Miscellaneous June

The kids saved a bunny from the window well that our cat uses for a Gladiator arena.

We made cute Fourth of July pins for the upcoming holiday…

Kaylee went to a fun murder mystery party at Vanessa’s.  She was supposed to be a garden girl and ended up being the killer.

Nathan finished his campouts….

The girls had a spa day complete with chocolates and massages….

Bubble bath WITH swimsuits WITH face masks WITH sisters….

Gorgeous even with a mask!

Spring Spree with the girls.  I decided that you could see everything we did in Rebecca’s glasses.  My favorite part was the pink lemonade.

One last thing is the wildflowers.  We have had so much rain that our lot is gorgeous with all of the wildflowers.  I actually bring them inside for bouquets.

This wildflower looks like Q-tips until he gets a little water.  Then it opens up into these little ruffled flowers.

Happy Father’s Day

Stephen you are wonderful and adored by ALL of your kids!

Tramp Fun

Summer is spent out on the trampoline for all kinds of games.  One day they used an entire bottle of soap on it!

Then they reenacted Thriller in the air…

Thumbprint Cards

I told all of the kids one afternoon that they had to come down and make one thumbprint card for someone.  I didn’t care who, just anyone that they wanted to write to.  Of course some were thrilled and made a slew of cards and others just one.

My Cute Garden Girl

I love all of Jerrica’s cute questions as we work outside together.  She actually makes me think!

I couldn’t resist a little photo shoot one day as I looked at her shirt that matched perfectly with the floppy sun hat.

I think I enjoy the garden so much because of my little visitors that talk with me as I work.

Toothpaste and Pictures

One of my favorite tips that I learned years ago was the toothpaste trick.

Whenever you want to hang a picture you put a dab of toothpaste on the frame where it will hang on the nail.  Then you take the frame and press it against the wall where you want it.  When you pull it away from the wall you will have the perfect dot to hammer your nail into.

Our loft is an open TV area.  We made it into a bit of an art museum that we change up each year when school lets out …

We also hung artwork on some of the other smaller walls in the loft.  The bookcases have ceramic and pottery masterpieces.  There is quite a wide variety of pieces.

  

I am thrilled to see how much my children enjoy and appreciate art.  There is just something about expressing your creativity in different ways!

Week Highlights

So here is the routine.  We have been all working together in one room at a time to get Spring Cleaning done.  The kids do their Khan, Duolingo, and paino as well.  THEN we try and party in the afternoons.

Jacob is still in evening swim practices and Nathan also started his late afternoon soccer practices for high school.  Jacob is desperately trying to find a job.  I can’t believe how hard it is.  Hopefully this week he will get a call for something!

We hiked pulpit rock and then went to Costco at the base of it for a treat…

        

Tuesday is half off at the dollar theater.  Mixed with Taco Tuesday, it was a REALLY a cheap day out.  The older ones watched “Non-Stop” and the younger ones saw “Mr. Peabody”.

Wednesday we hung up all the favorite art work from the past year.  LOVE how it looks and how faces shine with pride seeing their work hung up.  We then spent the afternoon doing watercolor with salt, white crayons, and tape.  Some of the kids had done watercolor pencils before and Jacob had a set, SO we used them along with the paint.

Thursday the older kids went to the Denver Temple with friends.  The younger three stayed home videotaping skits and laughing uncontrollably.  They thought the chin singing was the funniest thing ever!

We went and watched the Thunderbirds perform for the Air Force Academy graduation.  They are amazing!

We also played a few family games, and dove into books that we want to read for the summer.

  

I can’t believe a week has already flown by!  School will be starting before I know it!