Our "Pollywobs" (that's what Avery called them) have turned into frogs. When you walk along the edge of our pond it looks like it is raining frogs as they all jump into the pond. It is hard to get photos of them let alone catch them.
The one in the above photo still has his full tail even though he has his legs too!
Ribbit!
Can you just say I am ready to have this kid. It is sad to say I don't know the last time I took a picture of my brother and myself. I am always so focused on taking pictures of the kids I need to stop and take some photos of the adults.
Opening his cards. I didn't get him anything but I did take him down memory lane with a list of 50 memories I have of he and I or reasons that I love him. He really enjoyed it and we all laughed at some of the memories that I brought up.
Joey's girlfriend's, grandson Darren, Rowdy and my nephew Evan. They were watching Darren play a video game.
These are my handsome brothers. Joel, Joey and Jeff. We all got together to celebrate my brother Joey's 50th birthday. It seems strange to say 50th birthday but you know what? That is only 15 years away for me. 
Grandma made a yummy cake and brought some fresh strawberries.
This is Avery and her cousin Melanie (my brother Jeff's daughter) having a blast playing on the water bed that was in the play room. They don't get to see each other very often so it was nice to see them getting along so well.
This picture was taken at a baby shower that my sister in law Jaclyn threw for me and the baby. Once again we are all pregnant at the same time. The other girls have all expressed how jealous they are that I am almost done with my pregnancy...Whew! Stephanie is due in March, Maryanne and Jaclyn are due at the end of October with boys! We don't know what Steph is having yet. I love to flash forward about a year when Grandma Linda's house will be filled with the sound of the pitter patter of eight more feet. Her and Jerry are lovin' every minute of it...in fact we all swear it is Grandpa Jerry's prayers for more grandchildren that keep getting us into these messes....Ha Ha!
BEFORE
AFTER
This is what the kids did for two days while the pool guys installed our new liner and pump into the pool. The pool is pretty cold because we haven't installed any system to heat it up...that will have to be a next summer project. It takes me a few minutes to ease my way in. The weather hasn't been very hot which I am thankful for, but we have managed to go swimming for a little bit each day.
The carpal tunnel is a small space or "tunnel" in the wrist formed by the wrist bones (the carpal bones) and a ligament (the transverse carpal ligament). The median nerve and several tendons pass through the carpal tunnel from the forearm to the hand. The tendons are surrounded by tubes of tissue (tendon sheaths). The median nerve controls some movements of the thumb, and this nerve supplies feeling to most of the thumb and to the index finger, middle finger, and part of the ring finger.
Rowdy's preschool did a eye screening in the Spring and the Doctor said I should bring him back during the summer for another exam. Long story short, there is a new kid in town. Doesn't he look like he is ready for med-school (he says he's going to be a doctor when he grows up or a train engineer). Anyways, here is my handsome boy sportin' his new specs. He does really well wearing them and wears them more often than not. The doc says she wants him to wear them at least 5 hrs a day. That is perfect because he can be sure to have them on at school and then take a break when he comes home to play.
I just adore the shot above...He just stood there like that looking out into the field... he looks like a little man standing there with his leg up on the railing. 
I made these signs for Rowdy and Avery's room. I used my Cricut (cricut.com) die cut machine to make them. They are about 4 inches by 24 inches. The kids helped me make them. We used acrylic paint, cardstock and Mod Podge. They are super easy and fast to make. I think I will make one for each of my nieces and nephews for Christmas. I got the boards at Micheal's for around $3. They are only about 3/8 of inch thick. Rowdy and Avery carried them all over the house the day after we made them. I was thinking I could make one for each holiday and donate it to the fundraiser at Avery's preschool too!
These images are just a taste of some photos that I will post soon of a little boy you all know.
Rowdy called me into the living room this morning to tell me he had spelled the word racecars...and sure enough he had. Although, you must sound it out from right to left and know that he only had one of each letter from the alphabet to work with. I think he did a pretty good job!
Then he spelled his name. He next picked up the letter "m" and said mmmm....Madie!!!! (She is one of Rowdy's good friends who moved away recently) So we spelled her name. How could I not take a picture of that especially since they will be getting married if Kim and I have anything to do with it. We miss you guys. The kids play on-line on this fantastic website called starfall (thanks for telling us about it Kim). Well there is this song on there about the silent "e" at the end of the word and Avery is always pointing out the letter "e" everywhere and saying it is a silent "e". It reminds me of the Adventures of Letterman from the Electric Company on PBS from my childhood. By the way you can find videos of that show on youtube.com. And if I knew what I was doing I could of had a really cool link to it on my blog but I don't know how.
