We have a graduate (again)

Well folks, he's done it again. This time that smart, determined man I married received his Bachelor of Science Degree with a major in biology and a minor in chemistry.  I'm extremely proud of him for sticking with it and doing so well. His parents came down last weekend for his graduation.  

Waiting to file to the front of the stage. (See? I'm not the only one proud of him. The guy in the front left corner shed a few tears.)  :)

Matt, handing in his name card to the MC (that's probably not the correct title) just before walking across the stage.

His big moment.

 Waiting to exit.

The auditorium was so crowded that Matt's parents and I didn't get to sit together. I was in a section to their left. His dad is a big, tall man,easy to spot in a crowd. Matt had found them and was waving to them. I love this picture. :)

Birthday Pictures

Well, here are some pictures, hot off the press. The kids and I went to the park Friday for Daisy's birthday celebration. It turned out to be very windy the first little while we were there, but by the time we were done eating the wind died down and we had a great afternoon for playing. So here she is....

Daisy

This time last year I was wondering if I would be pregnant forever. Well, not really, but I'd been pushing for a while and baby was content to stay where she'd been all her life. Thankfully, in another two hours she would be born.

Today our little Daisy Bell, (Madelyn, actually, but we like nicknames) is 1 year old. And it seems in the last few days she must've gotten the memo that she's turning a new age. She's started shaking her head 'no', sort of said 'doe' and pointed when she wants to go, tried eating with a spoon, and today's accomplishment was the biggest yet: she took 2-3 steps several times. Her sibling fan club cheered and giggled and squealed. They were delighted with her new abilities.

I wish I could post a picture of her for this post, but I have trouble uploading pictures from our camera, and it can take a long time, so for now I'll just describe her.

She has very blond, rather short hair. 6 tiny white teeth make her smiles even cuter, and she seems to look like the Morris side of the family in everything but height (Her Mam says she is a shorty for her age.).  She can sign please, but prefers to do a low grunt/growl to indicate her desire for something, she loves to lay on Daddy's chest when she's sleepy. If Daddy is holding her and Mamma comes near, Daisy will push herself as far away from Mamma as possible, climbing up higher on Daddy, or nearly worming her way behind him. She likes making messes so she can clean them back up, or just so she can make messes. She's a great sleeper, pretty good eater, mostly cheerful. We love this little girl that seemed determined not to be born, and have had a fun first year with her.

They Keep Us Laughing

There is not much regard for privacy of a mom. A closed bathroom door is an invitation to knock and ask for things, or tell (not so) urgent needs.

A while back I was in the bathroom and heard the kids charge in the house loudly calling for me. They hunted me down and found the closed door. (You can run, but you can't hide.) Normally I don't even let them stand outside the door and talk to me while I'm in the bathroom, but they said Buddy the dog had something that looked like a deer leg in the yard. I told them to leave it alone and I would check it in a little bit.

A minute or two ticked by and into the house they came running again. This time the bathroom door opened just enough to allow room for a kid's arm to shoot through, dangling a deer leg. "See?!"

I repeat. There is not much regard for a mom's privacy.


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Micah and I were loading the dishwasher and as he closed it he said, "Oh, I forgot to put soap in there." I asked, " Do you ever turn on the dishwasher with no soap in it?"
"Sometimes I do."

Niiiice. That explains why some loads are crustier than others.


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We've been reading through 1 and 2 Kings during school time. Felicity heard me read "God raised up so-and-so as the king." She asked, " Does that mean he raised them from the dead?"
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Cassie: Why is it called Jumpstart Preschool when you don't jump?

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Micah, asking about large wall map ,"Why do we have to have this big map up here? Is it to cover up the dirty spots on the wall?"
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Cassie:
A long long time ago before I was born I  was just air. I was a cloud, then God made me.
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Cassie: I like the clumps of butter on my biscuit, but I like them better in my mouth.
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Micah: "I know how to spell "onesie". A  '1'and a 'Z'."
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Cassie, "Do girl lizards have eyelashes?"

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Camie was getting the "when I was a kid" talk from me. I said we didn't even have internet, we just played painting games or space games on the computer. "You mean back when they had car horns you squeezed and they went "kaDOOOga?" She was serious. 

~~~

Cassie says

"I don't know how to fold my clothes and put them in the dresser. I just know how to cramble them in there."

"Micah says we can live a hundred miles."

Our Boy

Back in November or so Micah and I took a walk around the back yard and  in the woods to shoot some pictures of him. We had so much fun. He really got in to this. I'd let him pick some spots and poses and was surprised at what good ideas he had. The daylight was fading by the time we got in the woods so the pictures turned out a little washed out looking. But it's hard to get a bad picture of such a handsome boy. :) He asked me today if we could do this again sometime. I think he liked being the star of the show and having Mamma all to himself for an hour. I have at least  this many pictures again  I want to put on here but Blogger keeps freezing up. So until then just look at each of these twice. :)

Looking tall, fair, and handsome.

This is one of my favorite pictures. 

Yes, he was chopping sticks with that hatchet. He loves when he gets permission to use that lethal weapon. I try not to show how nervous it makes me. Today he "built" a fire by himself while Matt and I looked on. That is, he stirred the coals around in the woodstove, brought in wood from the porch (most of which he had stacked himself), put it in the stove, cleaned up the ashes that spilled out, and opened the vents on the doors to get it going. It was fun watching him do manly things, just like Daddy. He had the same satisfied smirk Matt gets when he's pleased with himself but trying to look cool about it.

He is a great shot with this BB gun.