5 Years of Heaven!

Today is Adam and my legal 5 year anniversary. We don't really celebrate this one (to make him remember two dates seemed cruel!!), but it still makes me happy to realize how far we've come together. It seems like all the things I did before I met him, happened to another person. My real life began with Adam.

After 5 years I love him more each day and can't wait until he walks through the door at night. He still surprises me all the time with the things he can do and makes me laugh with the insights he has into life and people. I'm looking forward to another 50 years with the most amazing man in the world!!

Roses Everywhere!

Mom, this rose was beautiful this year, I'm just going to let it grow and grow! I need to plant some more lilies because Adam loved the splash of color in amongst the pink.

I now have enough flowers that I can have two vases of flowers from the garden in the house all the time. It makes me so happy.

This was the seating wall I made/modified so we can sit and watch Adam play horse shoes. Stephanie brought be another hydrangea last week so there is no another huge hydrangea on the left to balance the one of the right so this bed is now done!!

When you sit on the seating wall this is the view of our autum project. I'm thinking knock out roses round the pool and then two rows of fruit - one raseberry and one blackberry, parallel to the pool and then four blueberry bushes near the fence. Let me know if that would work. Hopefully the giant burn pile will be gone by then!!

Our New Bathroom

We were both very tired of the bright yellow in the bathroom and I'd copied Yvette and bought this shower curtain from Target (thanks Ben & Erin for the birthday gift certificate!!). Shelley's visit prompted us to finally change the color. Adam painted it on Memorial Day weekend and it looks wonderful. We have photos of Adam's trip to California on the walls because as he pointed out the whole of the rest of the house is filled with pictures of places I've been!!

I love the bathroom now but when I was cleaning the bath I realized just how bad my first tiling attempt was! I had to catch a plane the afternoon I did it, so I never washed all the grout off, so it's still there, but 5 years on it catches all the grime! I rarely shower in there so I don't think about it until we have guests, but maybe re-tiling will be my next big project.

At the Lake

We were supposed to go to NC to see Adam's Mom for Memorial Day but his step Dad had to work nights over the weekend. We were really sad that we couldn't see them but it would have been too hard to keep Nicolas quiet during the day while Mark slept. No matter how hard I try I can't find a volume other than very loud in Nicolas' repertoire!
We had a wonderful day with Woody and Stephanie on the boat. Adam water skied and it took me back to the first time I met Woody and Stephanie and saw Adam ski. He is amazing. I've tried many times, stood up once and said 'never again'!! It's too fast and the thought of hitting the water is just horrible.

Woody got the kids in the water but it was just a bit too cold for me. I was quite happy on the boat chatting to Stephanie.

Cherry Dresses and Spin Art

Mom this is a close up of the dress. It was very straight forward to smock, but when you actually look at the stitches you'll be horrified!! The overall impression is great though.

Nehemiah lent Nicolas his scooter and he loves it. It was hard to get him back on his bike for the first couple of days after we got back from TN, but now he rides the scooter and his bike in equal amounts.

Kirsten has been teaching Nicolas how to do spin art and they'll spend 30 minutes in the morning creating their masterpieces. Kirsten is great at teaching Nicolas and Adison new things and creating new games for them.

Jaden Graduates Elementary School

Jaden's official graduation took place at Jon and Tori's church and was very formal. Mom and Dad paid for us to take Jaden out for a meal first to make him feel special and Jon babysat for us. It was a lovely evening and I felt very proud to be an honory American. America does pomp and ceremony very well, even for 10 year olds!!

Mrs Goodman the Principle introduces the event.
The parents all sat around the stage and the students were called up individually from their class to receive their graduation certificate.

Our camera didn't do well - it was useless without the flash and dark with the flash. Jaden is to the right of the woman in pink, in a checked shirt.

This blurry moment is when Jaden shook hands with the principle and officially became and Middle schooler.

Afterwards the 5th grade teachers put on a very funny dance performance for the kids, spoofing dance styles for the last 50 years. Jaden's teacher had obviously choreographed it as everyone was following her lead.

