Summer Begins

The first two weeks of summer are over already! We have been very busy, it seems.

Peter has thouroughly enjoyed his Father's Day present.  It is the exact same mat they use at the driving range and I nice net that should (cross our fingers) keep the balls contained even with the wildest swings.

As have all the kids.  Notice one of these things is not like the other?  One of the kids went off to play with some friends before we finished putting up the mat, so he gets a picture of him practicing on the grass.

We've not spent the whole time lounging around our yard (although we are tempted).  We've been headed to free movies and some local attractions.  Not to mention an insane attempt to take 5-6 kids to the store twice (I'll be leaving them from now on!)

Speaking of golf, Peter was able to use his Christmas present finally.  He took the oldest four to the Travelers Championship.  I spent the day with Joseph and Matthew.

We are still doing our weekly Beach Day, too, where anyone who wants to come visit our beach are welcome all day.  We really had fun last year and this year has been no different!

Ryan and Peter have been working like crazy to get him to a first class scout before his birthday so he can go to the National Jamboree with his uncles and cousins.  We've been on 5 mile walks and listened to countless recounting of first aid protocols.  Last Thursday they went on a mega camping trip that included snorkeling, movie, camping, and paintball.  Both of them have the bruises to prove it!  Can you believe this guy has less than a week before he is a Deacon?!?

While they were out having their fun, we went to this awesome castle built by the original Sherlock Holmes (William Gillette).  It was way cool.  And no, despite what it looks like, all I'm carrying in my midsection is too many ice cream cones.

Afterwards we got ice cream.  We have had a lot of fun hanging out with friends this summer!




In case you missed it, you can read about Kirsti's birthday party here.

Beginning of June

I'm taking a break from birthday preparations to let you know we're still alive and ticking. The end of school year stuff has just kept me busy, busy, busy!

The end of May I went to Utah for a blogging conference and had a lot of fun. Due to some unfortunate lack of checking calandars correctly, Peter was also out of town and we flew my mom up to watch the kids. As near as I can tell, they had an absolute blast!

The day after Mom got home, though, she and Dad were in a motorcycle accident. They are both home from the hospital now and recovering well. It was still horrible and scary. Thanks so much for the extra prayers!

Kirsti's School Play

Since then there has been a nonstop barrage of assemblies and concerts and other such stuff.

After being home sick for 2 days, Kirsti was able to get back to school for her fantastic little school play.  She was the narrator in one of several short scenes..  The video is sort of quiet, but you can hear her part easily enough.  While home she spent her time playing with Matthew. Love the matching dragons!



Elise's and Ryan's concert

Elise and Ryan also had an end of year concert.  The hum you hear is all the high school band members.  I was not happy that they were so loud through the performance.  The teacher waited till about 45 seconds in to start singing (I think in hopes that it would quiet down)

Kids Take Golf Lessons

Also, the kids have started golf lessons.  The older ones take turns with a pro and the younger two get time with Dad.  They all LOVE it.  Here are Joseph and Matthew on their first lesson.

Lastly, we had a work party at this awesome dinosaur park.  It is way too expensive for us to pay to visit, so we enjoy the yearly party there.  See that spider web?  That is our five year old at the top.  Jumping.  Peter was having a heart attack!











My Kids' Dressing Choices

And, just in case your wondering, this is how my kids get out of the house sometimes:Yes, Joseph is at church in his oldest sneakers and NO SOCKS and Matthew is at Kirsti's play wearing red and blue tie dyed shirt with orange plaid pants.

 



I'm a good mom that way, the little hobos.

A good spring week

Unlike the first couple of years we lived in New England, this spring has been nice and warm. That means a lot of days and evenings are spent on the hammock enjoying this:

The seagulls are always there, now so are the geese and an occasional swan and egret.

Ethan, Kirsti, and Ryan had their very first golf lessons this week!  They all did great and Peter and the instructor were shocked when Kirsti's first stroke ever had prefect form in the back stroke.  They will all be going back in a couple weeks for more.

Yesterday we cleaned all day in preparation for my mom coming next week. By all day I mean the kids and I were working for 6 hours. (We'd clean one hour and rest 20 minutes- 5 times). During the breaks I spent the whole time on the hammock relaxing. It is the best stress reliever around! After we finished, we went to Olive Garden dinner and Cold Stone ice cream. Very satisfying day!

And since I never posted this on my regular blog, here are some Easter pictures (they didn't turn out great, but they turned out.) O.o

May flowers, I mean fishers

So, Matthew has been doing preschool with the other sunbeam in his class. We have it twice a week and take turns teaching it at our houses. It has been a lot of fun and Matthew loves going. Anyway, here is a picture of him wearing H hats we made last week:

On the week we did "F" I made little fish for a fishing game. It was so much fun, Joseph and Matthew practiced all the next day. I also used it for a FHE game and I used it for singing time that weekend. It has gotten a lot of use, which is good because it took me forever! (Do you like the blue sleeping bag/makeshift pond?)

Also in the first half of May, Elise had her school play that her drama club practiced three days a week all year for. She had a small part, but did great in it. Joseph and Matthew, however, decided to make the performance as hard as possible for Peter and I (hence the lack of pictures). Thanks guys.

Ethan also had a field trip where he performed the dulcimer he'd made. It was a world culture field trip and there were several schools performing various world wide musical things. Very cool. I didn't realize the school they were at was 30 minutes away and didn't leave the house until 15 minutes before the start of the program. Luckily I made it in time to watch them!  Here is one of their songs:

Also, there was the father/son camp out (or fire camp as Matthew calls it). The boys look forward to it all year and had a blast! The girls and I had a girls night out with some friends who were also solo for the camp out. We went to dinner and then the local high school's play: Fiddler on the Roof. It wasn't bad, but then again I already knew it by heart. Mom, how often did we watch/listen to that movie growing up? 100 000 times? Elise and Kirsti liked it so well, they watched the entire movie the next day and now I am about to lose my mind with renditions of "Do you love me? Do I WHAT?!?"

The week of Ethan

The last week of April involved a lot of Ethan related activities. First of all, he had biography night. Joy of my heart, he picked Albert Einstein. Since it had already been a few months since his last haircut, we decided to let it go until after that night so he could do the crazy Einstein hair.   It took me three stores to find that mustache.  I finally gave up and went to Walmart where I found some white faux fur on clearance.  It made a perfect mustache.  The remnant I didn't use has been floating around the house ever since.  Just yesterday Joseph used it to make his chest hairy.  Like Gimly (the dwarf in Lord of the Rings).

If you can take the background noise (there were 4 stations going at once) here is a video of his presentation.  The IQ line is my personal favorite!

The next night was the pinewood derby. It had been planned a month before, but massive flooding had caused a postponement. Of course, we were only half way done with the car when the postponement was announced. And a month later, we had done nothing. So that is why the weights are glued on top and the paint is smeared with small specks of graphite in it. Anyway, unlike last year when he was 1st, he didn't place this year. But his friends took 1st and 3rd, so he was still happy. 

As you can see, we hadn't yet got the promised haircuts (although in the 2 1/2 weeks since all EIGHT of us have had a cut.)

Welcome!

A blog to keep the family updated on our comings and goings.  Welcome