first swim

Today was the last day of school, and it was also the first day of swim lessons. Good thing the water is heated at this outdoor pool because it rained. Of course it rained!!!! I'm beginning to get less upset at this yucky weather and starting to be surprised when it doesn't rain. Sad I know. In spite of the chilly temps, the kids did great. The big kids were put into a class a level up from last year. Another surprise. Both did super and had more fun. Petite Artiste was all smiles, all the time. She couldn't stop smiling. She loved every minute of it. Now I'm hoping for more sun and less rain at the next lesson.

june

And, THAT, concludes our 2011-2012 school mornings experiment.

peacock painting party

Today was the day. The 'Peacock Painting Party' day. The Divine Miss O turned nine years old on June 11th but because of our crazy schedule, we had to wait to celebrate until today.

The weather has been awful around these parts. Pouring and cold. Yesterday was like a monsoon. I worried my plans of having this painting shin dig outside wasn't looking like a reality. But this morning we woke up, the cats and dogs had taken a break and the sun was actually peeking out.

So we went for it! We had two hours of party time in the backyard and it didn't rain. YES!! However, about five minutes after our party guest left the backyard, the skies got dark and the flood started.

But I was totally OK with that. It wasn't the warmest backyard party, but it was in the backyard and it was dry. I call that success. Or, just very, very lucky.

The girls had a great time painting their peahens and peacocks thanks to our lovely local art docent, Julie. Without her, these little pieces of art would have looked like something totally abstract and destine for the trash can.

My brand new picnic tables were perfect and I'm so happy to finally have some seating for the backyard. Thank you Mr. Hawthorne. I love them!!

I also loved these adorable mini easels and canvases.

But my favorite part was watching the girls take their painting so seriously.

They all turned out super and unique. Some of the girls really had a lot of talent.

And, here's proof the sun joined us for a while. Yay!! We totally lucked out.

Happy ninth birthday party Miss Divine!!

feelin' frisky

I brought Mr. Monroe inside to play for a bit this morning. And, boy was he feeling frisky. He was running and hopping and jumping all over the dining room. There was something about the heater vent that had him going all sorts of crazy. He couldn't get enough.

Ever see a bunny roll over on his back? Me neither. This little dude feels very comfortable and secure, which makes me feel very happy for him.

He had a ball!

Then, he took a nap.

Being frisky wears a bunny out!

are you ready for some football

El Fuego is gearing up to play some football this fall. The season starts in August. I didn't let him play on the league before because I was I afraid he would get hurt. Now that he is almost eleven and bigger and stronger, I thought football would actually be good for him. The boys have been outside every evening practicing. Both are very excited.