Lions, Tigers, and Bears... thanks to Cami

It was Cami's first birthday and all the wild things came out to play.

There was a scary tiger...

and a pretty little kitty...

Brendan drew a self portrait.

I'm still not exactly sure what Kiki drew.

Memorial Day

Memorial Day is an important day for my family. It has always been important for us to "remember" So even though I had just finished a 12 hour night shift, we loaded the kids in the car and headed to a local cemetery just like we have every year.

There the local veterans group was busy putting up flags and crosses to honor our fallen soldiers.

The kids, thrilled at the prospect, grabbed handfuls of flags and crosses and headed out to find the headstones of our veterans.

The identifying markers were a V or a STAR, they went row by row til every grave of our service men and women had been marked with the appropriate honor.

I was so proud of the kids, they asked lots of questions and it proved to be a great teaching opportunity.

And when we left I think they had just a little more respect and appreciation for those people who bled and died to give them the opportunity to enjoy what they have. Even though I was tired and almost didn't go, I am glad we did and I think the kids were too.

Fathers and Sons

Dad took his boys on a "Fathers and Sons" campout.

Everyone loved the special "boy time", there was lots of dirt and no one to tell you to wash your face or change your clothes, at night there were weinie roasts over the fire and spooky stories in the dark. They got to stay up as late as they wanted and eat junk!!! It was great!

They played lots and lots of football and a few games of badmitton.

Boyce's grandpa was there and whittled everyone a whistle. Which happily made it home,the boys had great fun piercing the air with the shrill noise. Needless to say mean mom threatened to throw away all whistles and insited that they all get into the shower immediatly. They were so happy to be home again.

Mathmatician of the Month!!!

With the added reward of a Baskin Robbins free ice cream cone for his hard work.

And as if Mathmatician of the month isn't enough, Brendan just past spelling test 19. There are only 20 Kindergarten spelling tests, the class as a whole is on test 16. Some kids are still on test 3-4, and he can read just about anything now even the really hard long words he sounds out very well.

A true princess

Every little girl knows the truth about their identity. They know they are a princess. They look in the mirror, enamored by who they see. An elegant hairstyle is all they need to walk through life, head held high, secure in their own elegance. And oh, the thrill of a twirly dress! There is nothing so wonderful, so bedazzling as to feel your clothing swirl around you.


Real Princesses twirl.

But somewhere along the way, little girls forget the truth. The mirror stops reflecting the truth because they stop looking in the right mirror. The mirrors at school, work, and sometimes even home reflect too skinny, too fat, too curly, too straight... and the little girls forget the joy of twirling, beautiful hair and their own greatness.


At this castle, we believe in princesses. We try to do everything we can to battle the evil mirror that tries to trick our princesses into believing that they are scullery maids. To that end we remind them that "It is love that marks the true daughter of the king." (The True Princess, by Angela Hunt) It also helps to have a father that sees your beauty, that brings you treasures from his travels and best of all, reads to you. Why? He is the first man in his daughter's life, the first authority figure in her life, and his character is invisibly overlaid onto his daughter's image of the King and how he feels about his beautiful daughters. One day, if Jeremy and I have done a good job, our little women will choose another man to take his place. This knight will see their innate royalty and will cherish them and fight for them as we have done. No one acts inconsistently with who they see themselves to be. For this purpose, I must keep the mirrors clean, and the twirly skirts ready for ALL the girls in this house.

The River

I don't know exactly what it is that is so attractive about the water, but we seem drawn to it.

Just a half an hour up the canyon is a beautiful river, we like to go there on lazy Sunday afternoon's. The boy's play football and the girls hunt for shells, then everyone tries his or her luck at skipping rocks. The river is incredibly tempting and a boy or two always ends up getting wet, we finish our outing with a jug of cool lemonade while we listen to the rush of the water making it's way down the canyon and then head home, worn out, but somehow refreshed by the river.