Week #26: We're famous!

This week we...

...got rained on. It was fun to watch the drops bounce off the sidewalk and road.

...were on the local 11:00 pm news last week. My SIL called me and said we were famous. She had seen us on the nightly news the day before. So I hopped online and watched the news clip. Go here to see our brief moments of fame.

...picked berries again at Mary Strebble's house. Only it was a really hot day and my kids didn't last long. I have no quantity sufficient for jam, but perfect for bowls of berries and ice cream.

There's Lainey with her baby bowl, 

Paul with his medium sized bowl, and 

Benjamin with his Great, Big, Papa Bear bowl.

Claire showing off her meager harvest

They all got so mad when Paul's bowl held more than everyone else's. He's the only one that left his bowl by me when they went to sit in the shade. So I filled it up.

...we saw reptile man. I'm sorry, but I never enjoy the snakes. The kids thought it all was great.

The iguana

The tortoise

The alligator that knows how to fall asleep

 The alligator sitting

The alligator sleeping-this was so funny!

An Albino snake

One of our dearly loved rattle snakes

...remembered the good old days of growing up in Mattawa. I had a bit of fun taking shots of the scenery as we came through for a visit. Lots of things have changed, but the farmland still makes me feel at home.

Just look at the farm sky

This is a shot of my favorite local mountain range.

Yes, they call it a mountain.

 This here is a canola field.

 Here's a shot of the beautiful wheat

This is a new orchard just up from my house on L road.

Nothing like a field, plowed and ready to be planted.

Week #25: A craft camp with Dandee

This week...

...Emma went to Dandee's craft camp. This was the absolute best thing for Emma this summer. She had so much fun going to Danyelle's, spending time with other girls, and making the projects each day. Here's what she made.

...Lainey tried playing chubby bunny with grapes. We laughed so hard watching her with a chipmunk-mouth full of grapes.

...we rearranged the garage. Jason is getting ready to build me some bookshelves to go next to the TV stand. (I am so excited!) We've had his workshop at the back of the garage in the third bay, but he never really had enough room to work. He always had to pull his table saw or miter saw out to the front and then put i all away in the back. Very frustrating and tiresome. So we both got this bright idea, at the same time, to flop our household storage shelves to the back and his workshop to the front. It was such a fun project to work on, and we love the results. It looks cleaner and now he has room for his tools, and my projects. :) 


These are the before pictures: 

Here are the after pictures:

We still need to get rid of the old couch, although that is a fun spot for the kids to color or watch movies from the laptop. The kids think it's their own man cave or something. We need to get rid of the cedar chest,the broken table there on the right, and other odds and ends. But it looks soooo much better.

Lainey found the empty shelves to be the most fun.

Week #24: School is OUT!

This week we...

...said goodbye to teachers and welcomed the summer! It's a little bit of back and forth between enjoying all the free time away from school and feeling bored with all the time at home. I go the rounds with Paul, giving him a list of things that he can do - color, draw, write a letter, write a story, play with trucks, play with legos, ride bikes, etc. He says no to all of those things and in the very next breath says, "I'm bored! There's nothing to do." We really are getting out to play at the park and ride bikes. These guys just want to be entertained all day long.

...slept in late. Now that we're not in school, we've been staying up late and sleeping in even later. Last night took its toll on Lainey because she didn't wake until I woke her up at 10:30 am. That is so uncharacteristic of her. She is usually one of the first risers at 6:45 or 7:00 am. I kept checking on her - 7:00, 8:00, 9:00, 10:00 - and nothing. She was still OUT.

...fixed some more bikes. I know I already posted about fixing Emma's and Paul's bikes. Well, on our first bike ride back out together again, Claire got a flat tire! So we were one bike down and in need of repairs again.

 So many willing, little helpers

...had a picnic at Leslie Grove Park. We had so much fun eating our lunch at the park and playing on the toys. That park was nice because it wasn't too crowded and we still had toys and the river. Lainey kept squealing in delight and chasing the other kids around.

...wiggled Paul's tooth. That's right. Paul has got his first loose tooth in Kindergarten. The permanent one is already coming in, as you can see in the picture. I can't remind him enough to wiggle the front one and get it out of there.

...went to a Father's Day dessert party. Our friends, Tim and Haley, invited us over for a little dessert party with the dads as the spotlight. They each brought a white elephant gift to exchange after we ate their favorite desserts. It was fun to relax and visit and the kids had fun getting wet.

I made him four layer dessert.

 You're guess is as good as mine as to

 what she was thinking in this picture.