Where I've been

In case you haven't noticed, it has been a while since I updated my blog (again). We've been busy lately doing a whole bunch of relaxing. You see, every year in the month of July, my parents rent a cottage for a few weeks. The cottage is close enough that it is easily driven to, but far enough away that it really is a vacation. My parents allow (and even encourage!) all of their children and grandchildren to stay overnight as often as we like, so Jason, the boys, and I have been crashing at the cottage off and on for the last week and a half. We've come home for a few days when I have to work, but then we head back out to the quiet life. Jason doesn't have any vacation days, so he just drives in to work and then comes back to join us when he's done for the day (I know, he got the short end of the stick on this deal!). Anyway, I'm not going to post all the pictures right now, simply because I have to figure out a good way to post the good ones from the 200+ pictures I've taken already. Plus, after I work a few days, we're going back to the lake again! So, no promises of pictures in a timely manner!

To keep your attention, I'll give you a glimpse of this past Saturday at the cottage. Jason had to work from 9-noon, so he didn't have a relaxing morning like I did. In fact, when he came back to the cottage after work, he found that I was still in my pajamas. With a large amount of encouragement from our firstborn (and a HUGE dose of encouragement from my siblings), I went into the lake fully clothed.

As you can tell, I tried to put up a fight. Unfortunately, I'm not as strong and determined as the rest of my family, so I got wet. At least the water was warm.

4th of July

What a busy, fun day we had! We have a unique opportunity on the 4th of July. Our city's parade goes right by our house. What fun we have with that! We began our day with a big breakfast (OK, we actually began our day by staking claim to our spots in the yard!). Many of our family members were able to come and feast with us. Then we all lined the yard and watched the parade go by. My personal favorite is alway the flyover that happens each year at the beginning of the parade.

Jason and I were really able to enjoy the parade this year...neither of the kids were scared of the fire trucks, motorcycles, or any of the other loud floats. The boys had an awesome time...how can they not when all they have to do is wave and handfuls of candy are tossed their way! They also have major candy funneled their way since the aunts, uncles, grandparents, and great grandma all contribute to the candy bag. They each ended up with a gallon zip-lock bag full. That may last us until Halloween!

I finally came from behind the camera to actually get a picture of me with the boys. I often forget to do that!

Micah is waiting for the parade to come...like I said, his bag was full of candy by the end of the parade!

Chillin' out by some of his uncles. I think he received an education surrounded by all of them.

A picture with Colin at Colin's first parade...the other cousin in attendance, Charlie, was hanging out in the house for a bit (plus he's kind of little for Micah to be holding!).

Daddy and Micah, waiting for the next part of the parade.

Picking up a Tootsie Roll (one of many...the candy of choice for the floats!)

Uncle Tim making sure that Ethan's candy bag is full to the brim!

Being silly before fireworks. Poor Jason is trying to take a nap.

Ethan giggling with Grandpa before the fireworks. Being up past his bedtime makes him just plain silly, which is much better than just plain crabby!

Little Colin

Ethan's bedtime prayer tonight:

"Dear God, thank you for this day. Thank you that we could play outside. Thank you that we could play with Emma. Thank you for the birds in the trees. Be with Colin when he has his shots tomorrow. Amen."

Mr. Colin, even your cousin knows you won't have a fun day tomorrow! :)

Fun-in-a-jar

Yesterday I had fun mail (my favorite!). My mailbox had a free recipe magazine, a free sample, and a MOPS magazine. I didn't even grumble as much about the bill that was in the pile, too!

I started reading my MOPS magazine right away. I flipped open to the index and saw a special summer fun section. Perfect. Sometime I just need extra ideas for fun ways to entertain my kids!

One of the suggestions was to have a "fun jar". The magazine included a bunch of ideas for 5, 10, and 15 minute fun things to do with the kids. I think this sounds perfect! Later this week I plan to make a jar with the kids (hopefully pictures will follow) and then fill it up. I don't have to work on Friday afternoon or Saturday, so that will probably be the perfect time, especially since there is some rain in the forcast.

Here's what's going in the jar so far, ideas courtesy of the MOPS magazine.

5-minute ideas...

• Blow up a beach ball and volley it to each other, trying to keep it in the air
• Jump rope (I think I'll leave this one out since we don't have a jump rope!)
• Have a free-throw contest: Line up empty buckets, toss in wads of paper, take a step back, aim and shoot again!
• Blow bubbles. See how many you can catch without popping one.
• Twirl in circles.
• Have a laughing contest: loudest, softest, silliest.
• Play tag in the yard.

