Fine

Thanks for all the sweet emails and calls.  We are fine.  I have been slacking on this blog because we have been gone on a couple of quick trips……..

Grandma Veda

We loved having Grandma Veda stay with us! 

Sunday afternoon I pulled out all of the family stories about her or grandpa that I had and made all of the kids pick one to read.  Then at dinner they had to share three things they had learned.  She would chime in about the stories.  It was so fun to learn more about our special grandma!  I’m grateful for all of those that have collected and printed up stories of her.

Random Summer Fun

 Kaylee has become the queen of homemade ice cream.  She keeps the ice and rock salt constantly going.  Her ice cream on Sunday was soooo yummy!

The girls and I ripped up some of Nathan’s old t-shirts when he was gone, and made magnet bracelets.   The magnet part is fun to click together.  We LOVE how they turned out!  Here is the tutorial link - Braided Bracelets.   Instead of the rat tail cord I just used some white cotton cording that I had.

Friends have been so fun this summer.  I am grateful for all those moms taking and having my kids over.  Nathan spent the afternoon with the Slater’s at the Rapids game.  They were able to play out on the field a little.  I knew he was having a blast because Jake’s mom texted this picture to me…

We have played a lot of games both inside and outside.  UNO is one game that it doesn’t matter if you are 94 or 4, you can play it!

We made some bright thumbprint cards for people.  Rebecca made this cute weight lifter one for her dad.  He is big on lifting weights.  If you haven’t ever checked out any Ed Emberley books, you really should because they are filled with so many drawing ideas to add to your thumbprint.

Khan Academy and piano have been going full swing this summer as well.   I know time is flying by, why does it have to go faster and faster?!?!?

94

My 94 year old grandmother flew in from Phoenix on Friday.  She came all by herself!  She was supposed to fly in with her identical twin, but her twin isn’t doing well and had to cancel.  I have been amazed all weekend with how healthy grandma is both mentally and physically.  She has a walker, but has no problem walking without it. 

The first night I peeked in to check on her before I went to bed, and she was kneeling down saying her prayers.  There are very few 94 year olds that can kneel down and then get right back up into bed.  The more I thought about it, there are very few younger, more abled bodies that don’t even kneel down for their personal prayers.

The next night Kaylee was helping me by getting her snack, water and just get her ready for bed.  As we left the room once again she kneeled down for her prayers.  Kaylee commented, “Grandma is just so cute kneeling down by that big bed”.  I was so glad that Kaylee saw her kneeling in prayer.  What an example in action she is.  I wanted my other kids to see that example as well, so tonight I peeked through the door and snapped a picture of grandma, unbeknownst to her.

I hope that I’m still able to kneel at 94. 

I also hope that I will always remember her great example!

15

Jacob turned 15 this week!

He requested the layer dessert for his cake, and NATHAN made it!  (There might have been a little bribery going on with that because I REALLY needed him to do it since I had so much going on that day.)

I took him and a few of his friends to YoYogurt and the new Spider-man movie.

It was fun to go with the boys, usually Stephen takes the boys with their friends to movies like this.   I was surprised that I actually liked the movie.  It was the first Spiderman movie that I have ever seen so I can’t really compare it to the old ones.  As we were driving home, I sat there so grateful for all of the good friends that Jacob has in his life.  We are blessed on this one!

We are so glad that Jacob is our oldest and for the example he sets for his siblings.

He loves to read, devours several books at a time.  He is an incredible artist.  We enjoy his talent framed all over our house.  He can also swim like a fish.  I can’t believe how built his upper body is getting from all the swimming.  Jacob also loves to camp and hike.  He has always enjoyed the outdoors.  He is so easy going and quick to help out when he sees someone in need.

We LOVE you Jacob and are SO glad that you are a part of our family!

Livestock Auction

Have you ever been to a livestock auction?

I made my kids peek in on one Monday.  We ran out to Calahan to turn in county fair forms.  I noticed all of the trailers and people outside of their auction building.  Sure enough they have Monday auctions and in we went.

My grandfather used to take me when I was a little girl.  He would buy and sell cattle.  He would also buy me treats and so I was always willing to go keep him company.

