Two Thumbs Up

Can you believe the Asparagus Pasta Salad received two thumbs up from 2 of my 3 toughest critics? LB, especially thought of you with this recipe. It is soooooo good. And easy. Let me know if you want the recipe. It is from Real Simple.

Special Friends

A picture of Isobel Reid! Believe it or not, JK took this picture. Isn't it sweet?! Isobel is growing and doing beautifully. I love to babysit her as well as Griff (see below).

Actually, JK and Griffin are pretty much able to babysit themselves. They look so innocent here. Hmph!

Again, all JK's work here.

Sam doodles all the time...

I'm always finding Sam's drawings around the house ... on the dining room table, on Jeff's desk, on a tray table in the living room - everywhere except in the sketch book we bought for him! Can someone explain that to me? When I saw this one, it reminded me of a palace, which made me think about treasure, which lead to Matthew 6:19-21. I wanted some of you who are far away to see a sample of Sam's artwork. I hope his teachers will like this as an end-of-the-year thank you gift.

Nana was able to come to Grandparent's Day!

Thank you for taking time off from work and walking through the torrential rain, Marcia!



The pictures of the class performances did not turn out well. For some reason, they were very dark. I decided not to post those.


The final day of school is one week from today - wow! Sam is especially excited for summer vacation. Both kids have worked hard all year long.



PS - Sammy was recognized for his creativity at the 1st-3rd grade awards ceremony this week!

Jenna Kate's fieldtrip to the Marine Science Center

JK looked forward to this fieldtrip for weeks! Armed here with her snack, and dressed in non-uniform play clothes, she gets a quick hug from Sam before we pile into the car. The fieldtrip was marvelous. JK's favorite part: the sea turtle!

Tomorrow is Grandparent's Day at the school - we will miss those of you who cannot come! I will take pictures if it is appropriate. We send our love!

Angela in her Birthday Hat

Jeff took this of Angela at the Air Show. The Childresses went, too! Angela, if you read this, I just knew that hat was you!

A Big Weekend for Sam!

Jeff took Sam to the Air Show on Saturday where the Blue Angels were flying! Jeff took the following pictures. The first illustrates the difficulty of taking pictures of jets flying over 600 mph!

On the Friday night preceeding the Air Show, Jack and Wils spent the night much to Sam's jubilation! We made pizzas for dinner, and the boys watched Star Wars VI.

Strawberry Pickin'

Had a picnic with friends and then picked strawberries on this 90 degree day last week ...



Sam tells us which rows are ready for the pickin' ...

Quality over quantity ...

Mmm!

Happy Mother's Day To My Mom!

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

Baking Cookies

Mom - we used the sugar in the raw! The cookies tasted great, but the texture was grainier due to the larger sugar crystals. Any suggestions?

My helpers ...

and tasters. (Photo totally staged!)

G - do you need any comfy flip-flops? Found these at Wal-Mart today. My feet had begun to ache with the onset of sandal weather. These are wonderfully cushioned with an exagerated arch. They feel great when I drive, too. Just FYI - $20.

Sammy lost 3rd tooth (and other news)!

Sam's top front tooth was hanging on by an invisible thread and finally came out this morning at school when he was singing the hymn of the month. He greeted me at the carpool line with a w-i-d-e grin to display what happened! In other news, he finally spent almost the rest of his Christmas money last evening on a new Star Wars light saber at Toys-R-Us. I was glad that he bought something that he would really play with until today when I realized how incessant the sounds are. Yes, it makes sounds. Hmm.

I wanted to include the Mother's Day card Jenna Kate made for me in school on Tuesday. It made me feel so special! Mrs. Fender wrote down what JK said she liked to do with me: "I like me and Mommy making dinner or breakfast or lunch. I like to play games with her ... like Candyland and Battleship. I like to go shopping with her." Jeff is not really sure what he thinks of that last item. Ha, ha!

Random Evening Fun

Sam requested that we have some fun last night. Ha, ha! I told him that every night is fun at the Welch household - to which he immediately responded, "Mo-om" (two syllables drawn out). It turns out that we did have an out-of-the-ordinary evening. We each made a small pizza - a first for this crew, and then we used up the rest of some random sparklers on the front stoop and sidewalk. The kids were very happy!

Nice pjs, huh?