School's OUT!!!!

Yay! The last day of school finally came! The kids elementary school has this tradition of the teachers lining up on either side of the walkway, and blowing bubbles as the students walk out. Then they all gather in the grass circle and continue to blow bubbles and wave goodbye as the buses drive around the circle a few times honking their horns in celebration of the end of the school year. It's always really fun! My kids don't ride the bus, I drive them, and decided this year that we were going to join in the bubble fun. I bought an automatic bubble blower, and Ronan sat in the front seat and had them blowing out as we drove up. The bubbles were all over the 'car riders' waiting to be picked up-they loved it. Then we drove past the teachers in the grass circle and blew bubble all over them as well! The teachers thought it was great! They loved the 'automatic' bubble idea, and frankly I'm kind of shocked none of them had thought of it yet! We then had the bubbles blowing out the window the whole way home-it was a fun end to the school year!

Then tonight was Swim Team pictures for Hayden & Morgan. It was SO HOT while we were waiting! They let everyone jump in the pool once the photos were done, only Duncan, Ashlyn, Madelyn & I didn't have our suits! So, I quickly grabbed Hayden & Morgan out of the pool, called Brian, had him & Ronan meet us at the neighborhood pool with our suits, and jumped in there! Unfortunately they closed only 20 min. after we got there, but we just wanted to get in-and it felt great! Tomorrow the pools start staying open later! Hooray for summer, it's finally here!!!!!

Couldn't wait...

For school to get out....

So I took them out!  Tomorrow is the last day of school, but today was so hot and after Duncan's Kindergarten graduation, I just decided to take everyone out of school early and head to the river! We left at 10:30am and stayed until 3:00pm. We all had a blast! In fact even I took a nap when we got home-that's a good day out! Here's some pictures of our fun:

Hayden in the raft floating down.

Ashlyn & Morgan floating down in their tubes.

Ronan hanging out. He found fish and a water snake while we were there.

Duncan eating some of his lunch in the river. It was just too hot to wait!

Happy little Madelyn!

Morgan, Ronan, & Ashlyn playing in the water.

I think I just might be more excited than the kids for school to let out! I can't wait for the adventures we're going to have this summer! Mostly involving water!

Only one more day.....I think I can make it!

Kindergarten graduation!!!

Duncan graduated from Kindergarten today! I can't believe how big he is!

                       

Duncan and his teacher Mrs. Burnnett

Duncan's class getting ready to sing to us. I'm sad that I didn't notice that I was out of focus! Oh well! They sang 3 songs, then we watched a slide show that covered their Kindergarten year. I started crying when I saw him on the first day......he's grown so much in a year! It was a great celebration and I'm so proud of Duncan!

I've only got 2 more Kindergarten graduations left......time is going by TOO fast!

And the braces are off....

Before....

After....

Today Ronan got his braces off! Happy Day! He was SO excited, he got to eat corn on the cob for dinner!

We went and had a picnic at the river for dinner, and brought a few neighbor kids with us.  Then everyone jumped in and had a blast in the water! Madelyn and I just sat in the middle of the river for a while, it felt so good! Then I also took a turn floating town on a tube- I LOVED IT! So relaxing! Brian & I are talking about floating to the inner harbor this summer, we'll have to see how those plans materialize.

A few shots of the kids having fun at the river

Happy Father's Day!!

I forgot to pull my camera out yesterday (what's new these days), but we had a good Father's Day. A bit of a crazy one, Hayden was nervous about his first time teaching the Deacon's, Ronan was just too excited to sit still at all at church, and I didn't get to sit in a meeting AT ALL thanks to active & loud little Madelyn! But, we had fun at home with the kids giving Brian their gifts/cards, yummy breakfast, and even a Father's Day nap! Ashlyn made Brian this tie in nursery at church, and he wore it to work today! She LOVED it! HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

A day in the Inner Harbor

Tuesday Ronan finished his last day of school, and as a celebration he wanted to go to the Aquarium in Baltimore. So, he, I & the little girls set off for a day out in Baltimore. Now for this trip I actually did NOT forget my camera, I left it at home on PURPOSE! Why might you ask? Because although I love the Aquarium, STROLLERS ARE NOT ALOWED! This I find to be quite a hindering rule. There have been many times that I have NOT gone to the Aquarium because I would have too many children on my own, and NONE of them STRAPPED in! Well, with only 3 children in tow today, I figured it was a task I could undertake! I put Madelyn in the backpack (which killed me by the end of the day), Ronan wore his school backpack packed with diapers and our lunch, and then I had hands free to keep Ashlyn close by. I KNEW that bringing my camera and trying to take photos was just beyond my abilities today if I was going to keep my sanity. So, again, IPhone comes through in a pinch!

Ashlyn's favorite exhibit was the 'Nemo fish'. She could of stood here ALL day and watched the clown fish swim around!

Ashlyn spotted a tortoise while leaning over the fence rail in the Amazon exhibit!

We found lots of 'scarwy sharks'

Because we have had a membership to the Aquarium off an on for many years now, we have seen the dolphin show TOO many times. I still got tickets to it, just in case Ronan or Ashlyn wanted to go, but they both voted NO. Instead we enjoyed watching the dolphins from the glass tank below the show! For anyone who hasn't gone, it is a GOOD show, but there can be too much of a good thing is all!

After the Aquarium, Ashlyn begged to to on the "Submawine and go to da bottom of da ocean!" So, I couldn't say no, and we toured the  'Tursk' as well.