10-minute ideas...

• Lie on the grass, gaze up at the clouds (or stars)
• Catch fireflies.
• Flip through a scrapbook together.
• Share one of your childhood stories.
• Make an ice-cream shake.
• Take silly-faced photos of each other and email to friends.
• Have an indoor picnic complete with blanket and plasticware.

15-minute ideas...

• Turn off the lights, use a flashlight to hunt for stuffed animals hiding in the house.
• Dress up in mommy and daddy's clothes-take pictures!
• Write a silly story together.
• Take a summer walk. Run through a sprinkler!
• Tell a story by candlelight.
• Videotape your child giving a tour of his bedroom.

Those are the ideas that will go in the jar to begin with. Those ideas won't take us too long. I need you to help me think of more! They don't have to be 5/10/15 minute ideas, just fun or silly or just plain entertaining ideas (preferably ones that don't cost a thing and can be done in our house, backyard, or at nearby parks or trails). I expect the comment section to be bursting with ideas!! Maybe I'll try and post pictures of us doing the activities that are posted in the comment section. :) Yes, I'm bribing you to comment.

Sandbox fun

A few weeks ago we "opened" the sandbox for the summer. The boys now play in it any chance they get. I have only a few outfits they wear in the sandbox since they get so dirty! They know that they need to change if they want to play in it! When we built the sandbox a few years ago we shook our heads at how large it ended up being. This year, I've decided that I'm glad it's so big! They have plenty of room to drive all their trucks around...many a road has been constructed already! As it gets warmer, I may start hosing them off before they come in the house!

My big dude...thrilled to be back in his sandbox world!


Micah...testing out one of the new roads!

Tiny dirty toes. I think they're cute even when they're filthy!

Bigger toes...but still cute! It took some scrubbing to get them clean!

If you look closely you can see that even Micah's face is covered in a coating of dirt...but don't they look happy! They even have fun playing with each other in the sandbox (at least most of the time)!

Stormy weather

Those of you live by me know that we've had a lot of rain since Thursday. I'm not sure that "a lot" is even an adequate way to describe it! After the first round of storms on Thursday, my mom I were in my backyard and noticed that all the buds on my peony bushes had blossomed from the warm weather and rain. Unfortunately, all of them were pummeled by the rain, so they were almost laying on the ground. Since we new more rain was coming and that they wouldn't stand up again, Ethan and I cut all of the flowers and arranged them in a vase. It was a beautiful way to bring the outdoor colors inside!


This morning as we were driving to church we were shocked as to how high a nearby creek was. We couldn't go check it out right away because more rain showers rolled through this afternoon (plus it was so humid and hot that Jason and I didn't want to be outside!). After the storms finished, and the temperature had dropped significantly, we decided to take a walk and check out the rising water.


This is the picnic area in the park that we usually walk to. The creek is supposed to be a significant distance behind the covered pavilion. Not today!


I think Micah was having a hard time comprehending why we quickly told him "no" when he asked to go on the slide. If there wasn't so much unusual water to look at, I think he would have put up more of a protest! The creek is usually back by the trees.


Our city just put in some nice exercise stations along the walking trails. Ummmm....I think they may have to redo this one! Once again, the creek is generally nowhere near here!

After we wandered around the flooded park, we moved farther along the trails. We like to walk this way because we can take the trails in through the woods to a small boardwalk (Ethan calls it the "wood bridge creek"). Once again, it's quite obvious that we didn't make it very far! We watched a family ride their bikes through the middle of the "puddle". The water was about halfway up their bike tires. It will be interesting to see how long it takes all the water to go down. It may be a while since there are storms on the radar for tonight and I think they predict more for tomorrow!

Silly boy

I am not able to see Micah sleeping very often because he is an incredibly light sleeper. He'll wake up the second we open his door. However, a few weeks ago I had to wake him up from his nap because we had an appointment. When I opened his door, I almost laughed out loud. Thankfully he didn't wake up and I was able to sneak downstairs to grab the camera. He even stayed sleeping while I snapped pictures! I hope they make you smile, too!


I noticed his bare feet first. It's not uncommon for him to take his socks off while he's in bed. What I found to be hilarious was where the socks were!


I have no idea how he got the socks on his hands so nicely! What you can't see in the pictures is that he put the socks on both hands and had them pulled up almost to his elbows.

Of course, Mickey Mouse makes a great pillow! Such a silly boy! At least now I know that he's stays cute even while he's sleeping!