Michael's 6!

What's a birthday celebration without a serenade by Opa? This is the first time that Michael has actually wanted to invite friends to a birthday party. He's very shy and has always preferred to just celebrate with family, which works out well since he shares his birthday with his dad. Despite living in a construction zone, we plowed full speed ahead. Luckily, it was a nice day, and the boys mainly played outside.


Michael was pleasantly surprised at how much fun he had and even asked if he could have another party next year. His innocence warms our hearts daily. A side note: whenever the school sends home flyers about things going on in the community, Michael takes it as a personal invitation." Mommy, Mrs. Strainer invited me to join the Cub Scouts. She gave me an invitation" or "Mommy, I get to go to a SummerFest. Mrs. Strainer gave me an invitation( this was just an announcement about a fundraising event at a local church)". There are days when I could eat him alive.

may birthdays

Our neighbor Catherine asked if I'd make her birthday cake this year. I asked her what she'd like, she said anything, so I told her I'd surprise her. And this is what I came up with.
Michael didn't want a cake this year. He asked for cupcakes, but I couldn't just make plain old cupcakes. Our printer wouldn't print the picture from Up, so I drew it by hand while looking at the computer screen. Fun.

kitchen progress and dunkel

The only reason we have lower cabinets is because my brother Ryan was in town and helped haul them in from the garage. As I write this, the kitchen is actually almost complete, but I haven't been taking pictures because I've been busy cleaning, unpacking, and rearranging things




Proof that we were actually in the same state(at the Brown Lantern, of course). We love when Dunkel comes to town, even if he's alone(without our cousins and Auntie Melissa) and even if he has to go to work/meetings in the day. At least he gets to play Legos and swords at night with the boys and take in a burger and beer at the greatest pub ever.

The Jewel Sale

Logan, Michael, Andy and Bailey dug up "jewels" from our driveway and worked very hard to prepare the display from which to "sell" them. Michael came running in, asking for cups of water. "We're going to give our customers free water, Mommy, so they'll buy our jewels(rocks)!" ONe of the cutest things I've ever seen. Sincerity is so sweet.

Some Logan Time

The Anacortes High School Robotics team made it to Nationals in Atlanta, GA, which rocked our town. The team brought their robots( actually they stayed up for several nights in a row to build "dummy" types) to Island View for PTA Family Fun Night. Super cool science fun.

Logan's Challenge class has been lucky enough to be able to visit the MONA in Laconner(Museum of Northwest Art) three times this year. Each family got a year's pass, too. I chaperoned an earlier trip, and Brian took off a day to chaperone their final field trip.
Calder, Logan and Eric doing fantasy scapes.