Three....

We had a little family party for Bodie's third birthday last night. It was so nice. Bodie got to share the night with most of his cousins (we missed those who didn't make it) and lots of Grandparents.


When Bodie went to open his presents he handed one to Kit (his cousin) to open. Bodie is like that. He is always very concerned about making sure that everyone has what they need. When the kids were getting their cupcakes I was busy taking pictures and Bodie heard me say that I wanted one. He promptly went and got me one and brought it to me. Sweet Boy!

My mom got Bo this little tractor and trailer. He had to give his stuffed animals a ride around the driveway.



Bo got a pinata from one of his Aunt and Uncles and everyone took their turn. It is funny how serious they are about it!

And one of my favorite shots of the night....Happy Birthday Bo!

Saying Goodbye to an old friend...

Two weeks ago we spent a very emotional night saying goodbye to our dog, Cooter. He was the best dog in the world. He was about 15 years old and had not been doing well. He was having trouble getting up and walking around. Although, I'm sure he was in some pain at the end of his life he still remained the sweetest dog. You would think that if you were in pain or hurting you might be a little bit grumpy. Not Cooter. He just kept smiling and loving all of us.

This was a very hard decision to make and we are so blessed to have a Vet that came to our house to help us. All of Ron's siblings came to say goodbye to Cooter and support us.


I haven't cried that much in a long time. I just kept petting his head to make sure I would remember how soft he was and told him how much we loved him.



Ron found a special spot in our yard to bury Cooter. Ron's brothers helped him dig the hole. Ron's brother Roger said a prayer over Cooter's grave that was so beautiful and appropriate. They really are part of your family. My sister in-law brought us dinner. We also had several friends stop in and say goodbye too. My mother in-law joked that she hopes that this many people show up to her funeral. What can I say he was a well known dog. We love you Cooter and miss you tons!

Summer...

Apparently I needed to put a post up on my blog that said we interupt this blog for summer. I miss blogging so much! I can't seem to find time to do it these days. We have been busy doing who knows what and I can't believe it is almost time to go school clothes and supply shopping! I hope everyone is having an awesome summer!

I'm getting used to the idea...

but it is hard to exlain how I feel about him being old enough to be a cub scout. He is really taking it seriously too, which makes me proud of him. He had his firts Pack Meeting last night. He had a lot of fun and even earned a Baseball Belt loop. We just quickly took some photos before we left for the meeting. He is technically a Bobcat and will soon be a Wolf. We are working on passing off 8 short little requirements for him to offically be a Wolf. Next month he will be ready to be a Wolf. It is going to be a super duper fun adventure for him.

Sometimes, I find him reading in his book. He is so self motivated for his age.

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!