Rub a Dub Dub

Rub a dub dub...Tee in the tub!

Tee is my 5th child. And I think this is my first picture of him in the bathtub! Duce was photographed nearly every time he got in! Man, the more kids you have, the more the later ones get ripped off! So here you go, Tater Tot. Here is your very first photo shoot in the tub....and your are almost 16 months old.

Hard Day's Work in the Yard

Tyler and the kids spent most of Memorial Day morning in the yard, racking, clearing, hauling...etc. Boss has discovered his new favorite toy...the blower. He could NOT stay away from it.

And as you can see, Jo REALLY wore herself out. This is where I found her....hmm, what happened to her clothes...and are her undies a bit twisted...and that's where all of Tee's pacifiers are! ! ! !

The Father/Son Campout

Tyler took Duce and Jett on the father/son campout. I told him to take the camera and take some pictures....and he did a pretty good job. There was fishing,

volleyball, fires, sticks, dirt, tents, hamburgers....what more could a kid want, right?

what to do with this MOP?!

(Sorry that the pics are a little over-exposed...couldn't figure out how to fix it)

My hair has morphed into a totally different creature over the last 7 years. With each child it had gotten DARKER and CURLIER. I was the girl in dance class who was standing in the wings of my recitals with curlers still in. My mom would quickly take them out, I would go out and dance, and by the time my routine was over, so were my curls. (and the curls are mostly on the under layer...the top layer of hair is pretty straight.) Its amazing what hormones do to you. So anyway, I'm in a constant conundrum over what to do with my hair. I've given up being blond. Just too much time and money needs to be invested into the upkeep. But what to do with the length??? When its short, I wish it was long. When its long, I wish it was short. Should I just cut it...and if so, what kind of style?? I'm not one to spend a lot of time on my hair...product??? what's that??? I may straighten it once a week...if I'm lucky. But for the most part, these pictures are what you see....this is air dried from this morning. Its a little unruly! And more times than not, its up in some sort of ponytail/bun/rat nest. I'd love to hear your suggestions....I'm up for just about anything.

Nope.... not CELESTIAL!

You know how you are supposed to clear your mind, find a happy place when you do yoga....NOT ME. All morning, I was scheming different ways to KILL our dog. While outside this morning, he found a new spot to dig (and since when is he a digger!) MY GARDEN! All the hard work...all the weeks spent nurturing these tiny seeds into little plants... GONE! I am fuming. I am seething. It is not fun to be a dog in my house right now! So my previous post about Boss being on his way to a "celestial" dog....I TAKE THAT BACK!

a "celestial" dog?

My mom always talks about whether or not our pets are "celestial". There are many qualities that make you a celestial pet. Here are just a few. They need to be #1 house trained #2 obedient #3 sweet natured. Some of us in our large extended family do and some of us don't. Our Boss is hopefully on his way to becoming "celestial" not just in our eyes, but in my mom's, too. The house training is going well. I still don't trust him 100%. We don't have a dog door, so we have to let him out and I'm afraid that if he HAD to wait, well...he wouldn't. But I'm confident enough in him and in us that I just recently had all our carpets cleaned. His is pretty obedient. But he is still a puppy, so the playing can sometimes knock a kid or two down. But he knows his basic commands...sit...shake....down. And he is VERY good natured. You have to be to live in this family. He LOVES to sleep with people. He starts off by your feet, but manages to wiggle up by your face. And check out Tee....He is RIDING him, bouncing up and down. All while Boss was trying to nap by the door. He is "celestial"???? It may be to early to tell, but he is well on his way!

Saturday in the yard

Remember back when we planted all those little seeds to start our garden...here's the update on that. I loved it.....the seeds grew and everything was looking up! Until I realized a few things

#1 where was I going to plant them in my yard

#2 who was going to take care of my garden while we are gone most of the summer

#3 I have A LOT of teeny tiny sprouts that probably should've been planted into the ground to avoid the transplanting...that I don't think they are hardy enough to survive

(me and my not so green thumb)

So this is what we did...we widdled down what we had A LOT! Kept the best tomatoes/red peppers/squash. We then transplanted them into slightly larger pots until I could get a spot in the yard ready. And today was that day. My darling husband built me a little container garden. I figure what survives our absence of 6/7 weeks this summer is great...what doesn't, that's ok, too. I feel like I have a little (and I mean a LITTLE) bit of gardening experience, that I won't feel overwhelmed next time. I can do it!

Happy Mother's Day

To the best Mothers in the world....My mother, April Jo Cassell Munns and my mother-in-law, Mary June Ratcliffe Anderson! what success we have as parents and in our own little family is a direct result of them. We hope you have a WONDERFUL day!

I found this picture of me and my mom a few weeks ago. When she comes to visit, I still feel like I'm 6! (and yes, that is a rat tail I'm sporting!)

Could I be sore...

Could I be sore....from bowling? The kids talk about bowling ALL the time. We've never been with them, so we thought we should. So for Tyler's birthday, we took the three big kids. The were just plain GIDDY in the car...smack talking and everything.

We had a blast. Tyler just barely eeked out a win in the first game. And the second, he dealt with is all handily! Avery was so cute to watch...pointed and yelling at her ball, telling it where to go. I got the first strike of the night! Everyone but Duce (much to his chagrin) got a strike, too.

We ended the night at one of our favorite little joints, Salerno's. And if we weren't stuffed enough, we went down the street to a little ice cream shop.

Happy Birthday, Tyler! We LOVE you!