The Shoe Fits

I recently discovered StoryPeople and this one definitely sounds like one of my kids!

I told him if he kept being mean to his brother he might come back as a rodent in his next life & he shrugged & said that's the chance he'd have to take.

Questions of the Week

Ella asks (in all sincerity):  Mama, were you alive when dinosaurs were here?
Me: No, I missed them by a couple of years.
Ella: So mam-ma and pap-pa were here?

"Mom, mom, mommy, ma, mom, mom, ma, ma, mommy, mommy..."
Si asks:  Mama, what was your name before it was Mommy?   

Mason asks: What's for dinner? When's dinner gonna be ready?  Is dinner ready yet?  Can I have a snack?

The 4th Festivities

Our 4th of July weekend was packed full of fun stuff.  We welcomed Grandpa J and Aunt Amanda on Friday night.  And Saturday was Mason's 15th Birthday!!
We ran out Saturday morning and got a birthday cake. He picked the purple cake with pink balloons...because it was a marble cake (he's secure in his manliness).  He really wanted a Batman cake though.  Maybe next year!

We had beautiful weather the whole weekend but it was HOT HOT HOT.  The parade on Sunday was at 2pm - Ella and Silas decided they wanted to be in the parade on a truck with friends.  So Justin, Mason and I watched for almost 2 hours before seeing them near the end, by which point we were about to melt.

Grandpa, Mas, Margie and Si hanging out on the porch.

Grandpa J and Ella - with her new haircut.

Si, Mas, Zoe, Amanda and Ella-

Impossible to get everyone to look at the camera AND smile!

Four days after her surgery, Beth was crazy enough to have the annual 4th of July cookout! Glad she did though, the kids had a blast swimming and we all had a great time.

Like we always do, we loaded the kids into the back of the pickup truck and drove back to the park in the neighborhood to watch the fireworks.  There were tons of people out this year setting off their own fireworks - some way too close for comfort!

Allysa, Sarah, Ashlee, Ella and Silas

The fireworks were pretty darn good and then the kids spent time after doing pop-its, sparklers, smoke bombs and burning a finger or two...

It was a GREAT (but exhausting!) holiday weekend and we're VERY grateful that Grandpa J was feeling good enough to make the drive here to see us!!

Happy Birthday Mason!

Happy Happy Birthday Mason,

a whopping 15 years old!

It's hard to imagine loving a child more than the minute they are born

but with each passing day, we love you more and more.

You tower over me now, and are quickly catching up to dad -

But you will always be our baby boy!

We love you Mason!

(A long winded) Bye-Bye Bulls

Wow, was it really 5 years ago that I nervously watched out my front window, checking out the people that were coming to see our house for sale across the street? Peeking out through the blinds I saw the young couple getting out of the car and getting their infant out of the backseat. I instantly picked up the phone to call Justin and then my sister to say "Yep, them - that is who I want to buy the house!"  They were fun looking, they had a kid and (Hallelujah!) they would take over the mortgage payment after 2 or 3 months of double payments!
But it was a tough thing to think about who would move in, who would redecorate, who would make fun of our paint colors, who would love that house as much as we had??  How could they?  This house had been a labor of love and hard work for us - the building process, the work equity, the landscaping from the dirt up, turning the closets (master and 1st floor) into bathrooms, finishing the basement...we had moved in as "kids" and grown into a family there.
I saw this video recently and the lyrics struck me...



1st thought - the house that I grew up in and 2nd - almost just as immediately - 2878. The "house that built me" is also that house where I grew into myself. Where I grew my family, learned to garden, learned to cook (kinda), experienced infertility and what hard times can teach you about yourself and your relationships. It was the house that brought me to some of my closest friends...

(1997)

I never should have worried a bit about someone loving that house as much as we did. It was obvious from day one that this house quickly became a home and would be coddled - the lawn and landscaping always immaculate, the improvements and upkeep full of pride. And most importantly, the abundance of love within those walls...for each other, friends and the new local "family".
  
