::today last year::

Today a year ago we were playing with bubbles and taking pictures on the deck in our backyard.

Max was only five. Does he look any different to you? He just looks kind of stretched out now to me. So these pictures are like a little more compact version of himself.


We sure have enjoyed our little yard. It's scrubby and humid, but it's been so nice to have the space. Max loves to be out there, and Sultan loves to hang out with him in the shade.


It's been lots of fun, and I'm sure we'll miss it when we go.
Speaking of going, I can't believe it's JUNE already! June is such a huge month for us. Max will finish kindergarten, Kris will graduate from his program, we'll move to a new state. Kris's birthday and our anniversary are at the end of the month too. We have lots to look forward to!

Hopefully there will be some bubbling blowing time, some kite flying time and some beach time all mixed in there too.

Here's my favorite picture from a year ago. I don't know why, but I love it.



PS It's my youngest brother Murphy's birthday today. He's 21!!!! (Yikes) I can't believe it. But even harder to believe, he's coming home from his mission within weeks. He's been a wonderful missionary and we're so proud of him. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MURPH!!!

::today::

Today we've got some nasty weather. Slick snow fell all morning, and at some point here it's supposed to be turning to rain--lots of rain.
Kris called me after he made it to work and he said the roads were so slippery. It took him over an hour to get to work when it normally takes about twenty minutes. I'm hoping not to leave anytime soon, though of course school isn't canceled, which is a bummer. I think snow should equal closed school all the time.

I do have lights on my tree, as you can see in the picture. Which means that we did get the tree down from the attic (I don't think it really counts as an attic, but that's ok. It's mostly exposed insulation), and it also means that we moved furniture out of the living room to make room for the tree. We still have to put the ornaments on though. I just got the lights done last night after an emergency trip to target because at least four of my light strings were totally dead. Argh. And then they were out of the cheap lights so I had to settle for less of the expensive lights. Oh well, it's got lights. That's what matters. Hopefull we'll be putting ornaments on today.

And lastly, I thought I was sparing in the addition of bubble bath this morning, but:

To the little man's delight, I guess I wasn't sparing enough. The jets take the bubble bath over the top. (literally) (keep in mind this is a big deep tub--really the only thing in our house that isn't tiny--and the bubbles are spilling over the top and sides, YIKES).
He's been enjoying a long winter's bath. I'm scared to see how the bathroom is doing. Wish me luck.

::::

Some things I like tonight:

the beach (I didn't get any photos today, we were having too much fun)
sweet husbands who mow the lawn
bubble mowers


dogs that aren't as stinky as usual
fuzzy little friends that request group photos

evenings that actually get a little cooler, yay!

::mowing buddies::

The real purpose of the bubble mower is so that the son can feel cool and helpful to the father during mowing time.
I can't resist posting this old picture of my brother Cammon and my dad.

Cammon looks so businesslike and serious, doesn't he?
As does Max:

Obviously working way way hard.



And very proud of himself. I think it's adorable.

The mower we have is an old one from my parents. At one point we had 3 or 4 (? I think it was three...) mowers, and we would all mow at the same time. For those of you that haven't been to my parent's house, the yard is really big--two big lots worth. So 3 of us would mow at once and it would still take us a while.
We must've named the mowers at some point, and dad wrote their names on the front of them. So when Kris and I moved to Missouri and had a yard that would need mowing we got to take one with us. I picked my favorite, which was "Blue Sky."
Blue Sky almost didn't start--we hadn't used him for over a year. But after some serious coaxing, and warming up, he fired right up.

When Max realized he was named, it was all over.



Blue Sky, meet Bubble Sky.
Cammon, Char, Dad, Mom--does anybody remember the other mowers' names?

::bubble mower::

I really wanted to get Max a little plastic lawn mower to go along with the new yard. I knew Kris was going to have to do some mowing, and what's more fun than mowing the lawn with dad? With your OWN mower no less.
I couldn't find a plain old little plastic one though. These days all there are (at least out here in the progressive east) are plastic mowers that blow bubbles.
I thought it was kind of cheesy, but I bought one anyway.

Once it finally quit raining we got it out and he started mowing.
It's actually super cute. There's a little mechanism inside with a fan. When the little bubble stuff bottle is filled and the mower is pushed, it makes a little noise and blows bubbles from the fan. He LOVES it. He's mowed the lawn so many times in the last week.

I'm not sure what the indignant face here is all about, but I'm sure he's saying something to Sultan. That's usually how they communicate.

I love the mower. I'm so glad I got it, even though I just found it for like $4 less at Target than at the local weird store I found it in. Still worth it.

Bubbles!!!

**Oh, and yes, the lilacs do smell good. They're wonderful, and I'm going to miss them because the blossoms are starting to disappear. But luckily I took a lovely photo or two, just wish I could add the scent to the pictures.

.::Bubbles with Kelly::.

A while ago we had a very lovely day. It was the first nice one in a while. Kelly came over in a break between classes to hang out with us. I had been promising Max for weeks that he could go blow bubbles as soon as the weather was nice enough--so we took both the bubbles and the uncle out to the front porch.









I think a good time was had by all. Well, Kelly had a good time until Max poured half the bubble bottle down the front of his jeans. Unfortunately he had more school to go to that day, but fortunately he's a good sport, so he just turned Max upside down, and I think that made him feel better. (and he went and tried to wash out his pants, poor guy)

Being upside down didn't seem to slow down the bubble blowing.

Then Max thought it might be funny to blow bubbles at poor Kelly. That went on for a while.

Then Kelly finally decided he was bubbly enough and went inside to relax.
Max blew bubbles until the neighbors started harassing us too much and I made him come inside. (We won't miss the neighbors when we go.)



It's so funny to think of how bad he used to be at blowing bubbles. We'd go out, and he'd end up as soapy as could be, with soap all over his lips. He'd blow and blow and never make a single bubble.
Not so now! He's just such a big smart guy these days.



Yay for bubbles, and uncles and nice days.