summer snapshot - week 3

impromptu swim party at our neighbors, including cannon ball contest.
trip to the mall for father's day gifts, john got in some play time at the 'play area',
and we got to have some of our favorite mall pretzels.

trips to the library, and lots of reading.
the kids read every morning on the couch when they wake up -
i love it, it is very peaceful.

christopher and andrew mowing at the new house, ella sweeping at the new house.
yes, we are moving!!
most likely at the end of the summer - more details to come.

using our groupon on it's due date at one of our favorite mexican restaurants.
playing board games, christopher teaching the others how to play blokus.

fun pool tricks off the diving board.
ella creating a fun 'face on her plate' with her breakfast foods.
john john waking up early one morning and lounging with lady on the couch.

friday night summer league basketball game.

andrew caught a pass for what would have been a great shot, 

and the ball got stuck between the glass and the rim, so unexpected-then pretty funny.

going out to eat afterwards with our wonderful friends on the team.

shopping for granite for the new kitchen at the new house.
it has been busy keeping up with both houses - two yards, two pools,
planning a kitchen remodel at the same time as having all the kids home for the summer.

but, i feel so blessed to have this time to get it all done before school starts up again.
i would love to be blogging more but i have been so busy with all the appointments
and research that are involved with a kitchen remodel, plus having all the kids home.

i wish i had more time, so many end of the school year events i would like to post on.
but, i am at least committed to the summer snapshot series,
and hope to catch up on everything else...
"when i have time" (i.e. possibly never, but maybe in the fall:)

summer snapshot - week 2

andrew playing in the all-star baseball game - his team won!...it was a beautiful evening.

reading...lots of it, john trying to 'read' lying over the ottoman like his older bro.

christopher making homemade popcorn, taught to him by dad.

younger three were in a bible camp at ssj all week, christopher served the mass on friday.
they had a lot of fun, and john john got so excited for it each day.
christopher and i had a nice time together, and he was very helpful!
i need home him during the school year to help me w/the grocery shopping and unloading:)

the boys had their first basketball game of their summer league.
they are playing on a team with mostly kids from school -
great families, we all went out to eat together after the game.

chris & kids made dessert together for our family dinner on sunday.
banana pudding...it was delish!

can't believe we're half way through the third week of summer now-
june is really flying by!

summer snapshot - week 1

so, last week was the kids first official week of summer.
i am going to try to continue my summer snapshot series that i started last summer.
in an effort to document and thus remember what went on each week during summer break.

here's what went down last week:

lovely breakfast made for me by my wonderful hubbie:
tomatoe slices drizzled w/olive oil, salt and pepper and cottage cheese = delish!
caring for our friends chickens and garden while they were away-the kids loved doing both.

many games of uno,  with our old sesame street deck :)

ella and john helping make pancakes and sausage (notice andrew reading on the couch:)

andrew drawing dragonball z characters

playing charade type game where we had to act out the pictures on cards
baking cookies with ella
making a 'welcome home' sign for christopher, he was at a friends' cabin most of the week.
welcoming christopher home!

it was a good first week of summer, a short one since monday was a holiday.

i didn't go crazy with pictures, but i did manage to get enough to capture the week.

the kids read a ton in the summer and that makes me so happy. 

we have already made two trips to the library and they have each already finished books.

i love that they have time to read as much as they want in the summer.

weekend fun

chris and i were lucky enough to stay at a beautiful resort in town a few weekends ago.

it was his law firm's retreat, and retreat it was...they treated us very well.

amazing meals, and wonderful accommodations, it was a much needed break.

the kids joined us sunday morning for brunch and a full day at the pool.

saturday night after the wonderful sit down formal dinner, a feast was set out -

an amazing spread of late night 'snacks' if you could call them that.

sliders, salmon cakes, fries, pizza, fried pickles, hummus, etc... - 

plus, music, popcorn, cotton candy and artists drawing you as cartoons. 

so, of course we grabbed some extra cotton candy for the kids to enjoy on sunday.
after we ate a long brunch, they came back to the room and enjoyed the sugary treat...

then it was off to the pool for a day of fun.
there was a slide that the kids went down a million times...

at first, john only went down on my or chris' lap.
then, after awhile he got up the courage to do it alone.
and after that he just kept going down over and over again, he had so much fun!

the older kids had a great time with the slide too.
and the big pool, jacuzzi, the resort in general.
they wanted to stay the night and miss the next day of school.

we had a great meal by the pool before we went back up to the room to pack up.
it was sure nice to take a break from the end of the school year busyness -
and so fun to enjoy a full day at the pool with the kids.

and, of course, it was awesome for chris and i to have a couple nights to ourselves.
it's so great to be able to do that and still be so close to home.
and i was so happy they chose a weekend in may so it wasn't too hot yet.

last day of school

was on friday, and wow was that a busy week - don't know if i've ever had one like that.

it's amazing how hectic the afternoons and evenings get as your kids get older.

i got through the weeks activities, and could hardly wait until friday -

when there were no more baseball games, meetings, lessons, nada.

(don't get me wrong, i love all those things - but it was pure craziness last week!)

just the last day of school and a fun day at home with the kids and their friends.
they each had a couple friends over and spent the day swimming, eating and hang'n out.
these two cracked me up with all the games they came up with and played.
they really got along great, it was so fun to listen to their little conversations.

it was a great year, i really cannot believe how quickly these school years go by.
we are ready for a much needed break from all the spring craziness - yea for summer!

cousin curt

my cousin, curt, came to visit a couple weeks ago.

we had not seen him for four years, since john was a baby.

it was so fun having him here, felt like he had always been here -

he's so easy to get along with and so helpful with everything.

here he is playing 'toothpick' with the kids on mother's day,
did i mention he's great with kids?

curt and i were always close cousins growing up - he always looked out for me.
he was the one who would help me out on our family traveling adventures.
he encouraged me and made me feel safe in new situations on those trips.
reaching out for my hand when a big wave came and i was scared,
like a really nice older brother.

i hope that one of my kids can be like this someday with a younger cousin.
since there will be quite an age gap between the older ones.
i think curt and i are about 8 years apart,
and actually he's the youngest cousin we have on my dad's side.
let's just say he's awesome, and we were so glad to have him around for a few days.
we hope that someday in the future he might move here, that would be so fun!

life has been extremely crazy busy these last few weeks, hence the lack of blogging.
hope to catch up on all the new stuff going on around here soon...

may crowning

it was outside in the school courtyard at the wednesday morning assembly.

first was a living rosary, christopher was one of the kids representing the 6th grade...

there was a nice section with chairs for the parents to sit.
it was so peaceful sitting outside, praying the rosary together -
what a great way to start the day.

i have always wanted our family to pray the rosary together.
so far, we have not figured out a good time to do so.
i pray that we can find or rather make that time in the near future.

it was a beautiful may morning, perfect for honoring mary.