Rachy has pigtails!

Don't let those curls fool you, Rachy now has long enough hair to put in two pigtails. She didn't even mind me messing with her hair. She actully enjoyed sitting in the sink and sucking on toothbrushes. Isn't she cute!

Back to school

 

3 kids starting school this year! Here are Hannah and Michael all dressed up in their new clothes for their first day on Monday. (Hannah will be in 4th grade and Michael is in 2nd grade.) It was raining so they had to put raincoats on over their clothes. Then Bekah started Kindergarten (sigh) on Tuesday. She was very excited and asked at least once a day for the last week if it was a school day yet. My friend Kaye watched the little girls so I could take Bekah and get pictures. She did great!-just walked in and said hello, the teacher told her where to put her backpack and where to sit and she followed directions very well. When I picked her up she was full of details all about her first day. Sarah did not do so well without her playmate. Once Rachy went down for a nap, we played file folder games and board games for almost 2 hours before she would play on her own a little. I think Rachel is going to be played with a lot-whether she likes it or not.

Lake Afton

One last big outing for this summer vacation. We went with a few friends in the ward to Lake Afton and had a picnic and played in the water. It was a beautiful day. The kids wasted no time, as soon as we got there they jumped right in. Michael brought his "raingutter regatta" boat that Mike had made for him and the wind carried it out past the buoys where it sank :( He played the rest of the time in a dirty little pool of water off the beach looking for tadpoles and frogs. Rachel stayed out of the water for the first hour and then got brave and started venturing farther and farther into the water, only falling down one or two...dozen times. Sarah wore her rain boots for some reason and they became holding tanks for the tadpoles and frog - plus the sole inserts were a fun little raft to play with. (Multi-functional boots). Hannah and Bekah played "dolphins" out in the deeper water with their friends.

Hannah's birthday

We celebrated Hannah's 9th birthday by going to Golden Corral for dinner the day before. She invited her friend Irene and they had a lot of fun. Then on her birthday, she had Emma come over and they played hard all day. She wanted a sun cake so this is what we came up with. I will never make one like that again-what a pain to frost each ray! The Andersons came over for cake and Hannah got a new webkins from them. She loves to play in webkins world so she's so glad she'll have another year to do that. Her other request was that she get to take her leftover sun cake with her to activity days to share. Last but not least she was excited to buy some new hanging earings at the mall with her birthday money.

Wet and Wild at the zoo

We finally renewed our zoo membership just in time to go to the last Wet and Wild day at the zoo. The fire department comes out and sprays the kids with their hoses for an hour, then shuts it off and the kids play in the big puddle. Sarah and Rachel wanted nothing to do with the spraying part, but the big puddle was great fun for them. Thanks to my friend Melissa for the pictures, I forgot my camera.

Biscuit stays

We did our first video call the other day-to Nana. While we were talking, the kids held up Buscuit and I realized I don't think I ever told most people that we had decided to keep him. We never did find his owners and we decided we'd like to adopt him...then while I was in Chicago visiting my sister, Mike took him to the vet for a check over and ended up spending $400! So, yeah-he's ours now and I'm no longer complacent about him running away and I don't say "Oh, he'll come back when he wants to be fed" anymore. If he gets out, all I see is $400 running down the street and I hop in the car to go get him.

beautiful sunrise

I've been swimming laps in the morning lately and occasionally the sunrise will be unusually breathtaking (The east wall of the building is all windows). This morning was one of those times and I know I wont be able to do it justice with my words, but because of an impending storm they sky was full of clouds and the sunrise just filled the whole sky. It was this pale, pretty pink and then slowly it rose up and the bottom half became purple. I enjoyed it thoroughly and I actually can't believe I had the discipline to keep swimming and not just stop and watch. I'm so grateful for those times in my life when my Heavenly Father gives me a moment like that to appreciate the world around me-another of His tender mercies.

(I didn't have my camera with me, but it sortof looked like this)

The kids completed their goals for the summer reading program at the library and one of their prizes was a free ticket to Pump It Up (a local business that has a great big room filled with bounce houses, blow up slides and obstacle courses). The big kids got to go today and the younger ones will go next week. Hannah went at the same time as her friend Rachel from church. Michael spent most of his time playing king of the mountain in one of the bounce houses with a bunch of boys. Bekah and Sarah were pretty bored at first, then they discovered these little cars and they played in them with Rachel. Hurray for the library!

Pump it up!

Makeovers

Hannah had a friend sleep over last week and they wanted makeovers. We curled hair, did makeup and nails and dressed up. The next day Bekah and Sarah wanted their turn (Rachy was more or less forced to have her face done). Even Michael wanted stripes and polka dots on his nails.

Bike rides

This summer we have been taking quite a few family bike rides. Bekah learned to ride a two wheeler and Michael got his first NEW bike for his birthday. We've gone on short rides to the park or just around the neighborhood. We've also ventured a little further; to the church and to the library. Today we rode to the library and it was HOT. Sarah fell asleep in the bike trailer. Bekah was crying because she was so hot-but she kept pedaling. Hannah was getting very impatient waiting for us and wanting to go home on her own. Michael had worn shorts that were too big for him and as he was running with his bike across the crosswalk, his shorts fell down and I was laughing behind him at his red underwear. Good times.

One step forward, two steps back

Last month our power bill was double it's normal size and we've been keeping the house at 82 degrees to try and lower it this month. Much suffering and complaining going on. But it was for the greater good. Now, two days ago we came home from dinner and game night at a friends house and heard water running. After checking all the toilets and faucets inside, I realized it was the hose out back. The kids had been playing in the water before we left and they didn't turn the hose off. It had been running for 5 hours! Not just a little trickle, mind you, but almost full blast. I was so livid I couldn't even speak.