Uncovering Dinosaurs @ Danville

Parthenon at Nashville

Markie's Moments...

Rosedawn, Part 2

Abe Lincoln Birthplace

School of the Greeks...

(Okay, have your laugh... school of geeks, school of Greeks. We homeschoolers are proud to be fun-loving, learning geeks.)

This is our day at the theater school of the Greeks... and the puppetmasters showed up at no additional charge.

Important to note: If this were a reality show... those masks would be switched... most certainly!! Sara Kate could make a living pouting... as the kind elders of our town love to share their goods and riches for a smile from this lady.

Sitting pretty...well, pretty handsome

At 7 weeks old, our little man is stealing the stage as the family beauty. I have grown to call him my baby boy with all the sappiness and adornment one mother can muster. It almost seems as though he is trying to talk to us when he uses every bit of energy to make such a small sound. But it truly is the biggest and best sound in the world to his mama. Daddy and Mama, and sisters are so terribly proud of our baby boy!

Sara Kate...blooming before our eyes...

Paul and I took the girls on a walk through the park this evening and we couldn't help but notice that Sara Kate has grown up before our eyes over the past two months. It is easier to see when she has a baby brother to compare her to, but truly she has shot up and bloomed and it wasn't until we saw these pictures that we saw it in our little girl.

SCRAPT

Here are a few layouts I was able to put together this last week while Paul was gone in Kentucky. I suppose this is all that gets accomplished when left to my own devices. (Note: The children were not harmed nor neglected in the making of these pages.) But all is well now that Daddy is home. We love you all... and baby Mark sends his coo's and ahhh's.

Live happy... and decorate

Well this was a simple job... I have this beautiful picture frame I bought for $10. I planned to take the original picture out and replace it with something more personal... but the blasted thing is so big, I either couldn't find the right size or the right print for our room. So this was my solution... park it on Paul's dresser... whatdya think?!

It has been a happy morning here at home... the girls continue to be Mark's best fans and cheerleaders. It doens't matter if I am changing his diaper, if he is crying or if I am feeding him the girls just want to cuddle and coo at him. We are enjoying some 80's music while the girls dance in the hallway and Mark looks on at them. This is definitely a living happy moment!!

I have more scraps coming... come back soon!!

SCRAPT

Here are a few more tidbits to add to our family story. This first layout is from the infamous Neewollah festivities that our town has put on for 100 years now. Neewollah is Halloween spelled backwards, and it began in order to keep the misfits from tearing this town apart. It is complete with onion blossoms, fried turkey legs, and a personal favorite fried candy bars... not to discount the classic cotton candy and candied apple lovers. The parade is like the cherry on top to the food, music, plays, contests and fair complete with ferris wheel... and all this just two blocks from our house. Paul was lucky enough to join other Amazon.com associates on the float for the parade. Here you can see Hannah with Daddy waving to mommy... well Hannah saw her friends before she ever saw mommy (and the camera.) To this day, she still says I saw Abbie and Carter... mommy where were you. Well as you can see I was amongst the crowd clamoring to get a picture of Hannah's day with Daddy and Amazon.com. The second layout here is baby Mark's new fan club of grandma's. My mother and Grandma (and Grandpa) were lucky enough to make it here to visit Mark. We celebrated with the telling of my favorite stories... Great-Grandma and Grandpa and Grandma Hawkins (my mom) reliving their childhoods for us with some classic tales. I will never get my fill of old family stories!!

Thanks for visiting us here ya'll!

Look-a-likes

Golly gee who do we have here?! I was doing a scrapbook page today with the first picture here of Sara Kate... and Hannah says, "that looks like Daddy." My thought was, well... Daddy has a shaved head (perfectly formed I might add) with glasses... so she must be delirious to think this little girl looks like Daddy. I just dismissed the mention for the moment (never bother me with oddball facts when I am scrapbooking)... and then 30 minutes later I jumped up to get something out of the cabinet and I found this second picture pinned on a board above the cabinet... it's of Paul... which happens to be a favorite of mine. I finally found the proof... I always said you would love good as a girl honey!!

Hannah SCRAPT

This is a layout that came together easily this Sunday afternoon. I already had the pages pieced together, it was simply a matter of plugging in the pictures. I did this while watching the movie 'Bella', which was quite good, a simple sort of good. Now, I am off to make this baby boy sparkle in a bath of bubbles. More soon!

Our New Swimmer!

