A Day in the Life.....

Lounging at dinner time...

....more lounging...

the yogurt.....

OK, June has been taking one nap a day, therefore at dinner time she is very sleepy which explains the lounging. The yogurt is another story. For those of you who have had boys play football you can imagine the scene. Dinner before practice at 4pm. Then comes the equipment. For me it is double....two boys playing means 4 knee pads, 4 thigh pads, you get the picture. Well, yesterday was picture day so I had to move the pads from the game uniform to the practice uniform. I also had to introduce cups to the boys of which TJ informed me I did upside down. While all this was going on, the pockets that hold Jake's pads decided to come unsewn from his pants....now I need needle and thread. I hope you can imagine the scene...food all over the kitchen(tacos), pants, pads, helmets, shoulder pads, shoes and water bottles all over the counter, Max yelling at me to tie his lace up pants(pants that no child could ever get on himself), me with needle and pink thread(all I could find) in hand, and June with the yogurt left on her high chair, and 5 minutes until I have to drive car pool, yes my turn for car pool. Whew, I just tired thinking about it! Just another day in the life.

June at the pool.................

We spent part of the afternoon at Auntie M's pool. This was the first time June floated in a big pool!

A week in review

We had a great week. The boys really enjoyed football and as you can see below Max looked the part in his uniform. Jake gets to suit up this week.....photos to follow! Jake had a big week, he spent the weekend with his friends celebrating a 10th birthday in Northern Wisconsin.

June had a big week too...we started her re-adoption and spent the day in Chicago. The proceeding did not take much time so we spent the afternoon at the zoo and then went out to eat. June rode a carousel for the first time and said "Weee" the whole time. We then went to dinner at a quaint restaurant with a courtyard covered with grape vines.

We topped of the weekend with a visit from friends with a little girl also from China. Although I could go on about our week I am enjoying China Week on the Travel Channel as I type....so I sign off....Have a great week.

Our weekend.....

All geared up...........

Max suited up for practice today....first day in full pads. I think dressing is more work than practice!

The garden....minus weeds!

Yes, the garden. Today the boys helped me weed the garden(it was ugly). We filled 4 garbage cans with weeds! This is not the best year we have had in the garden...maybe next year.

This is one of the hydrangeas we planted 3 years ago...finally bloomed(only it is supposed to be a Nikko blue). Next year we will have to treat the soil, although the pink is pretty!

A few pics of June................

This is June in her room, the picture is a little out of focus but I liked it...so here it is!

In this pic June looks older than 16mos. to me. She is scheming to stand up on the chair and get to the I-pod on the table.

China Week..............

For you China enthusiasts.... China Week starts on the Travel Channel 7/27. Enjoy

Skill...........

Motherhood takes skill. June slept for 13 hours last night. Before she awoke I was able to take a shower, start the laundry, clean the kitchen, and get TJ off to golf. However, I was not able to paint my toe nails, a long overdue task. I decided to paint them with June in the bathroom with me. How hard could it be? I loaded her up with toys, including TJ's game boy(sorry TJ). I began to paint, one foot then the next. While starting the 2nd coat on the first foot...tragedy! June decided to sit on the other foot in her cute lady bug pjs and then proceeded to drag her bottom all over the bathroom floor spreading red nail polish all over the tile. Undaunted by the disaster I rebounded quickly removing the smeared nail polish off the smeared foot and starting over. In the end, nails perfect, floor clean, and June happy to have unloaded all the bathroom drawers and cabinets. Motherhood takes skill!

Congratulations................

Congratulations to Russ.....66th out of 1800 for a half Iron Man Triathlon!

A week in review..............

We had a great week as you can see from all of our photos. We really enjoyed the visit we had with our friends from Tennessee. Time seemed as if it did not pass, the boys picked up where they had left off the last time they saw each other. Even though they live states away it is amazing that they still enjoy almost all the same things. Not only the boys had fun...N and I enjoyed catching up, we even went out to dinner and played BUNCO!

Russ had a big week, he completed a half Iron Man Triathlon today...way to go! In order for Russ to race I worked on Saturday this week. While I worked, Russ had pre-race business to take care of so my Dad watched June and the boys. This is a big deal because this is the first time I have left June with some one other than Russ or myself since the breath holding started. Thankfully there was no breath holding, however, there was a very dirty diaper. My brave Dad changed his fourth dirty diaper in forty years.....way to go Dad!

The garden.....there are no pictures of the garden because you can not see it due to the extreme number of weeds that have decided to take hold. Also, we have a serious Japanese Beetle problem this year, they are eating everything in their path. Unfortunately for us the path goes through our yard and does not include weeds.

June also had a great week. She loved my friend N, went right to her and enjoyed spending time with her. June learned a few new tricks too. One morning while only June and I were up I quickly resent an e-mail(I do mean quickly). In the time I turned my face toward the computer I heard an apple hit the floor. I thought the noise was strange until I turned my head, there sat June on the kitchen table throwing fruit out of the basket on to the floor...way to go June! June's second new trick is the ever funny spinning around in circles until she collapses laughing. I'm sure there are many more tricks to come.

Next week starts a new adventure in our household....FOOTBALL!!!! Wish us luck!

Fun with Photoshop....

Although I have many things to do.....I have been playing with photoshop!

Day at the zoo.................

While our friends were visiting we also spent a day at the zoo. It was June's first day at the zoo and she had a great time. The video is of June watching the fish at the aquarium in the zoo!

The Lego Store.............

All 5 boys could not wait to get to The Lego Store....needless to say the visit was slightly pricey. The store was really neat, you can see some of the Lego creations. The store ran building contests for the kids and G. and Jake both won. The boys will be entered in a Lego drawing for the new Batman Legos

Fun with the Bean.....

The Bean at Millenium Park was like candy for the camera.....the reflections were amazing!

Sweet home Chicago...............

We had a great time with our friends....Sunday we had a full day, The Sears Tower, The Shedd Aquarium, The Adler Planetarium, Millenium Park, and of course The Lego Store. What a day!

Boys in the City............

A week in review..............

I missed last week since we were without Internet and tomorrow night I will be visiting with one of my dear friends from Tennessee, so I am updating a day early. We arrived home from the cabin on Monday and took TJ straight to the Dr. to have his stitches removed. He is doing great and there is no permanent damage to his hand.

The rest of the week was filled with friends and getting the house back in order after being gone for a week....of course that included lots of laundry. Russ was able to take the boys to a Brewers game on Thursday, it was their first major league ball game (Yes we are American, they have been to many AAA games when we lived in Memphis).

June has really been developing a sweet personality, although she is strong willed, she is still sweet and quite funny. She stands at the top of the basement stairs and yells the boys names, she said her first 2 syllable word besides "uh oh"...stinky, and she can also say more. My favorite time with June this week was when I was pulling weeds in the front yard, as I pulled she would put pieces of grass in the trash can, in between trash can runs she would put her head I my shoulder and give me a little hug...my heart just melts!

As I said at the begining, we have friends coming from Tennessee. The boys are all excited, TJ and G. went to pre-school together from the time they were 1 until they went to gradeschool. Although he and G. have been apart for 4 years they still have many of the same interests and it should be really special to have them together for a few days. As for me, I can't wait to catch up with an old friend.

June and Prince Charming...................

Prince Charming met his match with June. June took a liking to the frogs at the cabin, she enjoyed watching them hop and she liked to squeeze them......don't worry Prince Charming made it!

Happy Anniversary.........sweet 16!

Russ and I at the Great Wall eagerly awaiting for our daughter...definitely one of the great adventures of our marriage....sweet 16!

Another cutie of June................

Look at that face!

Fourth of July....