Hard to Believe June is Over!

This month has just flown by..... we're gearing up for the July 4th Parade & Celebration at the park. I really love our special events because it's fun to see the people in our community out enjoying family time in our parks. If you aren't doing anything, come visit us! Our parade starts at 10am, followed by free swim, music and a great fireworks display. Let me know if you want directions!





On to one of the sweet baby girls in my life. Brooke was a real ham all day today, so I took the opportunity to take some pictures of her.


My kinda girl - a purse on one arm and a ball in the other hand!





"Cya... I'm taking YOUR purse to the mall! I need some new shoes, I don't have any to match this outfit!"




Just having a little fun on her Tigger rocking horse.



Wore out and napping with her brothers! (For those of you who are freaking out right now - the cat isn't going to smother her - I was sitting in the room watching TV.) By the way, isn't the quilt beautiful? My grandma gave me this for my birthday.


Things have been pretty interesting with Brooke's mother and grandmother lately. Let's just say that I could use some prayers - specifically that God give me the strength to continue to handle the situation the best way I know how and the courage to make decisions that are best for Brooke. I personally pray every night that I am helping her have a better life in some way. I don't know what the future holds but I know that this beautiful little girl is a blessing in my life and I enjoy every moment that I have with her.

Suzanna is doing great! Last week her softball team won their first game - she has a game tomorrow night and then Tuesday she and Mike leave to visit his parents. Things will be pretty quiet around here, but I'm going to take advantage of the time and do some reading I've been wanting to do. Suzanna will actually be gone for two weeks and then she is home for a week and then gone for another two weeks to Girl Scout camp.


Leaving you with one of the sweetest kisses!

Brooke's Swim Lessons

Brookie started swim lessons yesterday. I had to get in the water with her and Suzanna was there to cheer us on!

It was a lot of fun, but the temperature dropped a little bit and her lips turned blue - I felt bad!

She had fun for the most part, she's not afraid of the water at all - last year I started taking her to the pool when she was only 4 months old. She has a little pool here at home and likes to play in it and she has one at her Grandma and Grandpa Collin's house, too. So, she's bound to be a little fish!

She learned to splash, kick, scoop ice cream, put her face in the water (which she was doing last year) and jump in off the side. Here are some pictures of the evening

This is a picture of her jumping in off the side of the pool. She's only holding on to my fingers and though I was suppose to let her come up, I'm pretty sure I probably lifted her out! (sheesh it's the first lesson!) Anyway, sorry this picture is so small but .. uh... you probably can't tell but I was leaning slightly forward and after seeing these pictures I now know that I have a wardrobe malfunction and need a different bathing suit.... I'll leave it at that! :)

Here is one of several times that she went under water. Look how relaxed her legs are - no fear!

And we both survived! I think I look a bit more distressed than she does. Kidding, it was fine and I think if the temperature hadn't dropped she would have really loved it. We'll see what the next few nights bring. I'm hoping before the end of summer she is swimming like a fish!

Suzanna - what can I say about the girl. She is such a blessing in my life. This little girl seems so insightful to me for a 9 year old. There was something on TV about Tim Russert and they were talking about risk factors for a heart attack and they mentioned all the ones we all know -including being overweight and diabetes. Suzanna looked at me and goes... "Hey, I don't want you to die. Listen to this show." Yes ma'am! :) Anyway, she is doing great and she spends every day up at the park at the summer day camp. She is really having fun - I can tell by the huge smile on her face at the end of every day and the stories she can't wait to tell me. She has become so much more social in the past few months - she has lots of new friends at camp and seems to be doing really well.