Hannah experienced some hard earned success during her swim lessons over the past two weeks. First, our Hannah is small for her age so standing in 3 1/2 ft water can be exhausting when your trying to stand on your toes for an hour. During Hannah's lessons she had the task of going under water and retrieving diving sticks from the bottom of the pool. I have to say, it seemed as though she was diving to her death because she could barely stay above water, yet it seemed a far greater task to swim to the bottom. At the age of 7, I doubt some children can see far enough into the future (a precious 5-10 seconds) to realize they will come back up after going to the bottom.

These pictures were taken on the last day of Hannah 's lessons, after many attempts at coaxing her to retrieve it on her own, her instruction held her up, and then...uh well... pushed her under and she grabbed it on her own. As you can see here... Hannah came up out of the water with a HUGE smile on her face. We were cheering... and I admittedly had a few tears of joy at seeing her joy of accomplishment.

So these are the pictures of Hannah' sweet success! Congrats to my blooming duckling!!

Mark's Blessing

Today Mark received his baby blessing. It was performed by Daddy and many dear friends were able to participate in the blessing (as we have no family near to join us) by laying their hands upon his head as they stand in a circle around Mark. Actually there was another baby blessed as well, this other blessing was a very special one because the child, Bryson, was adopted and as the adoption was made final last month he had the opportunity to receive his own "baby blessing" as a part of his new family. It was a special experience to be a part of both of these blessings today.

In Mark's blessing, he was blessed with character... (more specifically) the character of service. He was blessed to have a desire to emulate the Savior and to gain a testimony of the Savior, that will help him (Mark) to do great things. He was also blessed with wisdom through observing others. After his blessing I had the opportunity to get up and share my testimony with the congregation. I shared my testimony of the Holy Ghost, which as members of of the LDS Church we receive through a special blessing at baptism. The Holy Ghost is the spirit which helps us to recognize both good and bad, and right and wrong in our lives, though first we must recognize the promptings and make the choice for ourselves to choose the better part. The Holy Ghost has helped me to see my potential and guide me to make righteous choices. It is through the blessing of the Holy Ghost that I have been able to change and develop myself in ways I could not have done on my own without this spiritual guidance. As a convert to the LDS Church (also known as the Mormon church) 13 years ago I have seen great changes in myself that I would not have imagined possible on my own. I am grateful for the changes that a loving Heavenly Father has helped me to see and make ... revealing a greater potential in me. And, through this I have been able to strive more diligently to become a better wife, mother and daughter.

The pictures that follow are of the girls with Mark before church. The third, is a picture I caught on the sly in Sunday school, which was probably not an appropriate time to be taking pictures... but who could resist Mark with his Daddy. And the last picture was an impromptu shot outside after church. It truly was a special day!! We love and miss our dear family and friends who could not be with us today. Please know we are thinking of you!

Bath Time for Bonzo!

Any excuse to take a picture right?! I really enjoy my many moments of cataloging these memories and unique perspectives of our family. I am amazed that even as a baby, Mark has all the little qualities of a boy. He has round shoulders that will grow to look like his daddy's muscles I am sure. He has that crinkled forehead... well Paul is the only other one in our little family that can master that... so us girls assume it's a boy thing. Well he is hairy too... but we are hopeful it will fade. And his bodily functions... well, there is no point in embarrassing him further... though I think it is safe to say... he has all the earmarks of a boy!

I must also share... after Mark's bath and dinner Friday evening... all of us went to the movies to see Wall-E. Oh my goodness... it was AWE-some! We loved it... though Sara Kate at the age of 3 1/2 wasn't terribly entertained by mid-movie... but it was nothing popcorn and M&M's couldn't fix for her. We really enjoy movies as a family at home and even more especially at the 'BIG' movies, as the girls like to call it. Paul and I saw Hulk a few weeks ago while my mom took care of the chitlins. Now we are looking forward to some more summer movies... like Hancock and Batman for mom and dad, and then Ice Age 3 for the girls. For the last week, after the girls have had swimming lessons, I have picked out movies to watch in the afternoon while Mark does he marathon nursing session. This week I watched The Other Boleyn Girl, Definitely Maybe, Silk, Fool's Gold, Saving Grace, Jane Eyre, and Pride & Prejudice... that last one I watch quite often. I have to say, Fool's Gold was a favorite for me. So until later... maybe there will be some scrapbook pages in the stars for me this week eh?!

Now it's bedtime for this bonzo!