Extended Family Time --Memorial Day Weekend

The family gathered last weekend to celebrate cousin Jesse's graduation from high school and spend time together during the Memorial Day weekend. Although Jesse doesn't seem to be in any of my pictures that are below, he is in the group photo. We were missing several family members but were so happy to see the ones able to attend. Jesse is right in the middle of the first row that is standing, in a grey shirt. Congratulations Jesse!!

 

Here are the three C's...ready for some fun times.

 

 

Uncle Larry took them out in his big, powerful boat..... they came back all smiles!

 

 



Aunt Jenny and Alexa had a craft project for all the little cousins to work on. They made graduation hats from a chocolate covered graham cracker perched on a peanut butter cup and then decorated with frosting. They turned out pretty cute.

Lisa giving some assistance to Ezra.



Chris being silly... with Ellie and Emma and a tiny bit of Ezra....

Ellie and Chloe wait patiently while Alexa helps Chris.

 

Mike found some sort of a blue colored skink and when he went towards it the lizard dropped it's forked tail. Yikes!!

Chris loved showing it around. Uncle Roger doesn't look too impressed....

 

 



Claire spending a little quiet time with Uncle Superman and Papa...

 

Chloe checking things out....and then having a little chat with Papa...

 

 

 

The deer came for their usual visit......look closely. Emma, Chris, and Ezra watching.

 

 

We had a wonderful time and look forward to our next gathering at Uncle Larry and Aunt Paula's cabin.

 

Yesterday the three C's and Mike and Paula did a little fishing. Below are the results!

 

 

Good job kids!

 

We are about to head off on a road trip. Looking forward to the adventure but will miss our precious grandchildren.





May Days

May is always a busy month as school is winding down and outdoor activities are increased. May, for us, has been continued focus on Papa Norm's arm healing and getting his therapy and exercise in. I'm happy to report that he is doing very well! Although we have been sticking pretty close to home we have had lots of visits from family and plenty of activity around the place. Mother's Day was one of those days. I had a wonderful day full of the three C's, good food, lots of laughs and lovely gifts.

Aunt Suzie make fruit pizza with Chris' help. It was yummy and beautiful as usual.

 

Jon nearly always brings me a bouquet of flowers from his yard. He also does a great arrangement and I always look forward to seeing what will be in each bouquet.

 



 

Mike, Suzie, and Jon just happened to sit together when we ate. This is what you might call a rare picture.

 

A few minutes to wind up the afternoon with T-ball!

 

 

 

Papa's first outing (except for doctor and therapy appointments) was to Science Night Open House at Claire and Chloe's school. Before having a fundraiser taco dinner the girls had to show us the latest skills on the play equipment. They have really gained strength in the past few weeks.

 

Claire and Paula play a little tether ball as do Chris and Mike.....

Their classroom was full of exciting things. Here is Chloe's model flower.

 

Claire and a friend check on their live plants from a unit that Mike worked on in the classroom. It was fun to see the difference in how the plants grew. The students selected the type of seed they wanted to plant so there were all different looking seedlings. 

 

Chloe and friends checking out their plants.....

 

Claire's model flower.....

 

 

Chloe demonstrating a paper whistle that makes a screeching sound when blown properly...

 

Chloe getting ready to take home her plant....

 

The three C's posing one last time for Grandma.... thank you kids!

 

Chris riding his "new to him" two wheeler bike. Wow can he ride for a 4 year old!

We have had some phone conversations over the past few weeks as we were home so much. One in particular will stick with me for a long time. Claire, as you may remember, is quite a story teller. If you have forgotten, click here and see a story that we happen to catch on camera when she was three years old. She is so descriptive and detailed in her information. The story/incident that she passed along to us recently was concerning a "deal" she made with Chloe. Apparently Chloe is the champion earth worm finder/catcher and Claire doesn't have quite as much luck in that area. Claire needed, she felt, an earth worm to put in one of her plants and Chloe had the only existing earthworm at the moment. Claire worked a deal with her to trade a roly-poly bug, a white ribbon, and a small container in order to get the earthworm for her plant. Claire's lengthy description of the story ended with how happy they both were with the deal that was made. It doesn't sound as cute here, as I write it, maybe it is one of those moments that you had to be there, but I wanted to make sure it gets in the book that we make from the blogs at the end of each year. Hopefully when the three C's grow up and look back at their blog books it will give them some great and happy memories.

Easter and Beyond

Our Easter celebration this year was quiet and low key. The weather wasn't the best but it held out enough that the three C's were able to have a quick egg hunt. Our humor for the day was when they arrived Chloe looked bleary eyed and flushed. She said she had a bad headache and it was from the music at church...."It was just too loud." That sure gave us a good laugh. As it turned out she had a bit of a fever but a little magic medication gave her a second shot at the day.

The three silly C's in their Easter finery along with their respective stuffed bunnies.



 

Some bird nest cookies that I had fun making...

 



 

 

An egg hunt before it rains.... hurry, hurry!!!

 



 



An enjoyable day with lots of laughs and fun and I'm so happy we didn't know what was ahead in the next couple of days....

 

Our current issue involves Papa Norm. He took a bad fall in our garage and fractured his left arm up very high right under the shoulder ball/bone. Unfortunately that was Papa's best working arm since his right arm has been impaired since 1996. After a couple of days in the hospital, all is well, but he has some healing to do for the next 6-8 weeks. He is somewhat helpless and must be assisted in walking, eating, dressing, bathing, and on and on. The three C's have been coming to cheer him up and that does the trick for sure. Uncle Superman and Lisa,  Mike, and Suzie, have also been in and out also helping with things that I'm not keeping up with. I'm thanking God each day for our great family and for support from friends as well. You never know what a day will bring and as the wall hanging  in our dining room says, "Normal day let me be aware of what a treasure you are!" This too shall pass and for now we are doing just fine.

 

The three C's a week ago on Sunday are shown below with Papa. I missed a great opportunity for pictures yesterday when Chris was pushing Chloe and Claire in Papa's wheelchair. What a hoot.... maybe I'll get some next time.

 



Enjoy your upcoming week!