Happy Birthday Lynzee Ann!

I can't believe you're two already!

 Brand new

 "Okay, Grandma.  Put down the camera and push me!"

"Heard any good jokes lately?"

Indoor picnic with Grandpa. 

She dressed for the occassion with her little black dress.

Lynzee and cousin Dexter

Happy Birthday Sweetie!

I love you bunches!

The Graduations Begin!

Zak graduated today from preschool.  Seems like it wasn't that long ago that we learned we would be grandparents for the first time.  Now there are five grandkids and this is the first of a long string of graduations.  With four more (for now) grandkids yet to attend preschool and graduate, I figure by the time Cooper's and Dexter's little sister* graduates from Kindergarten, Zak will follow soon after with a grammar school graduation.

It wasn't a good day for us to travel so we couldn't be there, but Dayna took lots of pictures and I "borrowed" a few.

 "Ready! Let's get this show on the road!"

 "I'm so stinking proud of me!"

 Class of 2011

Lynzee, Zak & Caycee

 Zak and the proud mommy.

It would appear the proud daddy is camera shy.

* There is no happy news.... little sis has yet to make it out of the twinkle in the eye stage.  I'm just being positive and hopeful.

Family At Easter

All the kids came done for Easter this year.  It was great to see them all together and listen to them talk.  Old stories had to come out again and be retold for the benefit of Adam's girlfriend as it was the first time she was at a family gathering. (Poor Nancy)  And we had our first official kid's table.... and they wanted to sit at it!  We'll see how long that lasts. 

But before dinner we had an Easter egg hunt . . .

 All the kids managed to find enough eggs to fill their baskets.  Except Dexter.  He got sidetracked when he realized there was candy inside. 

Then it was time to move on to our arts and crafts project. 

A large piece of MDF was left over from making a shelf for the living room.  I primered it before the kids got here.  An old bag of Scott's uniform shirts that I had never gotten around to throwing out made great smocks.

 All dressed and ready to paint!

 We had crayons and markers and colored pencils but everyone chose to use paint.

 I plan to cover it with polyurethane and add legs.  It'll make a great kids table for next time they are here.

The two youngest weren't quite as entertained by painting as the older ones.  They moved on.

 "Hop on Dexter! I'm going that way!"

"Fun!"

 "You're a little slow.  I think I'll walk."

 After Lynzee and Caycee got some scrapes and some bandaids, Caycee and Cooper decided the stone deer needed some first aid and bandaids.

Gramma wanted a group picture with all her grandkids.

It was a whole lot easier sitting down in this thing than it was to get out of it.... a tight squeeze!

 Dexter showing off... he can walk on the wall and drink at the same time.

Christmas Portraits

Christmas was noisy, chaotic, and lots of fun.  Just the way it's supposed to be.

This was the last time we were all together, which means it's been about 14 months. With the grandkids being so young, lots can change in that amount of time!   So we set up cameras - I think there were three digital cameras and one flip video camera - and hit the timer buttons and ran to sit down.  FUN!  I haven't seen what the kids got but two of my shots turned out.

After we ate and opened presents (not in that order!), the kids wanted to play picnic.  Go figure.

You Gotta Know How To Dress

A few weeks ago we had Zak, Caycee and Lynzee for a visit.  We'd been promising to take them for another picnic soon.  It would have been nice to find a place around here and do just that but it's been so hot and heat and MS don't get along at all. 

So we told them we'd have an indoor picnic.  After locking the dogs in the kitchen, we (Karen, don't read this part) spread out a quilt and covered it with plates and bowls of goodies.  Lynzee had apparently been looking forward to the event and dressed for the occasion...   (Karen, avert your eyes!)

You have to click on the picture to read it... it says "this is my little black dress".  Isn't it cute?!

I'm not sure what Scott was sampling but he was trying to convince Caycee that it tasted good.

Caycee wasn't buying it.

It wasn't the same as in the woods.  No green to look at, no breeze to feel, to birds to listen to, but also no bugs!  The kids loved it.

Happy 1st Birthday Lynzee Ann!!!

Love you sweetie!

Kid Stuff - June Birthday Celebration

Zak's birthday is in June. Caycee and Lynzee were born in July. Justin will be out of town for two weeks of USMC training and will miss Caycee's and Lynzee's birthdays. So Justin and Dayna had one big celebration for all of them.

Oh look! It's someone just my size!

Checking each other out.  Do you see Zak just entering the scene on the right?  This was so cute... several adults said "look out for the babies Zak!"  Instead of veering around them to go where he had been headed he grinned and plopped right down between them and had a little visit.

Looks like Lynzee adores him.  She really does.  Dexter was pretty fascinated too.

Caycee - the rough and tough tomboy - is turning into quite the little princess. 

She asked me recently if I used to be a princess :)

 

I love the way Cooper treasures his treats before devouring them.

He was so good watching the birthday kids opening their presents... gotta be so hard at that age!

Fun At Uncle Bob's

Here's the third, and last group of older pictures....
Brother Bob, Uncle Bob, Grandpa Bob.... all depends on your perspective.... hosted an Easter Egg Hunt the day before Easter.  A good time was had by all!

Joeanne entertained the kids with a game of Hot Potato.

Cooper really wanted to play but he doesn't allow himself to mingle for the first ten minutes.

Zak totally gets Joeanne's sense of humor.

Some of the girls thought Barbie might be more fun.

Zak made a new friend.

Loving the wind!

Lots of ground to cover.

Next year Dexter will be ready for the egg hunt. This year he just supervised.

I should've taken pictures of the kids checking out their loot.  Bob filled a bazillion eggs (over 200?) with goodies, candy, gum, money. All this was after a lunch of hamburgers and hot dogs and all the trimmings. The first barbeque of the season.  It was a fun family day.

Thanks Bob!