Addison's Graduation Party

Congratulations to Addison for his high school graduation. There was a fun party in his honor at his house Saturday afternoon after the graduation ceremony.

Addy is playing ball with some friends on his front lawn.

Chris cooked burgers and hot dogs to perfection. The burgers were HUGE. And really, perfectly cooked. I'm so fussy about hamburgers, but these were juicy and tasty. Thanks Chris.




Heather experimented with using a knife instead of a fork. It didn't work very well.



Cole, with a fresh haircut, devoured Joanie's fruit salad.




Wayne, also with a fresh haircut, takes a sideways bite of his hotdog. As mentioned in a previous post, he's lost one front tooth and the other is moments away from falling out. I'm loving this toothless stage of his life. I think it's just the cutest thing.

Someone get Lizzy a modeling contract.

Notice the brace on Katie's leg. There's talk of knee surgery.



Elijah just keeps on growing.



Jacob and Danny arrived after winning a game (actually I think there might have been two games) in a World Series Little League tournament.



Wayne thinks Martha's pool is much more fun than our little wading pool.

Mary listens intently as Cole does his Titanic performance. You can't really see it, but the Titanic (yes, he brought it with him) is under the water.



Jeanne and Martha enjoy the indoors, away from the humidity and bugs.




I think Cole looks a lot like his cousin, Matthew. They have the same haircut, anyway.

The rain held off until after everyone had eaten and enjoyed the pool, and when a gentle rain did start, it actually brought a welcome relief to the heat and humidity. It was a fun day right up until the moment we were ready to leave and the van wouldn't start. A quick jump start was all the battery needed to get us going.

Thanks Martha and Chris for a great day. And congratulations again to Addy.

Father's Day

So here we are again, on the measley one day a year dedicated to honoring all the Dads in our lives for everything they did and do to make our lives comfortable, secure, and fun.

Thank you, Dads, for all of your hard work, support, advice, guidance, silliness, and fun. As I wirte this, Wes is downstairs playing "Kitchen Hockey" with Wayne, Cole, and Heather.

Happy Father's Day everyone.

Happy Friday the 13th

And more importantly, Happy Birthday from Wayne, Cole, and Heather to Aunt Julie over in France. She's told me stories about all of the unlucky things that have happened when her June 13th birthday has fallen on a Friday, so let's just hope today is full of good luck. Happy Birthday Julie. Hope you're having a great day.



And this picture has nothing to do with anything, but it's so funny and goofy, I just have to put it up.

Ernest and Cecile

Sunday afternoon Ernest and Cecile (Wes's aunt and uncle on his mother's side) stopped in for a visit. They're a really good humored couple and it's aways fun to see them. Cole entertained them with his usual performance and taught them all about the Titanic. Cecile said she never knew as much about the Titanic as she does now.

Ernest looked good and said he's been feeling good these days. They told us about a trip they had taken to Virginia in April in which Ernest had driven most of the way, so things seem to be going well for him. He had a long involved conversation with Wes about property lines. Cole also treated them to his Spider-man costume. Cecile thinks Cole is going to go into show business. He's certainly handsom enough. Look at him. Isn't he the best looking kid you've ever seen in your life? (along with his siblings of course)

Wayne seemed to be quite taken with Cecile. He sat next to her on the couch the whole time and told her about school and his friends.

Heather's stranger anxiety kicked in. This is about as close as she would get to either of them. She did dance to some music for them, which they thought was very cute.

It was a hot and humid day. Earlier in the afternoon before Ernest and Cecile came by, Wayne and Cole cooled off in their sprinkler and wading pool.




Yesterday morning, while having breakfast Wayne finally lost a tooth that has been loose for a long time. I think it was ready to come out weeks ago, but I suspect he's been nursing it along, hoping to get by until school ended. He's getting to be self conscious about his looks. Yesterday was Wayne's last day of school, which consisted of a field trip and then a party at a classmates house, so he did have to be seen with a toothless grin after all. He shouldn't be self conscious about it - most of the kids in his class look the same way.

So today is the first day of summer vacation (for Wayne, not for Wes yet) and it feels great not to have to herd everyone out to the car to get to school. It feels nice to have Wayne home. I may change my mind about that later when he's complaining about being bored all day and arguing with Cole. But for now, it's nice.

Kindergarten Graduation

When I first heard that there was going to be a kindergarten graduation, it was all I could do to keep from rolling my eyes. I've always belonged to the group of people who wonder why there has to be a graduation for everything. High school and college graduations are the only ones that really mean anything. That's what I thought until I saw my own 6 year old kid in traditional cap and gown. Wayne looked so handsom I thought my heart would explode.

I assume that when we see this group again, 11 years from now, graduating from high school, they'll be a lot less wiggly and able to form a straighter line. Look at all the girls wearing flip flops. I'm never going to let Heather wear flip flops to school - someday, when she goes.







