New Summer Smiles...with Braces!

The braces have arrived, for both Christopher and Shayla. In fact, they got them on the same day at the same time, in chairs right next to each other! Shayla loves hers and Christopher hates his...guess it's the age. At least they have the same check-up schedule to keep me more sane!

Happy Birthday, Christopher!

Here's our birthday boy as he celebrated turning double-digits this month. He's huge now! Look, just see how big he is compared to the little guy at the bottom. Cute, huh?

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July! Here are some snaps of our annual neighborhood parade. The kids love showing off their snazzy bikes. We even had a golf cart join in the fun this year!

Washington, DC!

We spent 5 days in Washington, DC with my dad earlier this month. I had a law school conference to attend, so it was a great excuse for a "field trip" for all of us. We saw many monuments, museums, the Capitol, the White House, the Supreme Court, Mt. Vernon, and even the hotel pool. We rode the Metro everywhere (except on the fateful day of the crash, thank goodness) and had a blast. The kids did great and even seemed to enjoy learning about history, most of the time. What a fabulous city.

End-of-year Awards Ceremony

Shayla received the Character Counts award for 2nd grade, and Christopher received the Academic Achievement award for 3rd grade. (It was their principal's birthday, hence the t-shirts.) They both love school, and we are so proud of them!

Mother's Day

I had to share the sweetest poem that Shayla wrote for me for Mother's Day. Her class had a special Mother's Day presentation where the children sang songs and presented us with several gifts they had made. It was a tearjerker!

Happy Easter!

We had our annual neighborhood egghunt (bottom picture) the day before Easter, and then celebrated Easter day at Nana H's house with another egghunt (a little tougher thanks to Dave's egg hiding duties) and a delicious gourmet meal prepared by Herbert.  We all had a great time and ate too much food!  :)