tadpole hunt

rock throwing

rock hopping

 rock climbing

 frog finding

 tadpole hunting

 fish catching-- I caught my first fish in more than 20 years!! i was thrilled! Conner was a proud son!

Next time proper footwear will be appropriate for mud slinging, toad and tadpole hunting and fish catching. Next time I plan on getting serious! Watch out kids!!

How fun

Love how the kids go knock on each other's door to have their friends come out. They either knock or play really really loudly in hopes the others hear them and come out to play. It is also cool that they are so independent and for the most part get along really well. 

 Conner has had a burst of creativity lately. He makes all his own action figures out of paper and then can play with them for weeks. While I was napping the other morning, Conner made all of his "guys" name collars! Squirt has gone through two already!

 Batman was out rescuing damsels in distress the other day. He brought some guns out for Conner to help him! They were hilarious!

Clorox wipes

So I guess my reason for not cleaning as much would be it would steal my children's joy! Can i tell you how much they love see a clorox wipe go from perfectly white to completely black? It is true so why ruin that joy? They kids cleaned for 45 minutes straight. We need to do this more often! :0) Next month I will be renting them out for housework!

Holiday sleep

The kids love when I set up the tent in the downstairs room. Conner takes so much time picking out what he needs to survive the night and then he organizes it all! He is our cleaner and organizer! Love it! So the kids were allowed to sleep in the tent 2 nights in a row! They even got to watch a movie! The only down fall is a 6 am wake up call from Conner. There are a lot of window in that room and the sun is bright! I hope these are memories they will cherish!

In trouble

So kaitlyn's biggest punishment is not playing with friends and if I really want to make a point I let Conner o out and play with all the neighbor friends on our playground and k can only sit and watch from inside. Now that is torture for her! It usually works! I am such a mean mommy!

A wet trip

A field trip to the Stone Zoo.......in the pouring rain!

 I asked K's teacher if she didn't trust me because she only gave me three kids to be responsible for.

 There were at least 5 flamingo eggs that are waiting to hatch. So fun to watch the flamingos care for their eggs. I was a cool chaperone and let the kids play on part of the park. Most kids weren't allowed but I didn't want to me the mean mom so I let them go on the spider web. See how my three kids were color coordinated?

 John and Kaitlyn

 Even though we were drenched, we saw many animals that we had never seen before because it wasn't hot and they weren't hiding!

 Kaitlyn chose to sit next to me on the bus ride back.

 I stayed and ate lunch with her class in the cafeteria. It was fun. I love those kids!

Getting ready...

Kaitlyn will be turning 7 in a few weeks. These are our invitations. We are cordially inviting 17 little girls and their favorite baby doll to join us for a celebration in the park. I have some cool ideas for games and i hope they work out. I really hope it doesn't rain!

world traveler

 "Ni Hoa" (said like "nee how") Conner came home from school and he was constantly saying this phrase as he bowed his head. He is so precious when is says it.

 Then today he came home saying Hola and adios. It isn't as cute when he says that but they did teach him a really cute dance with his maraca.

new slide

So the neighbors pulled out a new slide the other day. This one is much smaller than their other (which is just being fixed and hopefully will make its appearance later this summer). The kids had just as much fun. There were on this thing right after church until evening! Great fun!!

hide and seek in the dark

Do you remember staying up late during the summer as a kid and playing in the dark? That was soo cool. I only have a picture of 4 of the 6 kids that were up late having fun!! Flash light tag and hide and side with just flashlights! How cool is that?

gorgeous day

Conner was kicking back while Kaitlyn was getting warmed up for her big game!

Prayer list

So I think I am going to find a new way to post our prayer request around the house. I saw something cute on pinerest so maybe I will get around to it. Right now this is how we are reminded daily of those we need to be praying for.

So this list isn't as pretty as last year but we were able to come up with a few things! Not sure we will get them all done but we have a plan and dream! :0)

a beautiful day for friends

Here are the two mommies of the neighborhood!

 Cuties!

 The pirates are invading the hood!

 Going on a walk....across the street! They stick together!

 Guess who turned one? Another neighbor friend is about old enough to join the gang!

little leaguer

About to make contact!

 Running to second base!

 Ready for a grounder!

 congrats boys!

Here is our little slugger! Here he is playing with pneumonia!

My new favorite

Bye daisies and  tulips and hello Tiger Lilies! Tim brought these home for me for Mommy's day and now I am in love. Daisies and tulips are not fragrant! These guys beautify our house and gives off an amazing aroma! I love them!

Happy Mother's Day

Mother's day was awesome this year. For starters, I have been blessing with two healthy loving kids. I know they are miracles and life is so precious. I try not to ever take them for granted. Then Tim's parents had been with us for a bit and it was our last day to share with them before they left. We decided to head up to the flume gorge. One of my favorite places. Just so beautiful there. I have so awesome pictures I took there but somehow when we went on our next adventure i dropped the camera and lost all those pictures. Ugh! frustrating but at least i didn't break the entire camera. 

 After our hike at the flume gorge, we took G and G to one of the kids favorite places....The Lost River! Let me just say I hope when Tim and I are grandparents we will do this kind of stuff with our grandkids. They are troopers! Do you see the sign above. It is outside the "Lemon Squeezy" cave. If you can fit through below where Conner is standing then it is possible for you to make it through this cave.  I was literally on my belly snaking my way through some areas.  Conner was worried my bum would get stuck at one point and i wouldn't be able to get out! What a sweetheart! :0)

 Kaitlyn really wanted to get in the pic below! Way to go Grandma and Grandpa on making your way through the caves. The kids are pretty proud of you guys!

exploring

"Look at me!"

 We have all had so much fun with Grandma and Grandpa being here!

 They love to climb and explore!

 Hanging on!