swimming and a science project

The doctor (and the internet) told me that Quinny is allowed to swim with her ear tubes as long as she doesn't dive down more than 18 inches.

If she goes any farther down, she needs earplugs.

Putting parameters on this kid quite often don't work.

She has earned herself earplugs and a cute little headband to hold them in.

 Eric and his friend Peter got second place at the school science fair.

This earned them a spot in the district science fair.

We don't have the result yet.

These boys look like brothers.

Eric frequently gets called Peter by other kids and teachers.

He says he just answers to it.

"selling natures"

 Mimi and Quinny spent hours (literally hours) Saturday afternoon selling things at the end of our walkway.

They were selling anything they could pick from the yard and one bowl of smashed up blueberries.

They only had one customer…me.

I bought the blueberries.

"What are you doing, Quinny?"

"Selling natures."

 While the girls were selling their goods, Robert was teaching Eric the joys of fixing sprinklers. 

imagine dragons and ear tubes

Eric got to see Imagine Dragons in concert last week.  When I asked him if he liked it, he casually said yeah.  However, when I talked with one of the moms that took the boys, she told me "he was singing his heart out :-)."  From all accounts, these boys had a wonderful time.

before surgery

Quinny got ear tubes put in last Thursday.  She had to get up very early and got to miss school.  The best part, she can hear again!  Yay!

after surgery

much later in the day

Eric, Race, Mimi, Brynn, Quinn, & Robyn

Just a little late night fun in the pool.

riding horses…finally

Waiting and begging and begging and waiting…

For months.

Mimi, Quinny, and Allison got to ride horses on Saturday.

Did it live up to their expectations?

You bet!

Allison took a tumble off of Whiskey.

She held on for dear life and then got stepped on (a little - not too much damage).

 After a few tears, a hug, and a kiss, she got right back on.

This is my favorite picture!!

Whiskey giving us a smile.

A big THANKS to Julie for making this all happen.

She has a great property in Queen Creek with some beautiful horses.

Not only did she help the kids ride, she also fed us dinner and helped us get Shelle's car out of the sand - we got stuck a little trying to get to Julie's house.

It was a perfect afternoon.

a sick quinn

Being sick really makes Quinn cuddly.

It is wonderful and awful.

She like to crawl into my bed at night, grind her teeth, and cough in my face.

A sick Quinn = a sick mom.

Robert loves the cuddles but hates the coughing and teeth grinding.

He has somehow managed to stay well.

cleaning the church building

I really don't like cleaning the church.

I have my reasons that I won't go into right now.

I thought donuts were a good reward for cleaning.

It cheered up 3/4 of us.

Robyn was kind and woke up early to take Eric to his soccer tournament.

It's possible she dislikes cleaning the church as well.

swimming

Mia passed the highest level as Swimkids.

That means she is moving on to the swim team.

This will increase her practicing from one day a week to two days.

We finally have the jacuzzi up and running.

This was the first night we had it heated and on.

Why even bother with a swimming suit?

Robert had the lights set to Fourth of July mode.

That is why the water is red.

There is no blood in the pool.

Although, it looks creepy in pictures.

goodbye, little caesar's. hello, freaky friday!

You won't be seeing these cute (and sweaty)  pizza girls anymore.

They had their last day of work.

Can those grins get any bigger?

I would be smiling, too.

It's like an oven in that place.

The other day Allison told Shelle that she wished they could trade bodies so Shelle could go to school, etc. for Allison.

Shelle told Allison that there is a movie all about a mom and a daughter switching bodies.

We decided that we needed to have a Freaky Friday party.

We took the kids to the store and let them choose WHATEVER they wanted for dinner.

The list of "food" they picked is long, but you can see some of it in the pictures.

Then we watched Freaky Friday.

Shelle and I were the only ones with stomach aches.

Ahh, to be young.

19

Haley turned 19!

 1.  I love Haley's determination.  -Mom

2.  I love Haley's smile.  -Mia

3.  Haley is generous.  -Quinny

4.  I love Haley's sense of style! -Dad

5.  I love that Haley does not hold a grudge. - Mom

6.  I love that Haley is fearless and doesn't give up! -Dad

7.  I love that Haley doesn't talk bad about anyone. -Dad

8.  I love that Haley can talk to anyone and entertain them! -Robyn

9.  Haley is always perfectly honest! -Rob Dog

10.  I love Haley's independent thinking! -Mom

11.  I love that Haley doesn't give up! -Eric

12.  I love Haley's unique point of view on literature and religion.  -Mom

13.  She is unique and no one can replace her. -Canon

14.  I love that Haley is respectful to others! -Eric

15.  Haley is kind. -Quinny

16.  I love Haley - She is so polite and wants to help.  She has a bright smile and cheers me up!  -Grammy

17.  I love your sweet personality and how kind you are to everyone.  -Grandma Thomas

18.  I love that you are always willing to help me with my homework.  -Mia

19.  Nice.  -Quinn

ski trip

Robert and Eric went skiing with the boys Eric's age from church.

The weather was perfect and so was the snow.

Everyone had a great time.

Everyone except for Mia.

She couldn't understand why she wasn't invited.

"Why do boys get to do all of the fun things?"

mimi and quinny

I took this picture a couple of weeks ago, and for the life of me, I can't remember what Mimi was so upset about.

I do remember that I forgot to turn off the sound on my camera, so when I tried to be sneaky and take the picture, she totally caught me.

Then she was upset for a whole new reason - me sneaking pictures.

Then she yelled at me to delete the photo!

I did trash the picture, but not before I emailed it to myself.

I do stupid things like that.

You know, technically I told the truth, but the picture was still in existence.

Here's Mimi on a happier day making a quilt for Project Linus.

Our church congregation is collecting quilts for Project Linus.

Last year, when Mimi had her appendix out, she was a very happy recipient of a blanket provided by this organization.

We thought we would put some quilts together to donate.

By the way, Mia is very good at making these quilts.

Quinny came home from school awhile back in a very grumpy mood - she does that a lot.

I think school wipes her out.

I told her I was going to go pick up Eric, and as soon as I get home, we are going to get her homework done.

This is what I found when I got home.

She has been sick off and on for several weeks.

We have decided to put tubes in her ears - again.

Hopefully this will help her hear a little better.

Lately we have all had to practically yell at her so she can hear us.

She turns the volume up on the computer so much it instantly make me mad.

Q didn't want to be outdone by Mimi.

She wrote this thank you note to the pool guys.

These pool wrkrs sure get a lot of love.

Thanks for the pool, workers.

Love you.

Love, Addison