Student Driver

Caught on camera! :)

Just Beachy

Here are some random shots of our latest trip to Mexico Beach...




Rachel collecting shells...



A typical Timothy photo (on the move)...



Mr. Tim....



Stephen collecting shells...



Preparing for incoming waves (I love all the palm trees in the background!)...



Cheesy pose...



Relaxing in the sand...



Stephen with his collection of peanut shells he found on the beach.



Silly Seaweed Matthew.



Rachel "talking" to the waves.

Stephen, Wave Rider

Stephen used to be very afraid of going in the water, until he discovered the fun of riding on Dave's back in the waves. Now, he requests to go to the beach and that is the first thing he wants to do!

Rachel the Mermaid

Rachel loves to ride in the waves with daddy. :)

Timothy's Trials...

I have about 20 photos of Timothy in the ocean with da, and they ALL look like this... He was NOT happy to be in, and it sure didn't last long. He wanted to go in because he saw Matthew and Stephen having so much fun. Even Rachel loved it. Oh, well!

Bedtime

Ships Ahoy!

One of the science experiments the boys and I did was to make a boat out of a styrofoam plate, with a knitting needle mast and construction paper sail. At first, we were to see how far the styrofoam boat went withOUT a sail. It didn't go that far, of course... Then, we added the sail- what great fun! The boys spent 15 or so minutes blowing the boat across the tub. They loved it, and even had to find a Lego man to ride along. Arr!

Game Time!

Dave received an email at work telling him that the 5-time AF chess champion was on base, taking some classes and that he was going to play a sort of tournament for a week with whomever wanted to show up. Well, that is all Dave needed to hear! He and Matthew showed up all week, and got to play various people. Matthew beat the two guys in the top photos. The bottom photo shows the "chess guy", as Timothy called him, helping Matthew learn some moves. We also invited him over to our house one night, and he helped Matti some more. It was great fun for Matthew and we got some good tips. We were encouraged to look for a chess club when we get to our new assignment, and get Matthew to play in tournaments.

Invaders!

One rainy day, I had set a nice, big, tent "house" up in the living room for the boys to play in. All of the sudden, Stephen came running to me, yelling, "Mama! There is something DISGUSTING on the floor!!!" I asked him what it was. "Something Dis-GUSTING!!" I had to run and look, and it freaked me out, too. It looked like a small frog, but it also looked like a spider... What WAS it?? We captured it in a glass jar to get a better look. It was some sort of CRAB. After that incident, we have had quite a few more make their way into our house, sidling along, evading capture. We will never run out of "odd creature" experiences down here in Florida, I am afraid!

The Reader

When the latest "box day" from Sonlight happened at our house, Stephen was the first one to run to the box and look through all the books. He LOVES to read!

Matthew's Birthday- May 15th

We DID celebrate Matthew's birthday ON his birthday! :) He asked for a "rainbow bear" cake (the ears made entirely of frosting and Skittles-aiiieeeeee)! We got him an official chess set as his birthday present. He was very, very happy and said it was the best present we could get him.

Officer Marble

These are too cute!

Washin' Toes

Timothy's latest thing is to run into the bathroom and wash his feet after playing outside. At least he has initiative! He must want to get REALLY clean, too, because I've had to talk to him about his generous use of soap...(Ahem!)

This time, I grabbed the camera and snapped a few photos. A large mirror in front of the sink is too great a temptation-we must make faces! Timothy then noticed me, but couldn't resist at the end making one last face. :D

Grammy and Grampy's Visit!

It was a whirlwind of activity when grammy and grampy came to visit us in late April-early May. I don't seem to have many beach photos, but we went there almost every day, collecting shells and enjoying the (halfway) warm water. We really enjoyed our week-long visit, even though it seemed too short!



Grampy and Stephen.



Grammy with the kids.




How hard is it to get 4 kids and two adults to look at the camera at the same time and all smile? Don't even ask! This is the best one I got of the crew. :)