A Rough Start

CJ started swim lessons yesterday. She seem excited, even though the weather didn't cooperate much. She was assigned a great teacher who we've had before and wanted to get right in. But they are at the deepest end of the shallow pool and since CJ is one of the younger children in class, she can't touch. She got out partway through class, but ended up finishing. Today she seemed ok, but as soon as she got close to the class she changed her mind. She finally got in for a few minutes. Maybe we should have gone swimming a few more times this winter.

CJ and Grandma

Spray and Play

Last year we spent the day after the party at the local pool, but this year it felt a titch too cold for that so we walked over to the park where the kids got to play in the spray feature pretty much by themselves and then they checked out the new play structure.

Check out CJ's air below - looks like she is hovering.

Little B even went with us and got in on the water action. She looks beat!

Camping In

CJ and her cousins "camped in" in the basement last night. It took a while before things settled down, but they seemed to have a good night. Right after microwave smores since we ran out of time to start a fire in the firepit.

North American Organic Brewer's Festival

Alright, so these aren't from the brewfest, but we made it pretty darn close. There was supposed to be a kids area, but we never made it past the playground and into the fenced area. The crowds scared us off so we ended up at a local brewpub. Not a bad place for kids. They were given pizza dough to play with, menus to color and besides the kids meals, there was a little play area to keep them busy.

Garage Sale Bargain

CJ scored these two frog chairs for $1 this morning.

Art Party

CJ thoroughly enjoyed her party at the art studio. We had a small group of friends and cousins and they painted, worked with clay and had an opportunity to draw with chalk and use tracing paper before we stopped for cake and a gift exchange. We pretty much had the place to ourselves and we had a really sweet host who knew all the children's names after just a few minutes. What a great bunch of artists. Oh yes, they sang to CJ in three different languages - English, Irish and Spanish!

Look What We Found On the Porch

This cup is filled to the rim with M&M's. The neighbors love CJ.

Atmosphere Blue

We didn't do so well at taking before and after pictures of the living room paint project, but here are a couple after we put things back together for the most part.

Here's a really gross "before" picture of the fireplace and hearth before we painted and retiled that back when CJ was a baby. And that was after we cleaned the bricks, painted the walls and painted the back of the bookshelves white:

Flying Girl Art

Here's a piece CJ made to give to Grandma when she arrives later today.

The Rock Museum

Today Mama joined CJ's school on a field trip to a rock museum. They had folders and notepads for notes and sketching. We started at a rock pile and all the kids picked large rocks or chunks of granite for taking home. Then we toured the place, saw a movie and all kinds of rocks, petrified wood, crystals, etc.

The room with the glow in the dark rocks was cool:

At the end we returned to the rock pile and the kids looked more closely at the rocks and tried to find special ones rather than big ones. CJ and Mama lucked out and found this crystal. The other kids all wanted to trade with us.

One of the most interesting parts was the movie we saw about the rhodocrosite crystals and how they were mined in Colorado. Apparently the people who started this museum bought the ones below as well as the Alma King for something like $800,000. They sold the Alma King for $600,000 and now the piece below is supposed to be worth millions. Wow. Maybe we should start to buy rocks.

The Cake

Mama read some tips online and put together a pink lady cake with swiss buttercream frosting for the birthday girl. We got a cake board and box from the grocery store and decorated the cake with pink raspberry licorice hearts and bubble gum tape. We were supposed to use some pink decorating sugar, but decided we liked it just like this.

Our Angel Becomes an Angel

Goodbye Big Boy.

As the vet said, you were one in a million.

A gentleman.

15 years and 10 months was not long enough.

We are going to miss you.

We hope you enjoy pain-free running, sunny days and many puddles to drink from.

And Then There Were Presents

The other day CJ proclaimed the owl as her favorite animal. For her birthday she got an owl rug for her bathroom and an owl night light.

And also a magnetic charm bracelet.

CJ's Birthday Dinner

CJ chose the restaurant and we invited the neighbors to join us. The sun was out so we were able to dine alfresco. Kids eat free! CJ loved running around with her friends and guessing which way the Max trains were coming from. She also loved playing with the special blocks her friends brought with them. We brought some cupcakes for afterwards and, of course, sang again.

The Big Day at School

Mama brought the cupcakes to CJ's school and they sang to her in English and in Irish again!

Some of her friends gave her special art presents.

Here's a beautiful sun rising over a dark sky:

And a sunset note from a friend:

Let the Festivities Begin

Why just a birthday. Why not celebrate for a whole week? That's the way CJ likes it!

Hanging with the dogs (sun out finally!):

Helping Mom make cupcakes for school friends:

Presents already?

A pink pig watering can.

(you can almost see the new paint color in the background)

Happy Daddy's Day

A handmade card and a "bolt of creativity". The bolt holds a note that reads:

Dad

Helpful, Powerful

Loving, Caring, Protecting

You are always there for me.

My rock

Love,

CJ