Evening Drive...

Ron took a trip down to California early this week to pick up a car he bought. After the kids said hello to Dada we went to check out the new hot rod that he brought home.

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It's a 1970's Challenger. Not to be confused with the Charger that we already have. This is a Challenger.

Ron bought it for he and Rowdy to work on together.

We all loaded up, not shoes, in our swimsuits, no car seats and took a drive. Rowdy rode shot gun and I sat in the back with Bo and Avery. Proud of this shot because I took it from the back seat (blindly I wasn't even looking through the viewfinder).

Don't let her fool you she was in a great mood, just trying to be silly and be super serious and dramatic.

Bodie was taking it all in and loved the ride.

My view from the back. There wasn't even a seatbelt for me in the middle. We like to live on the edge.

The sun was getting ready to set as we headed back home. Awesome evening!

New Adventure...

Rowdy got a new bike for his birthday. He usually rides in the driveway and near our barn. However, one day last week he went out to the field to see Ron. Ron has been busy cutting hay the last week or so. Rowdy has been busy mastering this hill.

Ready (and very serious)...

Set...

Go...

He really is a very talented bike rider. Oh, and don't get me started on the fact he is wearing his flip flops...I have told him so many times to put socks and shoes on when he is going out to ride...sigh.

Born to be wild...

I just found this in my draft section, I never posted it back in February.
The picture in the center is Bodie doing his best to copy what he sees Ron do on his ATV. Ron has some pretty mad ATV skills and one of his tricks is to pop the ATV up onto two wheels and ride along! Well, Mr. Boman likes what he sees his Dada do and goes straight to work on his "V".

Nickname...

If you hang out with our family long enough you will figure out that we have a habit of taking the names of things and breaking them down until they are totally different from the original name. Case in point...our oldest cat's name is actually C.J. (Cooter Junior). Yes, we named our cat after our dog. We rarely call the cat C.J. He is mostly called Flea or Bic.

C.J. become Chicken (that is a story all by itself), Chicken became Chickers, Chickers became Silly Flea Flicker and then Silly Son of a Bicker and finally just Bic. But I mostly call him Flea. Well, it goes further, now Avery calls Bicker, Big, Big, Bigger because he is bigger than all the other cats...it makes sense doesn't it.

Well, at some point Rowdy started to call Bo, Buster.

Buster became Busser (sounds like bus-er) and Busser is now Buzzer. So, when Rowdy sees Bo, he greets him with an enthusiastic, "Hi, Buzzer!" It is really cute!

I took these over Spring Break when Avery was up visiting my Mom for a few days.

Who's that girl...

I really need to make a commitment to getting more pictures of myself and Ron. It isn't that hard to take a self portrait or use the timer on my camera. So in honor of that commitment, I give you Rowdy and I on the bus, on the way home from his end of the year field trip to the Forestry Center. I hadn't been there since I was a kid. We had a good time together. Of course we had to visit the big black steam engine out front. We actually had lunch in the cab of the engine. Super fun memory. I smuggled his little bear in my pocket, therefore there is three of us in the photo.

In her head...

She was the only one laughing. She said she was laughing at something inside her head. I wish I was as quick to laugh as she is. Avery has a very silly sense of humor. Sometimes after she eats a big meal she gets uncontrollably hysterical. We call it, "The Full-belly Silly Willies". I remember doing that as a kid too. Probably, blood sugar levels are high and you just think the simplest things are so stinkin' funny. She can also make her brothers laugh. Rowdy and Avery have little inside jokes between each other too. I have to ask them what they are talking about.

Snuck up on these two...

The other day my, I haven't seen or heard Rowdy for awhile, alarm went off! So I started to check all of his usual places to hang and I found him here:

I was able to sneak up and get a few shots without them noticing I was there.

This is why we call Oreo a "chin rubber". When he is in the mood he rubs up against your chin and basically attacks you...but like any cat, it is on his terms.

Then he had to come over and see what I was doing...
It sure is nice to have these warm, fuzzy, unconditional creatures around!

Dancing Ribbons...

These were taken at Avery's dress rehersal for her dance recital. She had a number called Dancing Ribbons. She really did perform it well. So many of her movements were right with the music. I helped back stage at her dance performance. I literally got choked up...I tried to talk and I couldn't. It really does take courage to get out there and dance. Even when she would mess up a bit she would just look at her instructor for encouragement and the next move and keep smiling and dancing. Mom and Dad are so proud of you Avery!

