Behold the Kindergartener!

A note from Mommy: Solomon graduated from pre-school into Kindergarten last night. I'm sure proud of that boy. It's hard to believe that next September I'll have a Kindergartener and a Pre-Schooler. It's just going way too fast. Solly went up and got his little diploma and he suddenly looked really big to me. The longer I explore this homeschool path, the more exited I am to have my boys with me each day. I won't miss anything. The more I'm with them, the less I want to be without them. I love you, boys!

All the kids sang a song and danced. All except one, that is. Can you guess which kid had too much testosterone to dance and sing? One of the older boys, perhaps? No, they're all doing great. I'll tell ya, my boys are as different as brothers can possibly be. Solly was dancing away, genuinely enjoying the experience. Malachi? He was looking at the boys around him as if they were eating earthworms or something...

"Dude. You do realize there's a bunch of people down there watching you dance around like a fairy, right? I mean, we're boys, man. BOYS.
Whatever, man. I'll pick you up some tights next time I'm at the GAP."

RUN, FORREST!!

A round of applause, please, for our teams who ran in the JC Relay last weekend! They all did awesome!

Their jerseys say "SHE" , but they're 100% man. Way to go, you handsome devils!

Great job, guys!
Homeschoolers kick butt!

Summer Begins for Solly and Kai-Kai

Today was the first day of the year that was warm enough for water play outside! Mommy connected the hose to the kitchen faucet so that the water coming out would be nice and warm for us - just the way we like it! We filled the pool all the way up,

then we were ready to play!

Malachi started jumping into the pool,

what a fun idea!

Mommy broke out our new water guns! Oh, what a boys paradise those things are! Last summer we were too small to work them. My how we've grown!

I noticed that maybe my cat and bunny were feeling left out of the fun, so I decided to include them.

I found out that water makes kitties cranky. Kitty-One, thinking that Brier was the culprit, landed her a swift spank on the bunny bottom.

Brier wasn't gonna stand for that, I'll tell ya (she is a Lewis, after all). She turned around and took Kitty-One down, fast as a blink. Defeated, Kitty-One pouted for a while, but...

then they made up just like they always do. I guess siblings of all kinds are like that.

What Every Mother Wants...

So, my cat, Furgus brought me a Mother's Day gift. That's right, ladies and gentlemen - that would be a bat. Brought it right to me while I was watching Amazing Race. It wasn't injured or sick, just cheesed off. Kept hissing and clicking and flipping me off with it's claw thingie. Now. Take this multiple choice questionnaire to find out how well you know Lynee. Do I:
A. Scream, bolt from the scene and drag my husband back to get rid of the thing.
B. Retrieve a pair of salad tongs and humanely but guardedly return the thing to the outdoors from whenst it came.
C. Pick it up, ignoring my husband's pleas for practicality and mutterings of, "You have got to be kidding me." and proceed to make a home for the thing in the aviary where I visit it and coo it while feeding it freshly chopped fruit and store bought crickets.
Aaaaah. You know me well. Now we just need to find a name for him. It's really quite groovy to watch him fly around in there. Probably quite illegal as well. Shhhhhhh...

Almost 2!!

A Note From Mommy: We went over to Sears to get some pictures for Rayna's 2nd birthday (it's on the 23rd of this month) and it was a really fun time. I was holding my breath a little because she's heading into that "2-year-old stage" that can be somewhat challenging to your picture-taking agenda. But, we went armed with an arsenal of Bubbles, Skittles (the pastel kind that match her dress lest she drool them out), Lip Gloss, and a new pair of pink sparkly sunglasses for a bribe. I mean treat. It worked! She even managed to enjoy herself amidst everyone "Oooooo-ing" and "Aaaaaa-ing" about how lovely she looked. Here are our favorites:

Solomon's favorite. Truely a classic "Rayna look".

Malachi's favorite. What better way to welcome the summertime than with a swim suit shot? Rayna looks ultimate GQ.

Micah's favorite. He thinks she looks shy and mischievous.

I think this one's my favorite. Those eyes just melt me!

Everyone was so patient and smiled so beautifully! Here's Rayna eating a bribe. I mean an ice cream.

Uuuuuh, Ray? You got a little shmab of something right there.

Aaaaaah, aren't they just the perfect poster children for a laid back summertime? Can't you almost smell that warm grass?

Uh-oh. Here come the scavengers.

What's the remedy for 6 sticky little hands and ice cream coated clothes? Bless the kind soul who invented the sprinkler.

There, that's better!

Whew! What a big morning! Now it's time for a wee nip and a wee nap!

BIRTHDAY BASH!

We spent a last weekend in Washington because our great-great Uncle was having a birthday! We stayed at a hotel with Nana, Auntie Julie, Daddy, Mommy and lots of other relatives! Folks came from far and near to see everyone's favorite Uncle and wish him a happy birthday! What a fun weekend we had:

We went to a party to help Uncle Denny usher in his 85th year - here he is blowing out his candle. They said that 85 candles wouldn't fit properly and anyhow, the fire department had more pressing appointments then putting out a cake.

The party had lots of important people...even Elvis showed up to sing and have fun with us!

Mommy and brother thought Elvis did a super job.

WOW! What a fun party!

Hey, where did Malachi and Cassandra get to? Oh, here they are. Dad and Mom better watch out when Kai gets to be a teenager. He loves girls.

It was so fun being together and visiting! We went to Uncle Denny and Auntie Ruby's house and they showed us really neat...

He has a classic Mustang that's older than Daddy! Boy, that thing is cool!

We love our Uncle Denny!

Cruisin' with Nana

Here's a picture of Nana's new PT Cruiser. We think it's the cutest little thing ever and love it when Nana takes us for a drive!

Rock on, Gidgit!