Lauren caught dinner!

Lauren and her friend Mackenzie went out fishing near Sanibel Island yesterday...they had a great time.

Fun day at the beach

Lauren at the beach on Sanibel Island yesterday.
We haven't spent a whole day at the beach in a
couple years and we have the burnt skin to prove it.

We can easily spot the areas we missed when applying the SPF 50.

Lets hope the oil doesn't come in and spoil that beautiful
green water behind her.

Another Laurenism

I stopped at a local sandwich shop and got myself a sandwich and Lauren got hot wings. Lauren asked for a piece of my sandwich and then said:

"This Chicken Salad is the best Tuna I've ever eaten"

........only Lauren

The cast is off!

The cast came off yesterday. Things are looking good. I am excited that Lauren can shower herself once again!

The good news...it's not broken...but...

Lauren was still in pain so we took her to get xrays and the wrist is not broken but the Dr. recommended putting a cast on it so the tendons can repair themselves.

She will be in it for 3 weeks.

Ben is feeling better...thank goodness.

Shoebox Jungle

Lauren was given a project for school last week where she had to create a jungle from a shoebox.

She got an "A" .

She is growing up...and I don't like it

Today Lauren and I were at the grocery store. We only needed a couple things and my time was limited, so I wanted to walk faster than usual.

I reached back to hold Lauren's hand but couldn't find it. I looked back and she was intentionally keeping her hand out of my reach.

I said, "Lauren are we not holding hands anymore", she looked at me and said "I don't want to".

At 9 she is now too big to hold her Mom's hand in a store.

I am raising an independant young lady and for that I am grateful, but I sure will miss my little girl.

Smiles, Lynne

Silly Lauren

Cute, Cute, Cute

Lauren babysat Bentley the neighbors puppy last night.

Cookie Dough Fundraiser for Lauren's school

This is the one fundraiser I do not mind buying from! Lauren's school is selling Otis Spunkmeyer cookie dough.

This is a local delivery thing, sorry all my Maine peeps.

You can get a 2.7 lb bucket of cookie dough for $12.00
or 48qty 1-oz preportioned cookies for $14.00

Flavors choices are:
Choc. Chunk
Oatmeal Rasin
Peanut Butter
White Chunk Macadamia Nut
M&M's
Sugar
Snickerdoodle

Reduced Fat: Preportioned only $14
Choc.Chip
Oatmeal Rasin

Apple Raisin Cinnamon-preportioned only $14


You can also order:
Double ChocChip Brownie Tray $14
Cafe Au Lait Brownie Tray $14
12 Gourmet soft Pretzels $14

All of these(except the brownies) are packaged so you only cook what you want to eat and save the rest for another day.

40% of every purchase goes to the school
100% of the taste goes to you!

**All items will be delivered on April 3rd.**

If you would like to place an order with Lauren, Please call me or post a reply here and I will contact you.

Smiles, Lynne

Lauren is "9"

Yesterday was Lauren's 9th birthday.

She had a blast with her friends from school

and some friends from the neighborhood.

It was too cold to swim but they had a bunch of fun at the community clubhouse playground.

Lauren got a new bike from Mom,Dad,Grammie and David. It has gears and she loves it!

(She does wear a helmet, I just wanted no helmet for the picture. So no hate mail please!).

Well this is a new one!

Lauren brought home a notice on Tuesday that said that there was a child with head lice in the class.

So......

she is now in a greased up bun.

Don't let the smile fool you, she was not happy about this, but she liked it better than the idea of lice.

I took the picture for two reasons...first, she just looked so darn cute. Second, I am not sure if I will ever see her hair pulled up again.

Smiles, Lynne

A big Thank You from Lauren

Lauren wants to thank everyone who donated to her school fundraiser for Heart Disease.

Lauren exceeded her goal and raised $40.00!

Thanks again! Lynne and Lauren

Jump Rope for Heart...minus the jump rope

Lauren's school is raising money for the American Heart Association to help find a cure for Heart Disease and Strokes. The fundraiser is called Jump Rope for Heart Disease however this is a fundraiser...no rope jumping will be taking place, not sure why.

Her goal is to raise at least $30.00.

I know it is very hard to participate in fundraisers during such a hard economic time for all of us, but I am asking that if you could donate just a couple dollars we could help be a part of something very BIG!

Two weeks ago, Lauren had to sell coupon books for a school fundraiser at $30.00 each. I did not even ask for people to participate in such an expensive thing.

I feel that this one is something that everyone can do. $1.00 or $2.00 can help Lauren reach her goal. (How is that for guilt?)

Most of you have my address. If you need it, just post a comment here or send an email and I will give it to you.

If you prefer to donate directly on the American Heart Association website, Lauren has her own webpage there at:
http://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=284657&supId=234531056

NOTE***To donate on the Web...your donation must be $25.00 or more.***

Thank you for helping such a good cause.

Smiles, Lynne and Lauren

Lauren's Face 10 days later

Amazing how fast she has healed! If you notice in picture #2 you can see the line on her lip where she had the stitches when she fell from the tree a couple years ago. This girl sure does keep me on my toes!

12 hours later...

Lauren didn't bruise like I expected, but she did swell more than I thought she would. It actually looks much more swollen than the pictures shows. Just a typical day around here.

Smiles, Lynne

It was just a matter of time...

We knew it was her "turn". We knew it was coming. We just didn't know what or when.

Well....now we do. Lauren has found a new way to injure her pretty face.

She said, "you can take pictures but I'm not smiling for you".



At least there was no hospital visit.
Lauren came home looking like this after a day of playing with the neighborhood kids.
She says she fell off a skateboard. "It just stopped, Mom!"
Funny thing was, she was carrying her helmet! Good grief. Just when I thought we were going to have some down time from injuries.
Keeps my life interesting!

If she bruises more, I'll be sure to take photos.
Smiles, Lynne

New Pictures!

I managed to get a few new pictures of the kids today.

Now, these two know that when I say it's time to take pictures that it will be about 2 hours of "turn like this" or " why aren't you smiling?" so as you can guess neither of them wanted to participate.



I did manage to get a few good ones although I will probably re-do the ones of them together.

Campout: Florida style

Lauren and Nate had a blast sleeping out in the tent on the lanai last night. Nate is staying with us this week while his parents are in Michigan. They asked if they could have a sleepout and this seemed like the perfect solution.

Smiles, Lynne

Happy 8th Birthday Lauren!

Today is Lauren's 8th Birthday. My baby is eight. How does that happen?

She was born at 12:45 in the afternoon and she had to wait until 12:45 pm today before she would admit that she was eight.

Lauren has a very independent spirit about her. She does not follow anyone's lead. She is a thinker (sometimes too much). She has a whole bunch of my characteristics such as, analyzing everything to death. She also has picked up my sarcasm. Like me, She is very much a people pleaser (I am concerned about this, she needs to find balance).

If your wondering if she has any of Rob's characteristics, the answer is yes she does. She is very quick with a joke. Very funny to be around and people are drawn to her. She can fish in the rain for hours without realizing the sun has set. She is a great fisherman(girl).

Rob and I are very proud of her and the young lady she has turned into.

I have included some photos from today. I hope you enjoy them.

Smiles, Lynne