Tommy and his baby

Thomas sometimes totes this doll around. He calls her "Abby". Ironic, I know.
Tonight I was busy finishing up baths with the other kids, so he went out by himself. I found him sitting on his tractor holding "Abby". Then he let her drive.

Boys + Mud = Fun

THere are some days I wish we lived in the country, because this yard just ain't big enough for the four of them.

At the pool

In my opinion the wading pool behind Zauel library is probably the coolest thing this area has for kids. And it's free! Rachel, Adam, Olivia, Mackenzie, and Amber had a little fun splashing around this morning. Other than Olivia's scraped knee and Buddy losing his shorts once, it was a good time had by all.

Trying to keep up with the Armstrongs

I think Abby overheard me talking about Alex today. "Alex this" and "Alex that" and "Alex is going to be walking soon..." Abby is not going to take that sitting down. Tonight we found her in the bathroom pulled up to the step stool.


Then I caught her again up to Adam's bed! Those legs just don't look like they are ready for that.

The Storm

We finally got some rain today! Here were the clouds rolling in.


With heads turned to the sky, we are waiting...


Rachel holding 3 hail balls!


Rachel and Adam picking up hail balls. We put them in the freezer for daddy to see when he gets home from work. :)

Yum

Pam really liked the candy that Josh and Jenny brought from Arizona. How people can pass that off as "candy" is beyond me.

Trouble with my slideshow

I have been sitting here painstakingly putting together a slideshow with pics from my brothers party on Saturday. However when I tried to post it there was a problem. I'll try again tomorrow. Sorry Jenny!

Ready for Church

Casey used to do this with Rachel all the time, but she would be stiff as a board in his one hand. Abby still doesn't want to preform the trick correctly.


The girls all in pink.

My fellow gardener. Tommy helps me water flowers in the morning. And sometimes he picks them, too.


Abby discovered that she can get out to the porch, the problem is getting back in.


Here is Rachel in front of one of the plants that Stephanie gave me last spring. It is really happy at my house and growing like crazy. Now I will be able to share it with people, too!

Flowers

See Cathy, here's the columbine you gave me a couple years ago!


I really like my lilies, the rabbits didn't eat them this year.

I thought I would post pictures of flowers because they cheer me up. Jenny just called to say they made it safely to AZ. Happy they made it safely, but sad that she is far away again.

Sunday Summer Nights

Pam already blogged about it, but I wanted to show off my pictures, too. We had so much fun Sunday night! The pavillion is great! There was lots and lots of food, and the volleyball game was hot and sweaty, but tons of fun! Here is Casey helping the kids through the line while I stand around and take pictures. :)




If we had a MVP it would've been Mel.


Crazy Brooke


They look like winners to me.

Fun Weekend!

Aunt Sarah is THRILLED to be back in Michigan. Sarah and Kyle are now living in Cheboygan and are expecting their first baby around Christmas time.


I ran to Deckerville for the day on Saturday so Jenny and I could go to Forester Park. It is always fun to go back to the old stomping grounds. I sure will miss her when she goes back to AZ.


You can't go to the lake without getting ice cream!


When Jenny and I were at the beach we ran into my sister-in-law Jen and the twins Luke and Logan.


I don't think I'll ever be able to tell them apart.


It's very rare to get a picture of Adam these days. He usually runs away crying. THis is at my parents.


I don't know who has more fun- Steve or the kids.

I have a new computer!

I have been a little absent in blogging because my old computer just couldn't handle it anymore. It would take about 20 minutes just to load my blog, and frankly who has that kind of time? We have been very busy around here with visitors, had lots of fun with Sarah and Kyle and Jenny and Josh. I went on a "date" with Amanda on Friday night, and yesterday I went to Deckerville to see my parents and Jenny and Josh once again. I'll post some pictures of the fun later. Since it is Father's Day I'm going to hang out in the back yard with my hubby and kids!

Waiting

I can go several days without seeing human beings (other than my kids and Casey). Today, however, Jenny and Josh are flying in from Arizona, and Sarah and Kyle are back in Michigan now. They are all stopping in today. I scrubbed the toilet, made a Berry Pinwheel Cake (from Taste of Home, of course), did a couple loads of laundry. Now I wait. That is the hard part.

The Zoo

The MOPS group went to the zoo today! In attendance were :Amanda, Tammy H., Jamie A., Ginnie, Betsy, Sandy, Sandy's sister, me, and all our kids! It was very difficult with 4 kids, so I didn't really get a lot of cool pictures. Everytime I turned around I felt like I was saying, "Where is Tommy?" But we all had a good time, and I can't wait to go back with DADDY next time! (He is extremely helpful).

Hospitality Night

Today after church our family and the Hazen clan headed over to Steve and Tracey's house for lunch! We had never been to their house before- it is so cool! Tracey put on a great lunch with pork roast, potatoes, corn, salad, and brownies! Mmmm! The kids had a ball playing in their back yard and on the deck coloring. Their back yard looks like they live in the woods, nice and private. Here are some pictures of our day.


Thomas practicing his tricycling skills.


The little posers. Mackenzie is a pro at this, however Rachel needs a little work.


The funniest moment of the day- Tracey caught in the sprinkler!


The biggest mishap of the day was Adam's large sliver in the bottom of his foot. And I didn't even get to pick it out. :(


Rachel never met a sprinkler she didn't like.

Abby's first time in a swim suit. It was almost too tight, but I squeezed her in for a photo.


Abby enjoying a little evening shade by Judy's fence. We sure love our neighbor Judy, I'll try to get her on here one of these days.

A Day with Friends

I had a great day with Amanda. This morning was our first time getting together for a bible study. She had a workbook at home called "Experiencing God", so we are checking that out. The first part talks about how we shouldn't ask, "What is God's will for our lives?" but "What is God's will?" Amanda is very hungry for the gospel and our friendship has just blossomed over the last couple weeks. She has been in need of a close Christian friend for a long time now, and I have been missing Jenny terribly, so we have been really good for each other. After Casey went to work this afternoon Amanda and I met again and went to Zauel park then we came here and made spagetti and played in the back yard.


Emma and Adam. She has killer brown eyes.


This is Andrew. He is several months younger that Thomas, but probably a little taller than him. Their dad is about Josh's height!


My usually happy guy- not so happy today. He actually WANTED to go to bed at 7:30. I wasn't complaining about that.

Time for a Trim

We are so productive when Abby and Thomas are sleeping! Since I had my hair trimmed up, Rachel decided she wanted hers done, too. So I got out the scissors and cut a few inches off the back and tried to angle the sides up to blend in with her 2 chunks of bangs that were growing out. She loves it. It is so cute I want to cut it shorter!

Me and my baby

Just another attempt at posting a pic for my profile. The other picture I wanted to use was to big, so maybe one of these will work. Jenny said she would help me when she was here, but I can do it, I just know I can!