Random Update

I have got to get all caught up before July starts. 

The girls did a lemonade stand last week with friends.  They made $50, which is pretty amazing considering it was a Thursday and the lemonade was only 50 cents a cup.

We have done a few projects.  Lanita made chia heads last week with the girls, and this week the grass hair has emerged.  The girls are quite excited to give them hair cuts.

We also made our own mosaics with friends one afternoon. We learned that the more tiles the better.  I ended up putting diamond glaze over the top of them to give them a clear, raised surface.  They turned into nice little coasters for the kids’ nightstands.

Kaylee has been doing a basketball camp with a few friends from her basketball team.  I wish that she would love basketball more than soccer.  She is really good at basketball, but then again she is really good at soccer.  She is just an athletic little girl!

We also had my brother’s foreign exchange student come and spend the weekend with us before she flew back to Brazil.  That meant a trip to Garden of the Gods.

Sunday we went for a nice evening walk.  I thought that I could snap a cute picture of the kids, but I forgot that I have Ashley and she can’t sit still with a normal expression.

She only stood still for a second when Nathan told her to look at the bear in the tree.  She KEPT looking.  :)  The joke would’ve been on us if she really would have found one.

And last but not least, I’m loving this month’s little page from the Friend magazine that we have on our fridge.  I read it and know that we can get anything done!

 

Now I’m all caught up!

Wildflowers with a Smile

I have a little girl…

that loves to pick wildflowers…

I can never resist the flowers, nor the smile on her face as she hands them to me.

Rock Work

Stephen is out of town and my parents are here.  They came to help me with a project while he is away.  I had Pioneer Sand come and dump eight TONS of rock for our backyard.

Friends say, “I can’t believe you have them work while they are here”  or “Let me take your kids while you do this project”.  In my head I think it is WONDERFUL for my kids to work right along with their grandparents.  They are learning from my parents.  They are sharing sweet conversations with them.  They are seeing the accomplishment of their work together.

I wish that I would have taken a picture of Nathan with my dad.  They both teased each other non-stop and worked the rock pile together.  Mom and the big girls worked the pins and fabric roll.  We were all moving shovels!

Yes it may be a few rocks in a tiny shovel, but EVERYONE was contributing and can say that they helped do it.  We will look at all of those rocks and remember doing it together.

I enjoy seeing a relative help out one of the kids unload their dishwasher or make their bed.  My kids are usually grinning ear to ear having the help.  I hope that I will have enough energy and remember to work alongside my grandkids.

Work is good and the more helping, the better!  Thanks mom and dad,  and a big thanks to all of you kids!  You are awesome and TONS better than a landscaping crew!

Drinks

We LOVE Sonic’s happy hour in the afternoon.  It gets us through many an activity if we know that there is a Sonic drink waiting for us at the end.

We also buy bags of Sonic ice for our own drinks in the evening.  Kaylee makes a yummy berry smoothie with the frozen berries from Costco.  We also love this drink found  HERE.  I keep a frozen stash to mix with Sprite.

I really want to try this recipe - Frozen Coconut Limeade.  I just keep forgetting to pick up Cream of Coconut when I go to the store.  I NEED to get it because I have also been craving a Coco Casa Cake.  I think I will whip up both this week.

But getting back to drinks, we ARE a drinking family in the summer!  Do YOU have a favorite drink that you enjoy in the summer?  We would love to try it!

Summer Photo

Are you getting tired of my summer photos?  I really like how you can see the seasons in pictures.  I think that someday I might even make a family photo book of the seasons with my pictures.  This one would make my summer section.

The big girls did a lemonade stand with friends today.  I have some fun pictures of them, but this one stood out as I was looking at them tonight.  It's another summer photo to me.  I love Kaylee's expression and her big sunglasses.  I love her clutching the lemonade box with their money.  I even like how the sunscreen and treats from their lemonade stand are in the foreground.

I will post more about their stand when I highlight the week, just couldn't resist slipping this picture into a quick post. 

I sure love my Kaylee Girl!

