summertime

Monday, November 14, 2011

Every Monday the principal of my building sends out a weekly newsletter called

The Happenings.

This is to let us know the "happenings" of the building,

anything special that's going on during the week,

or things that might be coming up.

At the end of today's Happenings he wrote

"As you may know, Shannon Johnson will be returning to the building
this Wedensday. We want to thank Laura Andrews for all that she has
done in the last three months while Shannon has been out."

As I read this, I realized two things;

1) my principal clearly recycles the Happenings year to year

and doesn't always do a thorough job of proofreading it.

2) this was the week I returned to work last year after having Oskar.

So, I thought it was time to do a quick year in review...

well, a year and 4 months in review...

and, no,
I still have not figured out why I can't download new pictures onto my laptop...

Greg is of course at the library...

so it will have to wait...

maybe I'll have Halloween pictures posted by Christmas!

Enjoy

July 5, 2010 arrival

Meeting the sisters for the first time...

I would like to add that I went a whole day and a half with
no one telling me the hair clip Hannah Grace
had put in my hair long before we left for the hospital
was still in my hair.

I don't usually wear pink butterfly clips outside of my home....
and allow myself to be photographed.

Chillin' at home.

Hanging with the sisters.

First trip to Stormy Lake.

First smiles.

Hanging on for dear life.

Da Bears.

No one knows what's going on here.

My favorite picture of Bubba.

Sporting a little mohawk.

Who can say?

I don't know why but this picture always reminds me of Grandpa Ray.

Smiles and giggles.

Christmas 2010

First haircut.

Hanging with the cousin.

Skip 6 months to June
(not sure where those pictures are.)

Playtime.

More smiles.

This boy loves his daddy.

He's a mama's boy too.

Special times with Grandpa.

Eating sand with Burns.

Cubs fan.

Getting some help with his bottle.

and, this is where the picture story ends.

When I get the last 3 months of pictures uploaded I will share the rest!

The Face

and we wonder where she gets it from!

Birthday

Growing up, I always wished I had a sister.

Someone I could play with, share clothes with, someone I could talk about boys with...

all of my friends had sisters and while I knew there were times of fighting, I also knew that a sister was a different type of friend that you would have for life and I was a little sad that it was something I didn't think I would have.

Instead, this was the baby brother the good Lord gave me.

He didn't want to talk about boys and I didn't want to share his clothes.

But, we had a lot of fun moving around the world growing up together.

And, it is because of him that I can finally say I have a sister.

Bobby and Lauren were married five years ago this past October.

There are so many things that have happened in those five years

and one of them is that I have been fortunate to have Lauren in my life.

Today is her birthday and as I thought back on the last five years
I thought of all of the things she has brought into my life.

So, I thought I'd make a list of what I've gained,

because my baby brother got married...

1)I now have someone who loves my kids as only Greg and I can. She has taken the time to get to know each of them and celebrates exactly who God has created them to be.

2) I also have someone who will come to my home for a visit. Then one day at midnight start pushing the furniture around, rearranging and styling the whole room and all of a sudden the room will just work and make sense.

3) And, I have someone who at 1 in the morning will take all my pictures off the wall and start hammering in nails as she arranges a new gallery wall. All while the men play golf video games and the 5 children sleep.

4) She is someone who feels comfortable enough with me to periodically, throughout the day just pick up my glass of diet coke and take some sips, no questions asked, no harm done.

5) She will talk with me about cute boys.

6)She also lets me borrow her clothes.

7) She is also someone who encourages me to look for the the fun in life, my family, my faith, my clothes and in my home. She helps me to recognize the possibilities of the day.

8) And, she is someone who will ask me about my walk with Christ, my life, things I hope for and things I struggle with...and will listen with intention.

Lauren, I know how Bobby feels about you, but I am truly blessed to call you sister.

I hope you had a fabulous birthday!

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Leader of the Pack

Hannah Grace hanging out after Lily's soccer game

Lily, leading the Pittsburgh Pirates to victory! She loves the game so much and even had a home run during the first practice! This Wednesday will be her first game, she is so excited!

Update 10/27/11 I just found this draft, I'm not sure when I put it together. Clearly, Hannah Grace was just a baby, probably Oskar's age so this must have been put together 3 years ago. I thought it was time to finally publish it!

DREAM IT!

I've been wanting to post new stories and pictures of the kids on the blog

but I somehow can't download pictures from the camera.

I realized that I tend to update on nights when Greg is at the library or at class,

so, my tech support is not available.

Until I get new pictures on my computer, I thought I'd share some things

that this little one wrote for an assignment at school!

The assignment was called "DREAM IT!" and was for Red Ribbon Week

the directions were

In the space below, make a list of all the

things you have ever wanted to learn or be.

The sky is the limit when you're drug free!

Don't leave anything out!

I'd like to learn.... I'd like to be....

cersev (cursive) a police girl

how to play hobcky a docter

about gases a vetranareen

about soshoil studes a soccer player

about life cicels a tenis player

how to play hooky a teacher

how snakes shed a reading teacher

their skin a presedint's wife

A couple of things I love about these two lists are that

she (1) clearly had just come from science class where they've been learning

about the life cycles of insects, (2) brave spelling can at times be tricky to read but is always fun for a laugh, (3) her carrer choices suit her spunky personality and my personal favorite is her last choice!