Happy Memorial Day!

Another great day here! We painted the potting bench and sealed it, John cleaned the gutters, We went several places looking for a runner to go inthe living room to help keep the carpet a little cleaner, then headed to the pool. It was very hot today. But we had fun. Nick nearly took out a couple moms with his killer soccer kick. We had to put the ball up for a while. He almost went off the diving board today. He made it out to the end, but wouldn't jump.

Here is a picture of my potting bench. It was a stained wood I sanded and stained green. It is a little dark. I'm hoping it will lighten up after it sits. Hope you like it.

PS the bunnies are on the way out....they peed, yes you read that right, on Nick's geegie (blanket) which was on my couch. I posted them on the loop tonight to sale them and Nick's blanket is in the process of being disinfected, much to his disappointment. CAn you believe it? I am sooooo mad. We are taking up the Dean, Barfield, Uhls family motto...ONLY FISH. And Yes DD and Mel have and are expected to smack me if I even act like I want an animal.

Oh I forgot we have algae know so we can get an algae eater. The kids are excited about that. They like the way they stick to the glass.

SO much for my rambling. Hope you had a great weekend.

Just like I promised pool pictures. We had another great day at the pool. We shampooed the carpet in the living room, sanded my potting bench outside, and set up the sandbox (an idea we borrowed from Uncle Jason) for Caroline. John golfed this morning shooting a 72. He was very happy with his score. We met up at home and headed for the pool. Doug met us there. We are in for more of the same tomorrow. Chores in the morning and pool in the afternoon. Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Here is the sandbox. I thought Caroline would drive me crazy before I got it set up. Nick helped me get if from the back of the yard to the deck. We borrowed the idea of putting it up on containers from Uncle Jason. Caroline loves being able to stand and play in it. Normally, Nick would sit in the box and she wouldn't have room to play. So now they can both play.

This is Caroline playing in the pool. She was throwing diving sticks and then diving for them. Isn't she too cute?


This is Nick trying to catch a ball John is trying to throw to him. This picture cracks me up. It is so Nick...look at that face.

We love you all!

Pool...Pool...Pool...Yes I sat my behind in a chair with a book beside the pool for about 4 hours today. It is what the kids and I have been waiting 2 months for. We were all so excited and we enjoyed it so much. But Like a big dummy...I got the camera so I don't have pictures.
we are going back tomorrow so I will take some then. We are also doing lots around the house, shampooing carpets, landscaping, staining, working on the fish tank. STuff like that.

That is what is going on here. I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday weekend. I will take pics and post again tomorrow. We love you all.

PS Aunt Carol I know the only reason you haven't called is because Danny didn't tell you I called 3 days ago?????? I wanted to make sure you saw the pics from recital. When you get a chance give us a call.

Dance recital

The cutest DANCER ever!!!! John and I are so proud of our little dancer. She sang every word and did almost every move. She had her own little fan club there. Nick was sitting in John's lap during the performance and kept calling "wowine", there's wowine. After the performance I picked her up in the dressing room and Nick met us in the hall way, ran up to her and said "Wowine, did you have fun?" It was too cute. She was all smiles. We are all exhausted today. It was a very busy week trying to get everyone ready for recital and Nick's Tball pictures.

Enjoy the pictures! They are great!
Sorry the this is late. The blog wouldn't let me put the pics on. I hope it was worth the wait.

Well, recital is here. We have successfully completed dress rehersal. She looked beautiful. She was scared and lets say she danced a ....little.
This is her friend Lindsay!
She is very excited. As I write this she is having trouble sleeping because she is so excited. I hope you enjoy the pictures of her getting ready and of rehersal. I was so overcome with emotion I didn't take many pictures. I can't believe my baby girl is old enough to be dancing on stage, wearing makeup, and being anxious about an event. It has been a very emotional week and I haven't even gotten to Nick yet.

Now for Nick. He had T ball picture taken today. He is so very excited about playing. All he does is practice. As soon as he gets up he ask if he can go out and hit balls. They took team pictures and individuals. He did great on both. His team is very cute. There is another little boy on his team that is a twin with a sister. The only difference is he is 5. Nick is very excited about that too. When we got home from pictures today he told Caroline all about it. Then John when he got home from golf.

It is fun to watch them both to be so excited about something. I has been a very hard mom week. My babies are growing up to fast. My emotions are sky high. DD I know you can appreciate that with your pregnancy hormones. This feels sort of similar. I just know I will cry just like a fool tomorrow when she is on that stage doing her thing. My babies are growing up.

I will post tomorrow after recital. Enjoy these. Miss you all!

