The things we do for daddy...

Well, Summer is just flying by! I probably feel this way because I've been counting down the days until our vacation for so long! We are going to Disney. So excited!!

Allyson has her new princess dress and she is ready!

In the summer, we generally stay in a pool. But, we've only been able to swim just a couple times. Here we are at Aunty Shaun's a couple weeks ago. We can't wait to go again if all our schedules can just cooperate!

For Father's Day, we had to do something special for Daddy. We gave him a grill last month for his birthday. That was partly for Father's Day, too.

So, we made him a Snack Bouquet.

We shopped for all of Daddy's favorite snacks and arranged them with skewers in a "custom" mug. The idea came from Woman's World magazine. He LOVED it! He had been out of town and came home Saturday evening. We went ahead and gave it to him. I mean, where was I supposed to hide it? We had a frozen pizza for dinner when he came home. But, the whole time he ate, his eyes were on his snack bouquet. lol

We also made him an M&M hat cake. This cake was supposed to be easy, but underneath all the M&M's it is a disaster! This idea was also from Woman's World.

It's a very tasty cake, of course. The brim is refrigerated sugar cookie dough mixed with 1/3 C all-purpose flour. The cap is a white cake baked in a round bowl. Make sure you grease and flour the bowl well before you pour the batter in. This was my problem. Half the cake stuck to the bowl!

But, pretty much anything covered with M&M's is a winner!

Then, just frost with white icing and cover with plain M&M's in a pattern to your liking. Decorating with M&M's was very easy and makes me think I can do this again. Hmmmm...Decorating with icing for me is wayyyy too time consuming.

Daddy had a wonderful Father's Day. I'm very sad that I didn't get a picture of Allyson and Daddy before church. We were in a rush because Daddy had grits, bacon, and fruit for breakfast. For lunch, he choses Indian lunch buffet and he spent the rest of the day sleepingoff his jet lag cuddled up with Allyson.

Michael really is the best Daddy. God chose him for me and he chose Allyson for us. You couldn't find a father anywhere more in love with his child. Such a blessing!

I know Father's Day is a hard day for many without fathers. I'm very blessed to have a wonderful one myself. My prayers are with those without.

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VBS is going on now. We have 2 more nights. Here are a couple of pictures of the singing in the auditorium. Yeah, they are really of just Allyson. But, you might see someone else you know. ;)

Congratulations, Mama!

Future Hairdresser? That would be great! Maybe she'll give her mama discounts!

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My mom retired just a couple weeks ago. I've been so busy that I'm just getting around to posting about it!

Posing with Mama & Daddy at the table of honor. There were two other retirees.
The Superintendant had a few words to say. The man speaking was the principal when I worked with my mom at this school. The woman with the tissue was also retiring. She's the principal.

Allyson insisted on eating her lunch at the Table of Honor with Nana & Papa. I don't think anyone minded.

My mom's moment of glory. She had worked in education for 37 years. That's amazing to me!

Here's our family that attended the retirement luncheon.

L-R: Allyson, Me, Aunt Janice (my mom's sister), Baby Carlee, Glenn & Phyllis Schliebner (my parents), Robbi (my sister), & Caleb (Carlee & Caleb are my sister's kids-I may be really detailed with who's who, but I just want everyone to understand the relationships. Relationships can be so complex, ya know?!)

I love this picture of the kids. The older ones had just been talking to the baby. She's so angelic. Allyson really loves her cousins. And, being the oldest is cool!

Congratulations to my mom for working so hard and being able to reap the rewards of finally doing what she (or my dad! lol) wants.

I'm so proud of her. She was a media specialist. And, just like everyone keeps telling me, I'm following along in my mom's footsteps. :)

So, we've decided to adopt...

On May 29th, Allyson had her gymnastics family night. Her class is called Tumble Bears at Precision South Gymnastics Academy. It's for ages 3-5.

She brought some flowers for her teacher.

There are quite a few pictures. So, I'll keep the captions short.

Fun with the parachute

Balance Beam

Priss waiting her turn

I love this one. And, this is her teacher, Ms. Heather.

They made her jump through all sorts of hoops. LOL!

Action hopscotch

Backwards on the low balance beam

Having fun and hanging around! I think the shadow on the mat is cool.

She's learned so much since last August. Her first class was on her 3rd birthday, Aug. 24, 2009.

Daddy helping with marches on the beam.

Her little friend, Bailey, from her daycare class takes gymnastics here, too.

Flipping on the rings ALL BY HERSELF!

And, at the end of the obstacle course, a giant basket ball to shoot through the hoop. Great shot, Allyson!

When we got home from gymnastics, Mike finally got to use his birthday gift for the first time. His birthday had been the day before and I surprised him with this grill. My parents were over for the family night and we grilled steaks and chicken.

Allyson still thought she was at gymnastics.

He got another surprise. A red velvet birthday cake from Publix.

And, here is our new baby! A year-and-a-half-old pug, Reuben.

We rescued him. I heard about a lady that had him but was unable to care for him. When we got him on May 25th, he was so skinny. You could see his ribs. It was heartbreaking! But, he is doing great! He's adjusted to living with us very well. We are already very attached to him.

And, he does a neat trick. Watch the video.