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Summer has been flying!! We have been keeping busy and enjoying every second of it! I can't believe that in a few weeks, Shane goes back to school to start First Grade.. it will sure be an adjustment to have him gone until 4pm everyday :( He has been attached to me all Summer and it has been driving me crazy, but I know I will really miss him when he is gone. At least I have my little Kayla Bean to keep me company!! :)
Here are some more photos! If you can't see these photos, click here: PHOTOS

Shane's 6th birthday

My baby is 6! I still can't believe it.. I cried on the 23rd.. its just so hard for me to believe that it is going as fast as it is!
Shane has wanted a hamster for a LONG time.. we have always managed to leave the pet store without getting one.. that is UNTIL his birthday. Jim and I kept it a surprise and took him to the pet store on the day of his birthday. He got to pick one out and brought it home. He named it Indiana Jones! Hehe.. we call him Indy! He loves the little guy.. we have to get more comfortable around him since he gets a little nervous and will bite us, but I am sure he will get over that.

Shane also got to have his birthday party! What a blast the kids had!! We rented a big Banzai inflatable waterslide, had slip and slides, waterballons and water guns.. The kids enjoyed it all!! What matters to me the most is that my little had a memorable 6th Birthday.. it really does go by way too fast! :(

If you can't see the photos below, please click here: BIRTHDAY PHOTOS

Soccer Camp!

Here are a few photos from soccer camp. Shane had a great time and I think he learned a lot! Boy was it hot.. that didn't keep us from being there from 5:30pm-8:30pm during the 5 days of camp though!! Its all worth it!! :D

If you can't see the link below, click here: SOCCER CAMP PHOTOS

Here are some pictures of our trip to the Zoo! Great time as usual!
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SUMMER FUN!!

I have been taking SO many pictures of the kids lately, that I am having a hard time picking which ones I want to post on our blog! WE have had pool days, water ballon days and park days with our friends! SO.. I might be adding quite a bit more slide shows over the summer!

NOTE - to everyone who receives my email updates, so see the slide shows, you need to click on the 'LIFE IS AMAZING' link on the bottom of the email. :)

Nicole and I took the girls (and a little Michael!!) to the library this morning for Preschool time. Kayla and I had never been before, and I must say I think she had a really fun time! They read two books, sang and danced and then did a craft! Here are the girls with their rainbow crafts.. they thought they looked like princess crowns!!

Shane had his Kindergarten Awards Ceremony today. I was glad to hear that ALL Kindergartners were moving up to First Grade! Ha ha!! I asked Mrs. Davies how they are going to deal with having full day Kindergarten next year, and she told me there will be 5 Kindergarten classes and 6 First Grade classes! WOW!! That is a LOT of kids!!
The kids prepared a song to say their goodbye to Kindergarten and then were presented with a certificate for completing Kindergarten. Hard to believe that my little boy is officially moving on to First Grade.. when he was going into Kindergarten, I still felt like he was just a little boy.. but now.. moving to FIRST grade.. Seem like he is 'officially' going to school! Hard to believe! :(

Here is a video of the children singing a song they prepared to say goodbye to Kindergarten!

Shane's Kindergarten Awards from Juliana Gallagher on Vimeo.

And here is a slideshow of the photos I took today. It is so awesome to watch Shane grow up! I loved seeing him goofing off with all his friends!

Memorial Day Weekend!

What a fun Memorial Day weekend we had! The weather was wonderful and it was impossible not to want to spend time outside the house! We took the kids to breakfast Saturday morning, and then headed off to the $1 flip flop day sale at Old Navy.. can you say "will never do that again?!".. yea.. 'will never do that again'!! As soon as we walked into the mall, we saw a mob of people standing in front of the store.. Jim grabbed Shane and I grabbed Kayla and off we went in search of flip flops! We grabbed our 10 pair limit (5 pair per buying customer), and quickly found the check out line.. this line split about 4 ways and of course, there were "the cutters"! I mean really?! WHY!? I know, I know.. some people are thinking WHY would you first of all waste your time on $1 flip flops and they are $2.50 at regular price?!? MY point is, we should ALL be civil and be able to get flip flops for $1.. all we need to do is to be patient and wait! Some people just don't get it!! I was VERY lucky Jim was with me.. what a saint!!

Shane and Kayla at Bob Evans.. they just looked so darn cute I HAD to take a picture!


Of course we HAD to stop for a quick visit at the pet store.. memorable as usual.. this time NOT because we saw a cute little puppy we drooled over, but because Shane hands me this little hamster he likes and the little guy PEES on me!! hmmm.. yea.. that quickly made me reconsider getting one for Shane (for his birthday)... Guess I just would have to leave the holding to someone else!
We left the mall and we swung by Costco for some lunch and pool goggles and then headed home to spend the afternoon at the pool. Our subdivision pool opened back up this weekend and of course, we HAD to be there!

Here is a photo of Kayla in front of my potted flowers!


Jim and the kids at the pool!


On Sunday we headed to church in the morning, then went out to lunch and ran to Home Depot to pick up the rest of the flowers we needed for the pots and some mulch. We spent most of the afternoon outside in the yard the and kids enjoyed playing outside. We also helped Leeanne (our next door neighbour) do a little landscaping on her yard as well. It got dark before we could finish, so Jim helped her finish it up this morning. It looks really nice! My husband has such a green thumb! I LOVE it!!

Today the kids and I hung around the house and I did some cleaning and laundry while Jim was outside helping Leeanne. Then we headed off to a wonderful lunch at Brian and Nicole's. A great time as usual!
It has been a long weekend! The kids all needed some quiet time and a nap! Oh yea.. and so did Jim!! Everyone but me napped today.. that NEVER happens!

