A summer day.

Lyle intentionally folded his arms for prayer!

Rex got high centered on a packing box.

I noticed Hyrum's cute, soft ears stick out when he put on a baseball cap.  Gave him A LOT of "underdogs" at the playground today.

Sariah said her favorite thing about living at Grandma's will be doing dishes.

Bryant used my Gingher Scissors to chop toothpicks!  Grrrr.  However, I cherish our "companionship prayer" which he still complies to.


I love to hear Talmage practicing "Called to Serve."

James is out working in the yard at 10pm.

Day Hike

Talmage is coming up on birthday #11 which also means he's coming up on a scouting deadline.  So, today was a day hike.

We went down by the Columbia River not too far from our property.  We had been told there was a sandy beach.  We never found the sandy beach but we did find a few folks who said there is a beach area when the river isn't so high.

Afterwards, we went and looked at our property and the nearby walnut orchard that Uncle Dave is interested in.  Most of all, the kids wanted to know the fastest route from our property to where the cousins might live.

First Day of Summer Vacation

Today was the first day of summer vacation and thus the first day of "M&Ms" --- Music & Math.  To encourage our kids to keep up on their skills we offer real M&Ms as an incentive for 20 minutes of music and 20 minutes of math each day during the summer. 

If they get their things done in the morning then whatever opportunities may come in the afternoon they can take advantage of them.  Like this one:

 Talmage, Bryant and Sariah rode their bikes up to meet Lizza and her boys at the pool this afternoon.

Oh, and Sariah lost a tooth.  She has a solo in our family musical number on Sunday. 

 Hope the words are understandable.

It's so hard to say Good-bye

The end of another school year.

 Bryant had to say good-bye to Mrs. Mathews (and Mrs. Bunger who wasn't present for a photo.)

 Talmage had to say good-bye to Mrs. Kuffel.

Sariah had to say good-bye to Ms. Gragg.

Another year blessed by wonderful teachers.

Family Bike Ride

To celebrate the last day of school and the great job that all of our kids did this year, we decided to ride our bikes to Arby's to get milkshakes.  James figures it was between 7 and 8 miles round trip.  It was a perfect evening.  Perfect temperature, no wind.

 I brought up the rear.  My view.

 I couldn't help but think that people passing by must have thought, "Oh what a nice little family of four kids."  Little did they know the bike cart had THREE tucked away inside.

 Going through the drive-thru.

 Did you know you aren't supposed to go through the drive-thru if you aren't in a vehicle?  We didn't.

 Arby's was featuring an orange cream milkshake.  (Like creamsicles.)  Delicious.

 Rex and Lyle LOVED them too.  Silly Dad. 

Cute little Rex.

Then we came home and read more Wildwood outside around the firepit trying to take advantage of our beautiful backyard.  It will be a VERY long time before we have such a beautiful backyard again.

Above the Din

Tonight at the circus, I mean dinner table, James mouthed to me, "We have six children."  He did this because it was so loud I probably wouldn't have been able to hear him.  With a big grin, I mouthed back, "What have we done?"  It's crazy, but very often we comment to each other how much we are going to miss it in a few short years.

Later we all went for a walk/bike ride, listened to one of President Eyring's conference messages, and read Wildwood around the fire pit.  Somewhere in there, the ward music director called and asked if we would do a musical number in sacrament meeting on our last Sunday.  We chose, "The Family is of God."

Basin City Bobcats

I took Talmage, Bryant, and Sariah out for a tour of their "new school".  It's skeleton is the same as when I was there 24 years ago, but a lot has changed.  I didn't even think to take a picture.  I think they had a good experience and they were relieved to have such a "nice principal."

Tonight I was trying to coax Bryant to take a shower.  I told him I would go get him clean underwear and PJs if he'd just get in.  I came back to find him fully clothed sitting on the side of the tub with his legs inside.  I said something like, "I think it works better if you turn the water on and take off your clothes."  With a big grin he responded, "I'm a dry cleaner."  Funny kid. 

Tomorrow is Sariah's last day of Kindergarten, but what she is most excited about is the birthday party afterwards.

Citizenship Award

Lizza helped me today to be able to go to Sariah's assembly at school---alone.  I have really missed being more involved in the kids' classrooms this year and was grateful to be there to see her happy little face and wave.

Tomorrow I will take the kids out to Basin City so they can take a little tour of their "new" school and hopefully relieve some of the "butterflies" that will come with new teachers, new friends, and a new place.

Tonight James is studying for THE final exam over his entire Master's Program.  I am SO ready for this to be over with.

Memorial Day

I thought several times today about Memorial Day a year ago.  Sitting in the NICU, trying to get a tiny mouth to nurse for any decent amount of time, asking the nurse what she was going to do for the holiday.  Seriously worrying about my blood clot.  Concerned for my family farmed out everywhere it seemed.  So grateful to be doing the things we traditionally do for Memorial Day.  Posting the flag, visiting Country View Cemetery, and enjoying a family BBQ.  We BBQed in Moses Lake at Dax and Jen's.  It was fun to see all the work they have done on their house, and all the work the Severin and Haley have done to theirs.

 We tried and tried, and believe it or not, this is the best photo we got.

Rub a dub, dub---three boys in the tub.  Three boys within 26 months.  I imagine these guys will be pretty close in years to come.  I hope so.

 Saturday our back yard looked more like a daycare.  We pulled out all the car seats, stripped them down, washed the covers, and scrubbed the chairs.  There were some pretty nasty findings, but now they are squeaky clean.

 That afternoon, Talmage had his violin recital.  In his words, "there was a little glitch."  That "glitch" would be forgetting his own music.  He had to use his teacher's book and the markings weren't what he was used to.  He was a little disappointed in his performance, but hopefully it will help him to remember next time.

 Rex and Lyle enjoying some pizza.  I remember watching my friend's twin in their high chairs at about the same age and thinking, "I'm so glad I don't have twins."  Watching these two that night, I was so glad I do.  They were happy---double the joy (despite double the mess).

 This is why I don't get out much.  It's not inside the store that is the problem.  It is the process of getting in and out of the van.
 

Retrieve stroller

Unbuckle baby #1

Place baby #1 in stroller

Buckle baby #1 in stroller

Retrieve backpack

Unbuckle baby #2

Put baby #2 in backpack

Buckle baby #2 in backpack

Hoist backpack on

Buckle backpack

Gather purse, diaper bag, other kids

Proceed to store

Shop

Exit

Reverse all steps

It's nuts!  I usually call it quits after one errand.  The worst is when there are two stops within eyesight and yet I have to go through the whole process here and there!

Considering we live in the city, we enjoy the wildlife.

Hyrum had his 3 year-old check-up today.  I had the babies and Sariah with me.  The babies don't like that place and did a whole lot more crying than Hyrum did.

I got Bryant another pair of shoes today.  We've lost official count, but we think this is pair #4 or #5 this school year!

State Republican Convention

James left Thursday as a delegate to the State Republican Convention.  Since about April he has become heavily involved in the political process.  He feels strongly that he has found a candidate that he can fully support.  He had an educational and successful experience meeting lots of the candidates for State Offices.  I'm sure glad to have him home though.  I was not meant to be a single parent.