this case, lemonade is French for wine).

We have lots of ideas for future improvements so stay tuned (it may take a year. . . . . or FIVE) LOL

High above the chim-iney tops...

Same rainbow

Left and Right side view

I tried to get the entire thing but it was too large and disappeared quickly

Golden Day

Happy Golden Birthday

Sweet Baby Girl

I 'Heart' You!

I hate when I find exactly what I want.....

And it's too spendy! This is my idea. The boys have a great area in their room that I want to turn into a 'lounge' space. It's a corner right between their bunkbeds and one of their dressers. I have bookshelves there now that are going elsewhere. There is a window there now with great natural light so my idea was to have a lounge area with a double bean bag chair where they can sit/lay and read or draw. I have a french memo board to hang there and want to do a write on board there as well as something with magnets to display their many drawings - etc.

So I find the perfect bean bag chair that will fill the entire corner and it even comes in blue camo. But I may just go with denim so there isn't too much camo. Anyway, by the time you add in the liner, shipping tax, etc. it was nearly $300! I cannot find one cheaper online. Any ideas??

I love the structure of this one - more like a mini sofa and not just a blob KWIM?

OMG!!!!! Do you know what this is????

It's a brownie pan that bakes EVERY piece with edges. Everyone knows the end pieces are the BEST! - would I be a total dork to ask for this for Mother's Day? My Birthday?

3rd Grade Batavia 'Drama' Report

newsman Nicholas

Time for a To Do List

Appears I've been on an unplanned break! Here are some things that have happened and my mundane 'To Do' list that I need to attack in the next week or so.

HAPPENINGS SINCE MY LAST POST

1. Attended 2 wedding showers
2. Lost a few more pounds
3. Saw my BFF's dd in their middle school production of Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
4. Helped my youngest ds film a school project (will post later).
5. Got Fifth's Disease (oh joy) but feeling much better!

TO DO LIST

1. Finish tagging garage sale items for this weekend. DONE
2. Attend 3rd grade open house tonight - bring lemonade! DONE
3. Set up for sale tomorrow, get change ready, bags, etc. DONE
4. Fri & Saturday - City-wide Garage Sale! - proceeds towards N's graduation party! DONE
5. Pack up all NO SALES for donation - I want it g-o-n-e! DONE
6. Find earrings for Princess (I want tiny gold hoops for her golden birthday - 7 on the 7th). DONE
7. Visit a nursery to figure out what to plant this year (I have a brown thumb) HELP! DONE
8. Buy tomato plants, strawberry plants and fresh basil. NEED TOMATOES AND BASIL STILL
9. Find chair covers for front porch furniture. STILL LOOKING
10. Find bean bag chair for boys' room - do they make double sized ones? NOTE: I found one ... for $300! YIKES!!

Why such a Chip on your shoulder???

Weekend To Do

1. Wrap shower gifts DONE
2. Saturday Morning Cleaning DONE
3. Buy materials to make Sophia's b-day gift (hair pretty holder) DONE
4. Get Nathan's Senior Class picture framed DONE
5. Attend bridal shower DONE
6. photograph auction items DONE
7. get items listed DONE
8. Begin pricing garage sale items
9. bake breakfast quiches DONE
10. clean out garage fridge

The Sky is Falling!

Well, nearly the kitchen ceiling anyway. The kids overflowed the toilet in their bath late last night and I didn't get summoned until I heard strange water sounds and found my two older boys tossing bath towels onto the floor like a bucket brigade during a barn fire.

They weren't trying to soak any of it up. Nope, they just tossed and let the towels do all the work (sigh). EIGHT towels later and a soaked pair of pants (mine not theirs) I got the floor wiped up, the toilet plunged and the towels thrown into the laundry room only to discover leaking water on my table in the breakfast nook.

The darker line on the ceiling you see is where the drywall has buckled from the moisture. The two holes are where dh drilled seepage holes so it would drain. Ironically the water decided to take a different route and drip down the light fixture instead so he had to detach that from the ceiling as well.

The water did decide to pool in the ceiling about 3 feet away just in front of the table where it is also buckled up. Loverly!!!

Dh says it will take a few weeks for it to completely dry out before assessing the damages or attempting to repair it.

In the meantime, he has installed a new shutoff valve on the toilet and has given individual instructions to each child on how to use the shutoff valve and to turn it off at the slightest concern of overflowing.

Just what dh needed was another project!

SPRING BREAK - LAST DAY

Hard to see but inside this numbered vial is our Spring Break Project.

It's a MEALWORM!

My daughter brought it home and sweetly exclaimed

'Awe, look it's in its pupa'

LOVELY!

As if it knew Monday was Back-To-School

(or that I was giving an eviction notice)

Overnight, the mealworm obediently transformed

into

THIS

DOUBLE LOVELY!