mts '10

Year 9 of our annual trip w/ Den's fam has come and gone. Twas a good one, and we spent our time....


in the pool,

(this is how he got in the pool, every time. no steps for this man)

(whose toes match the pool perfectly? that's right, my toes)

...picking berries,

modeling,

soaking up baby-ness,

enjoying the "beeg boat", (thanks uncle dwayne!)

the lake,

(he kept saying, "swimming, swimming, swimming" as he walked out to his neck)

(this is a rare sighting of a 3 torso mermaid. notice which girl did not run into the water on the count of three...yep, my girl)

launching water balloons at small children,

s'mores,

and the last morning we went just us to a state park where it was all about throwing rocks

(Den was the master and could skip his rocks all the way under the bridge)

and sleeping for some.

Not mentioned, were....family, late night Rook and Catch phrase, movies, and food.

We've been there before...

and we're going back. It's that time of year. The time when we pack up and head to a lake/mountainous area w/ Den's fam. The kids LOVE it and ask about it all year. We've been going since J was an infant. These pics are from 2005 and I can't believe how small they are! We'll be back in 5 days.

To: Daddy.... Love, Me

Cooling Off

Den took the kids to the big pool today so V decided he'd like to give a demo on how to cool off when you have to stay home with mommy so you can get your nap instead of going to the big pool.




so simple! It's more fun when you get others involved, see below.

When all else fails, strip and run (aka streaking).

Gross Love

A dear dear cousin sent me a gift. I opened it during lunch thinking it must be something to do with the baby. I was wrong.



Can you believe it? Quick back story...we are both pickers. I'll leave it at that. But even my normally iron stomach could not handle sampling one of these bad boys. But my oh so brave soon to be 10 yr old nephew was willing to try some. Verdict...he liked it! They smelled sweet and are probably yum...but I still don't know if I'll do it!

But thanks abs, I feel loved!

The girl is there....

but this post only features photos of the boys.


For breakfast we made this...


from J's Star Wars cookbook. (though it was really a single sun toast as we have giant farm fresh eggs)


And this is what was left on J's plate. He did end up eating it w/ more toast.




It was our first library day of the summer! I love how V saw everyone reading and after many attempts of trying to get his siblings to wrestle, he decided that he would join in w/ Goodnight Gorilla.




Den took this last night....so glad he did!



Baby B fix.

For those of you that are wondering we have survived a whole day and a half w/o my mom and I think we are going to make it! I really think the summer is going to fly by and for the time being I'm loving having the kids home all together until school starts.

Last Week

It's a week of lasts. Last week that my mom will be here, last week of school, last baseball game on Friday, etc. I'm ready for the kids to be home for summer and yet I feel like I need one more week to figure out how I'll manage 4 kids all at once on my own. But I suppose on the job training is the best kind.





We've had some storms and the last one we had left us a treat! (it is a full rainbow but this all that I could fit in my camera)



Den took J out for his first how to handle a gun/hunting lesson. (unloaded for those of you that might worry) Den said he took it very seriously and followed all the rules.

A trip to mom mom's is not complete w/o a ride on the four wheeler.

V was really into finding potato bugs.

He's also showing more interest in his baby bro.

Dad was here for a few days and the kids LOVED it. I don't know if it was the most relaxing time for Grandpa, but I know he loved it too!

Sister looks innocent, but check out V's hair.

He didn't seem to mind.

We went mini golfing w/ mom and dad. Free plastic clubs for under age 5, V was in heaven!

Baby dedication at 2 wks old.

Last day with Grandpa.

They were visiting on the couch... J="V, we live on planet earth. Can you say planet earth?"

J was entertaining B while I crushed strawberries for jam.

Catching some fresh air while the kids attempted to fly kites.

A moment of success!

Who needs a roller coaster when you have the spin cycle on a washing machine?