Not sure of the point of this exercise. I think it is just one of those things kids do because they can. Or maybe he's trying to make himself taller?

We got up very early this morning to watch Will and Kate's royal wedding. The girls loved watching, but by mid-morning their short night was catching up with them.

Going through summer clothes this afternoon. I think Sam has plenty of golf shirts (There are 13, if you can't quite count them). And to think he wears the same one every single Sunday.

Tina is my little photographer.  The first time I let her use my SLR, she gushed about how she loved it... right down to the sound of the click of the shutter.  So, because I see her interest, I try to throw in little tidbits about ISO, shutter speed, etc.  I don't know how much she retains, but I'm pretty sure it won't be long before she is a better photographer than me (and I realize that to be better than me, who has never had any training, isn't saying that much, but I am trying to compliment her ability).  Anyway, here are two pictures which she took with my camera today.  She showed me the first one.  I showed her how to bump up the ISO and then how to adjust shutter speed.  She followed my instructions and got the second shot.  On full manual (auto focus, though).  Awesome job, Tina!

Please disregard the unmade bed. The artistically gifted apparently cannot be bothered with order.

Sweet Sisters... and hopefully, life-long friends.

(Made by Christina using Colorforms.  There is actually a little white "i" in there that doesn't show up. We aren't great spellers over here, but this time they actually did get it right).

While the girls were out for their run, they found this baby bird in the road. They brought it home to nurse back to health. If you know me, you know how happy this did not make me. But it is sweet and it actually can already fly. I think it just needs a little TLC.

HAPPY EASTER!

(We tried a couple many, many times and subjects and photographer were unable to come together to get one decent photograph.  These 2 were the best).

This was yesterday's picture, but it was our Easter celebration, so I'm including it today.

All of us went bowling this afternoon. I discovered a few things. It is awesome to go bowling with kids. They will clap and cheer even if you don't knock down any pins. When you bowl like I do, that helps.

Second, I have a picture of every single person in our group bowling and they're actually not very interesting.

Third, if you go to the Retro Bowl, then you really can't leave without retro gaming.

Easter Egg Hunt

Taryn helped hide the eggs so she is watching and laughing.

I don't know what Tina is saying here. Probably has something to do with "CANDY!!!".

Checking eggs for prizes

Ben got the big prize!

"Oh! Bubbles!!!"

Strawberry Picking

Exactly the kind of clothes I had in mind for wearing to a farm to pick strawberries:

David with the ladybug he found. He did not pick another strawberry after this.

Goofing off

Strawberry-to-be

Checking out the animals:

Jack (the large dog) comes to be in our picture:

The kids minus Jack:

Had my band concert tonight. The music was not super challenging this semester, but I really liked it. I feel blessed to be able to participate, because it really does make me happy to play. And even after so many years of playing, I feel that I still learn more each time.

It is too bad you can't smell these pictures. This is a variety of a lilac and it smells heavenly.

Taryn gets a summer haircut.

Before:

Almost finished:

Tina being super silly:

Smiling because she loves it:

Dianthus

Christina had gone outside for some reason and come back in with a flower in her hair. I took one look and knew we had to head outside for a quick photo session to capture this true Tina flair.

Well, it's not quite the last minute, but it sure is close. Finished the taxes while the kids worked on school. Hooray for crossing off items on the to-do list!

You can probably guess where this is going.

Once the fan blades are loaded with small stuffed animals (the whimsy pets of this post), flip the switch!

Went out to the car to get something and laughed when I saw this.

But wait... there's more.