Artwork from the boys

I had each of the boys pick out their favorite finished product from last week's art class.

Andrew's

Matthew's

They both had a great time and learned a lot. Very grateful for a very talented and patient teacher, they obviously didn't get any help from me.  I am a total art ignoramus.
Gabriel calls this "chocolate drawings".  Yum, I'm all for that.  Sounds so much more appetizing than that dirty,old charcoal, doesn't it?

A Belated Birthday

Marianna's birthday was last Tuesday, so I'm only one week late posting these pictures.  She doesn't care in the least.  It's all good, right?

So...what am I supposed to do with this thing?

Lots of little helpers to show the birthday girl what to do.

Slight battle over whose toy it is...I believe Gabers won on that score.

Then lots of Grandma love to go around.

Sorry, no pictures of the birthday cake.  First of all, we had Neapolitan ice cream (too hot to bake that day).  Second, I believe I was holding the birthday girl when we sang "Happy Birthday"(I must be the only person to take pictures in this family).  Oh, well!

A few prized possessions around here

A tube from Johnny's ear....he carries it around in a little ziploc bag. 
(After a year and a half in his ear, we had to do a little cleaning to
make it presentable.)

Andrew's Lego version of Tim's band. (Lego Tim is on the far left.)

Marianna's sunglasses....she even wore them to the Dr.'s office last week.
(They actually belong to someone's teddy bear.  Shh, don't tell her that, though.)

Johnny and Gabers have their own version of sprinkling holy water...

just need a bucket from the sandbox and an old paintbrush.

They assure me that no holy water was wasted on this cuteness, only lake water.

After six weeks of begging, I caved and the kids went swimming.  Big time excitement around here!



Gabriel gets the prize for finding the beach toys.

Here he is sneaking up on an unsuspecting brother.

Therese is sunning herself while Matthew keeps them moving.

Slinging weeds at each other.  Ah, what fun!

Stephen reminds us all that safety comes first.



Holy MOLEy

Joseph found a couple of little friendly's stuck in the window well of his bedroom.

I think he's actually kind of cute.  Not cute if he were in my house, but outdoor cute. 

If you know what I mean.

Update on the Fam!

I realized that I hadn't done an update for awhile...so here it is!

Joseph is still loving his job for the co-op. (After seeing how big the fertilizer trucks are that he drives, I'm not as thrilled as he is.)  His main topic of conversation is the weather (that's a really big deal to farmers) and the latest truck break-down or other work-related mishap.  He swears he's saving money for next year's college expenses but still manages to buy stuff like this...

Timothy just landed his first full-time job.  He has orientation tomorrow which, I am told, includes drug testing and loads of paperwork.  This means I will have to revamp the driving schedule for the next two weeks which involves drawing classes, VBS, and soccer practice. (Wah, wah!) I was impressed by how motivated he was to pursue this particular job.  Even more impressed with the fact that he wrote all his graduation thank you notes last week.

Stephen trucked down to Blaine on Memorial Day weekend for his first soccer tournament.  They took 2nd and spent a lot of time waiting through rain delays. He's also back to working only one job after working a total of three for a short time.  (Talk about an over-achiever!)  He always has a crazy story to share from the pizza delivery business.

Clare gets an A+ for being the best head-gear-wearer in the local area.  She's been committed to wearing it an extra couple of hours each day and the orthodontist is extremely impressed.  (This is one of those areas where home schooling is a real benefit because she would NEVER wear that thing out in PUBLIC.  I mean REALLY, Mom!!)  When the head gear is off she spends her time on the big swing in the backyard.

Look at that (almost) million dollar smile.

Matthew and Andrew have been on a reading binge.  Matthew has managed to make it half way through the Lord of the Rings.  He seems to like the sci-fi type books.  Andrew is into the Civil War and just finished reading Rifles for Watie.  I really need to get to the library to keep him on a roll.

Therese is perpetually listening to Adventures in Odyssey tapes.  When she's not listening to them, she's repeating lines from them.  Which make absolutely no sense to the rest of us.

I try to make Johnny and Gabriel play outside as much as possible to keep the fighting to a dull roar around here.  They've decided even sticks make good machine guns...

Marianna is trying to recover from a nasty diaper rash that has made her crabby for the last few days.  I found her posing for this picture tonight, though.

Must be feeling a tiny bit better.

Spring Music Recital

Here's the pictures from last night's festivities...

Therese in her pink confection dress.

Matthew played a solo piece and a duet with a friend.

Fr. Elmer made a guest appearance.

Andrew played "Ode to Joy" with Linda.

I missed a picture of Clare because Johnny insisted on sitting on my lap through that part of the program.  Oh well, 3 out of 4 isn't too bad!