June 2009

#3 asked for only one thing for his birthday--this dinosaur! Some friends who were ready to be without theirs donated it to his birthday cause. Thanks, Anne!

#1 received his FIRST DEGREE BLACK BELT. #2 received his BLACK BELT. #3 received his BLACK BELT. We couldn't be more pleased with their dedication and success! And none of us, including these three, could be more pleased with the break we're taking from the many hours of classes we've been attending!

#3's friend in the longhorn shirt moved a couple of days after #3's birthday party. He is missed! We're hoping to get together again soon with some of these other fun friends.

#3 turned seven!! He decorated his cake to be a wii remote and had a Mario Kart party with some friends before having to get geared up for his black belt test.

#1 graduated from elementary school. The teacher at the pulpit was WONDERFUL. He involved the kids, welcomed their input, and really helped them excel. The woman on the left is our principal, who has also been supportive of our family.

#s 4 & 5 got all duded up to attend #1's graduation from elementary school.

#5, #4, and cousin looked darling in the sweaters Gram knitted for them!

We also began the most amazing summer trip we've experienced to date. For TONS of details on that, see our other blog at lebarons.blogspot.com . It's a private blog--if you'd like an invitation, leave us a comment.

Quotables:

Zeke, after momba had been quiet a little while on our 17 hour driving day: "Hey, Mom, is Grandma still with us?"

For more quotables, click here. I'll be updating more from our trip soon, too!

May 2009

Since I realized I somehow missed this in March, I thought I'd include a picture from the Kennewick Posse Reunion Trip. Rick is missing because his family was mid-move. He was missed, but these four had a blast.

We celebrated Mike's 35th birthday with a BBQ and swim with Brian and Allie. We absolutely adore Mike. No one could be more blessed than we are in their sweetheart/daddy!

#4 graduated from preschool. His award was "POCKETS" because he apparently always had a surprise in his pockets. I had never noticed! It reminds me of Hatari--love the Duke! Since then I've done more checking, and he really does always have a toy tucked in.

We had a Memorial Day flag ceremony with our scouters. We are grateful for those who serve to protect our rights.

We said goodbye to the 5 geckos we had caught. We released them into our backyard. We've only spotted one of them since, but we think that may be due to the Texas heat. Since I'm doing this update in July, it was 104 today!

Mother's Day was fun because my boys were so sweet to me. I even got my favorite breakfast--Mike's homemade french toast--AND still got to be on time to church!

#4's preschool class sang to us for Mother's Day.

#s2 and 3 made more hats for premature babies at Parkland as they finished their community service hours to achieve their black belts.

We had a very successful black belt bake sale. Thanks so much to all who supported us in learning a little about finances and responsibility as the boys earned money to pay for part of the testing fees! (Can you tell the boys did the decorating themselves?)

#1's choir had its final performance.

Hope took new family pictures for us. She had to take the kids faces from 5 different pictures and put them on this one to get it to look this good!

Quotables:

Zeke, distressed: Some of the pieces in this soup are entertaining.
Mom: Entertaining?
Zeke: Yes, they're entertaining, and that takes too much effort for me.

For more quotables, click here or here.

April 2009

#1 got his Arrow of Light and his Super Scouter (not the right term...can't think of it right now...)--which means he earned every badge available to a Webelos.  That's doubly impressive because Webelos is designed as a 2 year program, but our church does it in one year.  He also crossed over into Boy Scouts!  He's growing up WAY too fast!
Gram made #4 this adorabe sweater, complete with hood.  Can't wait till it gets cold again!
Mike was so brave on Michael's birthday that he took this whole gang on the DART on the way home.  Since SOMEONE had to get the van back, I took one for the team and drove with a tired, silent #5.
Michael had his birthday party excursion to the zoo.  This was a game that fascinated many people during our few minutes in the children's zoo.  You match the rubber droppings to the picture of the animal they'd come from.  Our little cousin was so interested that he actually tasted several of the rubber samples.  :)
We had an indoor family campout.
This is Easter dinner, which we might not have had if Allie didn't insist and do all the hard part, since Mike was out of town...
#1 participated in his first martial arts tournament.  #2 went to watch and support.  All had a grand time, and it was a good learning experience.
I helped give our cousin his very first haircut!
One of my closest and dearest friends in the world passed away.  This is a memory table of Arlene Moultrie.  She was a lifting influence in my life, and I loved her dearly.  I'm so grateful that I've prayed about and am sure of my testimony and of the Plan of Salvation to know she is near and happy.
I got to spend a few days with my dear friends, the Moultries, in Utah.  What an amazing family!  It was wonderful to be with them, though we missed Arlene so much.
#2 got his brackets on.  Barely 9 years old: 2 jaw expanders, head gear, brackets, and counting.
We died Easter eggs.  #5 might be as amazed as Gram that mom braved the mess.
Mike and his sister, Kristi, surprised Nan and Pops and Rob with a special Easter weekend visit!  They did some volunteering, eating, laughing, and just hanging out.  They had a blast.