When day camp gets out, I go to the gym and pick her up and then she comes to my office for the last half hour with me. I give her little things to do to help out and she always does them and is really quite helpful. Well, the other day, as we were walking out the office to leave - Suzanna was ribbing me about something, just being a little bit of a smart arse... and I said "Hey... not nice." One of my friends in the office said..."Um, unfortunately that was so much like something YOU would do you have NO way to deny that she's starting to act like you and pick up on your personality traits." The even funnier thing is that Suzanna and I have this little hand action that we do to each other when one says or does something kinda silly...we looked at each other and did it at exactly the same time. So... I hope and pray every day that I am having some sort of a positive influence on her and that her picking up on some of my personality traits isn't going to drive her proud poppa right to the looney bin! :)

She's doing very well in softball - though she doesn't have the fire in her belly I was hoping she would have. Who knows, maybe it will come. She's is really getting alot better at fielding, catching, throwing and batting. She has two games this week and I'm hoping to get some action shots. Mike actually records the games and I might see if I can figure out how to put a video clip up here.

I'll probably try to update again this week - I have some great new pictures of her and brooke that I had done at Walmart.

I'm on my lunch hour and have to get back to work - everyone have a great week!

Lots of catching up to do....

Wow what a busy month! Not alot of time to really write anything - the graduation went fine and a was a lot of fun. Here are some pictures from the weekend and some from Mother's Day weekend. One thing about this blog, it doesn't let you move the pictures around very well and then add text. So, I'm not even going to try - feel free to ask questions! lol easier than going back for explanations.

Have a great holiday weekend!

Off to see Valerie's graduation

VALERIE'S SENIOR PICTURE

It's really hard for me to believe that my Valerie is graduating. But sure enough.... tomorrow night she will walk across that stage and receive her high school diploma. I'm so proud of her... she worked really hard the last couple of years to get herself ready for college and a few weeks ago she enrolled in Lewis & Clark Community College.

I can't wait to witness what she does with her life the next couple of years. The possibilities are endless and I believe that she can do anything she sets her mind to.

You know, I'm not just proud of Valerie for the academic achievements she has made. Val is a sweet and kind person - she cares about other people's feelings. She tries to make the people around her smile and she usually succeeds.

Now, don't get me wrong - she can be a turd...... like any teenager. And has always had that ability. Here are a few memories of Val being a bit sassy!

When she was about 8 years old, we were sitting in my living room and I was watching something on TV. Valerie wanted to turn the channel and I told her no. She tucked her head down, looked at me through the top of her eyes and promptly threw the remote control at the curio cabinet.

When she was a toddler, she was at The Store where her mom was working - it was common for Valerie to stand on the table and sing "Achy Breaky Heart" by Billy Ray Cyrus.

I can remember when I was working at East Alton and Valerie was playing softball at the Park where I worked. I had to fill in for an umpire who didn't show up at her game. She was running to second base for a very close play and I called her out. She squinted her eyes and stared at me and ran off the field. When she came back out, she walked by me, stopped in front of me and put her hand on her hip and said, "Real Nice Call!"

A couple of years ago, Valerie and her best friend Kayla came to visit me in Wentzville and we drove down to the Lake to do some shopping. During the entire two hour drive, Valerie and Kayla decided that they should pull my gray hairs out.

I could probably go on and on but these were just a few of the memories that popped into my head.

Valerie, if you are reading this. I love you. I am so proud of you. I am looking forward to seeing what amazing things you do with the rest of your life.

May is Busy - two quick pictures

This one is in Ste. Genevieve, MO. just strolling around this old town was fun! The toy in Brooke's hand is actually a diving stick. I was in Wal-Mart at 9pm the other night with Miss Cranky Pants trying to find a teether that would help her 1 year molars. We found this at the last minute and it works great!





This next picture is of us at Rotary Park here in Wentzville. It's my favorite park and we spent some time out there last week while the weather was nice. As you can see - we were being silly!

Suzanna has been at one of the state parks for a couple of days for her 4th grade camping trip - it's a part of the curriculum at her school. I've missed her like crazy!

Tomorrow I am taking the girls to spend the weekend in Alton with my family. We are all going to celebrate Mother's Day together and just visit with everyone.

I'm sure I'll have lots of pictures for next week's blog!