Katy was blessed on Sunday and Dad flew out for the weekend. We had a wonderful, sweet, fun visit with him for the last time before he goes to the Philippines.
The morning after Dad arrived we went to a bday party at a new park that opened nearby. It is incredibly fun and the kids had a blast! I enjoyed getting to see friends and chat for the first time really since I had Katy.
On Sunday after church we walked the temple grounds. I love the peaceful spirit there and how the kids feel that too.
It's hard to believe we have five kids! They all love their Grandpa- the first thing they wanted to do was play tag!
They were all discussing what could be in this stump as they got different tools to break through the bark. Nicole was pretty sure she found some Indian carvings and they all loved seeing the millipede that one of the boys uncovered. My favorite part was the times we got to sit on the back porch in the warm weather and cool breeze while the kids played out back.
Can you tell she is loving the yard? She is also covered heat to toe in red Carolina clay dirt after she and the boys had a dirt party/war. That's not tint from the camera, she really is that covered.
They were all orange and when I bathed them it was amazing how many layers of dirt there were as well as little rocks in their hair. I guess the backyard adventures have begun!
Adventures such as D falling while out back before it was even 8am this morning and getting superglued back together at urgent care. Thank goodness Jim was able to drive home from work and take her, it would have been crazy if I had to! I was able to keep my cool when it happened, and perhaps so much so that Nicole asked "So does this mean I don't have piano practice?" D is turning two in a few weeks- Mike had a similar trip around this age for stitches, it seems like he and D are really peas in a pod.
This is Katy's "I'm digesting a lot of milk while sleeping" pose. I love this all-out-relaxed sleep.
Me and Katy
Her sweet smiles are just icing on the cake. She practices her future opera singing plenty, but is really a good baby and we all adore her.
Backyard bliss.
Nicole is about to wrap up first grade. Here she is with her teacher. We have loved the switch to this new school and being on a traditional schedule.
The class had a family day where we could come in an look around Nicole's class, see her writing portfolio, play games and eat snacks. Mike was very curious and can't wait to be in Kindergarten. Jake- well, he's definitely still a preschooler- kept trying to reach the stuffed animals she had up around the room.
Diana was in the stroller the whole time, but she just acted like it was a wheelchair and used her feet to propel her around the class until I locked the wheels. Even then she was stretching, reaching and trying to get into everything she could- especially the snacks the boys were sharing with her.
Little Katy was perfect and slept in my arms the whole time. It was such a blessing! I was juggling complimenting Nicole and giving her the time she needed, making sure the boys were busy and not making a mess with snacks, keeping D out of reach of the teacher's stuff- and Katy slept through it all. It was a lot of fun, but I did come home feeling like I'd run a race!
Jake's mustache after drinking a smoothie.
The fence is done! I love that wood! The day it was finished we let the kids out and they scouted out the boundaries like hamsters or something it was hilarious. What was really funny was how they figured out how to open the locked gate. Yes, the gate was locked with a padlock and they opened it while the padlock was still on there. It made me laugh to think we had just spent all of that money on a fence and they figured out an easy escape so fast! Fortunately Jim was able to figure out how to drill a hold in the lock and add a pin to make it so they couldn't pop the lock the way they were doing.
So now I can sit on the back porch and watch the kids play together. They don't have to constantly get tempted by the sound of construction, open forest or neighbor's toys. It's just our backyard. Whew.
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