sumer snapshot week 1 (for the other kids)

surf camp: ella missed the last day of school along with all the other girl scouts.

the last day is going to mass and receiving report cards and they are done by 9:45.

we headed to san diego for the weekend to go to surf camp - it was a great trip.

the set-up was beautiful: cabins and dinning hall right on the beach.

ella got up on the surf board and all of the girls got to give it a try.
it was a great way to start the summer, i just love that ocean air!

leander hoop academy 2 nights a week for the month of june-
john and ella are attending, chris and andrew are coaching.
this is our neighbor's camp and he has wanted the kids to go for years,
so glad it finally worked out.

summer drawing - ella and john working on their covers.
trip to the library - lc on crutches because he tore his acl during basketball :(
d really loved the library and now gets mad if we just drop books off to be returned-
and don't have time to go in.

ella made a dessert we saw on the today show - a chocolate stuffed pizza, yum!
poker - the kids have started playing, using the chips we have.
john loves it and loves playing card games, he's always asking to play.

summer dinner before basketball camp: southwestern chicken tortilla salad.
morning cuteness = d wanting his stuffed animals to eat with him in his high chair.
and pretend feeding them some of his waffle...too cute.
that one is mufasa, named by andrew, and d's favorite - thanks tia santa!

trip to target, i had lc use a scooter...made us laugh, but was very helpful.

the little cutie eating popcorn while wearing the bracelet he wanted to try on.

coming home and john immediately building the lego set he bought.

taking the kids out to dinner for good grades to our favorite restaurant: little cleos.
crab legs in drawn butter served with grilled bread, oysters, shrimp cocktail, hush puppies.
it was all delicious- we are so lucky to have such good and adventurous eaters.
and so proud of them for an extremely well done school year, we couldn't be more pleased.

summer snapshot weeks 1-2

christopher got done with his first year of high school a couple weeks before the other kids.
the weather was beautiful and he and i cleaned out our side yards.
he mowed lawns and rode his bike to pick blackberries from his great grandfather's yard.

he went a couple times and brought me home some...i made a yummy cobbler with them.
every day he would ask me, 'mom, what can i do to help you' - it was wonderful.
he is such a hard worker and so motivated and never complains at helping -
and does whatever i ask right away...
i told chris i don't know what i'm going to do when he goes to college!

he had one week off of basketball after finals and then he had practice every day.
the three of us had a good time hang'n out in the car on the rides to/from practice.
one day d was laughing so hard at lc's singing and his own singing too...

fresh o.j.

these pics are from last spring when d was just a baby, probably about 7 months old.

we had wonderful citrus trees at our last house - orange, tangelo and lemon.

and we are so fortunate to have two orange trees now that produce a ton of fruit.

last year i would peel half the orange for d and let him hold the unpeeled side,
he would suck out the fresh juice - he loved it and still loves his fresh oj.

and i am so lucky to have some good pickers and good juicers in the house.
the older boys do the fruit picking and john and ella do the juicing.

i know i have a more current pic of them working hard, but here's one from a few yrs. ago-

this little guy is a power house with the juicing - he doesn't stop!
and his sister is a tremendous help with it too.
there is nothing better than fresh oj, especially made from your own trees.

easter 2014

last easter, we went to the courtyard school mass as we have done for many many years.
it's extra special to be outdoors on easter, especially with our lovely weather.
and always nice to be outside with little ones - they could live outside!

we went to brunch after mass with my family and sat outside,
it was perfect - just before the little bit of heat kicked in for the day.
little d was a trooper, even though he wasn't feeling up to par (fever from teething).

we came home, relaxed, took naps and then had our easter egg hunt.
we tried something new this year,
since the kids love hiding the eggs as much as finding them...

we had the younger two hide eggs for the boys and then then switched.
they had so much fun with it!

 

they loved following the ones looking around and watching them look for the eggs.

telling them if they were 'warm, hot, cold', etc...

this one cracked us up-
andrew didn't see this 'orange' egg in our orange tree -
and i got this perfect shot of him looking right at it!!
then the next shot of him walking right past it- ha!

it was sweet to see them working together, giving clues and hints-
kind of partnering up to talk about it...

 then sitting together to count their eggs...

then it was time to swich-
and the same thing happened: clues, and helping and watching and following :)

this picture made me laugh too -
both boys having a ball in their hand to toss into the air and catch as they walked around.

it was such a fun hunt, the kids really enjoyed it - and we really enjoyed watching it.
and now we'll have darrel in the mix this year hunting too :)

we went to grandpa burch's for dinner and had a lovely easter dinner.
always such a special day,
and always such special memories are created on this sacred and holy day.