Do this...

Bodie has discovered that he can raise his eyebrows. So he always asks others around him to do it too. When I showed him how to flare his nostrils, you should have seen the look of amazement on his face that quickly turned to focus and determination when he tried to do it. Love this boy!

New header....

I'm not 100% thrilled with the quality of the images. They are not as crisp as they are in my computer and they look a bit distorded. Kim told me about a tutorial that shows you have to do these...so I thought I would give it a try. I might adjust the images a bit and see if I get a better result.

Tutorial

NOTE: If anyone trys this it is important that all the images be the same size. That is why I was getting some distortion.

I bought his...

Cub Scout Uniform yesterday...I don't want to talk about it.

I can't help it...

I just have to stop what I am doing and grab the cameras. You might think I staged this with Bo in his monkey pj's and him eating a banana...but I didn't. He was sitting in the high chair as I swept the floor after breakfast yesterday and when the light hits his face like that I have to get my camera. He saw the banana on the counter and wanted it...he has the "See-food" disease, like me...I see food and I want to eat it!



By the way. Bodie is sticking his foot in the air because it is funny to do anything with your feet. You see when Bodie tried to say Stinky Foot for the first time it come out sounding like Dinky Woot...now it is funny to do anything with your Dinky Woot. Anything to get a smile, right?

Can we go swimming?

One of the projects I was working on last week was getting the pool ready for the summer. The kids were watching and helping throughout the week and kept asking when they could go swimming. Althought it was warmish outside the water in the pool is still cold. But who am I to say no...So in they went.

Avery didn't believe me that her lips were purple when she got out.

One of Rowdy's many silly faces...

Bodie didn't get in. But he insisted on putting on his swim suit just like his brother and sister. I think he looks pretty darn cute!

May 12 of 12...

1. Bodie doing "Superman!!!" with his cozy as a cape.
2. Bodie just looking cute after his cozy fell off his neck.
3. Avery spelling Bodie's name on the fridge.
4. My pretty flowers that I got for Mother's day!
5. My morning was going to be dedicated to getting the first round of chemicals in the pool in preperation for the summer.
6. One of my pool side helpers.
7. My other pool side helper.
8. Bodie still looking for the Lady Bug in my camera that I always tell him is in there to get him to look at me. He is actually saying Lady Bug.
9. Avery decided to wear her T-ball shirt to school so she could show her friends and teacher.
10. Also, she wanted two pony tails with ribbons.
11. Some of the flowers blooming in our yard.
12. Avery found a pretty flower and gave it to her bus driver.

13. I don't usually post photos of my kids on the potty but this one is pretty mild. I bought him a potty "just his size" (as he says) and he has been giving it a test run here and there.
14. Making PB & J for Bo's lunch.
15. With Bo down for a nap I only had 10 more minutes of freedom before Rowdy and Avery got home from school.
16. Avery was right that the April showers would bring May flowers...she was sort of obsessed with this idea for a few weeks and thought that it meant that it wouldn't rain in May.
17. Avery was in a silly mood when she got home and begged to put on one of her new swim suits.
18. Rowdy on the other hand was so grumpy and tired. I don't blame him really. He has been keeping a very busy schedule with being on a Rookie Baseball team. The little crinkle between his eye brows is always the indicator for me that he is just so tired or sick.
19. After a snack I let him watch a train documentory that I recorded for him.
20. I told Avery I would paint her nails and put little flowers on them and then she was grumpy because Rowdy got to watch a show and she didn't...oh boy!
21. Rowdy purked up and went out to ride his bike.
22. Bo woke up and they all had a small snack before we headed to Avery's game.
23. Avery smaking the ball at her T-ball game.
24. Home in time for the kids to show me their Talent Show that they set up in our tent. It was really cute. They had signs, seats and each one taking a turn to do a talent.

Run Avery Run!

So, Missy Avery seems to have a talent for Running! She recently got an award at school for Most Laps Run by a Kindergartener in the Jog-a-thon. She ran 35 laps around her gym. There was an assembly to honor all the winners and unfortunely I didn't get a call about it so she could receive her award in person. The assembly was in the morning and she is in the school in the afternoon. No matter what it is an awesome thing to be given an award for hard work.

