The gang's all here

Ah, look at the love. I didn't even have to prompt them into that pose. Yes, Nathan has joined us once again. And in the picture you can see something else that has happened at our house this week. One of our trees got removed...and for FREE! We had a huge evergreen that was eating up our yard. Fortunately it was also right by the power lines so the electric company came through this week and removed it for us.

So Joe watched the Sandlot with the kids a few weeks ago and since then they have been loving playing baseball. Everyday we've been having batting practice. This is what Ashley wore for batting practice yesterday. I couldn't pitch to her with out laughing. "Miss Grace" (remember the bowling ball incident and the broken hand from the stairs?) can't really swing very well. It is more like a ballet move. I honestly thought she looked more like a flapper girl who was out to play croquet yesterday. She was having so much fun...especially after she found out that I though she was hysterical. One of those time that I wish I had it on video...

Summer has begun

So school's out...here's what we've been up to....

• Went to the movies. We don't do this often so it was a special end of the school year treat.
• We started our summer book clubs. We've actually already finished the one at Borders and picked up our free book. I see lots of visits to the library this summer. I can't seem to keep enough books in the house for the girls.
• The sprinkler made its first appearance. It was so great to soak up some vitamin D yesterday.
• It is kind of list mania in our house as we are getting ready for vacation. I actually considered making a list of my lists, but I think that would probably be crossing the line into insanity.
• Late bedtimes. We are starting to settle into our summer routine of getting to stay up later. The first few days of that are kind of trying on all of us because it takes a little while to actually start sleeping in .
• Hanging out at the ENT--John & I were there forever on Monday afternoon. Fortunately I really like the doctor (same one Ashley had) and they were very apologetic. We got his surgery scheduled...July 7th is the day.
• Nathan comes home today. We (well, those of us here...not sure what Nate's feeling is) are all completely pumped that he is coming home. I'm enjoying my last quiet morning for awhile.

Bittersweet goodbyes

Tuesday we said goodbye to our teachers from the last nine months. School was over on Monday, but stopped in to pick up the official report cards on Tuesday. The kids are always a little nervous to see if they will get to move on to the next grade. (If you know my kids, you know that this is never really an issue so it is always really funny to me that they get nervous.) This was one of the best school years that we as a family have experienced. Each of the kids "clicked" with their teachers. This was a big deal especially for Sara and John since these were transitional years for them...John starting school and Sara starting at a new school.Ashley and Mr. Capel (the dog sticking out of his shirt pocket was Ashley's departing gift for him); according to Ashley, he is the best teacher in the galaxy

John and his "favorite teacher", Mrs. Goines

Sara and her all-time favorite teacher...I think this will be a year that Sara remembers when she is my age. She and Mrs. Ward really bonded this year.

our recent visit

My house is so quiet this morning I'm starting to think that I'm missing someone. Oh wait, I am! Nathan isn't here. We did a quick visit to Grandpa and Grandma Horn's yesterday and Nathan got to stay. He begs to stay every time we go and this time we were able to make it work. He's been feeling a little left out lately with all the end of school activities the other kids have been participating in, so this is a good reward for his patience. We got in a little fishing yesterday, met baby Michaela (so cute and such a sweet baby! I couldn't get enough of her!!), hung out with the other cousins and really enjoyed having all the Horn's together. It is a rare event so we cherish it. We will get one more chance to do it in July before the He family heads back home. Here's some pics of the day:

Ashley and her cousin Lydia were inseparable most of the day.