I just noticed I didn't include a close-up of Aidan. No doubt he will love that I am sharing this picture with the world - well, he should have smiled nicely, then! he he

"Cuuuuuuute"

Trinity turned 2 on June 7th. She loves stuffed animals and can take care of all the stuffed animals in the WHOLE world! Ku Ku was a favorite right from the start! She arrived in the mail from Montana - thanks Great-Grandparents Herb and Mary!!!!

Shad turned 8 on June 13th. He had 3 parties this year, and Trinity had 3, too, or 4 - we just partied a lot for a whole week! His friend, Ronnie, from school came and played - Papa and Maama came out, Jon and Angie and Monique and Aria... then Elliott and Anna brought their family out with big bros. Andy and Phil - Nana came at least twice, too, bearing gifts for all! We were all blessed - Thank you!!!!!!!!

And what a great way to kick off summer vacation?! If the boys aren't playing K-Nex or building a Marble Tower, they're out hitting balls and biking, and then back in for some L-Max fun, and then trying the new robot out in different rooms - and Trinity has 2 new doggies, a new bunny, Ku Ku (of course), a Dora backpack, and some cool, new duds "pretty!" We have started the best summer ever!

And here's a sneak peak at the future... we just signed the Lease for our Maaco Collision and Auto Painting center to be built! So, watch for updates on the Build and all our family fun as we work together!!!! :-)

Go, Camten!!! He's practicing his skills at driving a Fire Truck, and as you might imagine, that's exciting!!!! Camten doesn't smile for the camera much these days... he's an opinionated little guy who likes to keep to himself, so this is a treasured shot!

Aidan and Shad had a great year of baseball!! I got a rare shot of Aidan being ready to catch the ball while the other T-Ballers were dinkin' around!!! ha! Aidan made great dirt volcanoes on the track and played with his mitt on his head or laid down in the outfield to watch the clouds enough to entertain all the parents (if not his coaches)! Luckily for all, T-Ball games are short!

Shad really got into his game, and learned how to catch and throw quickly and hit the ball over 50% of the time! His team, the A's, started winning more and more games until they made it to the Championship Game and got 2nd place over all! Since most of the team were first year out of T-ball, they were very proud of their hard effort. Jeremy and I learned the importance of supporting the players without getting emotionally "into it" with the opposing teams parents and coaches (or our own team, for that matter!) It was definitely an eventful year for the Armstrongs in Baseball! and we were sad when the season came to an end (although we got double ice cream cones meeting at Dairy Queen!)

We are very proud of both our boys!!

Ok, don't laugh!!! (Well, I will understand if you do! Jeremy does!) I am taking pictures of stuff I cook for my new Cookbook Scrapbook! I've got our favorite pancakes here, and Strawberry jam, now... but then I lost my camera! (I'm not sure who helped me on that one!) But don't worry! I made copies of my favorite thin wheat spaghetti box with the copier and scrapbooked another great page! yes, I am laughing at myself, but it is, by far, my favorite cookbook, even if it's not very big, yet!

SPRING HAS SPRUNG... and turned into summer already and I've been dinking around somewhere NOT keeping up on our AMAZING family blog! I have no idea where the time all slipped away....

We have a new driveway in the "upper field"! We (you like how I slip myself into this laborous task?)... WE dug a trench and installed a french drain to help control the natural springs that soggy things up in the winter, and then brought loads of rock and spread out this great driveway for all the cars that seem to need a parking spot all the time! (What's up with all the cars around here all the time, anyway?!)


Spring turns our attention to the outside yard and the beautiful flowers and bushes that wonderful people lovingly planted years ago. I love to take as much credit as possible for the amazing beauty everywhere - see? I've got some pots out there!

On May 5th, we celebrated 9 years of being married to the most wonderful person on the planet! (The feeling was mutual!!) Jeremy gave me the most beautiful roses.... he never forgets. We went out on a date for our Anniversary this year. I think we saw a movie... it doesn't matter. Dinner, movie, with our kids, on our own... it's nice being together all the time.

We love our home in Damascus, although, living on Sunnyside Rd, we don't get to see this view very often. At our house, the whole world that exists is in the back yard. If I angle the camera just right, it looks like we live in the woods! Well, with goats and peacocks and turkey-things and chickens at our neighbors, we definitely feel outside of the "city"!!