A day at the lake

Jesse is forever taking the girls out on the boat, but it is unusual that I get to join them. Well, these are a couple of weeks old but it was a slow week in the store, so I got to go out on the lake with them and it was great - I even pouted until Jesse said it was okay to bring Blackbeard (as Jesse calls him when he's on the boat. I bet that dog has no idea his name is Ben.)

Baby Bug still has the same sweet little chubby cheeks that she had when she was a baby. This picture reminds me of her when she was about 2.


She's going to hate me for this one. Especially when I sneak it into the slideshow at her wedding.

It was a *gorgeous* sunset!

For some reason the girls were extra silly and sticking their tongues out in every shot.

Dad, watching the rods for a bite!





Sun-kissed sweetie.
Baby in the wind....

....and Ben in the wind.

What a great day. On the way home, my Jeep turned over to a hundred thousand miles. We bought the Cherokee brand new just a few weeks after 9/11, when interest rates took a giant tumble. It is paid for and has been the most wonderful vehicle I have ever owned. Lord willing, I always want to drive a Jeep. It was a sappy moment for me - I really love it.

Baby's First Graduation

Okay, there is an angry mob coming down the driveway with torches and a lynch rope.

[Locks door. Draws blinds.]

Ahem. So I was thinking, maybe I should post the pics of Baby's Graduation from Kindergarten?!

They are in order as the day progressed. :) First, we have getting ready in the classroom, putting on caps and gowns and hamming around with buddies.

This is Baby's teacher, Mrs. Lena. She was positive, gracious, encouraging, loving, and wonderful. Baby was very lucky to have her as her first teacher.

Lined up and ready to walk down to the auditorium.

And here they all are. Only the Kindergarten class wore caps and gowns, because the Preschool only goes up thru K. Baby will be going to a different school next year.

The kids were ALL fascinated by their tassels and played with them non-stop.

They did lots of little songs for us, and wore all sorts of cute little get-ups.

First, they hummed us a song on their kazoos.


We were sitting diagonally across the (very large) room from Baby, and of course, there was a mic stand directly in the path of my camera. Sigh. So I did lots of leaning over the person next to me to get good shots of Baby. This is the first moment she found us in the crowd.

Next they sang "The 12 days of school", and baby was the fourth day. "On the fourth day of school, my teacher gave to me, ...."

Between songs, it was back to the tassels.

Getting her diploma! So sweet.

And another song. Why we didn't video tape this is beyond me.

After the ceremony, lots of celebration!






Jesse takes the best pictures ever.



Baby and her best buddy, Kaytlyn.

Mmmm, cake!!

Jesse had a tradition each morning on the way in to school, that he would carry Baby on his shoulders so she could touch the leaves of the big oak tree beside the Kindergarten bldg. So, one last time, she rode out on his shoulders, this time as a Grad!

I can't believe she is 6. One third of our time with her at home is past. Before we know it, she will be graduating from High School. We could not possibly be more proud of her. She is just such a pleasant, fun, intelligent, all-around awesome little girl. :)

And now that Summer is officially here, we have been hitting the Lake!! We want to get as much fun stuff in while school is out as we possibly can.

[Brick crashes through window.]

Okay people!! Call off your henchmen!! I promise never to withhold pictures again!!

Record Trout

Jesse caught a Lake Record fish! It's a Rainbow Trout, and it's the biggest ever caught in Carters Lake. They are going to post pictures and a citation of some sort in the GON (GA Outdoor News.) I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up with several more lake records over the years to come. I'll post a link to the GON when the article comes out. :)

Dan the Animal Man

Back in April this gentleman came to Baby's school and brought all sorts of critters with him. He is a Christian and had a lot of great things to say about evidence for a Creator that we can see in His Creation! The kids loved this. I'm sorry for the poor picture quality, but he was *really* far away and I had the camera on 1billionX zoom. :)

The first critter was a porcupine!! Dan wore leather gloves up to his armpits to handle the beastie, but I got such a kick out of the way he talked to her. ("Come heeeeeere, she's a goooood girl, yes she iiiiiiiiiis") Not the kind of creature I picture as cuddly, but hey, he raised her from a baby!

Between critters, he would go out to his truck and put the previous critter away, then bring in the next critter. It took a few minutes, so I thought I'd try to snap some family portraits while we waited.
Jesse lost patience with this quickly.

Next was an enormous owl, I'm afraid I don't remember what kind. (Dad?) Dan said the bird has such sensitive hearing that they can't listen to the radio in the truck, because the owl can't handle the noise.

I think this is a lemur. It was all I could do not to reach out and try to pet this one as he walked by (despite his stern warnings not to.) He climbed all over Dan and his little face was just so expressive and I was dying to play with his little toes!! He looked like a lot of fun to play with. Rats!

And of course, there was the obligatory CROCODILE!!! Look at that tail, it is as long as his body!!
His mouth was taped shut, but the girls took about a nanosecond to say "No, thanks" when asked if they wanted their picture taken with him.

And to round out the Wild Kingdom experience, I leave you with our Great Dane, snuggling with his own butt. Didn't know he could do that.

I cracked up at the respones you guys left on the last post! Thanks for bearing with me while I wade through 3 months of pictures! I will find the graduation pics, I promise. :) Knowing you're out there makes all the difference. XXXOOO