father's day 2016

These kids sure do love their dad and he's a great father and husband!

We got Kevin a backyard firepit for Father's Day. Unfortunately, it was a record-high weekend with temperatures about 119 degrees, so we melted right along with the marshmallows!  But I'm sure it will be very nice in the wintertime!

camping with the meekers

Kevin and I are not really camping people.  It always sounds fun, but it's so much work and we love showers and toilets.  But Natalie has never been camping and she reminds us of this fact every time the boys get to go camping with scouts.  So we figured it was time to take her camping at least once.  We decided we could probably endure camping better if we had friends along, and I somehow convinced the Meekers to join us.

We ended up with the "boy car" - Brandon, Tyler, Ethan, and Max.  It was not quiet, but it was certainly entertaining!

We had tons of space with two campsites and no neighbors nearby.  There were lovely showers and even the vault toilets were amazingly clean.

The kids explored and trimmed bark off wood for the fire.  It was great to just sit around talking and playing games and relaxing.

 And you can't do camping properly without tin foil dinners and s'mores!

The second day we decided to explore and try to find crawdads in the streams. The first stop was beautiful, but no crawdads!

Our second stop was a nasty lake that had a sinking dock, snakes, and a giant dead lizard floating in it. 

After a quick stop for ice cream (we were really roughing it!), we finally found the Little Colorado River and had success catching two huge crawdads.  Natalie was NOT amused when she saw how giant and gross they were!

The whole gang!

Great friends, great weather, and great fun!  We just might have to make camping another annual event with the Meekers!

newsies

For Kevin's birthday I got him (us) tickets to Newsies. I had to practically sell one of our children to afford the last-minute tickets (I thought I'd be at girls camp the week it was playing here).  Newsies is one of our favorite movies and this Broadway musical show came highly recommended.  Although the plot had major differences than the movie, it was still wonderfully done.  I should have expected no less from a Disney production. 

natalie's 9th birthday party!

Now that we have a pool, I've already informed Natalie (and Brandon) they will be having pool parties every year since they have summer birthdays. 

I did make cute homemade cupcakes and "fancy" frosting per Natalie's request.  This picture captured her sassy, fun personality perfectly!

The girls just played in the pool, chatted under or on the trampoline, or ate candy for most of the time.

Back row L to R: MaggieMae, Natalie, Ellie

Front row L to R: Tatum, Elaina, Talyn, Charlotte, Katie

Cupcakes and ice cream and presents made it officially the easiest party yet!

natalie's 9th birthday!

 

Natalie turned 9!  This girl is a sassy little thing but we love her big personality. She certainly keeps things lively around here and there's not a shy bone in her body!  It's always fun to do these birthday interview questions and see what's on their minds.

Favorite Color: baby blue

Favorite Number: 8

Favorite Drink: Dr. Pepper
 
Favorite Food: tortellini

Favorite Game: Telestrations

Favorite Animal: horse

I feel sad when: the boys (her brothers) don't include me

I feel mad when: the boys are mean to me

I like it when my friends: play with me

I like it when my teacher: teaches math

I wish I could: go to Disney World

Who is your best friend? Elaina

Why? because she's really nice to me

What makes you laugh? Dad tickling me


What is your favorite movie? Annie

What are you afraid of? bugs

What is your favorite song? Fight Song

What is your favorite thing to do? art

If you were parent for a day, which rule would you get rid of? chores

What do you want to be when you grow up? horse trainer

Do you think it would be hard to be a mom or a dad? yes

Why? because they have to control their kids

If you could have a magical power, what would you choose? make crystals out of my hands like Elsa

What three things are you are good at? art, math, spelling

What is the best thing about turning 9? get more responsibility

I am special because: I'm the only daughter

a happier home

A few months ago, tensions were at an all-time high at our house.  There was so much arguing and contention, it was frustrating and exhausting.  I was at my wit's end and DREADING the long, summer break ahead.  I knew we had to come up with a solution quickly.  One day we were driving home and the kids were arguing, and an idea came to me.  I told them we needed to work together as a team, because as a family we were a team.  We could win together or lose together.  We almost never take our kids out for dessert type treats, so we decided if our house could be a happy home with no contention, no arguing, no fighting, no bickering, no complaining, no anger for 5 days straight we would all go out for a special dessert treat together.  But if one person ruined it, the whole family lost whatever days had been accumulated and we would start over the next day.  We even made a list of all the treat places we wanted to go and posted it on the fridge as an incentive.  Kevin and I honestly thought they wouldn't be able to go 5 minutes, much less 5 days. But we were STUNNED when they worked together, were polite, and reminded each other (nicely) not to fight.  So five days later we went out for giant shakes!  

And five days after that, we went out for self-serve frozen yogurt.

We hit a few rough patches (like someone losing it at the very end of day 5 once!), and we've learned weekends and summer days are harder since we're around each other more, but we've been to donuts (I was there too, I just didn't feel like being in the picture first thing in the morning!)

Dairy Queen

Bahama Bucks (shaved ice)

And Freddy's Frozen Custard

We haven't been perfect, but 30 days (out of approximately 60 days since we started) is a HUGE improvement!  It has been fun to spend extra time together rewarding ourselves with treats. So if you see our waistlines getting larger and our wallets getting thinner, you'll know at least we have a happier home!

brandon is an eagle scout!

Brandon finished up his last few merit badges and Eagle scout paperwork and had his Eagle Board of Review.  The other 8 boys doing their Board of Review that evening were at least a foot taller and 3-4 years older. I have never seen Brandon look so nervous before.  It was ripping my motherly heart out that I couldn't just do this for him.  It didn't help that he had a major orthodontic adjustment the day before and he was in serious pain. 

But, as always, he blew them all away (those were the reviewers exact words) and he was the first boy done.  There have been many proud parenting events with Brandon (and I'm sure many, many more to come) but the moment they shook his hand and congratulated him on earning his Eagle Scout is my favorite so far.  The feeling of relief and happiness from all of us was tangible.

I don't realize how tall he is getting until I see pictures of him next to me!

He was asked to bring two mentors that would be the judges for other boys boards of review.  Todd Williams and Chris Meeker have been two of the many people who have helped Brandon achieve this honor.  We have been so blessed with amazing scout leaders.