Mrs. Dudley recognized each student individually. She sweetly and humorously described each student's personality and achievement at length. To such length that Cole became restless and complained, "This is taking too long. There's too many words." After she described the student she would say something like, "And so my classroom helper award goes to..." She described Wayne as starting out shy but becoming strong and confident. She talked about his manners and politeness. She mentioned his classroom antics with his best friend, Ben. She discussed how he played with dinosaurs and how he was meticulous and careful about his penmanship. She said, "My Dinomite Worker award goes to Wayne R------- A---------." Here she is pinning the award on his gown.

Wayne with the legendary Mrs. Dudley. She's been teaching Kindergarten here for 25 years. This past one has probably been her hardest, but after breaking her leg, enduring physical therapy, and losing her husband, she stepped back into her role as teacher without missing a beat.

Wayne and his best friend, Ben. Ben won the "Let Me Tell You About This" award.

You Can't Be Beautiful All The Time

WARNING ! These pictures are not for the faint of heart. Grammie, you might want to turn away.

The trouble with an 18 month old feeding herself is that more ends up on her than in her. Notice the bib laying on the tray. She takes it off herself - all the time.



She started off the day looking cute in a little pink dress, but as the day became cold and drizzly, a few layers were added. She added the hairnet herself. It's something Wayne brought home from a "Teddy Bear Clinic" field trip to the hospital.


Today was kindergarten graduation. I have lots of pictures to upload and show you. Hopefully I can do that tomorrow sometime. Until then, Princess Beauty will have to tide you over.

Visiting Elaine and Bernard

This morning, while Wayne was at school, Cole, Heather, and I headed over to Elaine's (Wes's aunt, his father's sister) house for a little visit. She was tickled pink to see Cole in his Spiderman costume.




Cole was fascinated with her electric organ. He spent most of the visit playing "music" for us. He would say, "This is what is sounds like when Spiderman shoots his web," and he would press the appropriate key. Then he would say, "And this is what it sounds like when he catches the bad guy," and he would press a low tone key. "And this is what it sounds like when..." and so on.




It was a rather noisy, musical visit.


Heather explores a bucket of toys.

Bernard seemed to be in pretty good spirits. He was puttering around outside in the backyard.
Elaine sent us home with homemade raspberry pie and a fresh package of Koffee Kup crullers.

Back in April, Cole got a lot of cards in the mail for his birthday. Now, whenever we go out to get the mail, he wonders if there will be anything for him. Usually there is not. Today, however, was his lucky day. Something did come for him. It came from his cousin Anna, over in England. It was a postcard with a picture of the sinking Titanic on the front. On the back she had drawn a very accurate, miniature map of the Titanic's course from Ireland to England and part way across the Atlantic, ending with an X at the site of the sinking. Cole was beside himself with happiness, first at getting something in the mail, and second that it had anything to do with the Titanic. Thank you Anna.

Speaking of Titanic (I'm sorry, someday this will pass), The other night I was trying to get dinner ready while Cole was drawing and coloring at the table. I kept telling him that he had to finish up so we could set the table. He kept saying, "In a minute. I have to finish."

I was getting frustrated and finally asked, "What are you drawing that's so important?"

He said, "I'm drawing a cross-section diagram of two bilge keels."

huh?

He had just finished wathcing his DVD documantary made by the History channel about these scientist and historians who go down in a submarine to study the wreckage. I knew that he knew what bilge keels were because he had made me look it up a few days ago. (They're long fin-like strips of metal along the bottom of each side of the ship to help prevent it from rolling too much side to side in rough waters) but I had to ask, "What's a cross section diagram?"

"I think it's when you make a picture that looks like something is cut in half so you can see what things look like inside."

So while other 4 year olds are drawing rainbows and flowers, my little Titanic expert is holding up dinner with his cross section diagrams and bilge keels.



This is a cake Cole and I made, and When Wayne got home , he frosted and decorated it. We took some over to Elaine and Bernard.

Ho-Hum

There's not much going on around here lately. We're all just waiting for the end of school and watching things sprout up in the garden. The weather has been fickle. Sunny one minute, then damp and drizzly the next. Wayne and Cole are always prepared for anything.

It's also black fly season. Heather doesn't like black flies. She'd rather stay inside and work on her art.



These lilacs are some Joanie and I transplanted from her house 10 years ago - the first spring that we were in our house. This is the first time they've blossomed. I was very excited to finally have lilac blossoms. I also have a lilac bush that I transplanted from Mom and Dad's house in Maine, and that has never blossomed yet, either. If and when it does, the blossoms on that bush will be white lilacs.

Summer has finally arrived!

A Package

The kids got a package from Auntie Di in the mail the other day. It's the event of a lifetime. Paper and packing material go flying every which way. Adults just have to stand back and stay out of their way.


Cole is always happy to see the snacks.

Wayne wanted to watch this movie right away.

There were several nice books.


And of course the snacks. Potato Stix are an Auntie Di trademark.






















Heather thought these short made a nice hat.

And this book, called "My Quiet Book" did indeed keep her quiet and busy for a long time while got lunch ready. It has lots of little things to do like tie laces, zip zippers, open flaps. All those kinds of things to keep little fingers busy.

Thanks, Sis, for all the fun stuff !