First T Ball practice

Nick had his first t ball practice tonight. He was so pumped up all day! John even got home early from work so we could eat and head to practice. Here is a picture of Nick before we left with his bat, tshirt, and hat. Look at that smile. The other pictures are from practice. Nick did great. John decided Nick and Michael are the best on the team. All the kids had trouble catching the ball and most had trouble hitting off the tee. It was fun to watch. Caroline had a little jealousy trouble. When practice started she cried for John. John is helping coach and she couldn't understand why daddy couldn't hold her. Then started again because she wanted to play with Nick. Who knows....you don't have to ask. Before practice started she wasn't paying any attention to them just playing in the grass.

We finally got the house clean. So, as I go to sleep tonight I can say my whole house is clean even (especially) the basement. Whoo Hoo! All that we have to do tomorrow is go to the grocery and the pet store. I will update after Caroline's dress rehersal on Friday. Hope everyone is doing good.

Love and miss you!

Happy Mother's Day to all! We have had a great weekend. To check everyone up...Caroline had her last dance class on Saturday. Recital is this Sunday. Nick had his team meeting for tball. He is soooooo excited. We stopped on the way home to get all the neccessary attire. Uncle Jason will be very impressed and excited. he hits down the line off the tee and can run pretty fast. Still needs work on throwing and catching ball, but we haven't had our first practice yet. Practice starts this wednesday. Here is a pic of him with his new equipment.

I had a great Mother's Day. It was very calm and no running. Just taking it easy. John had a great gift idea this year. The kids and him made this stepping stone for me. Isn't it great?

I hope to see most of you this week. I might not get a post this week it will be very busy here. I hope you all have a good week.

It has been an exciting couple of days here. Our hamster Ally has gone to a new home and we purchased a fish tank. It is in Nick's room and both kids are very excited. It took 3 trips for Nick to find just the right decorations. I don't know if you can see them, but we have 4 fish. They are supposed to be good for starting your cycle. We'll see how we do. They are not dead yet.

We made it through derby. John won $400 nobody else did any good. We had some friends over and the kids played outside all day.

Ok...here are my crazy kids putting a new spin on the term "doo rag". John had them helping him put up clean clothes and they decided to put Nick's underwear on their heads. I really wonder where they come up with the stuff they do.

Not much else going on here. Caroline's dance recital is next weekend so we are getting ready for that. Nick's t-ball orientation is Saturday. He gets to meet his teamates and coach. I can not tell you how excited he is. He keeps asking everyday when he gets to play. I"m sure there will be lots of pictures and talk of t-ball in the future.

Enjoy the pictures. Talk to you soon.

PS we want to say congratulations to DeeDee and Steve on the upcoming arrival of their 4th baby girl Sara Kate. We can't wait to see them when they visit in July.

Hope everyone had a great day! We had a good one here. We ran a couple of errands, came home and planted some flowers, rode bikes, took a nap, then went back outside for more planting. Grandma was here for a little while. After dinner we went back outside. Lots of outside today it was beautiful today.

I got a couple of good pics today. This one is Nick playing fireman this morning! The other is Caroline taking a nap in the closet. I went to check on her and couldn't find her. I happened to check the closet and there she was. Now she wants to sleep there tonight. Craziness. Enjoy!

Derby week!

Welcome to Derby week!!!!! Monday night we took the kids to the derby bed races. Yes beds. Contestants design a bed frame with a mattress, then they decorate it like the ones you see. They parade them around the arena, then go outside and take all the decoration off then race. The beds look like the cow bed when they race and like the parade when decorated. I hope I explained it so you can understand. The kids loved it and before the night was over Caroline was jumping up and down and yelling go! It was a little loud for Nick, he kept his fingers in his ears all night. Enjoy the crazy pictures.

Today we took the kids to the race track to see the horses and where the Derby is run. They loved it. We watched the horses "get dressed" in the paddock area, then headed out to the track to see them race. They each picked a horse to root for. They were hillarious jumping up and down and screaming like the people around them. Then we went upstairs so they could see the whole track and so Nick could watch the tractor rake the track. Then out to the paddock balcony to watch more horses and the tvg guys (for those of you who don't live here that is the horse racing channel where you can bet horse on tv.) and have nachos and pretzels. We watched one more race then headed home.

We are learning about the derby and horseracing for school this week. Plenty of free learning opportunities. Tomorrow is the boat race, which I think we are going to watch on tv. The pill pull is also tomorrow. This is when the horses get their gate positions. We also have some history of the derby. I hope everyone has their derby pick and has a great weekend.
Enjoy all the pictures.