Bulls...in this house your family has grown, you have built a foundation of love, support, tradition, fun,  achievement and Doctorhood (!!) while here. You learned to be a Buckeye (as long as we weren't playing Penn State). And it's been a wonderful pleasure to watch (and sometimes photograph :) this happen over that 5 years.

 

(2006)

And to watch our kids play, grow, learn and enjoy what childhood is meant to be...

(Ella and Gavin in 2006)

You have definitely touched many, many lives while you've been here -the neighborhood, the hospital, the preschool, wives club, the stamping group...bringing so many people together in so many ways.

As the old Irish Blessing says...
May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be ever at your back.  May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rain fall softly on your fields.  And until we meet again, may God hold you in the hollow of his hand. 

God Bless you on your journey to Japan and all the places you go in life as you leave Buckeye Country

- you will be VERY MISSED around here!

Catch 22

Either we have nothing going on and I have time to blog but not much to blog about....or we have so much going on that there is no time for blogging. The last several weeks have been the latter.

Our summer break is officially underway!!  So far we've helped Kevin of the Waco Mascos celebrate his 40th birthday.  He got a lovely pedicure out of the evening :)

Me and Justin at one of the bars

I took the kids to the zoo on their first Monday of summer break.  It was a perfect zoo day - the weather was gorgeous. We saw the new polar bears, lions, tigers, bears, wolves, manatees, reptiles and much more. 

Ella and Si - love his ornery face here.

Silas is about mid-way through t-ball.  It is quite an hour trying to chase and direct eleven 3&4 year olds on hitting, running, fielding, etc. while trying to get them to keep their hands to themselves, stop eating dirt and please don't lay spread eagle in the middle of the infield...

here is Si in action

Last weekend was the Bull family's last horrah with the neighborhood gang.  It was quite a good time, and with a fitting going away present...a hangover...sorry Kelly!

Peggy, Angie, Jodi, Anndrea

Kelly, Beth, me

Jill, Kelly and Anndrea

We will miss you Bulls!

 

Last Day of School

Hard to believe, but another school year is over.  Silas finished up last Friday, Mason took his last exam yesterday and Ella's last day was today.  What a great year they all had!!  

One early morning event that we went to in Ella's class was a book signing.  Each kid chose a topic, researched, drew pictures and wrote the text and then it was bound into a book.  The parents then got to visit the classroom, see all the books and the "author" signed the book for us.

This is some art that Silas did in school, then the PTO had a company take the art and do magnets, mugs, t-shirts, etc.  It was cool.  Those they had to shrink the art (thus the hand print) for the magnets and Silas could not understand why his hand was so small!

Unlike Mason and Silas, Ella actually gets to celebrate her birthday during school. We took snacks and the class sang Happy Birthday.

They sang the "cha, cha, cha" version.  Mrs. C was fabulous this year.  Ella absolutely loved her and today as she was leaving the room, gave her a huge big hug. Mrs. C asked Ella to email her over the summer.  Hope she knows what she is in for!

Silas' field day at school was postponed twice, so it ended up being on the last day of school. I volunteered and was stationed at the "cow milking" area.  They must have known I was a home-grown Hilliard gal.  The kids loved it, though Si doesn't much look like he's enjoying it.

I love this picture - Si's favorite activity was the wet ball throwing.  When his teacher, Mrs. P, was out on maternity leave, Mrs. H (here in orange) was the sub for 8 weeks.  She came back to visit the class on field day and Silas welcomed her back by nailing her with a soaker ball. Look closely in the upper right corner of the picture and you can see the ball that bounced off of her.

Today was the "clap out" at the elementary for the 5th graders.  We have a few friends whose kids are moving on up to the 6th grade building. It's SO emotional and I was glad today that my kids are all going to be in the same buildings next year.  I'll still have a high schooler, an elementary student and a preschooler.  They just all move up a notch.  I'm happy for some even keeledness (not really a word, I'm betting) - it's been a rough week/month/2010.  I'm looking forward to not necessarily a stress-free summer, but definitely spending a lot of time with the kids, family and friends.
And I've got my list of Fun Stuff to do!