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Hailey has been begging me to let her wear this certain pair of pants to school. I haven't let her because it's 5000 degrees outside, and even hotter than that on the bus ride home. I keep telling her when it cools off she can wear them, but this morning she came out of her room with them on and before I could even say anything she said,

"Mom, I know you don't want me to wear these pants, but I have three good reasons why I should wear them."

woah... this was obviously very well thought out and prepared

"Number one: The guys who cut the grass and trees always wear long pants in the summer to protect their skin from the sun.

"Number two: It is always freezing in the cafeteria.

"Number three: I look kind of awesome."

Ha! This girl cracks me up! I think she's figured out the "if I make

mom laugh, I get what I want" button. uh-oh.

Please come back another day!

On Tuesday we woke up to gray skies, thunder, and RAIN! It was lovely! Definitely my weather of choice. Actually, what really woke me up was this chatter box:

So we went out in our p.j.'s and enjoyed the treat.

Though not as interesting,

the indoors are much more enjoyable when you're small.

Our 4th of July!

We BBQed and swam at the Merrell's, then drove out to A.J. and found a nice spot on the side of the road. We celebrate in style. It actually was a pretty good view!

Happy B-day USA!

Shae loved watching the fireworks!

Cindy really liked them too

JoLynn, Claire, Hailey, and Anne watching the show from the back of the van.

We HEART potatoes!

And they heart us

Happy Mother's Day to Me!

On Sunday, Joel presented me with a jar full of strips of paper. He said, "We started working on a Mother's Day present for you, and never finished it. Here you go."

Better late than never, I always say!

The strips of paper have memories about me written on them from Joel and the girls. How cute is that!? Here, in no particular order, are some of my favorites:

JoLynn: You know how Mom has birthdays? I like it when Mom has birthdays.

Joel asked "why?"

JoLynn: Because I really like Mom. I like to watch her blow out candles.

Hailey says that she remembers that when you punish her for making a bad choice, you do it because you love her.

Joel: I remember when Hailey was born. My breath was taken away. I found new admiration for you and the care you gave her in the weeks, months and years to come. At that moment, I saw a person who had an innate ability to nurture. I could feel the love you had for our new baby.

Hailey: Once we were at the pool and me and JoLynn were on Mom's back and I saw a HUGE spider! I told Mommy that if she saw a spider she should get it. She said that's not a spider. I said, Well what is it? and she said 'I don't know'. That's the end.

JoLynn: I remember going to the park with Mommy and having a picnic. Shae had a bowl of corn and peaches. I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich & peaches. Mommy wore a blue shirt with blue jeans. Hailey was at school and Dad was at work.

Fun with Photo Booth

We have this program on our computer that is loads of fun...that is if you are as easily amused as we are. The Merrells came over Friday night to celebrate my Dad and Megan's birthdays, and this is what we did for most of the night. Hope your weekend was as much fun as ours!

JoLynn and Claire

JoLynn and Hailey

Mom's finger spider on JoLynn's head

Hailey

Claire being camera shy

Cabbage Patch Kid Claire (my mom was lauging so hard!)

Hailey's glamour shots

Hailey's punch to the face

JoLynn

JoLynn

Blake's finger mustache

Blake's big muscles

Umm....Blake, I'm worried about you...

Dad

My Sister Cindy

isn't she pretty!?

Me

Joel's new nose job

LUV this guy!

my Joelseff

bringin home the bacon!

Shae just a few days old checking out her Daddy

canning peaches!

awwwww...

a quick potty stop on our way up to Prescott

turned into an ice cream party

that's MY man!

Black or white?

So we called our bug man when we had an ant infestation, and a few days later I started finding these sickos dropping like flies all around our yard.

Today I found 7 of them (dead of course...fhew!)

Also, I've been finding a lot of white hairs in my head.

I don't know which is grossing me out more.

More Camping Pics

JoLynn finally caught her fish.  (With Uncle Blake's assistance.)  She was so proud!  He actually caught it and let her reel it in.  What a guy!

Shae, enjoying her ride.

The Wagenmans!

Me and my Sistas.  Fhew - we look SIZZLIN!

Camping At Big Lake

Okay, so just remember that no one in their right mind wears make up while camping, so if you are of a weak constitution, you may want to skip this one.  

You have been warned.

oh, the waiting!!..............

This little girl thinks it's time to start walking.  I'm sure she'll master it while I'm gone at YW camp this week and I'll miss the whole thing :(.  That's right - I get to go camping 2 weeks in  a row!  If camping with 3 girls is hard, I can't wait to experience it with 29 girls!

Bring it on.

Megan and Tyler catching some zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Da Boys with da babies

the craft tent!

hard at work

check out those Grandpa pants on Tyler!  

He is the YUMMIEST little boy ever!

Claire and JoLynn hangin' in the hammock

Hailey adopted this inch worm and named it "Ticklish".  The poor thing was squished, dropped, kicked, pinched, shoved into a dozen different "homes", and lost about 20 times, but the little guy was miraculously still alive on the last day.  He was a soldier to the end.  The "end" meaning when he mysteriously disappeared while the girls were on a scavenger hunt.

Good bye brave Ticklish...we won"t forget you!