2011/2012 School Year

K-5

Our official school year starts in full tomorrow morning. In addition to the basics taught at home {by yours truly}, the kids attend a co-op once a week for Science and American History. The big boys will continue taking cello lessons and begin a Spanish class next week. All four of the kids will play soccer this fall and participate in AWANA. Whew! I'll be one busy mommy, *but I can't think of anything I'd rather be doing, so bring it on! 

Yes, these pictures are from our family photo shoot, and I'm anxious to share the rest with you. Check back later this week. Until then, I'll give you a sneak peek at my favorite family shot. Since I like ya:)

Awww! Thank you Chani for making us look lovely and put together.

*Unfortunately, laying on the beach all day is not really an option:(

My baby turns FIVE!!!

{A whole hand of fingers proudly held high in the air}

If you know my Lane you know she is a piece of work, our little firecracker. So with this in mind, when we saw the 4th of July fireworks cookies on the MS living magazine cover, we knew that would have to be the design for her birthday cookies. With a slight color adjustment requested by the birthday girl herself~ pink, purple and teal~ of course. 

At her 5th b-day celebration Aunt CC braved the heat, not to mention the dangers of fireworks in the hands of children under the age of 10, to give the kids a little firework show of their own.

{Chani won the "fun mom of the night" award}

We love our Girl-Girl more than words can express. She has brought pink and spunk into our world. She spends her summer days rotating through a wardrobe of bathing suits and pajamas, always sporting a somewhat messy ponytail on the side of her head and a perpetual glimmer in her eyes that makes you wonder what she will come up with next. The day I became "Mommy" to this little girl was a day I always longed for and will forever cherish.

Wishing you the happiest of birthdays, my sweet.

Year in Photos~ Week 24,25,26 & 27

So if at this point you are still checking my blog to see if I've added anything fresh and new, then you are either related to me or like me a whole lot, and for that I thank you. Sorry for my absence, but this whole summer thing is really throwing my schedule for a loop and I'm still trying, with little success, to figure out my days.      


WEEK 24 of 2011...

My Mom's sister, Aunt Nisa, came into town for a visit with her son, daughter, daughter-in-law and adorable granddaughter. And in typical fashion, we threw a party including great food

 {Doug's bacon wrapped scallops. Yumm}

and a hefty dose of kid chaos.

{hee hee;) she really was a perfect baby; I think she just wanted out of the chair}

{I took 20 pictures that night and didn't get a single shot of all of them looking in the same direction, much less at me}

We love you guys and are so happy you took the time to come out and see us.

WEEK 25 of 2011...

I spent the week shopping and packing so my family of six could go on a week long vacation to Chicago... WITHOUT a washing machine. Guess what I was doing on Week 27 after returning home from said washing-machine-free vacation? You guessed it!

WEEK 27 in 2011...

Was spent with me trying desperately to return my laundry room to its before vacation condition.

There it is, folks. A glimpse into what I've been doing with myself ALL week. A for real shot of my laundry room on this Thursday night. Riveting, I'm sure. But trust me when I tell you this is a major improvement from how it looked when two huge suitcases filled with dirty clothes were dumped on the floor late Saturday night.

 The laundry is never really done around here, only maintained. I'm a laundry maintainer, it's what I do.

WEEK 26 in 2011...

We had a fantastic time in Chicago, and I hope to get up more pics before too long. In the meantime, I'm remembering my greatest joy of the trip: wrapping my arms around the neck of my sweet, 95 year old great grandma.

{Isn't she adorable?}

{The kids with their great-great grandma}

You never know how many chances you'll have for times like these and I cherished the moments we had together.


Funny story~ As I was leaning down with a smile on my face to hug great gma one last time before leaving, she looked up at me and said, "you have dimples." My Aunt Terri, who was standing beside me said, "Well, yes." "She's had them all her life." "Don't you remember?" With a mischievous glimmer in her eyes, my great gma said, "I remember them on her cheeks, just not those cheeks!" hahaha;) I laughingly assured her that THOSE dimples were still with me as well. Love it!

Year in Photos~ Week #22

Summer swim league started this week, and the kids are beyond excited. So is mommy, 'cause the pool is a great way to get out all the energy that seems to be taking over our summer days. Here they are pulling one more stunt before loading in the car to swim.

These four fill my days with crazy, chaos and noise, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Mostly;)

Happy 6th Birthday, Tate!

To celebrate we took a BOY day trip to Cape Charles on the Eastern Shore with our two favorite cousins. We went to pick up Drew, and Lane burst into tears because she did NOT want to play at the beach all day with "stinky boys." Her over dramatic ways paid off; Chani took pity on her and her tear stained cheeks and let little miss stay and hang out with the girls for the afternoon. Oh, the drama!

Our day was filled with collecting treasures, swimming, climbing rocks and a minor foot wound.

{sorry, Buddy} :(

Tate is the best. He always adds a bit of joy, laughter and sunshine to our days. And not only is he six now, he has also just lost his very first tooth. And in our house, when you lose your first tooth, the tooth fairy makes a special guest appearance to congratulate you in person.

We love you Tate-Tate and are so very glad God gave us YOU!

Year in Photos~ Week #21

Memorial Day work party at Uncle Dana and Aunt Molly's house.

They both tell us they are leaving next month, moving ALL the way to Tennessee. With the baby. None of us believe them, but we'll help them get their house market ready in spite of our denial. Reluctantly.


What are we going to do without our Molly and Dana around? Who is going to make all the phone calls for family parties? Who is going to keep Mom and Dad in line?;) Who is going to fact check all the made up information we throw out continuously?  And they are insisting on taking little Zeke with them. Who is going to light up our days with their bright blue eyes, curly hair and toothless grins? *sniff, sniff* Oh, we are going to miss those guys intensely. Good thing they have promised us a plane trip home to visit at least once a month. Right? Right? Before I go and get all sentimental {let's save that for another time, ok}, I'll show you a few more shots of family fun.

{Kali and a slight wardrobe malfunction}

 {Hannah sweeping off the branches left after the storm}

Hope you all are well, my friends.

 

Year in Photos~ Week #20

I realize this week is pretty much over and I have not yet posted last weeks photos, but I'm feeling confident that I have a good excuse this time. We had a terrible storm hit Tuesday afternoon that left us without power until Thursday morning. And as much as I hate to admit it, the absolute WORST part of losing power was going without my morning cup of coffee. Pathetic, I'm sure, but it's true. I was dying. I know Starbucks is right up the street, but without my coffee I didn't have the energy to load four kids in the car, drive, unload four kids and wait in a crowded coffee shop. 


Eventually, I called my sis-in-law in a no caffeine induced panic. She saved the day and had a pot waiting for me at her place Wednesday afternoon. She also let all six of us take hot showers, and we were feeling human-like in no time.


This weekend (before the power outage) Ben's Grandma and Aunt came to visit from Idaho. We haven't seen them for many, many years, so our time together was cherished.

We had an 80th birthday celebration for Grandma complete with swing dancing instructions from our friends, Lauren and Jed Rieke. You'll notice I'm taking pictures, NOT dancing. Ahem.

We ended the evening with a little cello duet action from two barefoot great grandsons...

And her four grandchildren sang a beautiful song in church Sunday morning. Grandma told us more than once how touching and special that was for her to hear.

Sunday lunch was followed by family photos and never ending, crazy antics of young boys.

  Puckett Family 2011