Quote of the month:  

With Aunt Allie at the pet store, Zeke put his head against the puppy cage. One came over and began licking the glass where Zeke's face was.

Zeke: All right. Get him out so we can take him home.
Allie: Ummm...no, you're mom's allergic.
Zeke: But he CHOSE me!
Luckily for Mike, I wasn't along--we might have a new pet if I had been.

For more of our humorous happenings, click here or here or here or here.  We even had some amusement with the Carpet Guy!

March 2009

This is #2's actually birthday. We always do cake and ice cream and Mom and Dad's gift on the real day. #2 opted for Nana-style ice cream cake, but still hasn't gotten his present. I told him we were going to give it to him at the zoo, but were going to wait since we hadn't gotten there. Apparently sweet #2 thought that meant he'd have to wait until next year. He asked, "If I need to wait a whole year, could I at least know what it was going to be?" We still haven't gotten there, but we intend to...and soon!

Jam making sessions make for one happy dad in our family!

Mom and Aunt Allie did several projects, including restaining this bad boy; stripping, caulking, and repainting the garage trim; and lots of yardwork. Lots of time and lots of laughs!

During spring break we give the boys a budget and a calendar and let them do some planning (I tell myself it teaches money and time management). This year, we planned to ride the DART, go to the zoo for #2's birthday, buy some Pokemon cards, and have an un-birthday party. This is a picture of the boys, who each had a buddy. #5 asked Aunt Allie to be his buddy!

Here Noah takes a shot at the soccer ball pinata, which he had just blasted out of camera shot! It was also Noah's month to go to the symphony with dad. He especially loved the violin soloist.

We celebrated #2's birthday. He wanted to go to the zoo, but it was so incredibly crowded that we opted for an afternoon at the zoo McDonald's. Here he uses his martial arts skilz to put this feline attacher into submission.

Here's the whole crew! It was Friday of spring break, and we were so thrilled to get out after being sick for the entire break!!

Someone made Dad's breakfast green for St. Patrick's Day! He had a hard time eating the eggs since we couldn't tell when they were done given the new color. Good thing he's a good sport...

#1 and #2 went with Mom and Dad to see the musical "The Pajama Game" at the Majestic Theater in downtown Dallas. We had a great time, even if the boys all decided they couldn't understand why mom likes stories about love. We watched for pink blushing cheeks, but didn't see much of that...although #2 was pretty glued through the binoculars when Babe and Sid kissed!

#5 is in love with trains! We've missed the obsession of #1, so #5 and mom had a great time building this fantabulous track.

Quotables:

We were doing our grateful game at Easter Dinner (going through the alphabet to name something we're thankful for with each letter). When it came to Eli's turn, he had the letter U.

Michael answered for him: Eli's thankful for a Uterus because otherwise he wouldn't be here!

Mom: Oooooooookay. Michael, you're on V.

Brian: Oh, no!

Thank heaven the carpet guy wasn't there!

Happy Easter!

February 2009

In honor of Valentine's Day, I thought I'd start with a little walk down memory lane. I'm so grateful for Mike--we make an incredible, happy, perfectly matched team...if I do say so myself.

I created a slide show for the girls in our church youth group using silhoettes we traced of their shadows. I also created a couple of silhouettes of the Savior and interspersed them. I really loved the message we were teaching, which was that when we choose to be like Christ, others can see His image in our lives.

Our nephew Preston James was born. His birth was a miracle! He brings the Lamoreaux grandkids to a bakers' dozen!

#5 has discovered that he loves "riding" his "goggies" (which refers to every kind of animal excepting only fish and horses, which are both "sheshes").

Amy works with the youth group in our ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It's a lot of time, energy, and effort. The very best part of it is seeing a glimpse of effort paying off--someone learning something new or feeling at home for the first time. This little sweetness is a close second--someone thought of me.

This month #4 had rodeo day at preschool. The belt buckle and boots are my favorite parts!

#2 got head gear. He spent an afternoon trying to figure out whether his lips should go in front of or behind the metal. He couldn't wait to show his friends!

It turns out that loving Martial Arts is contagious. Here #5 is feelin' the luv.

#5 got his first haircut. Mom followed him around for days with scissors trying to fix the little spots she missed working on our busiest 2 year old ever. Maybe that's why he's learned to love martial arts? Could be he needed a little security in his life?

#4 is learning to write. We're grateful he chose a washable car instead of the wall, things at church, or frosting of a special cake mom's making. Isn't it great having things to compare to?

#4 is our giddily happy child. Even when he wants to be mad with all his heart, it proves a little difficult for him.

Quote of the month: #4, during family prayer, "And thank Thee that we could have a baby sister." That's not an announcement; it's a mom and dad head scratcher! For more quotes, click here or here or here or here or here or...yeah, they were really chatty this month.