VERY TIGHT living quarters here!

Madelyn enjoyed finding anything to pull, turn, or touch!

We had a GREAT day out, and came home EXHAUSTED! Ronan asked when we pulled into the garage, "So, now do we get to sleep for 50 hours?" Oh how I wished! Why did we do this on a Thursday?  I had piano lessons & Swim team practice to take Morgan to, farm share to pick up,  Boy/Cub Scouts tonight, and blood to give at the blood drive!!! I collapsed at about 9:30pm that night! 

(Never did get to give blood because of time spent in Germany as a kid-apparently Mad Cow Disease was there too at that time. I had no idea.)

Oh what do you do in the summer time...?

Do you fish in a stream, or lazily dream on the banks as the clouds go by?

Well, we hang out at the river!

Our family traditionally LOVES all things WATER. Be it the beach, the pool, the lake, the stream, the backyard hose, or even just the tub! If there is water involved, the Mahaffey's enjoy doing it! We have always enjoyed playing in the stream or river at Patapsco State Park, and recently discovered a new favorite spot there! It is perfect for us, it's where a small stream meets the larger river. Thus, the little girls can play safely in the stream, while the big kids can play in the river!

Ashlyn & Madelyn having fun and being cute!

Hayden, Morgan, Duncan, & Ronan spent their time floating down the river, then walking back up stream to do it over again! At one point Brian took them floating for a while down river, and I picked them up in the car. Such a fun summertime thing to do!

My cutie who I love!

I was impressed at how Madelyn was just all over the rocks. She climbed up and over, around and was just having a ball!

My little doll face.

I LOVE these next few photos of her, such a ham.....

Couldn't you just eat her up?!

Duncan either pulling Morgan, or holding the tether so she doesn't float away with the current (which was very mild).

Ronan and his prized craw-dad that he caught.

Wood found in water, that was just begging to be played with!

We met some folks there with a small inflatable boat going down the river.......got to get one of those! 

I LOVE YOU SUMMER DAYS!

Found on my camera.....

Here' a few fun things I found on my camera when downloading....

Someone decided to snap a photo of the girls at breakfast...

I LOVE Ashlyn's face here.

There's a happier Ashlyn...

Duncan helped me unload our produce from our crop share program, I guess it was picture worthy....!

I love to find things on my camera that the kids thought to take pictures of!

Clark's Farm....

We spent the day at the farm today. It was SO fun. We pet the animals, went on a hay ride, had a picnic, and played on the fun play sets! I was so upset that I forgot my camera (which I seem to do a LOT these days), but am thankful for my phone, so I could at least capture a few moments!

Ashlyn & Madelyn & the goats.

Ashlyn petting the goat.

Ashlyn & Ronan by the emu, and Madelyn with the goats

                                  Ashlyn & the goat     

   Ronan & Ashlyn in the mouth of the whale!

Madelyn is 1!!!!

My last baby girl turned 1 today!!! I can't believe it!

The kids thought she would enjoy a pink cake, so we made strawberry cake with the yummiest frosting ever! Cool whip, vanilla pudding & milk-heaven on top! I have this heart shaped cake pan that I always use for Valentines day, and thought it would be perfect for our little girl who we all LOVE to pieces!

She was so excited to have all the attention (like she doesn't always have it)! We sang 'Happy Birthday' to her at least 10 times today, because she would laugh & dance every time we did! It was SO cute!

Happy Birthday baby girl!

Madelyn is.....

Lovable,

Hugable,

The easiest going baby ever,

The center of attention in a house of 8,

Our source of joy, laughter, and sweetness,

Able to wake anyone up in the morning with out reprieve (this is BIG for some of her brothers)

My last baby, who I can't believe is growing so fast!

What would we ever of done with out our little Madelyn! We are SO happy that she is part of our family!!!

A Mustache...

This is what you get when you have washable markers and an imagination.....

A fun mustache face with daddy!

Memorial Weekend 2010

We headed out to the beach for the Memorial Day holiday.  I took the kids out of school early, we loaded up and headed out. We visited our normal spot in Delaware.

We spent Saturday at the beach, and it was perfect weather. Warm, but not HOT. The clouds came and went, and it was just a great day to be out! The ocean isn't quite warm enough yet to be in constantly in May, so we did a lot of sand play (which my kids love). Of course because children have not nerve endings it seems when it comes to cold water, they did get in the water, but Brian, Madelyn & I stayed pretty dry for the day!

Duncan playing around in the surf.

Duncan & Morgan w/her name in the sand....

Hayden spent a good portion of the day building and rebuilding his 'sea wall' as the tide would come and take it down! 

Madelyn has a blast playing in the sand, and not so much was eaten this time around!

Ashlyn hung close to me most of the day. We would find out the next morning that she wasn't feeling too well. We woke up to the poor girl sleeping in her dried throw-up-how lovely! So, we cleaned her up and determined that she wasn't feeling well enough to stay decided to head home. The older kids were disappointed, but after a quick reminder of their sick little sister things went well. I'm glad we came back early, as she was pretty sick for the next 2 days as well. Poor thing!

Every time we come home from the beach, we pass this place with awesome play sets. This time we stopped to see if they sold kits for them. No, they don't, but I did find this castle play set online. It has a slide off the back, a fireman's pool inside, 2 swings and a climbing rope....thinking we might need to look into getting one-very fun!

On Memorial Day Monday, we took the kids to the pool and had a great cookout with our neighbors! It was an overall fun weekend, and Ashlyn was happy despite her sickness!