trunk-or-treat....

a mummy and his mommy, great trunk-or-treat this year!

love a good pumpkin patch....

the selection was insane and the price was right!

blaine pretending to be sad...couldn't do it...  we ran into his first speech therapist.  carol was the one to nudge us in the direction of an audiologist.  she literally changed our lives and i cried....sheesh!

awww, a little cinderella moment haha.

go jaguars!

like papa, like grandson...

his "silly" face...

heck yes, we belted that guy in!  best pumpkin(s) ever!!!

it's been a while.

Went to a friends birthday party last week.  We had such a great time!  They were gracious hosts and we saw friends and teachers from school that we'd not seen since graduation.  I wish we could see them all more often :).

Is it just me or does Blaine have the prettiest red lips you've ever seen? Lol.  Honestly though.  He's quite the "pouter".

So Cousin Carter let Blaine borrow his robot dinosaur.  Blaine named him Honor.  He then convinced me to throw a birthday party for him.  I even made a cake.  Ridiculous? Yes...but it was fun!

a quick trip...

My sister Alayna had another conference in Orlando.  That's great for me because we got to see each other for the 3rd time this year!!  It was only dinner and chatting, but we had a great time!

Alayna, Furry and I getting chummy at Dave and Busters.  When we left Oregon, we also left Furry.  Thank you Auntie Alayna for bringing him back!

Blaine won a ton of tickets and was able to purchase a marshmallow shooter.  Whooo whooo!

Best buds :)....

oh me....

Blaine started at a new school this year.  He's been having a great time so far but came home yesterday and asked;

"Mom, what's co-nudity?"
me - "Uhhhh, wait....what did you say?"
"Co-nudity."
me - "I don't know Blaine, are you sure that's the right word?"
"Yeah...it is."

By this point, I'm thinking Blaine's new school is a little too "free-lovin".  And I'm also starting to panic because I know that if I tell Mike, he's going to flip his lid!

So today he comes home and says;

"Mom, I know what the word is now.  It's community!"

Crisis averted!!!!!!!

3 weeks already?

Yet again, my pictures are all out of order.  Michael stayed with us for the first week, but I haven't uploaded those yet.....so backwards we go!

Blaine and I at the lake.  It was a gorgeous day (as you can see)!  It was quite peaceful since we were the only ones fishing.  We're wearing sweaters because it can get a little chilly up there, even in the middle of summer!

We make this trip every year, and every year Blaine falls asleep in the back of Papa's truck.  It's a bumpy ride too...I don't know how he does it!!!

"I'm a model, you know what I mean....."  Struck a pose for sure.

He's enjoying the view.

We interrupt this fishing trip with a picture of Blaine petting the neighbor cow!  He named all three Booty, Tooty and Buck.  Don't ask because I don't know.  Whenever they saw him coming, they'd run right over (usually because he'd bring food).

King of the mountain!!!

Making a silly face....looks like a member of Kiss actually.

Oma was the only one to catch a fish!  Papa left his pole to use the bathroom and when he got back, my mom was reeling this dude in.  It was pretty funny!

Still water.....

More later (I hope).  Toodles!

a trip to the zoo.....

Blaine and I riding the train, it was nice and cool.

B-bop petting a turtle.  He also pet a snake, but I was shaking too much to take a picture of that!

A giraffe eating out of Michael's hand.  I love how goofy giraffes look when eating!

Taking a break on a trunk...

A carousel ride for the boys...

High-fiving a tiger!

And taking a long needed rest in an empty (kind of) nest.

Our little family went to the Night at the Zoo.  It was so much fun!  The carousel and train rides were free, it was also free to feed the giraffes and stingrays.  Plus, the Jaguars were there signing autographs.  They provided dinner and dessert (uh, yuh huh) and it was just an all around wonderful time.  Can't wait to go again next year! 

a month late...

Mike being Mike at the campout..

The boys gettin' dirty....

Swimming in the skivvies.  They are so cute! 

So yeah, this was a month ago, but Michael took the pictures on his phone....and it took me forever to get them onto the computer.  The Vorwaller men took the Vorwaller boys on a camp-out.  It looks like they had a pretty good time, huh?  I sure did miss them but was glad that they could have that time to themselves to bond.  This is their 2nd year and I certainly hope it becomes a tradition!

graduation day...

That's actually a bit of a misnomer because I've added pictures from our spirit week as well.  At the beginning of our school year we decided (the parent/staff party committee) to make the last week of school, Spirit Week.  And then we all promptly forgot about it until 2 weeks before.  So it was a hectic, crazy, jumbled time.  But I'm glad we ended up going through with it...it was worth it!

