Melissa's Baptism

Melissa has been very excited to be baptized and on saturday she was able to do just that! She was baptized by her father in front of many family and friends. My brother took a lot of photos, but for right now I am posting one of the ones I took of her that day.

Greg and Eli

Greg and Eli McGraw discovered a common interest this weekend!

Memorial Day

The weather was great for Memorial Day/Melissa's birthday, so we opened the pool and the kids went swimming. Grandma and Granpa Kelley came up and we ordered pizza and enjoyed ourselves by relaxing all day! Melissa's big day will be on Saturday when she is baptized and has her big 8 year old party!

Hiking in Harpers Ferry

We started out by taking in the view from Historic Hilltop House Hotel, which is closed for renovations until 2010. (Melissa was at her friend's house, we missed her on our hike!)





Next we ate at a little outdoor restaurant in the heart of Harper's Ferry.


Greg accurately counted 7 trains that we saw while we were in Harper's Ferry.




We hiked the trail to what I think is the best view of Harpers Ferry!



Dale and I enjoying the view of Harper's Ferry

Backyard Campfire

We had a campfire in our backyard on friday night, after the campfire we "camped" in the great room. We had a great time and then got up to go hiking on Saturday!

Annapolis with Alex

Alex and I went on a field trip to Annapolis on Friday. We started our tour at the Naval Academy, where Alex took pictures of everything, and I mean EVERYThing! Every building, every person, the camera's batteries actually died twice, (well, the second time was just what I told him so that I wouldn't have to delete a thousand pictures!) Alex thought it was a bum deal that Naval Academy grads have to work for the service for 4 - 5 years in exchange for their free education. I mean, going to school is a bum deal all around and why is it such a great deal to be able to go for free when you could avoid going altogether!? (Hopefully we will change his attitude about higher education as he gets older)Annapolis is full of many interesting things and places, a lot of rich history for our nation and our state are well preserved there, We saw many interesting places , I am sad that I can only show a few highlights of our day....










Alex snapped lots of pictures of Midshipmen, and here he is in front of the Naval Academy Mascot, the goat (I forgot the goats name!) Alex did think all of the little hazing rituals of the plebes was interesting...

Here is Alex in front of the Maryland State House. He was really fascinated with the 4 foot tall gold acorn on top of the State House. Boys love anything gold!

We ate lunch on the docks in Annapolis, where we watched lots and lots of sailboats come in and out. It was one of the first nice days we have seen, and lots of boaters took advantage of the nice weather. The docks in Annapolis are always so full, the majority of boaters dock in the middle of the water and take a little motor boat in to land.

Happy Birthday to Dale!

36 years ago the love of my life was born....

to parents who loved him,




and made him the wonderful person that he is! Happy Birthday Love!

Smokey

Smokey has been a member of our family for 12 years. (He came when Shawn was born) I swear he thinks he is one of my kids. It is not uncommon for my human kids to all sleep on the floor together in a pile of blankets. When this happens you can usually find smokey in one of the kid's beds, with his head on their pillow. Last night the kids were all asleep where they belong, so poor little smokey had to actually share the bed with Alex. He wasn't to pleased with a flash going off while he was in dream land.

Some of Melissa's paintings that I love!

"Flowers in Vase"

"Imagination Viola"

"Teddy Bear by the Window"

"Melissa"

Kid's photo-journal

Dale and Melissa's Date

Dale and Melissa had a date on Friday night. They started the date at Libby Lu for Melissa's Hannah Montana Makeover, then they went to dinner, and ended by seeing Narnia. She is such a little princess and truely her daddy's little girl! we are so glad to have her sweet influence in our family!

Shawn's game

Shawn had a double header on saturday, I managed to get one of his hits on video. Shawn was so cute when he was little and playing t-ball, but I really have enjoyed watching him play this year. He has always been a smart player, but this year he has improved his coordination and becoming more well rounded as a player. He has been lifting weights with Dale and running with me and it seems to be helping him.

Bouncing, bouncing Boys!

While Dale took Melissa on a date, the boys and I went to a birthday party at "Air Mania". "mania" accurately describes what happens there!! the boys had a blast! I really wanted to bounce on the inflatables, but I was scared to leave my post as "catcher of children flying out of inflatables" ! (see picture of Alex) Two hours was way to short! I need to invest in a giant inflatable, or a trampoline for my little Tiggers! They had so much fun and I am sure I will be going back soon!

Happy Birthday to Me!!!!

Hanging out before giving me my birthday "gifts"....



Which were...An IPOD NANO............



To go with my NEW CAR!!!





A big enough trunk so I can keep my "soccer mom" status in my new car!





