June 12

Operation Stroller Tire Recovery.....wow do I have a story and a half about my stroller tire. It might take me a while to write the whole deabacle. Anyhow - I left my stroller tire in Idaho. I ended up driving to Grandma Cook's house to retrieve it - and we had a fun lunch with cousins! Cade wants to invite his cousins to his next birthday party.....I think he might be a little sad when he realizes they live just a tad too far to make it.

June 11

I love garage sales. I have more than enough junk....but I still delight in getting more. My most recent find? I love my latest aquisition ------ the Sesame Street songbook! It was well worth a quarter. I hate Sesame Street and it annoys me to all end. I have to confess, though. I adore the music! I was soooo excited to finally get the words and tune to "Proud to be A Cow." I used to sing that every morning when my mom combed my long hair and I'd scream "OWWWW!" Captain Vegetable sure is fun to play, too. We had a nice little Sesame Street jam session. I am officially - ODD. Yes, I like Sesame Street music. Who would've thunk?

June 10

My latest display. This silly little cubby whole is making me decorate way outside of my comfort zone. I personally love the tie on display - in lieu of the flowers that normally sit there.

June 9

We went to another kids fun fest at Cherry Hill. We snagged five dollar haircuts in the park, scored lots of kites and bubbles and candy, and the highlight of the whole event.....Spiderman. David was grinning from ear to ear to ear to ear (Yes, he has a lot of ears, now if only he would choose to use them......)

June 8

Well - it is official - Cade graduated from preschool. One milestone down - 87 more to go! He had such a fun year in his class, and they did so many great things with him. For his graduation he sang several songs and he recited a poem by memory and then he surprised me by playing two songs on the piano by memory. I put him in this music/art preschool in the hopes that I would become affiliated with it. It was well worth it. They did a great job. He learned sign language and got mini piano lessons. His teacher thought I'd been helping him practice his piano songs.....nope.......I've decided I am going to be very hands off when it comes to my kids playing the piano. If they want to learn - that is great - but I am not going to teach them - I will just encourage and enjoy. Anyhow - Cade did a great job and we are very proud of him. Now it is on to Kindergarten next month.....holy window wiper blades.

June 7

This is the last installment of Crater pics. Cade got his junior ranger badge and was very proud. The boys loved the caves - I never thought spelunking could be so much fun. Actually, I didn't get to participate much. I don't recommend wearing flip flops and shorts if you are planning on crawling into a cave. In my defense, I did have tennis shoes in my car I was going to change into - but then we decided to all pile in the suburban and left before I grabbed my shoes. I guess we will have to go back and explore sometime!

June 6

Yes - more Crater pictures. It's okay you can yawn. There will be just one more day to fill your days of boredom!

June 5

More Craters of the Moon pictures - be prepared for a few more onsloughts. Cade had a great time taking pictures of his cousin taking pictures of him :)

June 4

We had a fantastic Memorial Day that I am now going to report on for the next several days in June when I haven't done anything exciting......so Memorial Day recap: I woke up and took a nice jog around the greenbelt that ended up being about 8 miles, I just kept on going, because.....I LOVE that place!!!!), got juice boxes, packed picnic lunches, loaded up in two cars putting all the men/boys in one car and all the women folk in another. We drove up to Craters of the Moon in Idaho and had a great time. I had never actually been to Crater of the Moon. I had just thought it would be a bunch of boring rocks. Well, it was a bunch of rocks, but they weren't boring. I loved the trails and the lava rocks from the volacano. My boys loved it too. We had good company, good conversation, so/so weather, and a lot of fun. I actually even want to go back to Craters. I didn't even get to see half of it. We stayed for a couple of hours until it rained us out, and then we drove back home. I slept for 4 hours in the car, and then I got to unpack. It was a great Memorial Day!

June 3

This is what the Cannons look like when asked to put on their very serious Pinochle game faces. And whilst the grownups play....the kids get down and pull out golf clubs and wear black spider man hats......Of course we learned a few new games from the other Cannons. Every time we see them they introduce us to at least one new "worthy of play" game. If you ever need a game recommendation - they have it. They have sampled every game under the sun and have weeded out the best of the best. We owe our Settlers of Cattan, Shadows over Camelot, Epidemic, Dominion and other game fun to the other Cannons.