I haven't posted pictures of our little calf "Lily"yet. Rowdy named her. She is so cute and she has white eye lashes. She is getting more and more used to us coming out and feeding her and talking to her. She won't let you pet her very much. But we are working on it....I can't wait to scratch her behind her fluffy ears.
Rowdy took this photo. Although, you can't tell from here, Ron got in a pretty big wreck on Saturday night. He said he was going pretty fast. The track was super fast because of the rain we had earlier in the week and new clay had just been added to the track. He hit the wall so hard that it knocked over the cement filled tires that line the inside of the track. See my Memorial Day Weekend post for a photo. Needless to say he came home with a concussion. He was a bit dizzy and had a headache the next day. 
People ask me all the time if I worry that Ron will get hurt racing. For some reason I don't worry. People do get hurt sometimes. We have seen drivers break their arms when they get caught in the steering wheel. I have seen some car fires that look pretty scary. There was even a death several years back. I guess I just figure my husband has taken every safety precaution and that is all we can do. Oh and he is a very skilled race car driver and good at what he does. He is smart on the track!
The only time in our lives as women that a little "pudge" on our thighs is ohhhh so sweet!
Avery loves these boots! When I saw her kickin' back on these haystacks with her pink cowgirl boots on I had to run and get the camera! Grandma Linda has been calling her "Pinky" since she was born because she was always wearing pink. Not much has changed. Although, Avery has the kind of skin tone and coloring that whatever color I put her in she looks good! We were on our way to Dallas Summerfest to listen to Uncle Joey sing, so we had to put on our cowgirl boots. I need to find a pair for Rowdy! By the way, the other day Rowdy told me that I have become a pretty good farmer. He also, told me since Dada is the farmer I am the farmer's wife.
Ron bought Rowdy a new bike on our camping trip. It is bigger, heavier and much faster. It took him just a bit to feel comfortable with it. He still needs to practice starting and stopping but he has the hang of riding. The kids enjoyed riding bikes too! There was a loop for them to ride on in a circle that brought them right back to the camp site. Avery's bike is so loud we could hear her all the way around the loop. I have a hard time relaxing when the kids are not in sight.
Me and the "three" kiddos!
Look at this...Doritos and a blue Gatorade. Rowdy asked me "is this lunch?" I said "no" he asked "is it dinner?" I said "no". I said "this is camping." That is one of my favorite parts of camping is the relaxed eating schedule and the "rules" that are flexible and change because you are not at home and on vacation.
While Rowdy raced cars in the sandbox Avery made pies and cakes! She was adding cups of this and spoonfuls of that and mixing it all up! She was following a little recipe of her own and I am not kidding when I say they were in this sand box close to the entire trip!
In an effort to look as though I have some skill behind the camera I took these two photos of Rowdy. I was hoping that one would turn out. Well to my surprise and quite by accident I got two shots that I just adore. He put the car up on the flat bed truck while he was playing! Obviously, doing what he has seen his dad do a million times. I took the photos hoping I would get a shot like the second one. But I actually love them both. This sand box was the highlight of the camping trip we just returned from. The kids played in it all day. Hmmmm...maybe the farm needs a sand pit. They played well too! Not much fighting or bickering!
This is a good action shot too! The cars are smashing into each other and you can tell Rowdy is providing the sound effect.
We went to the races on Saturday night. The kids had fun watching Ron race. Ron was in the lead most of the main event however, there was a caution flag thrown and all the cars have to slow down and wait for the green flag again. Therefore, the cars were all bunched up again and two cars got pasted him. He finished third. The number 22 car was the first one to get past Ron and Rowdy said "that 22 needs to smash into the wall so my Dad can be in the lead again!" He doesn't like to see Dada in anyother place but 1st! The races were done pretty early and the weather was great. We even got to go into the pits after it was over...Rowdy was excited.
Although the kids didn't get to bed until midnight, we had a fun filled day. We started with a flag raising ceremony at the church, a parade in Monmouth, listened to Uncle Joe at main street park, home to rest for a bit, BBQ at our place, ATV rides and finally some fireworks. Whew!
