Swimming Lessons: first day

Today was the first day of our long anticipated swimming lessons! (We scheduled them in Jan!)
However, Mrs. Phyllis has broken something and is unable to get in the water - bummer! Good news is, she's right there and you can tell she has coached Ms. Kim quite well!

Excited to finally be in the water, getting their first instructions!

Little Lion (in the swim shirt) is suppose to be blowing bubbles to make his dolphin move. He really did do it, just not when I snapped the pic!

I'm not sure how well it will turn out on the blog, but like any other time he concentrates; Little Lion has his tongue out as he kicks! I think this was one of his favorite parts.

Finally the games . . . ring around the posies.

Hopefully in the next two weeks I can get some better pics. I was having to keep Little Pumpkin from jumping in. She has reached that stage of what big brother gets, I get . . . not pretty people, not pretty! *wink*

Wrestling Grandma

When Daddy Lion and I were dating the first thing he told me about his grandma was that "she is so cool; she can beat me up." And the first time I meet her, she proved it! *smile*

Well, I don't remember what it was, but Little Lion challenged her and GG proved she still has it!
*wink*

She even took down the 13 year old great-grand . . . who will remain nameless for this post! *smile*
One thing led to another and out of Daddy Lion's mouth some snide remark about an old woman taking you down. . . turned GG into a woman on a mission! She barged through the doorway of this room looking for the person behind the voice. Loris and I thought she must have blacked out because she totally ignored Daddy Lion and kept looking for someone. Finally, we asked her who she was looking for . . . she didn't realized Daddy Lion had said it. About that time he picked up Little Pumpkin to hide behind her. GG wasn't falling for that! However, I think she may have gone a little easier on him; he didn't hit the floor like the other boys! *smile*

(Notice Little Pumpkin chewing on her lip . . . teething!)

Auntie Loris has kept some toys from her kids for future grandkids. . . so smart. Little Pumpkin and Little Lion played with these two sets for hours. I think this is even a smile of some sort on Little Pumpkin!

Just some more great memories made on our vacation! Thanks to Loris and GG for passing along the pics! (My memory card was full at this point ~ silly me for not taking more than one card!)

Joining the Jones'

For the next few weeks while Curt is with us, we also have the use of his Wii! We have finally played . . . I'm very impressed. We might just be debating our next major purchase *wink*.

Here are the boys playing, well my timing is off, but they were actually moving!

WARNING: The following pictures were taken by a 4 year old!
I love being able to "look" through "their eyes" when they are behind the camera!

Mommy Lion very intent on getting the bowling ball straight down the middle!

Not quite the middle! *smile*

Mommy Lion made a STRIKE! (however, more often it was "mommy didn't make a strike" in a sing-song rendition!)

Little Lion got a little trigger happy with the camera taking pics of the TV, couch, floor and walls! I finally said no more; only pictures of people!
So . . .

the self portrait! *smile*
His response: "I'm people!"

Here's to fun with the Wii and a camera happy Little Lion!

Friday's Food for Thought

Age isn't important unless you're a cheese. - Unknown

Such sweet innocence! I just love this picture! She is ready to go ~ notice her juice box carefully placed in the back? *smile* So glad she is starting to feel better!

Celebrating 90 years!

Besides graduation, the other main reason for our trip was to celebrate G'pa Roy's 90 years of life! You won't believe it but he is 90 years old.
G'pa Roy checking out the scrapbook that Grandma Lion made. I was so impressed with her work - great job! She even let me contribute a few pages to the book, I was so proud of the way they turned out: it was hard to give them away! Hopefully, the book will be passed down for many generations to come . . . mine being one of them! *wink*

I know this isn't the greatest pic, but I wanted to get one of G'pa Roy with Little Lion and Little Pumpkin. I have one from the last time we saw him (a year and half ago) and it is so neat to see the growth of the kids. And what a special memory when he is no longer with us on earth!

A rare moment on the trip - Little Pumpkin smiling! This is her cousin Payton, they are only 6 months apart. Hopefully they will be good pals! Even if it has to be pen pals! *smile*

Little Lion adding our b-day card to the basket. GG is so cute - loving the smile GG!

CAUGHT! Yes, this is during the party! *wink* Honestly, though after a great meal, who cannot resist a good nap in the sun?!?

The cute couple - Jerry and Sheena.
They will be wed in August and I pray they live to be like this:

You can see in both pictures the sweet love each couple has for one another! Here's to puppy love at any age! *smile*

Two Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed!

Have you ever read a book from the end to the beginning . . . well, me neither, but here are some pics from the end of our trip! *smile*

This was too sweet ~ Little Pumpkin grabbed Little Lion's hand to hold on the car ride to our hotel Monday. They (mostly him) were enthralled with the movie.
Poor cousin Curt: Doodlebops and Bob the Builder most the way!

Have you ever wondered why the hotel beds just aren't comfortable? *hehehe*



Because bad parents let their kids jump on them! But hey, after being in a car for . . . five hours, I think they deserve to have some fun!

Little Lion was jumping between the two beds, using his face to land on! He finally figured out how to land on his feet.



This is cousin Curt or as Little Lion introduced him today "The one we brought home." Having 3 older male cousins . . . it's hard to tell them apart when you're 4! *smile*

We rested for a short while (up at 4 am to return the rental car and arrive at the airport 2 hours early!) and obviously made it home. We even ran into my dad at the airport so we were able to say good-bye before he headed back to Iraq.

