May and June in pictures

I wish that I was witty and creative in writing blogs like Damon, and my cousins April and Summer, but alas, I am neither witty, funny or creative….at all. I’m learning to accept it and since I love my cousin April SO much and she keeps asking me to be better about blogging, I will at least give you some pictures to look at.

Damon has been super busy with his new photography business that we started a couple of months ago, so anytime he is at the computer, he is editing pictures. SO, the blogging job is falling to me this time….sorry. What I really want to do is post an entire blog of Damon’s photo shoots because I’m so proud of him, but I’ll do family first and then maybe next blog I can post some of my favorites of his pics.

 

Back in May we had a fun day in Amarillo and Doug and Terri’s house where we got to meet baby Wyatt for the first time and see his Mommy and Daddy, Leslie and David. We had fun with some other cousins and aunts and uncles as well.

Avery and her best friend at school, Abby were hugging one day in their classroom and their feet got tangled….and down they went, with Avery hitting her head on a metal chair rail on the window. It made a pretty bad gash, that this momma still thinks needed stitches. Our doctor friend from church that immediately worked her in when we called, said that since it was in her hair, he didn’t want to put her through the trauma of stitches. Here is Avery all wrapped up in her pink “civil war soldier bandage”.

 

Moving on to Cayden….We are really into Star Wars right now, folks…. Damon has been telling him for over a year now that when he turned 6 they could watch them together….(I may have watched a few with them too….they are just a little addicting) Anywho… here are some Jedi moves.

 

I asked Damon why, with all the technology out there, they hadn’t made light sabers with the sounds and lights like the real ones. When he told me they have but said how expensive they are….well, ummm….I was surprised at how tempted I was.   Maybe for my next birthday…

 

We had a late Easter/Mother’s Day/4 May birthdays party at GG’s house….

 

We got to have some fun lovin’ time with Miss Kendall on one of our Plainview visits… playing with very age appropriate toys.

 

My big boy… this is our official “6 year old picture”…..it’s so nice not having to go into a studio anymore! (You spoiled us, April)

 

And lastly, swimming lessons were a HUGE flop….the lessons were 30 minutes long and they have them toys to play in the shallow end for at least 15 minutes of the lesson…. so we got a refund. But here are some pics from what we call “play time” not swimming lessons. It was super cute when they asked them to hold hands and get in a circle, Avery and the boy in the hat held hands and just walked around the pool together, while the instructors chased the other kids around trying to get them to hold hands…. Is it just me, but I thought you didn’t have to hold hands with anyone when you swim….Hmm… Maybe I could teach swimming lessons.

The Graduate

Recently Cayden graduated.  We’re still weighing college options, but in the meantime, it’ll be on to first grade!

Each kid had their own poster as the backdrop for the program.

 

A diploma and a hug from Mrs. Tiffiany, Cayden’s “prisubl”

 

And those, my friends, are your future leaders of America.

This red-head had been sitting next to me crying during the whole program, so I asked if she’d like a picture with me and Cayden.  Just trying to help out where I can.

Avery’s allergies were wearing her out that day, but it was cool to see her still pretty excited and proud for Cayden, even if she wasn’t entirely sure what exactly was happening. :)

Ladies, ladies, we’re right here!  Zachari, Cayden, and Caden

Here’s a few from the official cap and gown photo day.

Straight Hair!

Last September, Erin took the straightener to Avery’s hair. It was kind of one of those “what would happen” type moments. You know how when you were a kid (or maybe more like last week…you know who you are) you just had to stick your tongue to that frozen pole, or touch the electric fence, or see just how close you could get your face to the dog’s mouth and still get it back. You were told you couldn’t do it…there was an element of danger…you just had to see for yourself what the results would be. You knew you could die, but it was worth the risk. Such was the case with attacking Avery’s hair; it felt like defying some sort of natural law, but we just had to know what waited on the other side.

So anyway, these are the pictures from last Fall:

To my knowledge, Erin hasn’t outright offered to tackle the beast again, but Avery will on occasion ask for it. Typically she does this when we’re already late and do well just to get the children clothed, let alone having time for hair-do’s. But, she asked for it the other night, and the stars aligned, and Erin was feeling just a little crazy. It’s funny, her hair has grown quite a bit, and we had no idea. I decided it made her about three years older. We took her to a party at church, and had several folks tell us they initially wondered what child we had brought with us, as her signature curls were not bouncing as she trotted along…

Cayden’s Birthday

Our oldest (and one of my two favorite children) turned 6 last week, and we had a party. I know, I know, this story is just filled with unexpected twists and turns. Since he attended a party last year at a local gymnastics facility/padded room for children, he’s wanted to have his party there as well. Here are some shots from the day, beginning with our little warrior-Batman-kid…

They had a giant swing (what he was most looking forward to, and what Avery enjoyed the most during her time there), and his face cycled from sheer terror to pure joy and back again countless times during the few minutes he was on there.

I had my doubts about Avery’s commitment to the swing, and figured she’d get all strapped in and then weasel out, but she stayed with it. The only problem was the “one ride per child” policy, which didn’t prevent her from asking about every 90 seconds for the rest of the day, “Can I swing again?”

In the true spirit of the traditional birthday party, we didn’t just allow other kids to join in the fun, we even invited them!

Strapping in for lift-off…

Sticking the landing…

Working through the obstacle course jumper…

Trampoline-ing…but not nearly as well as Anthony Watt, who was hurtling toward me waaaay too fast to be caught on camera…

And enjoying the various climbing, jumping, and falling apparatuses…

Here’s the full lineup of offenders…pretty good percentage of smiles/eye contact for such a big and focus-challenged group (someone may have once described our church staff using the same terms, but I wasn’t really paying attention)

Then it was on to cake and presents!

This cake, like Avery’s last fall, was a home-made project for Erin and me. Batman got a little more girthy than I would have liked, but that tends to happen to men under our roof. Although muscles look much better drawn on him than they do on me, so at least there’s that…

This was more or less a life-sized dragon. We’re considering giving it Avery’s room since it won’t fit anywhere else. But it breathes fire, so that’s cool.

Erin and Misty…

After the “kid party,” we headed back home for the “family party,” as apparently grandparents, aunts, and uncles are less than impressed with bouncy houses and giant swings. In fairness, they don’t let adults on the cool stuff there anyway, as Nathan recounted for me through tears in the waiting area after he learned that the hard way. So anyway, here’s a little of what happened back at the Casa de la West!

Since opening them, he’s taken these Star Wars shoes off when he sleeps. That’s about it. And come to think of it, I can’t confirm that for sure either…

Uncle Brian enlightening young Cayden (complete with bat-cape)…

Avery, Lorrie, and Rapunzel…

Dustin and D’Lynn with the little monsters…

And a Happy Birthday sign-off from the little ham…