Family and Fairies

I am so glad that summer is here! It's my favorite time of the year. We all love being outside as much as we can, even our cats, Squirrel and "small headed" Garfield.

My mom's garden is really in full bloom.

We all need to relax as well as Squirrel can! 

I think little Catherine wants to be planted outside.

Grandpa came for a surprise visit. We were all so glad to see him! 

You can see where Elliot gets his blue eyes from! 

Anastasia has been very conscientious in watering her garden. 

Grandma and the girls have been designing their own fairy gardens. 

Victoria loves to balance on the garden path. 

Isabella and her fairy horses. 

I just had to put this picture in, because little Catherine actually matches! 

Francesca loves being outside too! 

This is Victoria's angry stomp. She gets quite mad if she can't have what she wants. She is really starting to learn that she has to talk and ask for what she wants. Tonight at dinner, she told me "No noodles mama, milk please!" Pretty darn impressive! 

Thanks for visiting Dad! 

Hope everyone is enjoying your summer! I would love ideas about how to keep five kids occupied during the really hot months. 

Bang, Bang, Bangs

I am throwing out all the hair-bows and barrettes! What do you all think?

Too cute! 

Some children need to learn to hold still when Mom has scissors. Sigh. Luckily, she doesn't care too much about her appearance yet. 

Uh-oh. She just found the mirror. Maybe I better hide the scissors when I sleep or I might wake up with a scary haircut of my own. 

Doesn't Victoria look so much older! 

Somehow, the looks seems to fit Catherine's personality.

Francesca got a new do too! I did lots of layers because she still shakes her head back and forth at night and gets it mega tangled. I love her curls. 

How did they all get so grown up looking?! 

Isabella decided to do a photo session with the fancy chicklets. 

so styling! 

Check out that pose! 

There is a little know fact that is rarely seen....Victoria has dimples!!! 

Hanging Around

We have been having such a nice time just doing ordinary things lately. We are all so excited that there is only 2 more weeks of school! Next week, the girls have their yearly testing, so we decided to relax with friends on the weekend. That water was really cold! Can you guess how long it took before everyone was soaking wet?  And who do you think whined the most? 

These are money plants in my mom's backyard. I am hoping that romping through them will bring us some financial success! 

We have had some new developments. My baby is growing up.  She lost her first tooth! She actually yanked it out herself. The tooth fairy brought her two quarters. The first thing she said was, "Mom, I will take you to the store and buy you some M&M's with my money." Such a sweet child! 

Such sweet, loving sisters......at least for the picture! 

Notice anything different? Someone else is growing up too! Victoria insists on wearing underwear and gets downright offended if you try to put a diaper on her. 

Who needs tv? We have a new favorite game around here. Blindfold the mischievous children and let them try to find their way around. On the one hand, they are slower finding things to get into trouble with, but, on the other hand, they have managed to make a new record for broken objects. 

Need a little extra oxygen to the brain? Call Isabella for a quick flip.

I lost my mind and took all five girls shoe and bathing suit shopping. Francesca has already lost her new sandals. Catherine wanted a size 10 bathing suit the size of a Kleenex and Anastasia tried on 20 different bathing suits before I started hiding in the Hello Kitty pajamas. They may be going naked this summer. 

The girls' school had a field day. The face painting took a long time to put on......

                              .........but the water slide took it all off in less than a minute. 
                                                                    Time well spent! 

This mud hole made me so glad that I had wasted precious brain cells in buying new bathing suits. 

Hopefully, Catherine likes the Georgia clay fashion statement, because her new bathing suit will be staying this way. Sigh.

Nothing like a playground on a sunny day! 

I love this determined look on Victoria's face.

Clover chains! 

The girls love to sit on the roof when we go to get milkshakes. Probably, this is not very good for my car, but how important is a smooth, non-dented roof anyway. 

No matter how tough things get, always take time to walk through the clover! 

Happy Mother's Day everyone!