Sisters in the Garden

Summer is officially here, and I wanted some photos of my girls that scream summer.  The color yellow just resonates summer in my mind.  And no other place do I know with such gorgeous summer flower gardens than Dave and Sharon Smith's home.  Nana Sharon and Papa Dave as they are lovingly referred to by my girls allowed us to come over and snap a few photos.  I am by no means an expert photographer, but I grabbed a few cute ones I think.

 

I love Olivia's expression in this picture.

Mia and Olivia sitting together.

This is my girls sad attempt at being pirates.  They were saying "Arrrr," and then Mia tried covering her eye, like a patch and Olivia followed suit.

Olivia has always loved the camera and to pose.  She was so easy to get to take photos and would come up with great ideas all on her own.  Mia on the other hand, wanted to do what she usually does at Nana and Papa's house, play!  Because of this a lot of the photos I took of Olivia look overly staged and fake, but I got tons of her.  That meant Mia I got fewer of, but hers are more genuine, since they were usually Mia in action.

 

I was trying to get Mia to smell the flowers.  She said, "Ewww, smell this Olivia."  I love the honest expressions she conveys.

Mia started doing this prayer pose all on her own. 

I think this was my favorite picture of the day.

 

Mia wasn't really mad here.  I just asked her to make her grumpy face, and she can do that face anytime anywhere. 

 

 

 

 

They wouldn't be sisters without a little hair pulling.

We had a fun morning playing in the garden and enjoying the sunshine.  Now we'll have some great photos that epitomize summer and sisters.

The Beginnings of Summer

The beginning of summer always means busy times.  This blog entry is just randomness that has been going on lately and in no particular order.


Mia's been acting so stinking cute lately.  She's still quite a handful, but is so darn cute misbehaving you can't help but smile.

 

One cute photo of Vada before she went to her new home.

Lesley, (Bun in the oven), and JB Starkey

Friday, June 15th was that last required day for teachers to work in Sturgis.  We also decided to throw a shower for a fellow teacher Lesley Starkey.  She is one of those adorable pregnant woman that just nasueates you to look at.  I know both her and her husband JB will be excellent parents.  It was a great time after work at the home of our counselor, Renee's home on Omena Lake.  We played some undtradtional games, and just had a swell time relaxing and catching up with all our coworkers knowing that school was over.  The Starkey's daughter will make her debut arrival sometime in mid July if all goes on schedule.

Mia had been perusing the weekly shopper's guide and let us know she wanted a pool.  Now that Vada is not in the backyard to ruin one, Andy obliged.  I came home from the shower Friday night to find a large inflatable pool in the backyard.  The girls are loving it, although on this particular day, Mia seemed to enjoy the sprinkler more.  I'm sure lots of pool photos will make the blog this summer.

Another cute one of Mia, that I couldn't pass up.

Saturday, June 16th we hit up a couple of open houses.  The last one being Andy's cousin Pam's son Daniel's.  That meant a two hour drive to Ohio, but we had a great time.  It was good to catch up with some of Andy's family we don't see often enough, and thankfully we were together for a happy occassion.  We also stopped on our way home in Genoa to visit the gravesite of Andy's grandparents.  It was so cute to watch Andy tell the girls stories of when he was little and all the places and things he would do with his grandpa.  Olivia took it all in.  Andy even washed the bird poop off their tombstone before we headed home.  I was only able to meet Andy's grandpa, but he was such a gentle and kind man.  I love hearing stories about his grandma as well.  From what I hear, she was quite the card shark.  It was so special to witness Andy sharing some of his special memories with our girls.

Andy and Olivia sharing the lane on their mile swim day.

Sunday June 10th was an exhausting day for most of our family.  The Community Pool had a fundraiser.  Participants had to get pledges, but then had to swim one mile.  Both Andy and I did it and Olivia swam 1/4 of a mile.  Not too shabby for a six year old if you ask me.  I chose to swim later in the day, primarily because there wasn't supposed to be anyone to witness my lack of swimming ability.  I recruited Andy's sister Jennifer to swim with me.  She of course beat my time, but I'm just thrilled I finished.  The pool's goal was $5000 because a local foundation is matching it up to that point, and they surpassed their goal.  We were ecstatic that we could be part of such an exciting event.

A Day of Good Byes

Today has been one of many good byes.  Olivia had to say good bye to Kindergarten.  She is now officially a first grader.  But becoming a first grader means saying good bye to her first teacher, Ms. Mullins, saying good bye to all her friends and classmates.  For me it means watching my baby girl grow up before my eyes.  I also bond so much with all of the students at Congress.  Saying good bye is always bittersweet.  Trust me, I am elated that summer is here and school is out, but I will miss all the little rascals of our school.  Especially the 2nd graders.  They move on to a new school next year, and most of them have been with us for three to four years.  It's hard to let them go.


Olivia heading out the door for her last day of Kindergarten.

The last day of school at Congress has traditionally been Field Day, where children rotate between stations for various games and activities.  This year, they continued with the theme of building a home, since that was their service project they did along with their spring sing.

Here's Olivia sporting some stylish safety goggles in the Carpenter Relay.

Olivia and her best bud, Paris stopping in their building a home out of boxes for a quick photo opportunity.  I wish I could also post all the pictures Olivia brought home in her memory book her teacher made.  Anytime there was a class photo, there were always two students who stood out because of the way they were posing.  You guessed it!  Those two goofy girls above, Olivia and Paris.

Andy dumping water on Olivia's head.


