A HaPpy 4th

Continued...

We spent the 4th up at the lake...of course. Tim, Sam, Maddy and Andrew showed up after their hiking trip in time for some grub and then fireworks.

Grub
oooohhhh...fireworks

Fortunately there were no fire incidents this year...ahem, cough, Aaron...




And of course lots and lots of time on the water...including my annual 'GTR' {Giggly Tube Ride} with Aaron. I apologize for all the pics but I just LuV this family!

Kelsey, Maddy, Suzy
can't kick off the weekend without a little crack
~Lilly~Lexie~Turner~
Moi
Bailey, Lexie, Andrew
good thing we rescued this jogoline from the dump
Beautiful Maddy & Kels
Even dad got in the water, wearing a swimming suit and everything!
Aaron and Nikole

Plenty of Fun Pops





Aaron and his girl, Crista
and a silly grandma and a jogoline

Enough with the freakin' pictures already!

Pre-4th Chillaxin'

Andrew and I headed up to the lake the weekend before the 4th.

Going down to the fire pit to make some yummy smores
mmmm...
Lexie was shaking and shoving this thing in with both hands.
ummm...gross, Maddy

Then Andrew and I headed back home on Tuesday to catch up with Timmy.

Tim and I played some paintball with some friends and family Wednesday night and got plenty bruised up.

Then Tim and Andrew had a backpack trip planned with Sam and Maddy and met up with them in the mountains on Friday.






Much to my delight, no one got eaten by a bear. Then, Saturday afternoon, all four of them rode over to meet the rest of us at the lake just in time for some dinner and fireworks.

To be continue...

Slowly but surely...

I desperately need to get back to blogging. We had a fabulous time up at the lake for the 4th and now I'm sawing, painting and sanding like crazy for the Saturday Market coming up, well...this Saturday. So I guess when I have more than a few seconds I'll get back on here and post some pictures of what's been going on around here lately. In the meantime enjoy my new favorite joke courtesy of my witty brother, Aaron...


What's red and smells like blue paint?













Red paint

Squirt the Cat

Oddly enough, this is the only position Squirt will allow you to hold him in. If you try to hold him any other way, he'll bunny-kick you to death.

Last Day

Today was Andrew's last day of school. FINALLY! This year drug on forever! I'm sure in a few days I'm going to be wishing he was back in school though. Anyway, last week his school did their annual Governors Cup race - 3 miles. Andy came in 11th place which is pretty amazing considering how many kids ran.



Then on Monday, his class did a play for the parents. Andrew was Boris the Bush Pig. You have absolutely no idea how excited he was to get the part of Boris.

Just try saying 'Boris the Bush Pig' without smiling. I bet you can't do it.




Bye-bye 2nd grade!

Home Sweet Home

Holy cow! I just noticed my childhood home is on the market. My parents sold the house about 7 years ago and I swear it was the worst day of my life! It's funny how we get attached to houses. It took me awhile to realize it's not the house itself that I missed, it's everything that happened inside. And I can take all those great memories with me anywhere I go. Still, I've had recurring dreams about going back and sneaking into my old house and just looking around. Now that it's back on the market, I can take a peak back inside. It was weird enough emptying the place out when my parents sold it but it's even weirder to see other peoples stuff in there.

Some things the next buyer does not know:

- The house is totally haunted (I SWEAR!)

- Buried outside the kitchen window are: a bunny rabbit, my dog 'Midget', and I don't even know how many cats.

Liv, Mom, Midget

- Somewhere in the walls of that house there is a dead boa constrictor, several pet mice, and maybe a lizard or two.

Aaron, Nik and the boa

- The house was painted with cheap child labor (only after said children scraped off the old LEAD paint with blow torches and scrapers. I think I was six when I was handed my first blow torch. Aaahh, those were the days).



- The kitchen sink has seen it's fair share of naked butts (okay, this particular sink was long ago replaced but I couldn't resist this AdORAbLe picture of my bro).

Aaron

I really don't miss the old house anymore. I had a fabulous childhood and have a ton of memories from inside those walls. But I've realized, especially since I've been married, that your home isn't the house itself, it's wherever your family is. Cliche, I know, but so true.

Brownie Points

We were playing Uno the other night when out of nowhere Andrew says, "I'm not sure if I want to get married when I grow up."

Tim said: "You have a long time before you have to worry about that."

Me: "Yeah, your daddy didn't really want to get married either."

Andrew: "But then he found a perfect woman."






...good boy ;)