Where did the summer go?

Well in a blink of an eye the summer seems over...

Here is the sunflower that Mike and Ana planted from a seed that she received at kindergarten round up. They have spent alot of time nurturing it and taking care of it through the summer and this week if finally blossomed. She was given the seed to plant so that when it blossomed in the late summer it would let her know that it was time to go to school. So..here we are at the end of August and Ana is talking every day about going to school. This fall she will begin the young fives program and then kindergarten next year. She is very excite, but I don't know if I am. It feels like just yesterday I was holding her in my arms and doing every little thing for her. She now does alot for herself and has blossomed into such a loving and sweet little girl with a strong sense of humor.





Ana snapped a great picture of Spencer.


You say laptop he says lapdog! What a snuggler.


I love going through the pictures on my camera and come across these odd ones that Ana has snapped. Kids take pictures of the funniest little things.


I caught a few of Ana and Austin playing in the pool.


We were not able to get in much camping this summer, but we did get a chance to go for a night with Mom and Dad to South Haven. We also took James, Alex's boyfriend. The boys got the tent and us girls were in the camper, but keeping track of two teenagers was not a restful task. James is a very sweet guy and treats her very well and we are happy for Alex. But...when did Alex grow up? I was reflecting on some old pictures lately and can remember the day that I meet that cute little five year old that grabbed ahold of me and my heart. It seems just a short time ago...


In just the short time camping we also spent a trip to the emergency room with Austin. He took a bike ride around the campground and came back with a nice slice in his calf. Mike took him to the ER to get his first set of stitches, nine in all. So, like I said...not as relaxing as it could have been.

Well...a big chunk of the spring and summer for me has been dealing with these nasty pests....SNAKES! It first started this spring when one fell from the garage door after it had opened and almost fell on me. We had seen them around the yard and flower beds, but when one decided to ride up on the garage door and then almost fall on me just put me over the edge...thus the killing spree began. The very next day another one did the same thing, this time I was coming home and the kids were in the house. I couldn't believe it. My screams got them all running from inside the house. This time I got their help in killing it. The third one...yes we are on to three. This one came along when Ana and I were again coming home, but this time I had noticed it going through a hole in the cement by the garage. It was a really little one, but none the less a snake! Ana grabbed the camera to take a picture as just the day before Alex took a picture of Mike holding a HUGE one that they found by the pool. Of course Mike didn't kill it and had to keep it until I arrived home to "show me." This was the largest gardner snake I had ever seen. So Ana wanted to take a picture of it like her sissy did so she got me in the picture below trying to corral the thing out of the garage with a broken hockey stick...I never knew how handy one broken hockey stick could be. So finally I killed that one too.

Now....the fourth one...this one was bad...very bad....

Ana and I were eating on the deck and heard some rustling under the deck that I thought was a chipmunk or something. I got up to look and it was that HUGE snake that Mike had let go back into the woods and it had just attacked a large toad! Thus the pictures below. I knew Mike would not believe me so I grabbed the camera and took a picture and posted it quickly to my facebook for him to see. Ten minutes later, that snake had the toad totally in his belly. I could not believe it! Then I panicked...what the heck was I going to do as the snake was going to move on and get out of the basement window well eventually?! After another 10 or 15 minutes that thing was on the move and wanting out. I grabbed the shovel and hesitated thinking to myself that I must be some kind of snake killer as Ana is yelling and laughing at me telling me to "just kill it momma!" So...the fourth one was slain and then I realized in all my adrenaline that I could have saved the toad!! Damn...


Two cuties!


Mike put up Grandpa's birdhouses and Ana helped him fill them up.


Hmm...like I said...in a blink the summer's gone.

Future Dentist.....

I caught Ana trying to clean Spencer's teeth. Spencer almost participated. Ana seems to find strange entertainment when Austin and Alex are away....










Cute moments with the kids...this was the day of Ana's preschool graduation.




My little graduate...oh soo cute. You will be off to young five's kindergarten this fall!




Austin's Lacrosse...He is #21 in blue and yellow for Saline.

Lots of Spring Fun

Today we spend Mother's Day at the Toledo Zoo. Mom, Dad, Bill, Lisa, and Brenden also came with us. It was a great day with lots of fun animals to see. Many of the animals spent their time sleeping and sunning themselves, but we did have some excitement throughout the day. My highlight of the day was when Ana and I were watching these crazy monkeys run around their pen. This one went "ape S^*#" and ended up throwing himself against the glass right in front on Ana and me. I screamed and laughed as I fell backward all in one motion, taking out a couple of kids and a dad as I fell. It was pretty funny.

Ana loved the zoo, but could not pinpoint her favorite. She actually said the penguins a few times so maybe it was the penguins. I liked the rhinos myself. And of course those dang monkeys! Mike was pretty gungho on seeing the polar bears, but they just wanted to sleep when we came by.


On Thursday Ana's preschool had a Mother's Day luncheon. It was really great to talk to the other mom's and kids. I was able to snap a few pictures of Ana and her friends to share here. A couple of them have been with Ana since she started at ABC when she was 11 weeks old. She has also grown pretty fond of a few of her classmates and a few classmates have become pretty fond of her. I shared a story with Ryan's mom on how I recall a few years ago when Ana and Ryan were in the baby room together and one day I came to pick up Ana and the two of them were sitting in the center of the room taking each others socks off. It will be a story that I hope they share as the years go on.

In a couple of weeks Ana will graduate from preschool and begin her new adventure this fall as an Early 5 - Kindergartner. She is pretty excited about that, but I am not. My babygirl is not a baby anymore, but what she is, is a sweet and loving little girl. I just love watching her and talking to her about things. Kids this age have so much to share. I love it!



Last weekend we were able to spend the afternoon with the Worsley's. Austin and Ana had alot of fun with the kids and their new puppy.

Will she play hockey?

Last weekend we took the kids to skate in Chelsea. They had a DJ skate which was pretty fun for the older kids. Ana was determined that she was going to get out there and skate just like her big brother and sister. After four trips around the rink she was done. We will have to see if she really wants to play hockey? Mike is all ready to take her to learn to skate. That's ok with me, but when I see a hockey stick in her hand I don't know...





Lately Spencer has been quite the lovey dog. I am thinking back a year ago I wanted him gone. After we took him to obedience school it made a world of a difference. I am glad we kept him and I think the kids are too...



Superbowl at the Caryl's



Our Superbowl Half Time Show...

Catching up while it snows!

Today it snowed quite a bit and as Ana and I went out to play I caught a few photos of her. I also realized that I am just going to give up on posting to my blog on a regular basis. Life just doesn't allow me to have enough time to do it all so here is what I can post as a catch-up since November.....



Sneaky Spencer......taking Ana's mitten from her!



I can just see Spencer thinking.... "Come on...just try and get it from me!" Ana tried to chase him for a bit, but the deep snow got the best of her and with a cold exposed hand it didn't take long for the tears to start and call it quits.



You can see who won this battle! Oh so proud he was!



We brought in the New Year pretty quietly this year. We had some friends over and played alot of Wii. We also had some great entertainment watching Doug do the Wii fit into the early am hours. I was also threatened that I had better not take any pictures or videos so unfortunately I don't have any entertaining videos of this to share.


Alex turned 15 on December 26th! Look out...one more year and she will be asking for the keys!



Christmas came and left in a blur. We were on the go for just about that whole week trying to get to everyone to visit and share Christmas greetings with. We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas season!!



Analeigh turned four on November 19th. We didn't have Austin and Alex with us on her actual birthday so it was a little quite celebration with just the three of us going to dinner and falling asleep to Kung Fu Panda. Later that weekend we celebrated with family.