We have been having the most wonderful weather! I love this preview to summer! Its just perfect! Mid 80s, breeze, not muggy! Just wonderful!
The kids were complaining yesterday, after 20 minutes of being outside that they were "ooohhh SO hot".. SO.. I thought it was a great time to turn on the sprinkler for the first time this year! The water is still SO cold, but that didn't bother the boys! They jumped RIGHT in!! Kayla watched from afar! LOL!



They played in the water for a while, and then like a hungry mob of kids, came to tell me they were hungry! SO, I had to improvise.. they had a heavenly picnic of potato chips, cookies and Kool Aid!



After Daniel had to leave, Shane and Ryan decided they wanted to play Ben 10. It was a nice way to relax!



I also signed Shane up for his Summer Soccer Camp today. The camp is ran by Goran Hunjak, a pro player from Croatia. He has quite the long list of accomplishments! We are excited to see what all Shane can learn!!
Goran Hunjak website

Last night Jim and Shane got to go to the Royals vs. Indians game. It was funny watching Jim and Shane trying to figure out what they were going to wear! We cheer for the Tribe when they play against the Royals, so the boys wanted to wear their Tribe gear.. well.. there wasn't much to pick from! Luckily they each had a shirt and Shane had a ball cap! Jim had one too, but it was REALLY dirty!
They had a really fun time! They didn't get home until at least 10pm.. Kayla and I were asleep, so I am not really sure what time it was.. Shane was really tired this morning though! BUT, it was all worth it!! Daddy time is always a big hit in our house!!

Here are some fun pictures they took at the game!



Miss Kayla has been having a great time enjoying the beautiful weather! As soon as we put Shane on the bus and she is done with breakfast, she runs outside to play on the swing set and in the sandbox!! I took this photo of her posing at the top of the slide.. can you tell she is still in her nightgown??



She is also my big helper during the day. We went on a walk this morning and when we got back, we decided to water the flowers. She wanted to do it all by herself and got very mad at me when I tried to help her!!

Shane and Kayla make it big!!

Here is the commercial Shane and Kayla got to be on!! Can you spot them??

We planted our flowers yesterday!! I am so happy they are in the ground! I can't wait for them to start blooming and growing! They add so much character and color to our house!! Its pretty funny when the bus driver asks you what your secret to making them bloom like they do is!! Jim and I went out last weekend, and as we were walking around the Plaza, this couple recognized us and say "Hey, you!".. Jim and I just looked at each other.. neither one of us recognized them.. then they said, "Don't you live in Summerfield East? So do we! Aren't you the ones with the big flowers in the front?" WOW!! Never thought we would be recognized my our flowers!!

They look so little now. I love taking before and after pictures. In a few months we will have a sea of flowers to enjoy! We also tried to plant "Verbinas" by the mailbox this year. This is a flower we have never planted before.. we will have to see how they bloom and spread.



Jim did a lot of yardwork this weekend too. While he was in the backyard yesterday, he found two little baby robins by the foot of our big tree in the back yard. They had fallen off the nest or were pushed off. One didn't made the fall, but the other was still breathing and moving. Jim quickly brought it home and we found a shoe box for it. The kids helped Jim make him a little nest and went in search of as many worms as they could find to feed the little guy. Shane thought we should bury the the little one that didn't make it in the back yard, so we did. He also suggested to put a rock on top and a cross so we would know where to find him.. my little boy amazes me! Shane and Kayla both enjoyed kepping an eye on the little one that made had made it. :)

This is the tree the baby birds fell off of. Where the tree "Vs" up at the top is where the nest was.




This morning, the second little Robin looked really weak. He ate a little for Jim, but then wouldn't eat anymore throughout the morning. When I checked on him again, he passed away too so we are going to bury him with his little brother. Too sad. We were hopeful that he would make it. :(

I am going to try really hard to start blogging again.. I think I hit a blogging wall, and even though a LOT has been going on, I just couldn't sit down to do it!

So here is a recap on what is going on..

Mr. Shane is getting big!! He has gone through a growing spur and has gotten pretty tall! He has lost two teeth.. I still can't get over that. He was really brave about pulling them both out by himself too! He is still in love with soccer and had a really good season. We are going to enroll him in soccer camp this summer and he is really looking forward to that. We also found out over a trip to Branson, that Shane REALLY enjoys fishing.. he got to go out on a boat with Jim and his friend, and caught a whole bunch of fish! Jim is very excited about this.. now he has a fishing buddy!!

Shane pulling out his very first tooth!

Here he is with his soccer trophey for the season!

Shane actually realed in this big fish!!

Miss Kayla is still just as cute as she can be. We are "almost" done with the potty training.. she sometimes has an accident here and there, but for the most part, has been a really good sport about it. She is still in love with gymnastics, but I think we will take a break from it during the summer since its too nice to be indoors. Daily she asks me to get on the bus and go to school and daily I have to tell her not yet! If you ask her how old she is, she will tell you she is 4 and a 1/2! And you know what?? She just might be!! LOL!!

Here is my cutie girl with her kitty Trudi watching Barney!

Kayla and Taylor on bring a friend to gymnastics day.. of course she HAD to take her best friend Taylor!

She is turning into such a beautiful girl.. hard to believe she will be 3 soon!

As most of you know, our dogs are spoiled! Last night we ran to Costco to go buy dog food and came across these huge dog beds. We have been looking for some for a while, but just couldn't justify spending so much on these little beds they make. Well, when we saw these, we just had to get them for the dogs! They are huge and they were quite the deal! They take quite a bit of room in our living room, but so what right?! The dogs are happy!!