Backyard Campin'

Last Weekend Jason set up a tent in the backyard for a Boys Only Camp Out. It was such a special weekend for them. They helped daddy set the tent up as the sunset. I prepared a box of games for them to play with in the tent. They played lightsabers in the dark, Uno by candlelight, and of course daddy had to scare them with a ghost story. Even Ferdy got in on the fun when Daddy dragged his big pillow and GREAT BIG bone into the tent. The next day they played all day in the tent and spent another night camping with Daddy. I am sure there will be more backyard camp outs to come. And just wait when Abby gets a little older we will have a Girls Only Camp Out. Girls can be campers to you know!

Slippin' and Slidin'

A couple of weeks ago daddy brought home some cheap summer fun!! Who can resist a slip and slide! The boys had a blast. And even though she didn't like actually sliding, as you can see, Abby really enjoyed splashing in the water too.

Summer Reading at the Library

What fun Summer Reading was at the library here. The boys went to workshops and story times all summer, and they set a personal goal for reading. When they finished they got to pick out a paperback book at the library... for KEEPS!! I was very impressed at the selection too. I was expecting "cereal box" books but there were some really great ones. I was hoping they would pick out a couple of Magic Treehouse books for our growing collection.... or maybe even some Eric Carle books, there were so many to choose from. But no, there were two (thankfully... TWO) Star Wars books on the rack. So unfortunately Magic Treehouse didn't stand a chance, oh well!

I thought I would post some pictures of a few of the activities we went to. And for other moms and daddies, I really encourage you to check out the library if you are looking for activities for the kids. Who can beat it... a FREE hour of educational entertainment for your kids that doesn't have them glued to a television screen. The library ROCKS!!

And here are my little guys ROCKIN' with Dino O'Dell. Sorry my picture isn't better, little Abby was rockin' in my arms!! This guy was awesome with the kids. He had 20 or more kids completely engaged, singin' and dancin' along with him. I plan to buy one of his cd's for the boys. The songs were so fun... "Peanut Butter Pond", "5 little monsters under the bed", and "Hi, My name is Zar". Here is his website in case anybody is interested http://www.dinoodell.com/



This is Crazy Hat Day. They heard all kinds of stories about hats and then were let loose on heaps of "this and that" art supplies and told to make whatever creation they would like for their head. Noah made a crown... he IS my little prince you know!! And Gabriel made an alien mask/hat with really BIG TEETH. They then of course wore them while we picked out our books for the week and all the way home!!



And the last couple of pictures I have are of a workshop called, "Do you Digeridoo?" It was all about musical instruments. After reading the book, Do you Digeridoo?, they were able to check out all kinds of instruments from around the world. They then made there own guitar with a shoebox and rubberbands. Lastly they joined Abby and I with the kids instruments. It was a very noisy workshop but so much fun.

The Lord's Prayer

At Vacation Bible School this year the theme was Prayer safari. The focus was learning how to talk to God. And the bible memory challenge was of course The Lord's Prayer. This is the first time Gabriel has memorized a verse and I am SO PROUD of him. All week the kid's were told that if they could get up on stage one night (with the group) and say the Lord's Prayer together that at the end they would receive a trophy. Gabriel was all worked up about this trophy! He was sooo excited and he practiced and practiced. I happen to run into the director of VBS the last night and talked to her about Gabriel and how proud he was that he had learned the prayer and he was going to get a trophy. Well at the end of the night she surprised us by asking Gabriel to say it by himself in front of everyone. And he was WONDERFUL!! It was his shining moment, everyone was patting him on the back and I don't think I have ever seen him smile soooo big. He ran up to me afterwards and said, "mommy I did sooooo great!!" I didn't know she was going to do that so I didn't have my camera but when we came home I had him say it for me with trophy in hand.

Learning to Ride a bike

By Golly I think he has GOT IT!!!






Of course with learning to ride a bike comes the first bike wreck!! I am proud to report that he got right back up and tried again.

Look out she can RUN!!

While daddy was teaching Gabriel to ride his bike Abby figured out that she could really move!!



Of course then she wanted to test the limits and see how FAR she could go!!!

Forts at the Fort

We had a wonderful time at Fort Ebey last weekend. I packed a picnic lunch and we drove up to the top of the bluff trail and ate our picnic there. Then we hiked down. The hike is always beautiful there and this time we found some wild raspberries along the way, yum! When we got down to the beach the boys were so excited to see that there were forts made out of driftwood all along the beach. They played and played in the forts, Abby did too. We finally dragged them away from it realizing too late that they had not rested at the beach at all, so on the hike back up the boys were sooooo tired. I ended up taking Noah by the hand mid trail and basically dragging him the rest of the way. We were all tuckered by the time we got to the top. But it was such an enjoyable day!!! I think that next time we go to Fort Ebey we might just go to the beach and build our own fort.

July 4th 2009

Playing in the Sprinklers and watching the parade, what a great way to spend the 4th!! It was such a beautiful weekend we couldn't have asked for a better holiday!

Helping Daddy wash the Jeep

What could be more fun than helping daddy wash the Jeep??? As you can see by their faces the boys will be more than willing to do this chore anytime!!

Move over Holly Hobbie

I needed a good sun hat for Abigail and I had seen this cute little prairie hat tutorial that a friend did. So I decided to give it a try. I did alter it a little. I decided I wanted to be able to use it as a nursing bonnet as well so I squared of the brim and made it wide enough to fold back. That way when we are nursing in the summer sun instead of throwing a blanket over us I can just straighten the brim out. I love how it turned out. After I was done I had extra fabric and couldn't resist making a little "holly hobbie" apron to go with the hat.