so far...

so far this summer we've been...

learning to play the piano

swimming

working on math

what?

that's right.

must be related to ryan.

genius!

i found a great idea in the family fun magazine for getting kids to do chores. i am the worst at making my kids do things around the house. hence, the beds are never made in the morning and i usually end up making them or they just stay messy all day.

this is not the way i was raised! my mom threatened to come to school and bring us home to make our beds if they weren't made before we left.
so, the great idea is shown above. each sweetie has a jar and they can put in a pebble when they have completed a job. each job can be done multiple times a week and some jobs are worth more than others. when the jar is full they earn a reward.
so far (just started this morning) it's been a huge success!
the girls are super excited and i'm hoping the excitement doesn't completely fade. i'm also hoping that it will make our house a little more organized and happier this summer.

glen park field trip

today i was able to join afton and the rest of the 3rd grade on a soil erosion field trip. we went to glen park, which is an amazing park with a beautiful waterfall hidden in a neighborhood a couple of miles from our house. it's really lovely to drive down that street and look over to see gushing water falling. i didn't realize what i had signed up for. i thought we'd just be walking around the park looking at dirt. well i was sorely mistaken. we climbed rocks, we crossed streams, explored a forested area, and did i mention crossing streams? the group of girls i looked out for really loved crossing streams by jumping from rock to rock!
here are the 3 cutest 3rd grade girls!
i had no idea afton loved hiking and climbing rocks so much. we are definitely going to take ryan and ella there to show them around.

i am so glad i was able to put on my brave, adventurous feet and follow these girls around. it was a very fun and new experience for me!

team hulse

saturday was a special day for me. i got to be with my family and lots of friends to celebrate!
i even got to hug the mayor of buffalo. good ole byron brown.

no more breast cancer for these ladies!

super racers-all decked out.

painted face-check

race bib-check

team hulse headband-check

pink flower in place-check

supportive, wonderful family and friends who i love!

oh dear.

so, saturday we ran the susan g komen race for the cure (5k). we got a little team together and made pink fabric flower pins, and ryan's mom used her amazing powers to produce "team hulse" embroidered headbands. we got a lot of comments about our cute headbands!

we arrived early to have a team photo taken, then wandered around collecting free stuff. the little girls loved that part!

i was able to be part of a breast cancer survivors photo, which was an emotional experience for me. there were probably close to 100 women in that photo. we all wore the pink "survivor" tshirt. it felt good to stand together and know that we had all been through some hard times but we'd made it through. it was a great release for me to finally be able to cry a little about this whole experience.

later there was a survivors parade. we lined up and walked onstage to hug the local women newsanchors. i felt like rolling my eyes a little bit about that. i'm not sure why we needed to hug these people. i guess i would have rather had some doctors up there to hug. then i hugged the mayor of buffalo and received a pink carnation.

then we lined up to run. that was the best part for so many reasons. i had my sweeties with me and my friends with me, except my sweet eliza who opted for a root canal instead!

the brinton family was also there, but did the one mile walk because megan is getting close to having their third baby!

my friends carolyn and crescent, who are true runners took off for the front of the line. they ran the race in just over 20 minutes! tara, rachel, baby oliver, vanessa and cassie all ran ahead and finished in great time as well! the hulse and gruwell families ran together for a little bit, then stacie and i took off to run. we ran a mile or so and then my asthma got crazy and i had to walk most of the rest of the way. i was really frustrated because i wanted to run! but i think the humidity had something to do with it.

so matt, ashlan and afton stayed together with kate in the stroller. they made good time and no one had to be carried or pushed in the stroller!!!!!

ryan, ella and elli stayed together and the girls traded off running and then riding on ryan's shoulders!

i got to finish the race 3 times as we walked back to meet up with matt and the girls, and then ryan and the little girls.

it was a great day and i appreciate my family and friends being so willing to participate in this with me.

tara says next year we need a tent and sponsors for the event. oh, boy!

ballet recital

friday night...the night aftie has been working so hard for each thursday evening for the past 8 or so months. the big performance night was finally here! a quick pose minutes before...
finally, her parents got their acts together and brought flowers for her this year. afton has been so disappointed the past couple of years that we haven't brought flowers for her the night of the recital. we finally came through, with a dozen pink roses, i might add. good work, ry.

afton's class danced to 'what a wonderful world'. they had the most beautiful costumes and gave the most beautiful performance. afton did a great job and loved this year of ballet. she loved her teacher, ms. sam, and the class assistant, miss casey.

for the summer she has decided to focus on swimming and tennis. but she will definitely be back in the dance studio in the fall. she loves to dance!!!

great job this year, aftie girl!

fun run

today we did a family fun run around delaware park. it was 1.8 miles, a good practice for next saturday's 5k. the girls did great! afterwards all race participants got free admission into the zoo, so we ran and played with friends today and had a great time!

memorial day

i always find this scene truly beautiful.

this is the forest lawn cemetary in buffalo. there is an entire section of the cemetary devoted to veterans of many different wars/conflicts. every memorial day people come to the cemetary to place american flags at each grave.

this is what it looks like when we start the walk back to the car, after all the flags have been placed. really breathtaking.

the patriotic and grateful hulse family.

carefully placing the flags.