The face of 71

Now there's a guy who looks years younger than his bio age, huh? :) These pics were taken last week at a family get together at AR + UG's. BBQ and h20 fun in the sun made for a brilliant time for all ages. Thanks AR + UG! You rock!

Cancun#2

Cancun on my mind

More to follow...

Scary-see below

Ok...check out the "Scary!" post a few posts below. How could I NOT post this drama?

All About Stashes

So, recently I have begun having secret stashes of things I love to indulge in...(b/c I have growing boys with growing appetites-LOL). My usual stash is dark chocolate covered raisins, Cherry Nibs, and salt and vinegar Cape Cod potato chips.

Well, the other day Ian came down the stairs with a CF Diet soda in his hand and Ethan, ogling it with great wantonness, said,

"Hey, where'd you get that?"

To which Ian, replied, "From my Secret Stash." Ethan grumbled, scrunched up his nose with disapproval, and walked on.

Later in the evening, Mick came up to me chuckling to himself.

I asked,"What's so funny?"

He whispered in my ear,

"Ethan wants his own 'Secret Stash'.

today

• tennis
• wii play (New Topspin 3 game-woohoo!)
• Harry Potter #4 (Ian)
• Mouse and the Motorcycle (Ethan)
• decluttering school papers, paring down and organizing
• to AR + UG's (celebrate his BD yesterday) for H20 fun w/cousins
• Mick out of town (review with Bossman Gerry)
• Wimbledon viewing
• preparing for 4th
• writing thank you + get well card (Mimi's upcoming knee Sx)
• random memory-found huge preggo black widow spider in garage on Sun.-yikes!

Mrs. Marvin

So, we were sitting at the dinner table last night (which consisted of grilled chicken, green beans and corn on the cob) when Ian starts in with "Ooohhh...(with much emphasis and lilt in his voice)...MRS. MARVIN! Is this hand shucked corn?"

(Note: This is a quote from one of our all time favorite family movies, What about Bob? where Bob, Bill Murray's character is consuming corn on the cob-with gluttonous behavior and much smacking and slurping.)

And then Lil' Boo Who chimes in with...

"OOhhh.. and are these beans hand snapped?"

(I had had the boys snap the beans in preparation for dinner!LOL)

Ok...Is it just me...or is the boy hilarious?

Finally finished up with all of the laundry from our recent trip to Cancun. Downloading the pics and hope to post some soon. Bills are paid and house is somewhat in order-so hopefully I'll get back here soon to post some. Til then,
Adios Amigos!

SCARY!!!

...found this tonight as I was checking out photobooth! Yikes! What little monsters have Mick and I created?

weekly somethings

• organizing for Cancun
• tennis
• VBS and SAF
• piano lessons 
• confirming boarder for dogs
• TS party
• received BH KOTM School Days kits (-kindergarten pages-grr)
• paying bills
• laundry
• dry cleaning
• housecleaning
• staining shutters and window boxes-wrong color yet AGAIN!
• browsing through my latest editions of SS and CK mags
• wii fittin' it!
• about impaled my eyeball with the handle of my tennis racket as I fell playing Wed. and racket bounced off the clay court and ricocheted back into my face. Nice contusion on my orbital rim...thank you very much...feeling grateful God designed such a great facial feature though. One inch lower and it would've been bad news and much more pain and discomfort.
• played 6.5 hours of tennis and walked/ran nearly over 12 miles in the process! (No wonder my feet ached! LOL)
• gearing up for a weekend of Father's Day fun at the lake-Mick is already enjoying his new tennis racket and sporting his new clay court shoes. Stud!

I'm crossing my fingers

so...Big Gma visited recently and was kind enough to watch the boys so Mick and I could go play some tennis. Everything went well...or so we thought...until I was tousling Boo's golden blonde locks at church Sunday morning and came to the frightening, stomach sickening realization that someone had chopped a large chunk of bottle-it-up-for-me blonde locks out of his surfer dude cut!! In a startling rendition of Ellen DeGeneres' "Wh-aATTTT" I quickly said, "Oh, no you did' uhnt!!!? Let's suffice to say the ride home from church was less than pleasant as Mick and I interrogated the boys to find out...

 THE TRUTH. 