Bringing home the Metal!

There is a first time for everything...

I really, really miss blogging and feel like I haven't done it forever! So here is a just a small post about a sweet treat and sweet boy!

Ron, Rowdy and Avery had a little campout in our backyard on Friday night. Therefore, we had all the fixings for s'mores in our house (a very dangerous thing for me, because they are delicious!). It got too late on Friday night to roast marshmallows so we had them the next day. Bodie liked it, but he really didn't like getting his hands all messy. He is like Avery and prefers his Marshmallows ala mode.

April 12 of 12 (in May)

1. Rowdy and Ron waiting for the school bus. Ron had just finished his workout. Rowdy always rides his scooter to the top of the driveway and tucks it behind a tree so that when he gets home he can ride it down to the house.
2. Saying Goodbye for the day.
3. Rowdy getting loaded up.
4. We always wave and shoot kisses at each other.
5. Miss Avery Girl always awake as Rowdy is getting off to school. I really wish she would sleep in more.
6. She was just hanging out on the porch when I got back from saying bye to Rowdy.
7. She is known as the "Cat Whisperer" around here.
8. Lining up the little Oak pods that she collected. The little grey kitty loves to play with these.
9. Bo's turn to wake up.
10. A smooch from Dada as he takes off for the day.
11. Usually we head downstairs for a morning snuggle but with my camera in hand and all the hustle and bustle in the his room this morning he decided to check in on the Island of Sodor and all the engines.
12. Although, I had to get out the door early this morning (I had an eye appointment) I had time to make a quick Monday morning phone call to Kim. : )

13. This is the view we get of our house as we drive on the highway to get to our road. At this point in the drive Bo usually says "Ours house!" Our house is the little yellow speck at the bottom left of the photo.
14. As Bo and I unloaded from the morning outings I noticed this. Avery had to eat lunch on the run. After my eye appointment we had to swing threw Big Town Hero to grab a sandwich. Although, not the most economical choice at least she got a good lunch. She loves turkey cheese and lettuce sandwiches and she eats the whole thing.
15. I was checking messages on the phone and Bodie came running in the house with some flowers he picked for me.
6. Bo on his ATV that is "just his size". After a walk aroun the yard Bo went down for a nap.
17. Rowdy off the bus and down the driveway on his scooter.
18. Avery practicing her Kung Fu Panda moves on the trampoline.
19. Rowdy has some pretty mad skills on the trampoline. All three of the kids have spent some much time on it that jumping, flipping, twisting and doing all sort of combinations of the three has become second nature for them.
20. This was the day I discovered Bo can now climb up on the trampoline by himself. Lovely. The view from my kitchen window as I made dinner.
21. Pants are opional after you wake up from your nap and it is warm enough outside. When Bo goes outside without his shoes on he says, "my feet?" as if to say without my shoes?
22. Avery snuggling with Dada. Ron wasn't feeling good this day because he went on a camp trip with the Boy Scouts over the weekend and they kept him up all night.
23. Missy at her practice.
24. She is doing pretty well this year. Her team name is The Dragonflies and their t-shirts are Purple.
Two that didn't make it into the grid from the eye doctor. We were there way too long but the kids did great!

That is a barn noise...

When the kids get out of hand with noises and mimicking all the "sounds" that the human body can make I tell them that is a "barn noise". Well, we were actually in the barn and Rowdy and Bodie were perfecting there arm farts (sorry) together...ahhh brothers!

"I want a Faux-hawk Mom..."

This is what he says to me as I was helping him dry his hair off after his bath today. I am so glad he let's me take pictures of him. I need to take these little opportunities because I don't take as many of Rowdy as I do of Bo and Avery.

Rowdy has been enjoying the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" books. He got the first one shortly before Spring Break and he is already on his third book. He loves them. One day several weeks ago I told him after he helped clear the dinner table, he could go play the Wii if he wanted and he said, "I'm going to go read." What a great thing for a Mom to hear that her son is choosing to read instead of play a video game! A + + + for Rowdy James.

Proof I don't make him sit still and smile pretty the whole time...

Funny girl...

and funny story about Avery over at my photography blog...