Afterwards there was a reception and Jaden got to hang out with his best friend Jeremiah. We managed to retrieve Jaden's graduation certificate before he screwed it totally into a ball! It was a great evening and worth the $25 we paid for tickets.

Kirsten's End of Year Party

After Jaden's awards ceremony we raced home and got the cookies we'd made for Kirsten's end of year party. She loves having us come in the class to see her and all she wants to do is show Nicolas and Adison to all her friends - the complete opposite of Jaden.



The kids all got to watch a movie before pizza, cookies and cake so boys being boys, they all ended up fighting on the floor. Adison (in the middle at the back) wasn't sure what to make of it all.
Once the pizza arrived, order was restored and I helped hand out food and drinks with some other parents who came in for the party. I feel so lucky to be able to go in to school for parties. I just wish that I could do more to help in the kids classes, but taking Nicolas and Adison to a class party is one thing, taking them in to help out in a classroom is a whole other thing!

Jaden's Graduation Parade

The day before Jaden left Elementary school they had the 5th Grade Parade. I took the kids in to school at 8:15am and all the younger children lined the hallways so the 5th graders could parade past them into the cafeteria for their awards ceremony.

There was a banner leading the way and all the 5th grader processed behind it as the younger kids clapped and cheered. I was so glad we went as the atmosphere was wonderful.

I think Jaden was happy we were there, but you can never tell as he always pretends to be 'cool'.

What was less wonderful was trying to keep Nicolas and Adison quiet for over an hour during the awards ceremony while we waited to see what award Jaden received. In the end, after a huge wait, when I thought I was going to lose my mind trying to keep Adison quiet and Nicolas still, Jaden's whole class was recognized for their contribution to the special needs program in the school. I thought he would get an individual honor or else I wouldn't have stayed. It's not that I don't care, it's just keeping the kids happy for longer than 15 mins is hard!!

The Principle, Mrs Goodman

Jaden and his teacher, Ms Hill.

I was glad we supported Jaden, but it was stressful and I was so tired having been up early baking cookies for Kirsten's class party, which we still had to go to later on.

A Trip to TN - Weeks Ago!!

It is so long since we went to TN that Yvette's Mom is already back in England!! Adam has fixed the problem of the computer shutting off (all the inside, including the fan that keeps it cool, was covered in a thick layer of dust!), but it still won't sense my camera.

We had a wonderful visit as usual and I'm so excited because we are going back up in the camper for Labor Day. It will be great to spend more than a few hours with Yvette and the kids, and if the Dad's are there, we may actually get to complete a conversation without interuption!!

It was wonderful to see Yvette's Mom as the last time I saw her was at our wedding. It was the first time she met Nicolas and Adison and luckily they were on their best behavior.

Nicolas loves Nehemiah so much and now Adison can create the same bond with Rachel and Elizabeth. Rachel was so sweet with Adison and pulled her round and round the pool. My visits to TN are something I really look forward to and the 3 hour drive flys by.

More Lake Pictures

When Adam brought the next round of photos he'd downloaded home from work, I found a lot more pictures of the lake. Soon our camping pictures will be like climbing pictures - they'll all look the same and I'll stop posting them.

There were a couple of classics though - Adam cleaning up Leo's pooh being one of them! He claims that in Leo's almost 4 years of life he's cleaned up his pooh before, but I'm not sure. Anyway, this was the first time as far as I'm concerned and it made me laugh so much!!

Sometimes (not often) I forget how cute my husband is, but then I see pictures of him looking like this and I remember I married his for his looks, not his electrical/business/camper driving/childproducing/painting/general amazing skills!

Of course camping wouldn't be camping without roasting marshmallows.

or bike riding to the loo! (No pooping allowed in the camper!!)

or fishing with Papa

The kids were so cute on Sunday morning sitting on the camper step watching the lake as I cooked breakfast.

And them Leo processed his breakfast and I had yet more fun watching Adam scooping doggy pooh for the second time in two days. My life must be so sad and boring that things like this make me laugh!