This little fishy

Gammaw and Papaw put in a new pool last fall. Between the lake and the pool, my children had morphed into little fish. Ethan love, love, loves the water. He loves to jump in, dive, and splash. He is never without his goggles. Erica received a special swimsuit for her birthday that helps her stay afloat; it has really boosted her confidence in the water. And Ellie, oh Ellie . . . she will dive in if you are ready or not.

Erica and Ally wear showing off their skills. Both girls are getting more and more comfortable in the water.

Ethan's future senior picture.

Buening grandkids minus Max and his baby sister (coming in November) -- Jake, Ellie, Ally, Erica, Ethan, and Beau

A favorite of all the Buening children -- being tossed as high as possible into the air

Hey Batter, Batter!

Once again, Paul coached Ethan and Erica's little league teams. Erica was old enough to play t-ball this year, and she seems to be really enjoying her season. She also likes to be the bat girl for Ethan's games. Ellie and I enjoy cheering on all of them. Sometimes our cheering section is doubled with grandparents, but nevertheless, it has been a fun and exciting season. An added challenge for mommy . . . getting their WHITE baseball pants cleaned before the next game--they love sliding into the bases and diving for a ground ball.

Hitting another "home run" for the Cubs . . . every at-bat is a home run according to Erica

Coach Daddy and his all-star

In Ethan's league, the coach pitches a few pitches before letting the batters hit off of a tee. Ethan has had a few great hits off of Coach Bart and lots of great hits off of the tee.

Ethan certainly hustles after the ball. He is getting more accurate with each throw. I am certain he did NOT learn that from me.

Daddy helped coach the Mariners.

Wonderful World of Erica

Style Dance Academy held its annual recital recently. But, I have to say that this was the best one yet. Erica participated in the Wonderful World of Style recitial for her tumbling class. She really enjoyed her class and looked forward to it each week. Likewise, Paul and I really looked forward to her recital. Erica was so proud to have an audience cheering for her.

Check out that trophy!!

It's Bear's Birthday!

Erica is four years-old. I can't believe that my bundle of pink is four. We celebrated her birthday in Style. First, we cheered her on at her first tumbling recital and then headed home with our family to celebrate. Erica had everything she wanted at her birthday . . . her cousins and a slip and slide party.

The slip and slide is always better with an extra push from Papaw.

Erica wanted her cousin to help her with presents. Ally was happy to help.

Logan, Ellie, Erica, goofy Ethan, and Ally were ready for cake.

Erica with her Tinkerbell cake created by B'maw.

Of course, we had to celebrate again on her actual birthday. We had presents, a trip to the toy store to spend birthday money, a t-ball game, all topped off with ice cream.

Happy Birthday Bear! Oh, how we love you!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Happy Birthday Daddy! We love you so muches!

Today was Paul's 32nd birthday. He had the day off so we were able to enjoy the day together as a family. He had to open presents that the kids selected especially for him. He received water balloons, a princess puzzle, and a horse. He was delighted as he unwrapped each of his special gifts. We love you so much Daddy!

500 Festival Parade

We had a new adventure. Our family attended the 500 Festival Parade for the first time (Ethan's 2nd time). We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and our seats. . . shaded and in the front row! Ellie caught the eye of many parade participants. She and Ethan even had the opportunity to hold the strings on one of the balloons. We were so close to many "celebrities" . . . Butler's Basketball team, Florence Henderson, and Ashley Judd just to name a few. The girls sitting behind us were so star struck when they spotted Kim Kardashian and her mother passing just feet in front of us. However, their excitement was nothing compared to Ellie's excitement when she spotted Elmo.

Ellie was in awe of the whole parade.

We had to get Danica Patrick's picture because Ethan has a replica of her car.

Daddy's girl

although, Ellie found she liked sitting with Robbie also

eventual race winner, Dario Franchitti and his wife

Baha Men, the singers of one of our favorite songs

We had a fantastic outing as a family. Ethan and Ellie enjoyed the sights and sounds of the parade. Erica enjoyed the snacks that she sweet-talked Daddy into purchasing for her.
Paul and I enjoyed the memories that we made with our children. It was a great day.

My Kindergarten Graduate

Where, oh where has the time gone? My Ethan "graduated" from kindergarten. I am amazed at how much he has grown this year. My little guy has matured in ways that I didn't even know possible. I guess that his teacher was very insightful by picking a gardening theme.

After Ethan's class entertained the families, we watched a short video created by their teacher. The very first song on the slide show was "Let them be Little." Needless to say, this mommy (and B'maw) were in tears, as was every other mommy and grandma in the room. My little guy is all grown up, and most importantly, he LOVES school. For that, we can't thank Ms. Welch enough.

The Class of 2022
Ethan loves Ms. Welch

This is one proud mommy and daddy!

Happy 80th

Great-Grandpa Moeller celebrated his 80th birthday earlier this month with his family around him.

Picture this: Ben and Jerome and the other men are cooking up a storm, the ladies are talking about upcoming graduation parties, weddings, and babies and the children are running from the trampoline to the gator to the hammock to the creek back to the gator maybe stopping to get a bite to eat. Birthday cake is the only thing slowing them down. It's a usual get-together at the Moeller Farm. It wouldn't be a family gathering if at least one child didn't end up in the creek, and that one child happen to be Ethan. It was cold that afternoon, too cold for a dip in the creek!

The slide is fast if you can't tell from her hair.

Oh, and did you read her shirt? It states the obvious, My Mom Rocks. (Thanks Kim!)

Gammaw and her babies

Ethan 6, Ally 4, Erica 3, Jake 2, Ellie 2, Max 1, and Beau 8 months

It's Buggies' Birthday!

Ellie ~ May 2008

Time sure flies when you are having fun, and we have had lots of it in the last 730 days. I can't believe that my baby girl is two. She was ecstatic that the chorus of "Happy Birthdays" were directed at her.

Ellie ~ May 2010

Happy Birthday Ellie Buggies! We celebrated and celebrated!

Ellie and Ethan celebrated their 2nd and 6th birthdays with our family. Thank goodness for B'maw. She whipped out the two cakes like it was nothing in a couple hours. Ellie loved her "giraffey cake" as did Ethan and his Super Mario Brothers cake. Great job B'maw!

Make a wish

Daddy to the rescue.

Present time

We then had to celebrate on her birthday with ice cream and more presents.

Ellie love, love, loves her water table.

She even hiked her leg up to put her foot in the water, shoes and all. I guess she is like me, she likes splashing her feet in the water.

Everyone loved Ellie's new toy.

One of Life's Simple Joys

What could be better than a bowl of ice cream on a warm spring night?