Our newest addition to the family...Bella!

The newest member of our family is Bella. She is a Beagle mix we adopted this past Saturday. We went into Tractor Supply to buy chicken food and left with a cute puppy. She is so sweet and gentle natured. The kids have been doing a FANTASTIC job taking care of her! They haven't complained once about cleaning up her messes, taking her out to go potty, etc... The only problem we have is everyone learning to share our adorable Bella!

Austin at the store with Bella before we got her. She is the one in the middle.

3 happiest kids on earth!

Below are a few pics from Bella's first photo shoot ;-)

We introduced Bella to Midnight and Scooby right away. She had fun chasing them across the yard and trying to sneak up on them. They eventually started chasing Bella back. Now, they just ignore each other ;-)

 We went to the Starlite Drive-In to see "Cars 2 " Saturday night. Always a fun night going to the drive-in movies!

His favorite spot!

Happy Father's Day!!!

Happy Father's Day to Randy A.K.A. The Best Dad in the World and all the important dad's in our lives: Grandpa Grothaus, Great-Grandpa Grothaus, Grandpa Ossege, and all the Dads we know (Scott, Lawrence, Doug, Romey, Matt, Russell, Paul, Dick, Ed, Ben, and Wally). We love all of you and appreciate all you do for us!

Here are two cards I made this week...

 Kimberly and Lexus threw a birthday party for Kimberly's stuffed animal "Fluffy". It was Fluffy's 2nd birthday and they really know how to throw a party! They made invitations, planned a menu, and each friend was encouraged to bring their favorite stuffed animal to the party.



What a menu! Fudge covered granola bars, cheez-its and Cars marshmallows...YUMMY!



We spend Father's Day morning with the Grothaus family eating a delicious brunch cooked by my Aunt Karen and my cousins. We got to have some fun shooting archery. My Uncle Eddie taught each of the kids how to hold the bow, position the arrows and how to shoot them. All 3 kids really loved it and asked to do it again! I was really amazed at how Austin did and how quickly he caught on...my Uncle Eddie is a great teacher!



Lexus' eyes lit up when she saw them, reminded her of shooting archery at Camp Webb last summer.




It is hard to see the arrows in this pic, you may need to click on it to enlarge it.





Uncle Eddie teaching Austin what to do ;-)





Austin actually had one arrow hit the target!!!




Lexus' 2nd attempt...check out the yellow circle...GO LEXUS!

Steph did a great job shooting getting 33 points with all the arrows. She challenged me to try, I got 40 points and a nasty bruise on my inner arm. Guess I didn't pay attention very good at Camp Webb when they taught me how to hold a bow and arrow...LOL! The picture below actually makes the bruise look a lot better than it is.


The bruise on my arm from the string on the bow, guess I need to work on my form ;-)



All Play & No Work!

The school playground Randy helped to build is FINALLY done! We checked it out yesterday with our neighbors, what a great playground!



All three of them LOVED the BIG twisty slide!



 Sunday after we saw the movies, we stopped at Gameworks for some fun. Lexus hit the BONUS on the Crazy Clock game and won 548 tickets!

 Having fun and playing hard wipes you out, some days I just find a child or two crashed out on the couch or beds.

 We went to the zoo a couple weeks ago (just got the pics off my phone). Each kid and Randy got to feed the giraffe a cracker. It was Zoo Babies week and we saw many neat animals. Plus, we got to see the new cat house.

 This is from the last week of school, the robotics team always stops by to show the kids their newest robot and what it can do. A definite favorite of both girls!

 Again, from the last week of school, the 5th graders played chess with both half-day Kindergarten classes. It was fun to watch some of the Kindergarten students beat the big 5th graders. Lexus had lots of fun playing with all her partners.



Lexus & Shelby contemplating their next move.





Summer Activities

Summer is in full swing! Kimberly has already attended one summer enrichment class, both girls are attending volleyball camp this week, we have been having oodles of fun with the neighbors, and squeezing every bit of FUN we can out of each day!

1. Kickoff of Summer Reading Program at the Library



Lexus reading to Austin...my favorite thing to see!




Kimberly got her face painted.



 2. Soccer is over and both girls ended their seasons with a WIN!

 3. There is ALOT of sleeping in and naps happening at our house.



They went to sleep in their separate beds...this is how I found them in the morning ;-)



 4. What is summer without playing in the sandbox and swimming in the pool!

 5. DATE NIGHT! Randy & I went to Boi Na Brasa downtown and had the most delicious dinner. It was officially the first and last time I will ever try lamb...YUCK! We took in a movie too - Pirates of the Caribbean On Stranger Tides.

 6. We celebrated my nephew J's high school graduation with more pool time fun.



Lauren and Austin



Randy & Kimberly

 7. Father's Day came early at our house since Randy won't be in town. Hands down Randy is the BEST DAD EVER!!!

 8. AR Reward - We treated the girls to a movie and Gameworks for reaching their personal goals this school year in AR. Randy & Austin saw "Kung Fu Panda 2" and the girls & I saw "Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer". Both movies were fabulous and are highly recommended!