Summer Fun

The thermometer is reading hot for the next few days so we broke out the pool to cool everyone off! And Reid isn't drowning. I swear.

Oliver was not impressed.

Lucy had a great time playing in the pool and shooting water balloons with the boys and Eric. Apparently a package of water balloons and a slingshot can keep boys young and old occupied for several hours.

Chubby thighs. Seriously delish.

Gwen and Lucy found a new use for the water balloons...

Wardrobe malfunction anyone?

Andrew's 10th Birthday Party

It's birthday season again! We are celebrating Andrew's 10th birthday this year with a friends slumber party. Pizza, cake, ice cream, a movie and a water balloon launcher are making this a celebration to remember!

Oliver Smiles!

Oliver is 7 weeks old now and is one of the sweetest natured babies I have ever seen. He rivals Gwen in his laid-back baby attitude.

Oliver started giving little grins right around 5 weeks old but they have been impossible to capture up until now.

What can I say about Oliver? He is so lovable and chunky. Those cheeks! Those chins! And I didn't even photo his thighs and belly. DELICIOUS. I could seriously eat him up.

New Couches!

More babies means more couch space needed! We were very cramped when we would have family movie night with our one couch and reclining chair in our family room.

Eric and I had a chance to go furniture shopping this weekend and we were both surprised that we found something we liked that was also in our price range on our very first trip out!

We picked up the couches later that day and brought them home to set them up. They fit wonderfully in our living room and are going to be so much better than what we had.

Our original couches lasted up 11 years. Hopefully these ones will last at least half that long. Kids are tough on furniture! But our family room actually looks complete now. We have only lived her for almost 7 years...

It's a Look...

Gwen went out to ride her scooter and before she got her shoes on she pulled on these leg warmers. I don't know exactly what her thought process was but she went  out to play. She was not happy that I took this picture though! I had to be sneaky and immediately after she caught me taking them she pulled the leg warmers off.

Best Buddies

 I completely forgot to take pictures of Oliver the day he was 6 weeks old. Oops. Reid loves to snuggle Oliver and does a really good job of it. I really hope his love of his little brother continues on!

Rainy Summer Day Movies

The first week of summer vacation has proved to be quite drippy and we took advantage of it to watch a movie. We try and stay outside and active when the weather is agreeable but with pouring down rain it was worth it to simply watch a movie. The kids got popcorn and Cars2 for their entertainment.

Sweet Baby Boy

He was really not interested in me taking pictures of the two of us...

 Mr. Oliver is getting so chunky and is still as sweet as ever. He took a long nap in his crib this afternoon which was wonderful.

He has started smiling but they are still quite elusive and I haven't caught one with the camera yet. Soon I am sure. He has a lot of people trying to coax smiles out of him for sure.

Happy Father's Day!

What can I say? Our family would be lost without Eric in it. He is daddy extraordinaire and one of the major sources of fun. We had a very mellow day at home after church. The kids all made Eric a card and the boys gave him the cards/presents they had made at school. Zane's card read "Dear Dad, I like the why you help me out when I need it and you feed me. Love Zane" There was also a picture of us all at the table with one person saying "Let's eat" and another person saying "I'm hoggre" Andrew made a poster for Eric with 3 poems on it and note. The note read "Dear Dad, Thank you for being a person with feelings I hope we can camp and go fishing with you, the champ, and you are a top dog father I love to play ball and if I ever fall you'll be there, your the man! Love, Andrew"

And for your reading pleasure here are the three poems that Andrew wrote and included on the poster.

I

I am brainy and skinny

I wonder if the stars are living creatures

I hear my name being called

I see my paperwork

I want to fly

I am brainy and skinny

I pretend I'm not that smart

I feel I can be better

I touch my paper

I worry I'll get held back

I cry out in pain

I am brainy and skinny

I understand I can't always be young

I say 'why not'

I dream I can always be young

I try my best

I hope for the best

I am brainy and skinny

Joyful

If joyful were a color

It would be as yellow as the sun.

If joyful were a taste

It would be as sweet as candy.

If joyful were a feeling

It would be as sticky as anemone skin.

If joyful were a smell 

It would be as tummy rumbling as hot apple pie.

If joyful were a sound 

It would be as bumbley as a merry tune.

I AM

I am from a green grassy place

And the flaming fire pit

I am from the long shaggy carpet

And the icy cement floor

From the "guys be done" to the "behave"

From the "don't do that" to the "shush!"

I am from gooey cheese and yellow macaroni

I am from warm tacos and yucky rice

I am from Sam and Eric

I am from the sunny Cannon Beach

And the big place of Seattle

From the sunny birthday to the snowy Christmas

From the bright 4th of July to the scary Halloween

This is where I am from

The Science Fair

Andrew was so excited to be part of the school science fair this year! He worked hard on his project and took it to school. We went to school to see all the different project that kids had done. There were several very involved projects but also a lot of experiments like the one Andrew had done. We had fun doing the science and took a very mellow, low-key approach to completing the board.

Zane's Writing

 Zane doesn't often bring home something for me to read that he has written. But today he brought home two stories that he had done in class. They were too cute not to share! I took pictures of them so you can get the whole effect. The spelling and punctuation has been left intact. It adds to it!

so thes is the story of me geting my fish! So we went to petco. and we looked at some statchuse. then went to look at some fish. and we got them we didn't know wich one to pick. so it was hard. Finly we cheek out. we had a grate day.

 My Weekend My mom usualle we go to costco because I have a big family. Wene we go to costco we bey a lot of stof but before I tell you this story. I go to costco we need food! said mom. so we go to costco. we buy all the stof we need. then we ceek out. and that is how we do it

Oliver Benjamin- One Month

Time seriously flies by with lots of kids. There are moments that seem to last forever but for the most part time is sprinting ahead with no intention of slowing down any time soon.

Mr. Oliver is wonderful. Such a sweet little man and I couldn't be happier with him. It is so hard to believe that he has been part of our family for a month. He has just slid into place, no problem at all.

He is a chunk like no other and happy as can be as long as his tummy is full and his diaper is clean. Now if I could just convince him to sleep a little bit longer at night...

Clean Cars

Lot's of helping hands makes super quick work of washing the car!