never saw it coming . . .

June, good little writer that she is, decided to jot down a quick story about Sea Princess Ariel, and her adventurous discovery of mankind.

Her illustration, however, must be depicting "The Little Mermaid Gone Terribly Wrong," as it is a graphic drawing of an alligator eating a human arm.  She gets this morbidity from her father, I swear!

Independence Day

We made it home from Utah just in time to enjoy the Fourth of July in Oklahoma.  The fourth has always been one of my favorite holidays.  I'm not sure if the color scheme has something to do with it, but I'm sure my pyromania is a contributing factor.  I guess I just love having a real family holiday in the middle of the summer.  My mom sent some very cute and patriotic outfits home for all her kids so we quickly got them all together for a picture before they got ketchup and mustard all over everything.

Our town had an awesome parade.  To be honest, it was a little lengthy, but we lucked out with an overcast, cool day so it wasn't murder by sunshine.

And out of all of the floats, marching bands, and mini-cars buzzing around, this was by far my girls' favorite parade entry.  Rerro Raggy!

Here's a little something we whipped up for our afternoon picnic.   We are so lucky that all of our friends share their pools with us!

We finished the night off with the big fireworks display.  Winn may have gotten over her fear of water this summer, but she sure hasn't warmed up to the idea of booming explosives.  After a major meltdown, she and Daddy enjoyed the fireworks from inside the car, while June, Sofie and I gave Disney princess names to each sparkling blast, based on their shape and color.  Perfect end to a perfect day!

Utah Trip: Part 2

Family Reunion Extravaganza!

Memorial Day 2009

We enjoyed Memorial Day at Steph and Spencer' s pool this year; followed by a BBQ with all our best buddies.

 

I don't know when it happened, but Winn is no longer afraid of the water, AT ALL!

She just barrels to the edge and takes the plunge!  Even the deep end doesn't scare her.  I'm going to have to keep a close eye on this one this summer!

Here's a good on of the Ivies.  That Lyra just chilled in her tube, but Amos got a little daring and did some dog paddling with the big kids.

Here's the Crums.  I wish you could see how cute Ella's swimsuit was!

And here's the "Other Johnsons."  Sofie was too cool in her pink shades.  It's a good thing we have friends with pool connections.  Otherwise, we would be spending our summer in the backyard sprinkler!

The Ivie boys.

Dad and Winn taking a dip.  June spent a little time "laying out."  Who knew a 5-year-old could be so worried about getting a tan.  Good luck to her through that 5o spf!

More Milestones . . .

These days, months feel like weeks to me.  I simply can't keep up with this fast-paced world of motherhood.  My children are literally growing like weeds - no more babies in this house.  Now I have a couple of little ladies who are quickly mastering some new skills in their "big kid" worlds.

Although I have been reluctant to share my Junie time with anyone else, she is not willing to miss out on some great new pastimes.  Firstly, June has started taking violin lessons.  You should see her itty-bitty fiddle!   She practices very often and intensely, and is currently playing a mean "Hot Cross Buns."

She's also swimming like a fish now that she's taking lessons at the Y.  The only girl in her group, this little mermaid definitely shows those boys what's up.

Winn's big news is also mom's salvation - no more diapers for this bum!  That's right, those are big girl princess panties!

Leave it to Witty Win to come up with some nifty names for her underpants.  I got some of those hefty, cotton training pants in order to prevent nappy-time leakage and she started calling them her "boys."

Winn has trained like a dream with very few accidents.  She's even staying dry at night.  Well, most of the time.  Gotta keep her boys dry, you know? 

And let's not forget about our big boy, Toods.  This ton-a-loader is currently weighing in at 30 pounds!  The biggest wiener dog the world has ever seen!  Poor Tooder took a trip to the vet this week for, well let's just say he lost a couple of his best pals.  But he seems to be as spry as ever!  You can't keep a good dog down.   

It's Great to be Eight!

Good news, Kolby and I successfully made it through the seven year itch!  On April 28th we celebrated our 8 year anniversary.  I really love this man.  My favorite thing about being married to Kolby is secretly knowing that I found the best husband in the world!  Even in the thick of med school with so much on his plate, he finds ways every day to show me that he loves me, he genuinely cares about the things that are important to me, and always makes me feel beautiful.

  

It's difficult to find a family picture with me in it, so I had Auntie Tish come over with her sweet new camera and take some shots of us to mark the occasion.  8 years, two beautiful girls, and one giant wiener dog later, and we're still in love!

    

Kolby always manages to throw together the most lovely bouquets of flowers.  I was particularly fond of the peacock feathers in this one!

He also surprised me with the oh-so-romantic gift of a new plunger.  Who says the magic has to die?  Happy eight years love shicks!