Monday’s auction brought back so many memories.  The number stickers on the cow’s rump, touring the corrals with grandpa and making a list of those numbers he was interested in, the auctioneers voice, the cow hands prodding the livestock around in front, the smell, even just the crowd of people brought me back years ago when I was little.

A calf would usually sell around $100 when I went with my grandpa.  Monday the calves were selling for $650.  (No wonder the price of meat is so high)

As we were leaving the kids were all excited talking about it.  One of them said, “mom why did you decide to stop and let us see?”  It was mainly for ME to reminisce, but instead I said, “one of you just might marry a rancher and I thought I better prepare ya”  :)

Swimmer

Jacob LOVES to swim.  I don’t know why.  He swims Monday thru Friday, lap after lap, and I just can’t even imagine that being enjoyable.  He LOVEs it though!

Tonight he had a swim meet and Nathan went with me to cheer him on.  In his backstroke he stays under the water for a very long time.  I usually don’t take pictures of him under the water, but tonight I couldn’t resist.  You can see the three boys in the lanes above him are already out of the water and going…

  Then out pops the hand…. (I would be gasping by now)

(Here I would be in actual panic drowning mode), but he calmly emerges…

A second later he is distancing himself from the others…

 

Like really distancing himself…

Here he is finishing that race.  I wish you could see how completely relaxed and easy he makes the race seem….

  

My favorite event of his is the 100 IM.  I feel like all I can do is float on my back, so it is such a treat to see MY son swimming all of the strokes so effortlessly.

You rocked that meet Jacob!

My Workers

We have been working hard in our yard this summer.  This morning all of the kids were out sweating along with me.  We worked really hard digging and hauling dirt.  After a couple of hours I had to run somewhere and thanked my kids for all of their help.  I told them to go get a popsicle and rest.  The project wasn’t finished, but I told them I would do the rest later on in the day, even though there was a lot left to do.

An hour later as I was pulling in our driveway, I saw the kids out there working on our project.  It really made me cry that they would finish this hard work without me asking.  How wonderful to check that project off my list for the day!  Oh how I love having such willing workers!

 

Makeovers

The older girls decided to do makeovers on each other one night.  They pulled out all of their make-up and went to town fancifying themselves and each other.  When all of the make-up was applied, they then launched in on each other’s hair.  I was quite impressed with Kaylee’s cute, loose braid that Rebecca did.  Kaylee wasn’t to be out down and did a tricky wrap braid from a french braid.  THEY asked for a little photo shoot after they were all fixed up….

They were so giggly and soooo into the make-overs.  I just need them to make me over!

Golf

We took a little family trip one afternoon to play miniature golf.  We played money holes as we went along. At each hole I would yell out an amount that I would pay out, IF they got a hole in one. Sometimes I would say 50 cents and other times I would scare Stephen and yell out $20. I knew I was safe, my kids are not golfers.

Stephen and I so enjoy watching each of the personalities in our family.  There was the calm one who played a slow hockey game to get her ball into the hole.

There was the overly excited one who would cheer and carry on, when she got hers in the hole, even if it was a few inches away when she would putt it in.

There was the one that kept asking what we were going to get for a treat, and didn’t stop asking until we had finished and went to YoYogurt.  I really think she is in a growth spurt OR starving to death.

Of course both of the boys were overly competitive with our “friendly game” of golf.  We didn’t even keep the score card, and just did the money holes, yet the boys kept track of who was winning.  They are just so competitive with each other.

Kaylee’s giggles kept all of us laughing.  She gets so tickled at something and then just can’t get control of herself.  I don’t know how she managed to putt the ball while giggling.

  Anyway, we sure love each of the personalities that make our family who we are! 

Water Bracelet

I sent the girls down to the craft shelves to find something, and up they came with plastic tubing.  “Mom remember when we made bracelets with this.  Can’t we make some more?…”  So of course our craft changed for the day and we made water bracelets.

They are fun because the water moves the mini beads around.  We cut a piece of tubing to fit around each of the girls’ wrists and then cut a small piece of 3/8 inch vinyl tubing to connect the ends together.  I don’t know what the size of the other tubing is.  I just know that it fits perfectly inside the 3/8inch.  I’m sure you can try and connect them in Home Depot to find the right size.

