And now may I present to you...

Summer.

Today was the last day of school. It was a busy day. Tate had Field Day all morning. If you remember, he was embarrassed to have one of us volunteer. So we both went. Muahaha! Actually, I just went to pick up Lulu who thought middle school field day was pretty fun...
In the past I have made memory books for the teachers with pictures of each student or something like that as an end of the year gift. Now I have four kids, so I did this instead...
Summer Survival kits. Easy and affordable.Then it was time for the closing "ceremony" at the elementary school (consisting of Beach Boys songs and the school cheer)...
Ya know what's crazy? At the ceremony on the first day of school this year, Lulu looked like this...
Then it was time to say goodbye to teachers, friends and another year of school...

And 15 minutes later, our backyard was hoppin'...
I love our tradition of a last day of school party. This year the theme was Summer Sundaes. I was excited how the invitations turned out...
I don't even need to do invitations. I could just call everyone and say "Don't forget the last day of school party at our house!". But why do I put the effort into it? Just because it pleasures me. Same with the decorations...

I saved money by having punch balloons double as decorations and favors...
I could have saved money by using Bounty napkins, but I fell in love with these...
It's been a great year for each of the kids in school and so it was fitting to end it with good times and great friends...
Lulu has a new favorite game. Wait for it...
Ta-da...
Guess I will be watching Lulu do this all summer long? I think I'm going to need the 6 extra hands and 6 extra eyes I'm going to have around here to help out!

Memorial Day was...

Remembering...
and Making Memories...
This weekend of Remembering and Making Memories was full of activity, fun, and family. We started the weekend by remembering Lulu's referral day with a family outing at Coldstone...
We are very lactose-tolerant...
Her Loveliness loved it...
On Memorial Day, we remembered Granddaddy as well as the men and women who have given their lives to preserve our freedom. There was a service at the cemetery where my Dad is buried to honor them. I love that I grew up in a military family and a military town...
We had fun making memories with family at Gunga's lake cabin...

Cousins are fun...
The weekend was capped off with a late-night visit from the Lewis family...
Aren't the girlies cute blowing kisses? But it wasn't cute that Lulu repeatedly swatted at Gracie (pictured above) saying "No!" while grabbing things out of her hands. Can you say D.I.V.A?

Memorial Day weekend was both meaningful and fun. And finally, for your viewing pleasure...
I am going to be in SO much trouble with the well-coiffed wonder for posting that picture, but I love it. I think this boy is cute, cute, cute and I can rarely get pictures of him anymore. Sorry, pal.

She had us at "Hello"

May 28, 2009 was a memorable day for our family, to say the least. It was the day we received a blessed phone call. The day we saw a precious smile. The day our hearts were stolen (never to be given back) by this baby girl, Rediet(meaning "Blessings")...
You can read about it here. One year later, that same girl sits on the couch where we first saw her face...
She plays with the phones we received the momentous calls on...
Today she is more than a darling face, she is our daughter and we delight in her...
Sigh.

But as always with adoption, there are two stories. Halfway around the world a grandmother, fresh with grief, relinquished her beloved to an orphanage. And then on May 28th, a family exuberant with joy, had a face to put to their dreams. I will never be able to comprehend how these both live in tension. But they do. And they must.

Her name is Luci May Rediet Kollar. She is named "May", not just for the incredible day when saw her face, but for all that the month of May means in her life, as well as ours. The loss and the beauty. The joy and the pain. Relinquishment and adoption. May is the month she was relinquinshed...

And the month she was matched with us and we with her...

Both are a part of her, though neither define her. And every step of the way she was held. Not just by her Ethiopian Mommy, her Ethiopian Grandmother, the caregivers, and us. She was held by a God who sees and who cares.

And He saw fit to allow us to hold her in our hearts and our arms forever. May 28,2010: not just loved from afar, but held close and dear...

There is no such thing as a lame excuse to party

Though this season of Idol has been lackluster in many ways, I was happy with the end result. I kind of thought Crystal should win, but I still wanted Lee to win. Ever since he hiked up the back of his pants in an early performance, I was sold.

It didn't really matter that I wasn't that into this season. I am not going to miss an opportunity to party. So I started making my plans for a Finale Party like we had last year. The only problem was I barely knew anyone watching this season to invite. But Grandma joined us...
And Emmie's sweet friend Faith...
Notice how the girls are outside. Most of the time the kids didn't even watch the Finale. And when they did they would say things like "Who are those old guys singing on stage?". Old guys= Darryl Hall and John Oates, the two remaining Bee Gee's, and the senior citizens formerly known as Chicago.

The Menu this year consisted of Chicken and Green ChiLee Dip ( Bill and Em's favorite dip that they call HeavenLee Dip)...
Spinach TorteLeeni Salad...
(It's supposed to be bowtie pasta in the salad, but clearly I had to make an adjustment given the occasion.)

StromboLee...
And Cheesy BroccoLee...
Umm, about the broccoli. Due to preparing the rest of the food while trying to watch the Finale, I sort of let the broccoli steam for endless days. So I had to turn it into creamed broccoli. It actually tasted yummy despite the fact that it looked barfy. Literally.

And to drink, of course, Crystal Light with crystal glasses...
Not much you can do with a name like Bowersox.

And now for my Season 10 Memoir...
Auditions:
Though we didn't even watch the auditions, every once in awhile someone in the family will spontaneously break into "Pants on the ground". Never Bill.

Coaches:
Harry Connick was the stand out coach. Shania was sweet. Miley Cyrus was a joke. And Adam Lambert? Really?

Contestants:
Emmie loved Didi. She cried when she departed. Tate tried to comfort her by saying, "That's how I felt when Bucky got kicked off." (True.) It got her to laugh anyway.

It's really not fair that Casey James has prettier hair that I could even dream of having.

Performances:
My mom crush on Justin Bieber was solidified by his performance on the show. Super cute. Love that little voice.

Love.love.love Michael McDonald.

Don't.don't.don't like performances where I have to tell my kids to close their eyes. Thank you very much Usher, Lady Gaga, and Ke$he.

Judges:
Does Randy Jackson even need glasses? The ones he wears don't even look like they have lenses in them sometimes.

Ellen. It started a little shaky like she had no clue what she was talking about. Then, it turned out that she really didn't have a clue what she was talking about. But that didn't matter. She really added something to the judge's table and to the show.

I was so glad to see Paula again. Isn't that crazy? She had become like family to me. The crazy relative at a family reunion, that is.

And yes, I teared up at Simon's farewell. Disturbing, but true.

I'm not gonna lie, it wasn't a grand affair. It was basically three people sitting on a couch, eating food with strange names, watching a TV show that has past it's prime, while kids swirled about. But we were home. We were together. And there was a lot of cheese involved. So, it was a good night.