This is a picture of Wacky Wednesday....Blaine was sporting a hero's mask, backwards hat, one leg short/long, two different shoes and and backwards shirt.

This is from Clarke Spirit day.  He's wearing his Clarke shirt, green and purple beads, a foam finger he made for the 5k and I painted his cheeks with "Clarke is #1".  Oh, and a crown :).

Now on to what my post title suggested this would all be about!

Blaine delivering his speech on what he would like to be when he grows up.  He chose a pediatrician, which surprised me, but I (of course) LOVED.  He wrote it himself and I was really proud!

Ms Cynthia awarded him his diploma, that was a pleasant surprise :).

Blaine and his teacher, Ms Angie, the best teacher in the world!  She's the kind of girl I could totally be friends with.  Blaine just adores her and we will miss her so, so much....

Us at the end and some other random people, haha.  It was an emotional program for me and for Mike too. This year has been amazing.  He has learned so much, he has made friends with his peers and he's been really happy.  We will miss you, our Clarke family!

the dude....

Blaine has been going nuts with his Trio Blocks lately.  He's made some pretty cool space ships, they're always complicated and unique.

He does have shirts, I swear!  Anyhoo.....Blaine has been making his bed for a couple of months now.  It sure does lighten up my morning to see him doing it without me asking.  It wasn't too straight or smooth at first, but the more he does it, the better he gets!

Another of Blaine's designs and lookie there, sans shirt (surprise, surprise).   But he has an adorable and infectious smile, doesn't he?  Love the dude.....

Michael and I got to thinking about a friend of ours from college.  He was funny, nice and an all around cool guy.  So we did an internet search only to come up with the sad news that he'd passed away a couple of years ago.  We were shocked...he was so young and the last time we saw him, so healthy!  Unfortunately, cancer is not discriminating.  I feel for his wife and little girl and I pray for them.  Life is so fragile and it's short.  Make the most of it, be the best you can and leave others feeling that they were glad to know you.  Share your talents, lose yourself in service and raise your children in happiness.  Rest in peace my friend!

Blaine and I literally discussed Star Wars for 30 minutes last night.  We were watching Episode VI and he had all sorts of questions about Darth Vader's intentions towards Luke, why Yoda disappeared when he died and why Princess Leia didn't have a lightsaber etc,.  Dudes, it went on and on.  But it was fun and we had some good laughs!

I cannot tell you how much I love this picture!  It really showcases each child's unique personality.  And it's so sweet that they have their arms around each other, isn't it?  Growing up, we didn't know our cousins very well....they lived far away and seemed as elusive and mysterious as unicorns or something.  I'm so grateful that Blaine is growing up knowing his cousins who've also become his friends.

rainy days....

It's been rather rainy here for the past few days.  At first, I loved it, but the longer it goes on the more melancholy I feel.  Blaine had an appointment yesterday and I decided to take him into school anyway, even if it was only for an hour.  So, melancholy me, loads B into the car (we both have to bring along our umbrellas).  And  when I get to the intersection I see that traffic is backed up for quite a ways.  Traffic is not my cup of tea (is it anyone's really?) and make a u-turn.  I put on my happy face and tell Blaine that we're going to go home and play until it's time to leave for his Dr's visit.  It was an impromptu class-cutting.  I normally wouldn't condone such things, but we didn't have time to sit in rush hour.  Anywho, when we arrived at the Dr's the office was a true ghost town.  They ushered us right in.  We were able to sit and chat with B's audiologist (who's turned into quite a friend really, 2 years wow!).  It was so nice to be there in such a pleasant mood... especially when I didn't think the day would turn out well at all!  So it just goes to show, that you never really know, when you think your day will blow and you find it isn't so!

Haha, I'm a poet!

Blaine reading off of a bookmark that came in a book he'd gotten from Goodwill-

" 'Reading is Fun' ".  And then he said,
"Yeah it is!"

I kid you not.

I had to blog this following conversation of B and me;

B - "Nathan is deaf and I'm not." (Nathan is a classmate and friend.)
L - "That's right, you're hard of hearing, not deaf."
B - "Huh?"

Cracks me up every time.  I'm terrible.....

family...

I love my boys!  It was fun getting our first family photos taken.  How do they look?

random randomness

Attended a bridal shower and I actually enjoyed myself.  Could have been because I was able to hold my new niece :).

We've finally done it.  We've eaten our own weight in junk food this weekend for sure.

Michael and Blaine went out for a run today and both came back happy.  Success!

Murder, She Wrote has been keeping me pretty occupied through the rainy days.

Toured what should be our final school.  Blaine made friends and I think he'll be happy there.

my boys' first school picture...