We used a mini funnel to fill the beads and water into the tubing.  I was surprised at how different they turned out.  Some put A LOT of beads with very little water, which resulted in less movement and more of a solid bead bracelet.  Kaylee only used mini silver beads, and hers has a fun sparkle about it.

I loved the smile of one of the girls today when her friend asked where she bought her bracelet.  The pride on her face as she said, “I made it myself” made this project worth it!  :)

Pirates Cove

We love this little water park.  It is perfect with a little bit of everything.  I was a little worried about going without friends this year.  We usually let each of the older ones take a friend, BUT we had Dave and Lindsey’s family and that’s all we needed.

 

With all the nooks and crannies there at Pirates Cove, for some reason we all ended up in a corner of the sand area building and burying.  I don’t know why sand is so fun, but it is!

We ended our day with a stop by Aunt Jodee’s.  She had made homemade strawberry ice cream.  I’m not a big ice cream person, but THAT was delicious!

Dave and Lindsey

We LOVE Dave and Lindsey’s little family.  They are so sweet and easy going.  My girls have so much fun with their little boys. 

Rebecca packed Oliver around and Kaylee let Gideon drag her around.  Jerrica on the other hand was not thrilled at all to have these little boys stealing all of the attention she usually gets, but how can you not give attention to this cute little face….

 

We had a little food fest while they were here.  Lindsey is a great cook and baker.  She made some divine desserts for us.  Ash also got in on the food with a little tea party.  She dragged all kinds of chairs and tables out on the front porch.  She had made me a list the day before of what treats and drinks to buy for the tea party.  She even changed out of her clothes into “more fancy clothes” to host the party.

 

We went swimming, had water fights, watched movies, played games, rode on high rides, and just had a blast!

We already miss you Hayter’s!!!

the Girl with a Pearl Earring

Rebecca and I spent the day together.  She had a little 3v3 tournament in Castle Rock in the morning.  The girls were so cute in their Wonderwoman t-shirts and headbands, BUT let’s just say they looked better than they played.

Anyway, we were driving home and decided to make a day of it.  Rebecca turns 10 in August and can get her ears pierced.  We decided to do it today so that she will be able to change them out on her birthday.  She was ecstatic!

Anyway, I had to document the day with pictures and as I was looking at them tonight one picture reminded me of a famous painting.  It was a mixture of the headband she had from the morning 3v3, and then the new earrings.  What do you think?

She’s MY girl with the NEW earrings, instead of the pearl earrings.  :)

Rebecca is a little diva like, and I know this new way to accessorize is going to be fun for her.

Sure had a fun day with you Rebecca.  You make ME smile!

4th of July

We have had family in town and have had a blast entertaining them.  I need to catch up with everything we have done.  BUT tonight I wanted to capture our 4th of July with a few pictures from the holiday.

The parade that we usually go to in Monument was canceled, SO Ash without skipping a beat planned and carried out a parade of our own.  The kids were thrilled about the candy and chocolate that she bought with her dad to throw out.  As soon as Jerrica saw what she was  going to be throwing out, she decided immediately to NOT ride in the parade but to catch candy instead.  Ashley ended up paying her candy to get her to ride in the parade.  The big girls made a float out of the riding lawn mower trailer.

There were a lot of people happy about the candy from the parade…

A water fight cooled us off in the afternoon.  The kids spent forever filling up water balloons with Uncle Dave, yet the water fight only lasted a few minutes.  I loved watching little Oliver leaning over the tub of balloons trying to catch a balloon.

 

The food was so good and so filling!  I ate way too much as usual.  Stephen is amazing at his grill with all of his marinades and meat grilled to perfection.  Sure love and appreciate all of his help in cooking.

Aunt Lindsey made a delicious white pound cake topped with fresh whip cream and berries. 

All fireworks were banned because of the fire.  It was almost eerie how quiet the night sky was.  There are always fireworks screeching in the air even if they are banned, but last night we didn’t hear a single one. 

Dave and Lindsey were with us last year for the 4th of July in Washington.  The only thing different this year was the fact that she wasn’t pregnant, instead we had Oliver out with us this year.