Jackson and the big boy bed

You can see he LOVES sleeping in it!  He has done really well since I took this picture back in early June.  But sometimes I still find him right at the gate.  Shannon Phelps and your shower group:  this gate was a great gift 9 years ago!!!  We are still using it!  Thank you again!

Inside Out Beginner's Camp

 I dropped 3 of my lovelies off at camp in late May.  Matt was Collin's counselor and they both were super excited!

Katie was THRILLED to be old enough to go to camp!!  She loved every minute of it!!  And she and big brother are still talking about camp:  the singing, the praying, the Bible classes, the swimming and the food!

Jackson and I had lots of fun together while they were all gone.  We took apart the crib...sniff, sniff.  We learned to go to bed in our big boy bed!!  We swam.  And we learned that this year Jackson likes the pool!  We went on walks.  It hailed some massive grapefruit sized hail and tornado sirens went off.  And I decided to tackle a large project that is still not finished!  Pictures of that to come soon.

First swim of the summer

 was Memorial Day weekend.  The pool was a bit chilly.

But Collin and Katie didn't care.  Here's to a great summer of swimming!  And bonus:  this year Jackson likes the water!!  Although I don't have proof with a picture.

The Abilene Zoo

 The Bowden cousin (all but Collin) at the Abilene Zoo!

 This is the best thing about the Abilene Zoo!!  You can cross a bridge over the giraffes and feed them!  Been doing this since I was a little kid!

 Biggest disappointment (for Jackson) was that there was NO elephant!

Nicest surprise at the Abilene Zoo:  a peacock greeting us in full fanfare!

My Momma's Retirement Party!

 Jackson, Katie and I left right after morning kindergarten to head to Abilene, Tx to attend my mom's "surprise" retirement party.  About 2 hours from my parent's house, Jackson began to throw up.  I stopped and cleaned up him/carseat/van as best I could and continued on.  Let's just say this drive was not fun as he threw up a few more times before we reached my parents house!  Here is Grammy holding our sick Jackson!

 My mom began teaching at Wylie High School in 1974.  Here is one her favorite students from the 70s!  She taught Chemistry, Physics, PreCalculus and Trygonometry - I'm not sure I can spell Tryg.  She is one smart cookie!

 Most of my mom's family came into town for her "surprise" retirement party.  The fact that they came WAS a surprise!  This is one of my mom's aunts!  Hello Aunt Sandy!

 My mom's baby brother!  Hello Uncle Gene!

 In 1995 my mother became the principal at Lawn Elementary/Middle School just outside Abilene.  Remember Colt McCoy??  She was his middle school principal.  Here she is receiving recognition from this small town's Library for helping create their story hour in the summer.

 Later in the evening, Jim Ned Schools presented a lovely slide show of her Jim Ned years.  It was pretty fantastic.  My mom is awesome!  I really didn't know ALL that she did for that school.  It was lots.  And she is fantastic and cutting edge and oh I want to be 1/2 as good as her!!  But I'm just bragging now!

 My mom and one of her favorite students from the 90's and a teacher who began teaching with her back in the 70s.

 Katie Koosh enjoying the party!

 Jackson finally had to be put in the stroller as he was seen repeatedly pushing down his younger but larger cousin Grayson!  Sorry cousin!  Hopefully that was just a one day phase!

Many, many people collected money to send my mom and dad off on a vacation.  And you know what?  They left.  The Saturday after school was out and flew to Lake Tahoe!  Yay Momma and Daddy!  We are so thrilled for my parents that retirement is here!  It's here also for my dad as he "retired" a while ago.  But now that my mom has officially retired, he really is too!  Hopefully they will burn the road (or airways) many times between Abilene and OKC!  Love you Momma and Daddy!  See ya next week!

Field Trip to the Governor's Mansion

 I've had the Governor's Mansion tour on our list since last summer.  But they don't give tours in the summer.  And they only do them on the first and third Wednesday every month.  So, off we went on the 3rd Wednesday of May.  This was my last opportunity while taking only 1 child out of school!

 It was worth it!  It is a really neat, old house.

 I love this table!  It's made from a barn door!  They did not let us tour the upstairs part because the family was in town.  But they did invite us back for Septemberfest and we will surely put that on our calendar to see if we can make it!

 This was labeled "Survivor Tree"  I think it's a part of the tree at the Oklahoma Bombing Memorial.  But I'm not sure.

 On the front porch of the mansion.

 Looking across to the Oklahoma shaped pool!  It was a hot May day, so we all wanted to go jump in the pool and go down the slide!

And right there is our state capitol.  Jackson Bill Round 2 begins after the summer elections.  Friends, let's make some changes.

Mother's Day

 Don't we just look picture perfect here?  I LOVE my kids!  They are so much fun and so much work and I LOVE being a mom!

And I'm glad Matt snapped this photo just a few seconds later.  This might be a better representation of the real us.  Collin - upset probably about something sister did, Jackson - ready to get this picture stuff over with so he can play, Katie - must have found something on her hand she needed to sniff, Me - smiling and oblivious to it all!  Happy Mother's Day to me!