So my birthday was spent doing little errands, including cleaning my van and getting it ready to be fixed up! Tonight, Dale got home from work late, so we went right to David's Hockey game. At David's hockey game I noticed a gorgeous car in the parking lot, just like the one I had been telling Dale was my "dream car"! I told him I wanted one when we got rid of the van (which I thought we were keeping for a while!)...so after I noticed the car, I told Dale I wanted him to go check it out before we left. 30 minutes later, he went to go look at it, he and all the kids (who were apparently aware for quite some time that I was getting a new car) walked over to it while I hung back, because I was incredibly uncomfortable with my whole family approaching some stranger's brand new spotless car, I made some comment about how nice it was and Dale turned and said "you want to drive it home?" I kind of laughed at him, and then he handed me the key. It didn't sink in for a while...I remained in shock for some time, 4 of the kids climbed in and really got a kick out of me being in shock! I had a great birthday!

David's Score

David Scoring during his Hockey game....He is the short player in the old Blue and White Washington Capitals Jersey...He scores at the end of the video, (for those who want to fast forward)

"my mom is so cool!"

Today I got a great birthday present!! On the way to a friends house, Greg was telling his buddy Oliver that he wanted to stay with his mom today, Oliver questioned him, "Why do you want to stay with her all day!?!?!" Greg said, "Because my mom is soooo cool!!" Oliver agreed. Happy Birthday to me!!

Weekend

With the rain on saturday, all sports were cancelled, so we decided to go to Union Station in washington D.C. for National train Day. Greg is obsessed with trains, and since he is always being dragged to everyone else's sporting events, we thought we would have a whole day of trains, just for him! Even though we did it mostly for Greg, all the kids had a great time.



Sunday I was awaken up by a parade of kids bringing me breakfast in bed and various gifts. Melissa headed up a decorating comittee for my bedroom while I was "asleep". I had a ball listening to them decorate. They hung up lots of homemade signs, posters and pictures. I recieved a poem, two coupon books, a flower pot and mario kart for the wii. (unaware that Dale had purchased that for me, I actually mentioned on saturday night that I wished I had Mario kart to play) ..We then went to church, the primary kids sang to their mothers, and for the first time since he was 3, Shawn did not go up, because he is now a young man! My lesson was on the blessings promised to Abraham for his posterity, the twelve tribes of Israel. I know it doesn't sound very Mother's dayish, but I tied it in and it went well! we then went to Dale's moms house for a family cookout, it was rather chilly, so I finished my meal with some hot chocolate, a little unusual treat for mothers day, but it worked! We had a good time and then headed home.




Once we got home I slept until 8 oclock, (Thank you to Dale for not waking me up!) While I slept the kids and Dale played Mario Kart, apparently David was a pro! After I woke up, the races were on! the younger kids went to bed and Dale, Shawn and I played for a while, I didn't do so hot, but will get some practice in. I had a great mother's day and am sad to see it end, My sweet husband gets one day off and then has to handle my birthday tomorrow! Two days off thiss week, I love this time of year!

Perspectives

Yesterday we went to downtown Frederick Maryland (population of about 60,000). There is a river running right through the center of Frederick. The city has done an amazing job of beautifying the surrounding area and it is well known for it's "river walk". One neat thing they have done is called the "Community Bridge Mural" An artist faux painted a bridge to look like a stone bridge. On many of the stones he included symbols that represent ideas that people from around the world sent to him. There are lots of unique things included on this mural. The artist real enjoyed the idea that you can use paint to fool people's eyes into seeing something that isn't actually there. If you look at the wall, even close up, it really looks like stone, you really think you are seeing a true stone wall, but if you touch the wall while you are looking at it, your eye sees clearly that it is indeed just an image.

One unique thing added to the mural is called an "anamorphic image" or a "fool the eye" image. Depending on where you are standing, and your perspective, the image will look completely different. the top picture is the way this part of the mural is intended to be viewed, and as we discovered, there is only one appropriate spot where it can be seen like this, and the bottom picture is the way it is seen straight on. It's all about where you are standing.

The Bridge mural got me thinking about perspectives. I really love the artist's passion for creating things out of paint that can fool the eye. I have always been amazed at how I can use just a pencil and put lines together in such a way to transform a piece of plain white paper into an image of my choosing. I love to use specific techniques in an effort to fool the viewer into seeing what I want them to see. People who view art view it from many different perspectives, and each view, whether from a child, or an art critic, is unique and correct and wonderful. Whether you like art or not, everyone has an opinion of what they are seeing. I believe this is a microcosm of life in general. We all view it just a little bit differently and we all have our opinions and different perspectives. What is wonderful is when we learn how to appreciate what other people are seeing from their perspective at that moment and not just think that our view is the only way to view life. It's about understanding where we are standing and why we view things the way we do and it's about appreciating others and how they may be viewing things from their unique perspectives. I personally have learned to love other people's perspectives on art, I truely enjoy what others see in different pieces. Life however, is a work in progress, I am not always as ready to accept other's perspectives on life like I am art. I am learning to accept others perspectives on life more and more and one day I want to appreciate and enjoy their perspectives on life as much as I enjoy their perspectives on art.