SUMMER!

I think with this 85 degree weather we can officially say it's summer.  The kids asked me to blow up their swimming pool today and within about 15 minutes we had 4 neighbor kids at the house.  (one is missing in the picture).  We have at least 1 of the 4 at our house on a regular basis but today the whole clan showed up.  Maybe they heard the air compressor?  :)  I love that they like to play here and especially that my kids prefer to play here most of the time.  

I'm trying to be patient and remember it's better to have a higher grocery bill and kids at YOUR house.  Almost every time we have kids over I watch Molly hand out popcicles, granola bars, juice boxes, pretty much whatever she can find.  

Ella turns 9!!

My not so little girl turned 9 on May 25th!  Makes me so sad and happy all at the same time that she is getting older and bigger.  For her birthday breakfast she wanted pancakes with cool whip and sprinkles and strawberry milk.

Dustin and I got her a BB gun.  I think she was happy and surprised.  Because her birthday was Sunday we didn't do much.  We had some friends over after church and a few family members to eat some cake but for the most part just hung out that day at home.

Tuesday was her birthday party.  I gave her 10 invitations to invite whoever she wanted.  I had at least 2 that had not received a paper invitation come and started to worry a little about how many she actually did invite.  I know there were 7 others that were invited that didn't come so there were at least 14 invitations.  :)  Love this little social butterfly.    The other thing I thought was so funny is that only one of these girls was actually in 3rd grade.  There were two 1st graders and the rest were 2nd graders.

Ella wanted a theme of fruities.  We didn't have time to think too hard about the party so here is what we came up with.  She also wanted to do pinatas so we got some snow cone cups full of fruities and glued together and then glued crepe paper that they fringed with scissors along with anything else they wanted like pom poms or Ella chose fruitie wrappers.

Then we went outside to play a few games.  

3 teams raced balancing dice on a popcicle stick in their mouths. 

It got a little competitive. 

Then we put on headbands that had a cup taped to the top and tried to catch flying marshmallows in your cup. 

Again, these girls are quite competitive. 

Ate some yummy cupcakes.. 

And posed for a picture for mom. :) 

Taya, Victoria, Gwen, Addie, Sage

Alissa, Molly, Ella, Kenzie, Alexis

Memorial Day Part 2

Monday we hooked up with Hansens and went up by Heise to go fishing.  The wind was blowing and it was so hot (almost 90 degrees!)  pretty unusual weather for Memorial Day.  Molly wanted Kaiden to ride with us.  She thinks he's pretty great!  She loves that he can handle her wrestling and pinching and pulling his hair.  Glad he's smiling. :)

We found this little spot that was shallow for the kids and deep right off the edge for the men to fish.  Farrah and I set up our lawn chairs, soaked in some sun, stayed cool with our feet in the water and watched the kids.  It was awesome!

The kids had a great time which means we had a great time!

The boys didn't catch any fish, but they got to eat a bunch of yummy treats while they watched the kids.  I think it's kinda funny they set up in the shade and we were in the sunshine. :)

Before we left Ella got to shoot her new BB gun she got for her birthday.  Her dad had her in tears with all the technicalities of it so I had to run over and help her pull the trigger in 30 seconds instead of focusing on making it perfect.  As long as we're being safe, the details will come later.   Funny how Dustin and I compliment each other in that way.  He is such perfection and I am such a "get it done" not perfectionist.  :)  Sometimes we make each other crazy, but for the most part I appreciate it about him.

Memorial Day Part 1

We decided we wanted to go camping this weekend Friday night to Monday and then thought some more and decided maybe that was too long with little baby Lincoln.  So after changing our minds back and forth about even going we finally got ourselves out the door Friday to stay until Saturday.

Lincoln, Molly and I stayed in my parents trailer and Dustin, Alissa & Ella stayed in the tent.

The kids putting on makeup with grandma.

We got to go for a four wheeler ride on Saturday.

Kourtney and Molly are ready to go!

Dad gave me his spot in the razor since I was packing Lincoln.  It made for a  nice ride. :) 

Jeremy spotted a bear cub right as we were stopping for lunch. 

Lincoln having fun!  He got a little heat rash from being snuggled with me.

What's the matter Lincoln?  :)  Looks like the sun is in his eyes or he just tasted a lemon. he he

We set up the tripod and took some of all of us.  Wouldn't be complete without a goofy one.  

Both little girls fell asleep and had a nap in the razor at separate times.  Lincoln slept most of the time.

Of course a few of them couldn't resist when we found the mud puddle.

Molly thought it was pretty fun.  She just had to wrap up in a blanket after cause she got a little chilly.

Before we left mom surprised Ella with balloons, a cake, a banner and a birthday gift because we were heading home and they were staying for another few days and wouldn't see her on her bday.

I think I decided it would be ok to camp for longer than one night with a baby. We sure did have a good time.  The kids were so sad to leave.  Looking forward to more good times this summer.

4 kids..

Wow this little dude has brought some true joy to our house.  I sure love having a new baby and let me just say 4 has not been bad at all.  It's actually easier than when we brought home 3.  I would imagine it's because Ella is turning 9 and Alissa is 5 and Molly is almost 4 which doesn't compare to having a baby with an 18 month old at home.  The biggest adjustment is just to a newborn.  Nursing all the time and getting up so much in the night.

He's a good baby.. I'm pretty sure he's getting spoiled with all my holding him.  Mostly in an attempt to guard him from his big sister Molly who is getting more comfortable with him as she realizes he isn't breaking.  :)  The most recent thing she has been doing is pinching his little cheeks.

I guess we like to dress him.  Here he is in his Hawaii shirt from Heidi and Kenny and his Monkey Halloween costume that he is already too long for.  (it was a hand me down)  We just had to see it on him before he completely out grew it though.  Such a cute baby.  The girls got a good laugh at seeing him as a monkey.

So during the day he sometimes catches a ride on the warm laundry up the stairs.  He quite enjoys it as you can see.

And he ALWAYS gets morning snuggles from each of his sisters.  They are no longer complete without them.  I am SO grateful everybody has been healthy because they get right up in his face and do ugga mugga as Molly calls it and rub noses. 

And Ella does her multiplication homework out loud next to him so he gets really smart and reads by him in the evening sometimes.  I think he likes it.

Yep, seems pretty content to me.

Then when we are about to go to sleep somebody sneaks in for one last visit.  He loves Alissa's voice.  I think he trusts her more than the others.  She doesn't really request to hold him that often but she is so good to just sit and talk to him in her tiny little voice and he loves it.  Molly's voice makes him squirm a bit. :)

We love this boy.  And I love these kids.  I am so thankful for the opportunity to be their mom.  The more I have thought about starting up hair again the more I feel like I may not ever start up again.  I truly miss the visits with my friends each week and having their kids come play with mine, but I don't miss the hustle bustle schedule.  We have been so relaxed and able to focus on more important things and it feels good.

I guess we will see.