It's Beginning to Feel a lot like Summer...

Shaving cream makes for fun, messy finger painting and we used to do it all the time when I taught preschool...

However...

I guess there was a reason they didn't use it in the younger classes ;)

Aubrey has mastered the closed-mouth kiss... a big feat for this big-mouthed little girl!

Chocolate ice cream after dinner

HEADACHE!!

Notice the chocolate dripping down the thighs!

Good until the last drop!

Playing hide and seek with her sister! Covered head to toe in chocolate ice cream and dirt from the garden!

"Now Daddy, you count and I'll hide!" Such a little boss, this one, wonder where she got it from?

After a long morning at the lake... she fell asleep before we made it home... and we drove... and it is only .6 miles from our house!! I took her out of her carseat and laid her on the front lawn and she didn't even stir!

We celebrated our friend Eli's first birthday with his family on Sunday night!

Good food, Great friends!

Can you just feel the excitement from all the kids in this picture?? Cake time!!

We will be losing these dear friends in the middle of July... I hate how the military has to move families that become so dear to the people they meet! I am so grateful for this couple though. They have impacted our lives so much as friends and as fellow parents and to say we are going to miss them is an understatment. We need men like Jason in our military, we enjoy our freedom because of the sacrifice of friendship and family time this couple is willing to make. I am grateful for their sacrfice, but even more grateful for the 5 years God has given us with this dear couple!

Strawberry Picking!

May I Never Forget...

Eating dinner with an entire hand in the mouth...



Eating dinner without a shirt on because, really, what's the point of more laundry?

Sleeping with bums in the air...

Sleeping in the dress up choice of the day...

Precious days with precious girls!

Mud Puddle Baths

I have to add a few recent Mackenzie quotes (for everyone who has told me to "write these down!" I have! I have an ever growing journal full of Mackenzisms!):

Mackenzie playing "Big Bad Wolf" with me: "Oh No! The Big Bad Wolf has to go potty!"

"We are having 'Susana' for dinna!" (lasagna for dinner)

"It's mine because it's mine!"

"I can't find my book!" "Where did you have it last?" "In my hand!"

"I need my 'pirate-seat'!" (privacy... but she doesn't even know what it means yet, she just knows I say this when I go to the bathroom... not like I ever get it!)

"Can I touch the 'tinkerbell'?" (the doorbell)

At dinner: "Can we talk about my day now?"

"God told me I can have juice!"

"I'm really blooding!" (little bit of red on her knee)

"My toothpaste has Florida in it!" (flouride)

"Will the 'library-aunt' be sad?" ("librarian"... one of the movies we borrowed was broken)

I love life with a two-year-old! Especially THIS two-year-old! Whenever we get a moment alone when Aubrey is asleep she says, "You wanna do something special with me?" Right now those special things involve anything with letters... I know some day spending special time with Mommy won't include anything academic, but right now she is absorbing every little thing I can teach her and recognizes 20 letters out of the upper case alphabet!

And I love life with a one-year-old! Especially THIS one-year-old! When we get moments alone together there is lots of snuggling. Aubrey is so affectionate! And then we play with her baby dolls. She is very nurturing and loves to hug and hold and feed her babies. Her favorite baby has been affectionately named, "Hairy" because of the tuft of hair on the top of her worn little head. She also loves her pink "Silky"... and will giggle with delight whenever she sees this favorite blanket! I didn't know that a baby could actually want to go to bed, but if silky is in there, Aubrey begs to go in and will go to sleep without one fuss!

Love these little women!! Feel so privileged to be their Mama!

Cooking a scrumptious peanutbutter and chocolate concoction for Daddy!

Pasta for dinner... mmmm...

Nana sent us a gift... Aubrey had so much fun with the tissue that it came with!

Daddy and Kenzie snuggling on a morning that started way too early!

Fun... and tears... in a friend's backyard

The Cruise From Angie's Camera

Just in case you were wondering...

Good thing we took our cruise already!

In Barbados we got dropped off at a place were you could walk to three different beaches and we were just wandering around wondering how to get to one of them and then we caught a glimpse of this down an alley way... BEAUTIFUL!

On our first day and we sat out in the direct sun for a few hours before walking 45 mins back to our ship... we learned a little after that day... it is worth it to pay for umbrellas and it isn't necessary to always pay for a cab. (especially when you're on a cruise and you literally don't feel a twinge of hunger for an entire week... it felt good to get a little exercise!)

So on Barbados we burned the first day, St. Lucia was the second day and we did a bus tour to stay out of the sun. The third day we were at Antigua and we got these cool beach umbrella things! I know, I know... I have a double chin in this picture... but give me a little grace.... we were on the cruise... I'm doing my chin lifts every day now... what?? I swear!

And my mom worried if Jeff ate... I think this was her 4th cone of the day! They had free soft serve ice cream by the pool and we'd come back on the boat, grab some food and a cone and a seat and continue our relaxing until dinner time.

St. Maartin was probably my favorite island!

They had these steel bands at every port... this woman was cracking us up! She had one too many rum samples and was dancing with the band members.

Finally talking to the girls!

Snorkeling on St. Maartin!


Our husbands are so wonderful to us! They paid for us to get beach side massages with real Aloe Vera plant squeezed right onto our backs and shoulders! Our sunburn felt completely healed and we never did peel!

Jeff and Angie doing the salsa dance that they had learned the night before. Jake and I tried taking the lessons with them... but that ended up being a big mistake! Boettchers just don't have rhythm... Jeff lucked out and married a beautiful PuertoRican princess who could make anyone dance on beat... me... not so much! Love you Honey!


The only food we felt that we had to buy off the ship were these amazing crepes made on St. Maartin! Jake experienced Nutella for the first time in his life and now I know how to make my husband VERY happy!

The ship was so big, that even for this far back I still couldn't fit in the first and last letters! If I took another step backwards I would have fallen off the dock!

Our legendary game of Spades... legendary because Jake and I are so bad at it! It all comes back to the 6 of Spades... I shouldn't have played so nice in the beginning... I had to opportunity to crush and I played with mercy... haha, that same mercy was never returned to us!

Great, great memories made! So glad we went! Would do it again in a heart beat... but will probably have to wait about another 20 years or so!