Soccer Ball

It doesn't matter where we are, Nathan always has his soccer ball with him.... 

I'm glad that he has found a talent that he enjoys SOOO much!

Father's Day

 Stephen always gets his birthday and Father's day gifts rolled together.

Last year we got him new dress clothes and guitar software.  We stuffed him with all of the new clothes from top to bottom.  Our guy looked like this...

This year the kids decided to do another guy.  Stephen needed new gym clothes and shoes.  He also wanted a new volleyball and basketball.  Here is this years guy minus the volleyball...

We also made a treat basket.  Stephen has a BIG sweet tooth. 

Each treat has a note from one of us that states, "I think you are SWEET because..."  OR they say, "It is always a TREAT when you..."  I then folded over and taped each note for a little extra "treat" for him.

Needless to say, the gifts were a hit.  I think I may need to go sneak a treat out of his basket right now for ME!.

A Special Guest

A few weeks ago someone called to see if they could fly in and surprise Steve and the kids.  I had the entire family guessing who was coming.  The kids and Stephen were thrilled to find out that it was Aunt Lael.

We went out hiking Waldo Canyon an hour after she flew in.  We met Heilala's family over there.  I think hiking is ALWAYS more fun with friends. 

Jerrica loves when her older brothers give her attention, and is ecstatic when her brothers' friends give her attention too.

 

The kids also played A TON of games with Aunt Lael each night.  They went swimming and played MORE games in the pool.  They also went and saw this...

We went on a bike ride along the Santa Fe trail.  We made a pit stop at the back of Costco and went in for lunch.  The top picture was from our bike ride.  We also stopped at a park along the trail.  I had fun playing with my shutter speed to blur the motion of the merry go round.

Lael then made envelopes with the girls and played MORE games with the kids as Stephen and I were able to go out for the afternoon to celebrate his birthday.  Thank you Lael! 

Here is a little sample of their fancy envelopes.  I think the girls have each sent five letters out to people using their cute envelopes.

Lael flew out today and we miss her already.  How fun to have an Aunt in town to spoil the kids! 

Thanks again for everything Lael!  We sure LOVE you!

Another Summer Photo

Here is a photo from today that just says Summer to me...

These two are SOOOOOOOO much alike!

Quick Trip

Here is a glimpse of our quick trip.  I don't have any pictures of Stephen and the big kids riding bikes into town for a soda.  That was a highlight though.  I also enjoyed an auction with a couple of my high school friends, mom, and Aunt Kathy.

One of my favorite pictures is this one of Kaylee that was taken in an old barn.  I love that soft lighting coming thru the door and those two sweet faces.

My other favorite picture is of mom's Bleeding Hearts.  They have always been one of my favorite flowers because they look like a little red headed girl with her hair flipped up.  Mom ALWAYS has such pretty flowers blooming around her yard.  I came home depressed about my yard.  :/

Thanks for everything mom and dad!

Backyard Spa Party

 It all started with this book - Fancy Nancy: Ooh La La! It's Beauty Day
 


As soon as we read this book, Ashley started the planning.  We decided to have it in my mom's backyard when we went to visit.  She wrote a little list of what we needed to pull off the party.  She was wayyyy into it, to say the least.  We had chocolates, soda pop, manicures, foot baths, a fan blowing our nails dry, cucumber rests, and most importantly NO BOYS!
 
Grandma had just bought Rebecca a perfume tray filled with perfume at an auction, SO we had a perfume station...
The Fancy Nancy book suggested putting marbles in the foot bath to massage your feet.  We gave it a try...



I like this picture of my mom painting Kaylee's fingernails.  



The favorite center was the cucumber. 
 

Thanks for the planning Ash, and thanks for hosting mom.  I'm sad that I didn't take any pictures of the pink balloons, streamers and cute sign the big girls made, oh well at least I got my mom's pic with the cucumbers.  :)


(BTW I think these Fancy Nancy books would make such a cute gift wrapped up with stuff to be used for a spa, or the Fancy Nancy cupcake book with supplies to make cupcakes.... )