Beautiful Kids

Prettiest Princess

Havin' fun at the 40

All 5 kids got to ride the crane swing at the Messersmith's....FUN !!!

Marny turning 11

All 5 kids so wonderful !!!

2008 Fun Times

Francesca heard the tour guide say that the hard hat was supposed to stay on tight to be safe, so she was really hanging on to that hard hat tight !!! so cute :-)

Marny just looks so pretty here. She is getting ready to go underground in the mine....

This is Gabby and her boy Joey. An inseparable pair. We are at Fumee Lake here.

I love how they look when they have teeeth missing in the front :-)

Dominic was fishing at Gramma and Grampa's 40 and it looks like he was successful :-)

SHMILY

I found this on my counter the other day....Dominic and Francesca surprised me with a SHMILY. It stands for "See How Much I Love You" :-) Dandelions never looked so pretty !!

Craig Lake State Park

There had been turtles on the log.....they saw us coming a mile away. Still a memorable scene !!

Francesca beginning the hike at Craig Lake.......

This park is Michigan's most remote state park, and we were afraid of bears and other large creatures so you can't hear us in this photo but we were making lots of noise !!!

Dominic standing near a VERY old tree stump, holding his precious Gatorade that he bought with his own money thank you very much !!

Water ??? Stick ??? Kids ??? A perfect recipe for a good time in Tootsie Land :-)

Fumee Lake Fun

Fumee Lake Natural Area never disappoints. Here is a plant that I have never seen before. It is spring so I'm sure that whatever it is, it will grow up into something more identifiable. I think I'll need to go back and check it out at a later time to see if it has changed. The pic of course doesn't do it justice, it was so fuschia. Really neat against the somewhat drab spring landscape.

They installed a new wrought iron gate at the entrance. This place is so pretty and unique and needed a better 'first impression'.

Blessed with sunshine for our hike, the kids are doing some shadow play here. You can see all 5 dogs and all 4 kids' shadows.

I LOVE watching them enjoy each other and nature, too. So very blessed.....

Our little, well kind of big, "pack". The little lake is only 1 mile around but there is still much to see and do. The larger lake is 5 miles around. We hiked that one only once. We do this little lake's hike all the time. And always enjoy it !!

GLAA snaps

I rarely get all 5 children together lately. So here they are. Vincent is 16, Gabriella is 14, Marnina is 12, Dominic is 9, and Francesca is 8. This is in the boys dorm hall.

Francesca and I eating in the Cafeteria at GLAA.

Vincent and I waiting in line at the Caf. Yes, he has passed me up.......vertically I mean :-)

More waiting for food.....Gabby is holding her packet fror Academy Days. She may attend GLAA next year as a Freshman. We'll see what the future holds first.

Vince is here with Julie, his best girl. They are in love *SIGH*.......How can this be ?????

Summer in April

Just walking around in the woods during the 70 degree afternoon.....Time very well spent.

I love to walk behind them and watch as they enjoy the forest. The river is nice and high, but not too high :-)

A rare picture of Gabriella...She likes this spot the best.

We frequent this river bank in the summer. Francesca couldn't resist testing the water, she went right in first thing !!! I guess she has a bit of my water baby quality about her :-)

Francesca's 8th Birthday

Francesca turned 8 on Monday. She had been counting down the days for months :-) She chose this cake from the bakery..."the one with the doggies on it" !!!

Gabriella turned 14 last week....Marny is still 12 (for a few more weeks anyway) and Dominic is 9 in this pic. Vince belongs in here too, but is away at school :-(

Among her presents were Legos, Playmobil, and clothing. Here she is holding up a Lego Horsie trailer set from Gramma. It was assembled promptly the very next morning !!

The children's favorite restaurant...Ferdinand's in downtown Escanaba, They were kind enough to honor both Gabby's and Francesca's birthdays at this meal. Hey, free dinner on your birthday is pretty awesome for this Mommy :-)

The 50 Cent Tootsie Roll

"Mom, got any quarters??? The game in the corner lets you play till you win....." About 3 dollars later they all had 2 Tootsie Rolls each........Yippeeeee !!!!!

Hole-y Sox !!

Why haven't I seen these before they got to this point??? Can you tell that these are someone's favorite socks ??? I find this funny yet a little disturbing......This is how they came out of the washing machine, so at one point, they were walking around on someone's feet like this!!!! Needless to say they are now in the garbage, but I just HAD to take a picture of them :-)

Just Read

If only there were more hours in the day...TO READ. If only we could get stuck in the library just once...TO READ. Mom knows what our favorite thing to do is...READ. I'm raising bookworms, a bunch of bookworms! This picture was not staged, I caught them !!!

Baruch Atah Adonai

The Hebrew blessing over the new wine is repeated by all. "Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, borei p'ri ha-gafen." Translated : Praised are You, God, Ruler of creation, who creates the fruit of the vine. Glasses are "clinked" each with all the others, and Shabbat (Sabbath) is welcomed in !!! Yay !!

Candles always make the ambience more holy, and a special "treat" is served, either store-bought or homemade(even more special!) Happy Sabbath to all...even if you're not Adventist or Jewish, it's STILL the Sabbath :-) Shalom !!!

Jam Night's Hayride

Our good friends the Round Table Ramblers invited us to their farm for a hayride and music jam night. We sometimes perform with them when we can and SO enjoy everyone's friendship there. Great Michigan fun here. There are about 13 members of the group that play instruments of various kinds. We have performed lots of places locally and always have a good time with lots of good food. These smiles are genuine !!

Lambeau Field

Dominic enjoyed the Packer painted truck in the Pro-shop at Lambeau Field in Green Bay. I surprised them with a tour of Lambeau on our mini-vacation. It was very interesting.

The tour guide was nice enough to snap our photo before leaving the field. I was going to photo shop Todd into the picture because he couldn't come with on our vacation, he had to WORK !!! :-) Yay !!

Seats we will never be able to sit in again. Sigh.....

Dominic was in disbelief from the moment I pulled into the parking lot of Lambeau Field. Here he is walking where his heroes have walked. He is one happy little boy !

The tour included seeing a room (or suite rather) that someone can rent for a mere $30,000 that includes 48 game tickets and all the food and drink you can consume. Very plush indeed. Kind of sickening to think about the $$$ spent there. Famous 'butts' have sat in those very seats. Big whoopie ding :-P It was a nice view of the stadium however..If I do say so. And I do.

Food, Glorious Food

What would you like to order for breakfast Francesca ? We are at I-HOP, famous for its pancakes, you know. "I think I'll have Macaroni and Cheese please." She must be 7 or something :-)

Gabriella and her Strawberry Belgian Waffles. I think she's happy.

Our weekend in Green Bay also included a visit to Coldstone Creamery. Yum yum yum yum yum yum yum. One yum for every pound I gained :-)

Olive Garden was worth the 40 minute wait to be seated. We had never been there before as a family, SOOOO good. Endless salad and bread sticks makes a bunch of kids and their Mom pretty happy. Oh, and Marnina's pizza was 5-stars !!

Vince playing with my cell phone during our wait for a table at Olive Garden. It's amazing how many things you can do with a cell phone. Thank goodness for technological distractions to help pass the time. I was busy watching people, my favorite pasttime :-)