Andy was a parent volunteer at the paint it station.  Students were given paint brushes and paint rollers to dip in water and "paint" the school with them.  I saw my opportunity to get my husband and doused him with a bucket of water.  I knowingly knew I would get it back, but it was so worth it.  That is until he did it a second time, this time with my camera in hand and soaked it.  Thankfully, my anger ended once the camera dried out and was working again.  But Andy and my antics started something at their station and it quickly became a water fight to soak "Olivia's Dad."  Too funny!

Andy running from 26 kindergartners. 

Another bittersweet good bye was to our sweet Vada.  She's been a great dog, but needs so much more time and attention than we can give her at this time.  She recently demolished her last crate so we've been attempting leaving her out all day.  She was doing terrific, but now has been chewing up multiple shoes, hats, trash, toys, you name it.  Once we got all that out of harms way, she went for breaking vases, knocking over lamps, clearing the kitchen counters.  She has a big heart, but is starved for attention, and right now our daughters get the majority of it.
It was a tough decision that we've been mulling over for a long time.  Neither Olivia or Mia were on board, but we found a family, where the husband stays home all day.  They've had mastiffs and other large breed dogs, so they are experienced.  They also have a Newfoundland so she'll have a playmate.  Vada loves other dogs.  Their home is on a small 10 acre farm with a horse, sheep, goat, 3 cows, ducks, chickens, turkeys, and a couple of cats.  The family seems wonderful, patient, and willing to work with our strong and stubborn girl.  We took her to her new home this evening and the family (Jeff and Renee) were gracious enough to have a cookout for us, so the girls could get to know them, their home, and be comfortable leaving Vada there.  Olivia knows it's a better home for Vada.  She did so much better than I expected.  I anticipated a tantrum and us having to physically pull her from Vada and put her in the truck.  Instead she gave her a hug, said she loved her and graciously got in the truck.  As the farm started to get out of sight, I heard her sweet innocent voice in the back quiver, "Good bye Vada," followed by some silent sobs. 

One last hug good bye.

Andy, Vada, Amanda, and Mia (photo courtesy of Olivia's photography)

Mia will miss her lifelong buddy.

Walking away before we drove away so Vada wouldn't get too upset.  We will miss her dearly, but it helps to know she's at a place she'll get all the love and attention she needs.  Plus they aren't too far away and we've been invited back to visit whenever we need to.  I am surprised at the tears I am shedding as I type.  She will be forever in our hearts.

A Day at the Zoo

We spent Saturday, June 9th visiting Potawotami Zoo in South Bend.  We have a family zoo pass thanks to Andy's parents.  It's just the perfect size zoo to get through in an afternoon.

Daddy even paid for all of us to take the train tour around the zoo.

Mia checking out the "mingos" as she calls them.

Zebras were a top favorite.

A photo of the cutest lion and monkey there.

Petting the goats was a huge highlight from our visit.  Last year Mia would go near them and do a quick touch then pull her apprehensive little hand away.  She was so into it this year.  She'd stick her face right up to the goat's and smile. 

It's hard to see here, but she just got done getting her face out of the goat's and is laughing.

Farmers Andy and Olivia, with their faithful cow Mia. 

The zoo was  a fun day trip to get away from all the hustle and bustle that has seemed to consume us laterly.

Saying Good Bye to Good Friends

Our girls have been blessed to have Jackie for their daycare provider.  But not only is Jackie the best, she also has some other pretty awesome children she watches, that have become dear friends of my girls.  Two of them being Mallory and McKinley Cronin.  The Cronins moved here several years ago from Maine and have been wanting to move back for a few years now.  Their house finally sold and they were ready to go.  The girls last day at Jackie's was June 4th.  Sadly, since Olivia is at school she didn't get a chance to say good bye.  When Andy came home and told her they were moving the next day, she was a wreck.  She really bonded with Mallory and thought Kinley was so cute.  We made a few attempts to track them down that evening to say goodbye with no luck.  So we showed up on their doorstep the next morning and woke the girls up to get in our last good byes.  Olivia felt much better after being able to say good bye.  She's already established that we have to Skype with them on a regular basis.  Mia and Kinley were partners in crime at Jackie's.  Both girls will be missed by many, as well as their terrific parents.


Kinley, Mallory, Olivia, and Mia, up super early to say farewell.


A good friend of mine who also blogs, occassionally puts in lists of her childrens favorite things.  She does it in an interview format so the answers are genuine from the kids and she can look back and see how they have changed over time, and can always remember their treasured responses.  I've always thought it was a splendid idea, so I'm stealing it myself.  Thanks Natalie!

Answers from Olivia
What do you want to be when you grow up? A surgeon
Favorite color: green
Favorite food: guacamole
Favorite TV show: Phineas & Ferb
Best Friend: Paris for a girl and Adam for a boy
Favorite part of today: Watching mom sew

Mia snuggling with her sleepy sister

These two either get along like best friends, or are at each other's throats.  Definitely true sisters.

Answers from Mia
What do you want to be when you grow up? Chicken Nuggie
Favorite color: blue
Favorite food: "moley" (guacamole) followed by, "I want some.  You go to store and get some stuff and make it mom, kay?"
Favorite TV show: Bubble Guppies
Best Friend: Abe, then Kinley
Favorite part of today: Jackie's, my day in the red chair!

Mia finally loves the camera and to pose.  She's getting better too.  Before it was always squinting her eyes shut trying to smile too big.  She's such a ham, or meatball and she prefers to call herself and everyone else.

The first pillow I finished sewing for the basement.  I am not that skilled at sewing, but can handle a pillow.  The girls were enthralled watching me and want me to teach them.  Sadly, I'm just learning myself, but maybe someday.