My not-so-little baby

She looks like she could just start walking away. But not yet. She's got the standing thing figured out, though. My baby is growing up fast.

No camera today. Just for a little while, but I miss it.
I wanted to take a picture of the caterpillar that got painted. Oh, it was pretty! Maybe it will turn into a Painted Lady Butterfly.

And in case you didn't know...
"Caterpillars have wwwaarts in their mouth and they boom it in your eyes!"
I just love boys.

Paige absolutely hates the camera pointed in her direction. So this shot cost me a dollar but it was worth it. She loves to spend as many hours as I will allow her out on the swing or picnic table with a good book.

Then miss nosey comes along.

If she makes enough funny faces and oohs and grunts she's bound to be picked up. She wins this game every time.

How was your morning?

Mine was great! Nothing exciting but just a relaxing, nice morning.

We started our day by checking out our lilies that the kids have been growing since Easter. Courtney's is in full bloom right now.

Then Courtney and the boys made some blueberry muffins that were very uneven but very delicious!

While the muffins were baking, Paige had made a word search for the boys and Jacob was really excited about it. "I can't finda H in this middle a letters!"

Little Boys and Polywogs

Can you tell they posed for me? I just couldn't help it, what with their new green shirts and all. It's a great color for them with their tan faces (they sure didn't get that from me!)

The boys (all three of them) went fishing today and came back with a bucket full of tadpoles. That was the highlight of our day. We have no room for ANOTHER aquarium in our kitchen, though, so we can only keep a few and they will have to live with the salamanders.

Cute little guy, isn't he?

Gracie Faces

"What's this? It looks like a puddle of water with my name written all over it!"

Evening with Kandeaux

The girls and I took a trip to the barn tonight and we all got to ride. Seeing these pictures of Paige is just like looking at my old photos of when I was about her age (on the same horse). This May he turned 20. Boy, I feel old.

The Pathways

Gorgeous day for a walk. The water was a little too chilly for me but the kids didn't mind at all. My kids love taking this trip but they love even more to go with friends.





After our walk, Grandma Connie treated us to some ice cream. Grace is getting so spoiled that she begs for anything you're eating now, especially when it's a snack. I don't think Grandma got to eat much of her cone.

Our favorite swimming hole

After our five hour canoe trip, the kids talked me into bringing them down the hill at Mema's house for a little swim. I had already gotten wet enough for one day, but the kids jumped right in. It was very hot and the water was a welcome relief.

I love the view. It is always so beautiful down here.

Big baby, That first splash is always the hardest.

Her look is funny but deceiving, she actually went right in with no complaint. The dirt on her face is from the many rocks that went into her mouth as she sat at the edge of the water, splashing her hands and feet the whole time. She loved it!

It didn't take long and everybody was soaked.

What I love about June...

The roses making their appearance.

The warm thunderstorms that leave all kinds of fun puddles.

The walks down the road that always lead to a bird watch or nature study.

Circus Day!

We've been looking forward to this day since we saw the billboards going up. I guess this same circus has come to our town before but we have always missed it. In the morning we got to go over and watch them set up. The kids enjoyed petting the goats and seeing one very ugly pigmy hippo, some camels, horses and of course, the elephants.




The pictures of the actual circus didn't come out very good, not that I expected them to, but there are a few that I would like to share.
This kid was so amazing! See that box behind him? Yup, he crawled right in it and shut the lid. It was really interesting to see how young some of the performers are.




There was so much going on it was hard to know what ring to watch. These cute little ponies were dancing around in front of us, while poodles were performing in the center ring and even more horses doing amazing things in the third ring.


But as fascinating as these acts were, my attention was drawn to the cable that came loose when someone tripped over it. This cable was holding up the motorcycle high wire act! Men came running from everywhere to grab the cable and hook it up to the truck right outside the tent. I'm not so sure I'd want to be the one to climb up on that motorcycle!

We took our first walk this year down Ontario Pathways today. We tried to go early before it got too hot. So we left at 9o'clock... still too late. But once we got into the shade of the trees and then down by the water, the temperature was just right. A perfect day for wading in the creek.

New swings

A new nickname

Busy, busy girl. Joseph has a new name for his sister. "Gracie KathaBADleen!" He was trying to do his "very important schoolwork" and she just wouldn't leave him alone.