Home Sick Home

Oops . . . I mean Home Sweet Home; except for the fact that I did take Little Pumpkin in to the doctor today. She had three teeth break through while on vacation, so ran a fever most the time. However, Sunday afternoon she began coughing and just really turned up the crankiness Monday and Tuesday. Even after sleeping in her own bed and for a great 12 and half hours, she woke up a monster.

I'm glad we did go in! We have bi-lateral ear infections and walking pneumonia! (that may all be the same thing I'm not sure, but those are the terms the doc used!) After an hour at Wally world for the RX we are now happily medicated and napping!

Poor Curt, our nephew who came home with us! He endured it all with a smile. I'm sure he's thinking what he has signed up for the next 7 weeks with us. Hopefully only improvement will come in the next few days. *smile*

I'll post more pics and stories of our vacation later. Despite a cranky little girl, we had a great time. Everyone understood teething and just being 18 months old! Thanks to all who prayed for safe travels and good visits! Off to do laundry! *frown* (the only bummer of vacation!)

Grad Night

Last night was graduation party and ceremony. There were lots of people and Little Lion even had some playmates near his age for the party. (Cousins of our cousins.) We had a great time and are so glad we were able to be here.

Wes, the graduate, wiping a tear after reading a mushy grad card! *wink*

Such a sarcastic punk ~ kids these days! lol

Can you see the pride oozing from the parents!?! Such a great fam . . . all of them!

Just hanging out at the party waiting for the ceremony. . .
Isn't Sheena cute! She' the oldest of the fam and the one getting married in August. Little Lion will be walking in that wedding and is very excited about the "chicks" he'll be walking down the aisle. Not to mention she has a great fashion sense . . . my outfit is hers due to the weather not quite what I packed for - oops! Thanks Girl!!!

Waiting for the Wes to walk . . . before we were frozen!

Sheena and Little Pumpkin . . . all it takes is some food! *smile*

Well, after 2 and 1/2 hours of freezing; Wes finally walked and the fireworks began! Little Pumpkin was memorized by the fireworks . . . 4th of July will be so much fun!!!

Super Thursday

Thursday morning started early with a quick breakfast and everyone ready to get to Grandma Lion's house. Before we left, there was just one more picture with all the kids together.

The ride to Grandma & Grandpa's was about an hour and a half. There are lots of high mountains, Little Lion looked at the hills we were travelling through and said "look daddy, Christmas trees!"

Little Lion danced impatiently, Little Pumpkin listened to her IPod while she talked on the phone, and Mommy Lion just drove me nuts!!!!

Grandma & Grandpa's house has strawberries and a hot tub, plus a Grandma & Grandpa.
















I managed to find myself a couple of chicks, Little Pumpkin found Grandpa Roy, and we all passed out, none so dynamically as Little Pumpkin.

WooHoo

To begin with this is my 100th post!!! WOO-HOO!

But the real reason for my post: We made it! We safely and somewhat sanely made it to Oregon for our vacation. Our first night took us to Daddy Lion's sister's house and her 4 yes 4 kids under 3! Can you say amazing . . . the kids thought they were in heaven with all the toys! Aunt Crystal with Payton and Little Pumpkin ~ sharing stinks! *smile*

Little Lion and Tristian. Little Lion just not sure what to play with next.
Thanks for letting us crash there and for wearing out the kids. . . they slept the rest of the way to our destination.



Finally we arrived at Aunt Bran's house for the evening. It was only 9:30pm - that translates to 11:30 CST! But that didn't stop us from staying up until 11pm PST! *smile*

Today we did some quick visits around the bustling Burg! *wink* And extended the stomach with some great pink sauce from a favorite Chinese restaurant. After naps, we headed further south to our friends Lonnie and Cheryl and "those girls".

What fun . . . the kids played so well together and the adults actually played well too! i.e. I didn't loose at Quiddler. Don't ask *smile*
Little Lion and Aubrey on their first dinner date! *wink* Yes, we believe in pre-arranged marriages! *SMILE*

YEAH, you give two husbands the cameras and ask for a good picture of 6 people.

Okay, I got to let her have her computer back. We hit the road again in the am. I'm sure you'll hear from me there! *wink*

BTW . . . we finally heard from the doc and the CT scan was normal! PTL!!!

Kit the Horse

I have a few minutes before th dryer is done, so I'll blog about yesterday.

After the yummy lunch (see previous post), we headed over to Daddy Lion's co-worker's house. Mr. H and his wife have 5 horses (she's a horse doc). Little Lion was so excited to get to ride a horse again. It's been about 2 years since he's gotten to ride.

It was bare back and I'm not sure Little Lion was as confident as he would have been on a saddle, but he did a great job!


Kit was a pretty mare who really enjoyed her treat! She is the epitome of "will work for food!" (Little Pumpkin being a close second *wink*)

I was so proud of Little Lion being brave and letting Kit eat from his hand . . . that's a huge thing!

We weren't out there long ~ it was hot! Little Lion was wanting to ride more, so hopefully we will get to go back again soon.

Little Pumpkin on the other hand loves her horses at a 50 yard distance! (That really goes for any animal!) She loves the books and videos, but when it comes to the real thing . . .

Little Pumpkin safe in Daddy's arms!

Recipe Update

The "Amazing Pork Tenderloin in the Slow Cooker" recipe turned out just fine. There were no ill effects on anyone from the alcohol. *wink* I don't know that I would necessarily rank it "amazing" however.
I found the recipe at allrecipes.com if you are interested in trying it.
It is worth making again. . . got use that bottle of wine some how! *smile*