Building and Birthday

 

Our best efforts at preventing soil runoff were futile. So now we have a French drain, deep rocks and gravel and a retaining wall that help with the flow of water.

 

Now to get grass to grow again!

 

When the seasons change we pull out bins of old clothes to hand down to the younger kids and see what things the older ones need. The temps are 70s but dip lower so I've been breaking out the warm clothes.

 

 

Jim's Mom, sister Kelly and Sterling went with us to the zoo! They had a helicopter there for the kids to pretend to ride.

 

Random egg play area. Nicole is pretending she just hatched.

 

Nicole made some bear-like sounds and the grizzly sniffed the air and then padded up as close as he could. The same thing happened last time we came to the zoo, with the black bear. Nicole seems to have some kind of beast-whispering going on.

 

The kids playground at the zoo.

 

Tree fort!

 

We actually let the kids play at the "mud café" this time and they played in that area for probably an hour. The weather was beautiful and I found an Adirondack chair and chilled with Katy. SO nice!

 

Jake and the alligators!

 

Diana wearing her BYU shirt in front of the cougar as it stretches!

 

Mike found a cicada. Thankfully he let it go so it could live it's short life out in peace!

 

Sterling fit right in and the kids loved him! This is our Friday pizza and a movie night!

 

We sang to Nicole for her 8th birthday and had a cake as a family.

 

For Nicole's birthday Jim built a big structure with a rock climbing wall, climbing rope, trapeze bar and a web of ropes he made.

 

 

The kids love "helping" daddy.

 

We had a bunch of Nicole's friends over from church, school and the neighborhood. We served hot dogs, chips, and punch.

 

The new play structure was a big hit!

 

Kathryn and Kelly helped with the decorations and it really looked like a party in the back yard!

 

It was beyond fun to have cousins at the party. We did a scavenger hunt and that was right up Kaitlin and Kiersten's alley! They were a really good team collecting acorns, seedgum pods and oak leaves!

 

Part of the scavenger hunt was to collect those items and put them in a bag.

 

Then Kathryn and Kelly helped the kids use those things to make a drop picture, where the kids dropped their items on a paper and put dots where the items fell. Using those dots, they were to make a picture. Great fun idea from Kathryn!

 

The cousins! They had a whole stash of acorns from earlier in the party before they even knew what the scavenger hunt was about so they were a step ahead of everyone!

 

Jacob joined in the fun and had a bright red mustache from a bunch of Kool-Aid. It was so fun to see Mike and Jake just be a part of things and have the girls (most of whom know them from the camps I did last summer or from the neighborhood) be so nice to them.

 

The girls had to climb the rock wall and shout their name.

 

And ride the zip line shouting happy birthday to Nicole.

 

We did a piñata after the hunt. Side note: Marian and I tried making a piñata the week before. We blew up some balloons, taped them together and started applying paper with that flour/water combo. We were chatting away having a grand old time, both kind of hovering over the balloons as we worked, when POP the balloon exploded and flour/water goop got all over us. We both looked hilarious. You can probably guess that the piñata at the party ended up being a store-bought one! The girls probably took 30-40 minutes to do the piñata, each of them spinning around and singing a little rhyme before taking a few swings. They were shrieking with excitement and went nuts when we finally shook the candy out of the mostly destroyed piñata. I bought one of those big bags of candy mix and it was way too much for 11 girls and the boys. Of course they weren't complaining.

 

I made a cupcake cake with red velvet cupcakes (Nicole's choice) with neon yellow and pink frosting.

The girls were so eager to eat the cake it felt like a flock of hungry birds around me!

 

Overall a success, everyone had a fun sweet time! And I think we'll be recovered from this just in time for her next party...when she's 12. :) 

Diana and Sterling got more and more comfortable with each other and had so much fun playing together outside and chilling inside. I love seeing the cousins enjoy each other!

A few weeks of fun

 

Making pizzas for our Friday pizza & a movie night. I look forward to this official start to the weekend. It's work to make the pizzas but instead of the hour of fussiness and doom before dinner, the kids enjoy making food and then are busy watching a fun movie until bedtime.

 

Mike in the neon shorts, kicking the soccer ball. He continues to love playing soccer, I enjoy that he is finally old enough to focus all that energy somewhere. He is a joy to watch, he can't stand still even on defense. When they put him as goalie he is literally skipping around the goal area watching the ball, ready for it and calling out to the defenders to pay attention. So cute.

 

After school the other day I sent the kids out back like always and I took a second to be grateful for the peace and quiet in the house and the happy kids outside. Those moments of peace don't last, but they are sure gifts that make the chaos of the rest of the day easier to handle.

 

Katy cracks me up. This is her first taste of cereal.

 

Second taste. She is definitely not handing me mother of the year award.

 

Diana cleaning her face. We were all enjoying her facial expressions. Poor Katy!

 

 

The kids have discovered how to climb up doorways.

 

Mike keeps timing himself to go faster.

 

Diana begs for help.

 

And Jake, who can't seem to make it up one way, simply discovers another way. That is totally Jake's personality as he tries to keep up with his older siblings. I love his determination.

 

Nicole couldn't make it up for the longest time. Trying to make her feel better, we joked that the secret to the boys being able to climb was their sticky stinky feet. So she ran around until she was sure her feet were sweaty and then she tried again and could climb to the top. It was hilarious.

 

 

For Nicole's bday Jim is doing another backyard project. These are the kids rock climbing holds.

 

 

Project materials.

 

 

Jim and two guys from work started the project yesterday cementing four of the six pillars as well as getting the rock wall started. It will have a trapeze bar, climbing rope, two platforms with telescope/steering wheel, rope webs, and the rock climbing wall. I'll paint the other side of the rock climbing with chalkboard paint too. Our goal is to finish by Saturday when Nicole has her bday party. When we first moved in to this house we almost bought a really nice swing set. After building out all of these things for the kids in the backyard, the price is not even half of that swing set.

 

D and Katy are doing really well together. Diana is finally getting how to be gentle with Katy (yes it took a long time for her to realize her own strength and that no, Katy does not like to be poked in the eye no matter how much you love her) and she was really sweet the other day reading books to Katy. Especially when Katy kept trying to eat her books.

 

Last night Jim was out on call for work, and I was reading a book by our window in my rocking chair. The window was open and a cool breeze was coming through. Our house may have a lousy direction for gardening but it makes for the perfect sunset view from my window. One of those sweet peaceful moments.

 

Diana rocking her first pigtails. She was trying (and succeeding) to sneak a banana muffin while I was taking this picture.

 

Katy is 5 months old if you can believe it! She is a strong little thing and rolls onto her stomach all the time. Her curious mind cannot wait for her body to catch up so she can explore her world and tag along after her siblings.