For Michael at camp

Hey Buddy,

Hope you had a great day! Here is the picture of Amber with her short hair and the link to the photo book =)

Red Rebels photo book: http://redrebels10.shutterfly.com/

I am a terrible blogger...

So it's been six months since my last post. I knew I wasn't going to be posting daily but I never thought I'd be this lax about it. I am going to try and post a few times a month at least...no promises...but I'll try =) I have gone back and posted the high-lights from the first part of 2011 to catch it up to date.

Baseball - the highs and the lows

Thomas and Sam both played baseball again this season and we were lucky to have fun teams and beautiful weather. Sam fell off a fence just before the final games and playoffs and we thought he had most likely broken his elbow (ER's feelings which I shared). We waited a week to go back for x-rays and found out that it wasn't broken, probably just bruised or sprained. He was cleared for activities which made him really, really happy =)

The bottom pictures were taken with my new lens, from the top row of the bleachers through a fence. I am loving it!

Mother's Day

Amber's gift to me was a total make-over. This included hair-styling (I think she used 14 bows) and a make-up session. The towel is there because she is an enthusiastic make-up applier and uses excessive amounts of powder, eye shadow, etc. Michael walked in from playing basketball afterwards and thought I had a black eye =) I loved it because she loved it and because all I had to do was lay there and let her play with my hair and face - much easier than some past gifts. "Mom, I know how much you love playing ponopoly (monopoly) so I am going to play it with you." (oh, lucky me)

Brian surprised me with a new lens for my Valentine's Day gift. I was excited and appreciative at the time but the more I use it, the more I LOVE it (look kind of like a crazy papparazzo but that's ok) =)

A picture I took of the moon a few days ago with the new lens:

Thomas

Here a few pictures of Thomas from the spring. Basketball ended and baseball began. The middle picture cracks me up because it was taken about 30 minutes after I picked him up from the school nurse's office with his arm strapped to a board. They were pretty certain it needed x-rays as it might be broken =)

School Competitions

Sam competed in his first school science fair. He picked a project about volcanos because it sounded fun =) He was testing how the viscosity of different liquids affected their flow rates. It took a looooong time for the honey to make it through the bottle! He did a great job and was a finalist at school.

In Michael's history class, the kids are assigned an out-of-class project either individually or on a team and the theme this year was "debate and diplomacy". Michael and two friends, Matt and Cameron chose to do a documentary on the Iran hostage crisis. They worked really hard and ended up with an impressive documentary. They won first place in the regional competition, qualifying for the state competition. So off we went to Austin. They did a fantastic job and made it to the final round at state.

Spring Break

Off to Durango, Colorado once again for spring break. I know I took some snow pictures but I am not finding them right now. We stayed with Brian's dad and some of our friends came along. Thomas enjoyed rock climbing in their house and of course we had to take the kids to the candy store. The picture of Amber sleeping reminded me so much of a picture of her when she was just a few days old. Some things never change....

2011 has begun...

And it started off with a dance from our tiny dancer...

Amber took a dance class at the local "Little Gym" through the fall and her big show was in early January. It was all worth it just to see her in the outfit. Adorable!

Here are some fun shots of Sam enjoying himself...modeling at Kohl's, with his indoor soccer team (he LOVED every minute of that sport) and getting ready to cheer on the Green Bay Packers with our last minute assembly cheese head hat =)

December Fun

I'm lucky to live in a neighborhood with lots of fun ladies. We have a monthly Bunko night and it was at my house for Christmas. Christmas is great fun because we do an ornament exchange as well. Em had the great idea to wear our Christmas tree skirts.

For Sam's 10 birthday, Brian and I surprised him with a night out to the Hard Rock Cafe and to see the Nutcracker. He also got an ipod with a ND skin and an Irish nutcracker. My Dad's side of the family has some serious Irish roots and Sam's dream is to attend Notre Dame and be the mascot =)

One of our neighbors is an amazing hostess. She has the house where you always fill so comfortable. Each Christmas she bakes and assembles from scratch, gingerbread houses. Enough so that each guest can do their own (100 or more). She buys an amazing assortment of candy and her husband lines the walls with Christmas themed paper. Its truly amazing and has become a tradition cherished by all.

Christmas!! This year we decided to do something different and finished the shopping, cards, etc. a little early and relax. We went to San Antonio for a few days, visiting Sea World and the River Walk. Loved it!