These pictures can only mean one things!

School is back in session! Yippee!

Abby is starting 5th grade and is elated that her wonderful teacher from last year moved up along with the kids! I had never seen her so excited about learning as she was last year and it was a great year for her so I hope that trend continues!

Tim is excited to be in sixth grade and be the oldest kids in the school. He has his ambitions set high...he is running a grass roots campaign to get vote class clown in the year book.... When he approached me about it he asked would you be mad, I said no as long as he is not disrespectful to anyone to reach his goal.

Max is starting school this year too! He is very excited and he actually starts on Wednesday. My friend Marin is going to be his teacher, we are working on calling her by her last name, but she insists Marin is just fine for him to call her. She has an amazing perspective on kids and a true passion for it.

Jim is going to get to go to school too! Max's school is a cooperative school and since he will now be off on Fridays he will get his turn at working in the class. I think it will be great for both he and Max.

As for me I am also starting a new adventure, I will be working with the Shade Foundation, an opportunity I am really excited about! I have also joined the committee for the 57th annual Parada Del Sol, Scottsdale's annual horse drawn parade. So it is expected to be yet another busy year!

The boys are making their bunkers...

Tonight I decided to throw all caution to the wind and let Tim have 3 of his closest friends spend the night. Abbey is at her friends house so one part of the disaster waiting to happen has been taken out....Jim not being as brave as I, when to the movies by himself just to get out of the house!

Max is here and as you all know he has no idea he is a 3 year old so he is helping build the bunkers. This bunker building took almost an hour with the instructions that it all must go back where you found it...we will see....

They are having a Nerf war, there is an intrinsic flaw in "Nerf waring"...you have to reload...and reloading requires everyone stopping the game and picking up all the bullets...They lasted all of 3 and a half minutes before they had all unloaded their weapons and well got too hot to reload...Now it is not like they have just one gun each or a few bullets each they have an arsenal! Clips full of bullets and still just a few minutes, then they all have their bullets labeled so they sort it all out....it is more than I want to even think about...They promise they are going to go out later when it is "cooler".

Stay tuned for more war coverage....

Abbeys' afterschool party...

We had Abbeys party with her school friends right after the last day of school, it was early release so it was a perfect ime for a dip in the pool!

Wow how time flies!

It is May, it has been awhile since I posted a new entry! Tomorrow is the last day of school and the house is filled with the smell of cake for Abbey's 10th birthday party we are having right after school tomorrow!

Ten years! I can't hardly believe it! She is not my first to reach that mile stone but at times she seems so much younger and older all at once.

She is just finishing up 4th grade, she is one of the youngest kids in her grade...most of the kids have passed the 10 year mark...Abbey has done a lot in her 10 years...

She went to her first major league baseball game when she was just 5 days old.

She was born a city girl we lived in the heart of downtown Phoenix.

When she was born had one grandpa (Carl) and a great grandfather(the great One), two grandmas (mom and sue) and two great grandmas (my grandmothers). Ten years later she has One great grandfather (the great one) gained and lost a grandpa (Bill)and three grandmas (Mom Sue and Bana) and two Great grandma's (G.G. my grandma and Grandma Jean, Jims grandma). She has lost but also gained!

When she was born she had one brother, 10 years later she has two. Tim 11 and Max 3.

She has been to both coasts and the sea of Cortez. At 7 she parasailed and 9 she surfed.

She has grown oh man has she grown, a few days before her birthday she is just over 5 feet tall!

She is spirited, never afraid to be different or to really care what others might thing. She is far more confident than I was at her age. She is caring and loyal, she has a big heart. She is never afraid to try new things and never shy around other people!

She plays volleyball and has tried other sports tennis, t-ball, basketball and even gymnastics.

She is a pesky little sister and a helpful mothering big sister.

What will the next 10 years bring, we wait at the edge of our seats to find out, I am sure they will be filled with joy adventure angst and all those lovely things that go with teen age years....

But mostly I hope they are filled with love and laughter and good friends....to help her get through it all!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Abbey!