Poppies

Last September, Mike and Mackenzie were in Andrea and Andy's wedding where the favors at the reception tables were little jars of poppies, a great idea since both Andy and Andrea are in the Army. We decided over the winter, we'd scatter them in a corner of our yard that needed a little something. Two weeks ago, Mackenzie found the first of the blooming poppies and we've had a steady showing of them since then. It's fun to look at them and think of great friends.

My little shadow wasn't far behind me with her own camera that, coincidentally, the Thueme's sent her for her birthday.:

Nice shot, Mack!

It's a tough job....

Being the best friend to a little girl isn't an easy job, but Ellie finds it worth it...

Belly laughs

Mason shared his first belly laughs with Mack and me today! He has been giggling for a while now but the big laughs always seem to get stuck in his throat. I was dancing his arms and singing to him when he let loose the sweetest laugh. Mack and I were so excited that we had to keep trying for more. After three other laughs, Mason got crabby and the fun ended but oh, what sweet music!

4th of July

My little sparklers!

This year we celebrated again with the Reynolds/Torres/Chairez clan and, as I sat chatting with Rhonda and watching the kids play in the pool, it seemed surreal to me that a whole year had passed since we gathered together for a BBQ!  This year, along with the three wild kids , we added Mason and Logan to the mix who are just 7 weeks apart.

Aunt Samantha adoring Logan

After chowin' down with the Reynolds gang, we jetted over to my parents house for dinner with the family. As is always the case, the whole house was in waiting for a chance at the kids. Mack, who had been playing for hours in the splash pool with Brock and Malachi, wasn't in any mood for being squeezed so Mason took the brunt of the adoration while big sister played with her cousins.

Auntie Carley and Uncle Mark with Mason

Dad saddled up one of the horses and gave rides to the kids. Mack wasn't excited about that but Mike wasn't going to pass up a chance to take Chica for a walk. After a few times around the yard, stubborn Chica had learned who was boss:

Mike and Chica

As Mason's bed time drew closer, he began to melt so we packed up our gang and headed for home. I got Mason tucked into bed while Mike and Mack set up chairs in the front yard where we could watch the city's fireworks show:

Waiting for the show to begin

Mackenzie put on a pre-fireworks show where she handed out " night berries" ( her precious plums from the back yard) and shouted things like " Let's get ready for the show, folks!" . She also concocted her very own fireworks dance which she performed in sync with the fireworks:

We could see the fireworks perfectly from our front yard

It was a very long but fun day for all of us. It's fun to think ahead to what next year will be like with a mobile Mason!

Talk about a firecracker!

Plums galore!

A few weeks ago my mom noticed that the "berries" on one of the odd ball bushes in our yard were turning black. Curious, Mike grabbed one, peeled it open and cautiously tasted it. To all of our surprise, the tiny little "berry" was actually a miniature plum! So now we have three bushes so full of plums that they are falling over. As a result, Mack has a new hobby of picking plums by the basketful and a new favorite snack!  Our first growing season in our new house sure has been exciting. We never know what will sprout up next.

They are pretty cute, aren't they?

Slug Bug!

My mom introduced Mackenzie to the game of slug bug.Thankfully, the very first ground rule is "slugging" means tapping and you can only do so when playing the game. You can imagine that our road travels are full of excitement to see who can find the most "bugs".  Because Mackenzie loves playing the game so much, we were both tickled when we found a pair of purple slug bug earrings at Claire's while Mack and I were having our " girls day out" last week. She loves them and goes around flicking them saying " ding-a-ling-a-ling!" .

The gangs all here!