June 2

In between tons and tons of games - we found some time to take the kids to the park. I have an awesome brother and sister in law. They get down and play with their kids, tease them, teach them, have pirate day, make twelve billion flavors of ice cream together, etc., etc., etc... When I grow up I want to be like Klixi.

June 1

One of the highlights was playing with "Bubber." Bubber feels like weightless rubber, doesn't ever dry out, doesn't stick to carpet, and provided hours of entertainment for the kids (and me.) We sliced it, diced it, mushed it, and mangled it. My favorite part of the Bubber? On the lid it says: "Do not ingest." A little later it says....."Gluten free." Such a relieve because you know I couldn't play with play doh that wasn't Gluten Free. It would just taste bad if I ate it.

May 31

We went up to IF for the long weekend. Eric's brother from Missouri was up with his family. We had a great time. My boys loved spending time with their cousins. David decided to be the black spiderman all weekend long. He wore the spidey hat on his head nonstop.

May 30

It was freezing cold, but we did it! On Friday we actually used the nifty patio out my bedroom and the great bistro set. We had breakfast and lunch out on the patio. The boys loved it! I came in and had hot chocolate by the fire for desert each time, but it was a fun memory. I think we will have to do it again sometime.

May 29

Cade's preschool took a field trip to the Classic Fun Center. Bowling, skating, pirate cove, inflatable slides, arcade games, laser tag - you name it they have it. We hung out a lot there last summer and had their summer pass. I don't think we'll be doing that this summer. From the moment we walked in the door until the moment we left about and hour and half later David was crazy. He made me hold him whilst he screamed uncontrollably. He never wanted to get down and play and not even a balloon or candy or a pretzel smothered in sugar could calm him down. I think I learned that David is terrified of Nickel Cade, Fun Centers, Bowling Alleys, and yes even Chuck E. Cheese. I guess this is the end of my skee ball career, (at least until he conquers this fear.)

May 28

This picture is from last Saturday after all the crazy work was done. What did I do with my Saturday? Gym, taught piano, went to J and J Garden - Lowe's - Home Depot - Ace Hardware twice - redid a bistro set, stained a bridge, planted flower pots, planted flower beds, weed whacked the yard, planted a garden, planted a tree, and crashed on the couch. I think now I understand sometimes why I am the way I am - I may have gotten a little bit of my mom's busy bug in me. Sometimes I can take on a lot of projects and never stop. My mom wore me out though - mission accomplished - and she reigns supreme on the busy scale for this Saturday and everything she helped do! Thanks mom - lots of yardwork done is a huge relief for me!

May 27

Yes Virginia there is a tree somewhere in that picture. It's like Where's Waldo only it is where is my crazy Empress tree that I ordered online and wanted so bad and then when I got it is was this tiny stick in a pot, and now it is planted and I don't think it is going to survive, and it is a good thing the place guarantees their products and now I think I have to get another one and try again to kill yet another living plant and oh I have such a black thumb so if you want to get rid of any plants just invite me over!

May 26

We replanted the garden. Everything we had previously planted except the peas had withered away and died thanks to some extra cold late weather. Tomatoes, kohlrabi, beans, peppers, lettuce, etc.... is still to come! (If they survive again.....sad to report but it snowed the next day!) I think I need to get covers for my tomato plants, or stop buying tomato plants, or maybe just move somewhere where it doesn't snow in May :)

May 25

These are the great red flowers that my mom and I planted. I have flowers! I may have lots of weeds in my grass that is struggling, but I do have some nice red flowers to brighten my porch. I think we planted lillys, geraniums, dusty miller, alysium, and a bleeding heart. I wore a winter coat to plant these flowers. It snowed the next day, and Cade stepped on the bleeding heart, but after a week - they are somewhat still alive and thriving!

May 24

I finally put some furniture out on the patio outside of my bedroom! Last year I bought a bistro set at a garage sale for ten bucks. Problem? It was covered with some rust. I tried to spray paint it, but ended up spray painting my face instead. The result? I gave up and the set has sat in my garage all year. My mom came down and scrubbed it and repainted it, and then we put it on rubber caster thingees so that it won't rust the deck. Walaa - I have my bistro set outside of my door :) Now, if only it would warm up enough so that I could use it......