The Parade in tie-dye

My cousin and the water boys!

Trevor had a good time with his cousin. They didn't really perfect the art of tossing candy and actually pelted a few people with their monstrous throws.

The parade started at 11:00 and this was Kraig waiting for us to actually move out of spot 71 at 11:20!!! We finally moved at 11:35. Next year, we have to call and get an earlier spot.

Molly, 4, told Kraig that she was the princess of our parade. She even came equipped with little princess shoes!

Doesn't this look like fun?

Look carefully and you'll see the cincher that was used to keep the twins securely fastened to the back of the bucket truck. This is my good friend Bridget who baked on the back of the b-truck.

Kaleb and his friend were the friendly water boys. The parade was long and it was hot and muggy! People were yelling for the boys to spray them or throw the water balloons. They enjoyed every minute of it. Behind us, a whole slew of people were walking and passing out information for M. Thomas because he is running for prosecutor again. They were a lot of fun and kept the younger twins happy by talking to them throughout the parade. While Kaleb was aiming for the crowd, he happened to spray a guy who was a little more dressed up than we were. The prosecutor, M. Thomas was not as pleased by getting wet and told Kaleb that his mom better not get any tickets. Uh-oh! We passed out a ton of candy, threw the water balloons and filled up those water guns several times. It was after 1:00 before we were finally finished with the parade route. I hope that you all had as much fun as we did yesterday.

The bow...on a frilly dress.

We measured the bow...14 inches. This was on my butt! :)

Trevor was getting ready to practice and was trying to balance that monstrous thing.

Trevor was getting ready for his clown outfit for Halloween. He had stuffed his shirt to give himself a big belly, too. Notice that the bow goes from shoulder to shoulder?

See the bow sticking out? Sorry, turn your head and you can see it clearly. This was my Dad...he was a good guy.

I am still having troubles with the whole posting of the pictures thing and can't get them where I want them and turned if they show up sideways. The bow is about 14 inches! Imagine having fourteen inches of a bow on your butt and thinking...I love this dress and I want to be married in it. More than a foot of a bow...a little girl could have had a dress made out of that much fabric. Trevor thinks that it's hilarious and that if he is a clown one of these years for Halloween, it would make a great bow-tie. I plead insanity on this dress and all fashion that was worn by the entire wedding party. I hope you get a chuckle out of my fourteen inch bow.

How we met!

I had just graduated from college and was coaching the varsity volleyball team at Nouvel while subbing at Saginaw High. That year, I had an assistant coach who kept telling me about her brother and that I should definitely meet him. Right...you know that I certainly did not hop on that band wagon. I was still keeping a college "friend" around and wasn't interested in another guy because I was getting out of Dodge! Well, she made his family come to one of the games at Nouvel and I had to be polite and meet her family. He was okay looking but he had a moustache and tight 80's jeans on. Definitely not what I was looking for and he was not a teacher. Well, he called me one night and asked me to go to a Christmas party (in January) at the Germania. I didn't think that it could be too bad, so I told him that I would go.

He was almost two hours late!!!! My parents wanted to meet this guy and after an hour, my mom laughed and said dump this guy. He was late from work, had to get flowers, and used his sister's car so that I wouldn't have to get into his work truck. At least it was a good excuse. Despite the two hour lateness of his arrival, I had lots of fun. We continued to date throughout the rest of the winter. I was getting bored with this one though until he said, "I'm not looking for a girlfriend, I'm looking for a wife." Ooh, he was serious. I struggled for a while trying to figure out if I was ready to be this serious and did I even want to stay in Saginaw. Well, I got a teaching job at Buena Vista HS, we went out for dinner to celebrate and I thought that this guy has potential. He wasn't a teacher, but he had a job! A job that paid a decent wage and he was a hard worker. Little did I know that the hard worker in him would also be his worst quality. He loves to work!

By the fall of 1993, we were inseperable and in early October, he came to my apartment for dinner. I can't tell you much about the dinner because by the time we actually sat down to eat it, it was blackened and shouldn't have been. Looking back, he seemed very nervous and spent a long time in the bathroom...he came out, finally, and did the whole one knee proposal and I accepted. We were married on July 9, 1994 on a hot and muggy day filled with mosquitoes! It will be fourteen years this July and it has not been dull. We have gone through tight financial times to pay off his shop, the deaths of both of my parents and our grandparents, job changes, kids, and even a few health issues. However, we made it through and Lord willing, we will continue this rollercoaster ride for a while longer.

Flowers and gardening

Kraig has a green thumb and loves to work in the garden. He is working on his radishes and has eaten several already. You can also see one of his tomato plants growing rather nicely. He is still a country boy at heart.

These are my absolute favorite! Don't you just love the way they stand so tall...water me, water me! I just can't wait to divide these and put them somewhere else around my house. I just wish I knew the name of these lovely green plants.

If I had to choose...this would be my second place flower. I looked it up on the Internet and it is actually called Pigpen. Doesn't it look like it should be following alongside of Pigpen from Charlie Brown? That is why it is my second place flower. Isn't it beautiful?

Okay...so hopefully you knew that I was joking. However, I did save the best for last. These are last year's petunia's that grew again from the depths of despair. Annuals - two years for the price of one! Woohoo!!! All of the inground pots from the front yard had petunias and they all grew back. Who says you have to have a green thumb?

Look out Bambi!

We have a family of deer living in our backyard. You can see Bambi behind the hay bale and mom (or dad) to the left on the picture. Yes, I know, the picture is not all that you hoped for, but they are back there a ways.

Pictures...maybe.

If you turn your head, you can see Trevor listening intently to his tennis instructions.

Trevor was having fun swinging in the baby swing. Trevor and his cousin, Megan are being so silly...this is why the baby swings never really work the way that they should.

The boys love Spongebob and I finally bought some new sidewalk chalk. This is Kaleb's view of the pizza guy. Notice the Hot 'n Ready pizza box. I certainly haven't been cooking as much as I should be.Trevor is trying not to get splashed. Of course, he was already wet.

These are a smattering of pictures from June. Amanda promised me to come over some day and help me learn how to do the whole picture thing better. In case you didn't realize it, we are into the third week of summer vacation.

The bow and an invite

I know that you are waiting for the "bow" story and I will get to it. Between strep throat, closing my classroom and trying to teach...(is that what they call it?), I feel a little busy. Sarah, I promise to get it out there...geez. Stop buggin' me. Why you trippin'?

For the rest of you - Hospitality Night at our house at 6:00 on Sunday night. We are cooking hotdogs and hamburgers...just bring something to pass around, preferably a food dish. Kraig said that he would put gas in the go-kart and the Bickerman's are looking for some fresh meat to play wiffle ball. If you are interested, let me know and I'll get you some directions. You know left at the 7-11, left at the big cross road, and left at the first house on the left. Did any of you feel left out? Sorry, bad joke.

By the way, summer officially starts on Friday at 3:06!!!!!