I was right in my thinking that the litle Boomeister helped himself to gum and got it tangled in his hair (even though I had caught him in the past playing with gum and told him never to do that b/c it could get stuck in his hair-ummm...yeah....). He eventually confessed he had cut it himself with the big orange scissors. We were upset that neither of them bothered to tell Big Gma or us so that we could try to remove it with peanut butter or ice. So...they have lost all non educational computer privileges and TV for three weeks. Grrr...I know..I know... in the grand scheme of things....it will grow back-hopefully blonde...

I'm crossing my fingers.

Cub Scout Day Camp and Vacation Summer Arts

...all began today. A full day of fun and running around. Finally got a chance to backup some recent pics and here's a few from the past few weeks of activities + visitors:

Much ado...

much busyness...frenetic pace for all of us as the end of the school year passed and we quickly transitioned into not-so-lazy-days-of-summertime schedule. Ethan graduated Kindergarten and Ian rolled over into the double digits last week with his first slumber party. I kept the number of guests to three and that turned out to work quite well. Pinata, smores at the fire pit, ice cream cake, Guitar Hero and much Wii play. I actually think we may have a go again at it next year as the boys did very well with volume control and behavior. Good kids. (That always helps). My DF "Liz from Tampa" as the boys affectionately refer to her as, flew in for the weekend. It was her first time to our part of the country since our wedding in '05. It was so great to have her see how we live...critters and all! We took her down to Big Gma's cabin, complete with ticks and tarantulas (yes we found one near our deck while she was there) and flood level lakes. She was a good sport and thankfully, despite the critters, she may return one day! LOL It was so, SO good to reconnect with her. Telephone calls and letters just don't cut it compared to across the kitchen table conversations.

I FINALLY got the lens for my camera that I have been lusting over for more than a year! Have only gotten to play with it a bit, but hope to play more soon. Big Gma is visiting now and oh...Mimi and Papa were here to visit for Memorial Day weekend. So now you know why I have posted in a while. Lots of visiting. All good.
MTF....

Creative inspiration...

...check this out...looks like artistic bliss, doesn't it? Can't wait to grab me some fabric, eyelets and run!!

62 years of...

...in sickness and health, honor and respect, loving and living.

This couple (AR's parents) is a living example of what the covenant of marriage means. It was such an honor to be asked to document this celebration of 62 years of marriage for them. I hope I captured a little of their special day to preserve for them and for generations to come. Enjoy AR!

Family Matters

This weekend was full of family time and family fun...soccer games. Family reunions. A baby shower. Spring cleaning of the garage. Mowing the yard. And double-date night with family & friends. What a blessing that the weather was beautiful for the reunion (despite a bit breezy) and sunshine prevailed for the baby shower today. Here are a few pics from this weekend:

on parenting...

after walking the boys to school today, I found myself on the way home, reflecting on how quickly they are growing up and how I need to cherish each and every moment with them and not to take any time with them for granted. And now, checking emails and blogs I frequent I came across this little gem of insightfulness:

"The perspective needed to guide and shape my parenting is this-When I begin to see the day to day as a delight, rather than drudgery...When serving my children is seen as a privilege, rather than a chore...Knowing that my actions are slowly and through repetition shaping them for the rest of their lives...Then it [parenting] becomes a task of enormous and lasting consequence.It becomes a 'higher calling' and the reality sinks in that giving it my all, demanding my best and expressing love in ALL that I do, is the least I can offer to those who mean the most to me."May you find joy and purpose and affirmation in the relationships that YOU touch today...they matter so much!

Have a beautifully blessed day!

More with a "Silent E"

ok...so yesterday I told Boo to "go let Daddy know it's time for dinner in five more minutes." He began composing a note to slip under Mick's office door (as he was on a conference call). Here's what he asked me:

Today's agenda...

according to Boo (as he is getting ready for school on Fri.): "Today I AM going to be my two favorite things...RICH AND FAMOUS!!! (said with much enthusiasm and gusto)

I was shocked. Where was the humility? This wasn't my son! Ian, being the ever vigilant, rule-following son, quickly interjected, "It's ok MOM. He's just quoting from the Suite Life of Zack and Cody."

Gee. What a relief. :)

2nd pic is of the 4 cousins playing dress up "Rock Stars" for the new Handycam (over Easter Weekend).

The "4-packs"...

at least, that's what the BEBZ are calling them. Apparently, not quite buff enough to dub them "six-packs" but with spring soccer and summer baseball and tennis taking in our midst, they are hopeful for he development of full-fledged 6 packs! LOL