Petting Zoo

 

My sister would always drive by the sign for the petting zoo on Wednesdays and call me to tell me I should take the kids. But I never got around to it. Then one day we left the house without knowing where we were headed because the kids were driving me bonkers and we needed something to do. I first decided to go to Freds for gas. As we were driving there, we passed the petting zoo sign! Perfect! For a small town operation, it wasn't too bad. $2 each to go in and pet. Of course Tana did not want to pet or be near the aniamls at all, but she did not want to stay outside the fence and watch us either, so I paid $2 for her to come in and stand behind me everywhere I went.

Summer Stuff

 

Tana and Quinn gettin' cute and cozy.

 

Carson flying a kite on a blustery park day.

 

Trying to catch one of Ollie's morning grins. He gives me the best smiles after breakfast!

 

Hanging out with Grandma Fischer!

Fischer Barber Shop

Need a haircut?

Oliver love

 

Four Months

 

Here is Ollie at 4 months! You can see he had 3 shots...I hate pulling off the bandaids! He is 26.5 in. (90th percentile) and 12lb15oz (10th percentile)!

Underwear Club

We are fortunate to have cousins that live close and/or come from out of state for the summer! Kaden is our Nevada cousin who is the same age as Carson. Carson and Tana both look forward to his summer visits. While there is a bit of fighting over him, for the most part they have all been getting along well and enjoying each other's company this summer. They have been spending a lot of time in the woods at Grandma Fischer's in some fort they've made. I'll have to try to get some pics of that.

Although Carson has tried to convince Tana that it is illegal for her to go topless, I'm letting her get away with it for this last summer!

What is up with me?

I must have crossed some great divide or something, because I have felt really on top of things this summer! (Other than the fact that my kids aren't in any organized anything, i.e. swim lessons, soccer, etc. Well, no one is suffering -- we'll get started with all that this year. Family is important!). I feel capable of accomplishing things, my home has stayed fairly decent, certainly up to my standards most of the time, and I feel comfortable offering it for activities and events. I find myself contemplating how much has changed and how differently I feel -- more confident, capable of taking on more. Crossing from college to motherhood without a "career" anywhere in there always made me feel like less of an adult. Having many young children is a lot of work without the benefit of co-workers (aka other adults) to share life with. That is why I am so passionate about MOPS. When I had Hallie, it was a very hard transition. Going from one to two was good and three to four not so bad either, but two to three was my rough spot. It was a dark place in my life, lonely, isolated. My pregnancy with Oliver was rough, but I was already out of the dark and knew the end of the pregnancy would eventually come. The first six weeks with him at home was physically and emotionally exhausting, but we made it to the end of the school year. And this summer, I just have to say that I feel on top of the world! I am happy to be in this place.

Where are all the other bloggers out there? I have been posting so much and I don't see any new posts on anyone elses! I know it's summer and busy and people should be outside, but believe me, we are! Maybe I'm just not tending to my home as much as I should.... :)

Here, check out some of Hallie's moves I captured. If your wondering about the music, its the Go Fish Guys and they are great! "Great music for kids that won't drive parents bonkers." Check them out at www.gofishguys.com

A Busy Week!

 

Yesterday Carson had a dentist appt. which is always nerve-wracking, but I have to say, he did awesome! James MacDonald would say, "no, God is awesome." So I'll rephrase, he did fantastic! We were just going for x-rays and exam, so I thought, because Matt had arrived late to his last cleaning appointment and had to reschedule the exam part. But he ending up doing the sealants (that we had tried to do a year ago) as well and Carson didn't complain or throw a fit through any of it! I was so relieved! Not so with today's visit to the doctor's office for his chicken pox booster. He and Tana each had to get a shot and Oliver had three along with his 4 month well-child check. Turns out he's a string bean! Big surprise! He's in the 90th percentile for length and the 10th percentile for weight! Oh well, I'm confident he'll grow more meat eventually. He's a healthy and happy boy!

As for the tooth, Carson's been bugging me to pull it for him for awhile, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Finally, last night on the way home from Grandma's he said, "mom, is it okay if I pull my tooth out before bed?" I said, "sure, just do it right now." "no, I'll wait until I get home." He was kind enough to go out on the deck so we didn't have to experience it. He came in 5 minutes later with a big toothless grin! I said, "so are you going to put that under your pillow tonight, or what?" "nah, I promised Kaden I would show it to him." Huh, go figure!

Tana, on the other hand, made the statement "mom, when am I going to lose a tooth so I can get some money without earning it?"

Smiles.

Friends

These girls are fun to watch. They are passing through the "mine" stage and starting to share and play together better.

My Klingon

Poor Hallie has quite the reaction with bug bites. Earlier in the summer she got one on her eyebrow and looked just like the hunchback of Notredame, this time she looks like a Klingon with the bite between her eyes!

 

Scout Lake with friends

 

These girls are growing up together in Sunday School, MOPS, birthday parties, everything! Annie(middle) is the oldest, birthday in October. Hallie is next with her birthday in December, and then Brooklyn, whose birthday is in January.

 

The hot mamas!

 

The boys.

Where's Tana? Out in the water somewhere! I know, I'm horrible....I really need to work on this!

The "other" side of the lake

 

So one day I took Hallie to the lake and I thought Mary was going to bring the other two there to join us. But she decided to take a bike ride instead. So they finally show up at about 3:30 and she decides it's the greatest place (duh) and invites all her colleages to come back the next day. This is when she discovers that one of her teacher friends' mother lives on the other side of the lake. So that is where we end up with paddle boats and jet ski available for our use. But I still consider myself a "public access" kind of girl! We enjoyed a tiny visit with cousins Lincoln and Reagan up from Texas!

Grandpa Allan and Oliver Allan

Hallie

Lemonade!

 

 

Grandma Pam makes the best fresh-sqeezed lemonade! And it's even better when she lets the kids help... :)

Pillow Thief

 

Oliver likes to take over my spot after breakfast!

Fourh of July Fun!

4th of July BBQ

 

I just didn't want to go around getting in people's faces snapping pictures, so I didn't get many, but I wish I would have! We enjoyed food and friends in our sunny back yard. The Jones family (Brian, Joy, Macayla, Brendan), the Wights (Tim, Jami, Boden, Finn) and Lucas Peless (a loner, having shipped off his wife and kids) graced us with their presence! We all had a great time. A couple of highlights include the kids having a water fight with Matt and Lucas discovering that the rain train had reached his car with open windows.

The Parade

My four kids at the parade. Matt and I helped Mary make cotton candy ahead of time, then I ran over to the parade while Matt continued the mission and missed the "excitement." But our parades seem to be getting more boring every year! It started late and went long and consisted mainly of motocycles and race cars. The highlight for Carson was the Delta Waterfoul float with the young boys in camo using duck calls. The highlight for Tana was the princess (Hannah Coffman) who came along and said "I know you!" Hallie was bummed she couldn't get to any of the candy in time. I'll spare you the video footage I took!

 

 

 

 

the start of our fourth

 

A mama moose and her twins came through for a visit. Hallie strikes a pose with her hands in her pockets. Tana gives me a smile.

Lego Sets!

 

Carson calls these contraptions "lego sets". I think he's pretty much run out of legos now and will have to disassemble some in order to build more. Some of them are pretty intricate!

Carson at the lake

Some Lake Play

Lake Play Day

I've been trying to get us to the lake on several different occasions. But every time I plan it, the next day is cold. Yesterday we were going to go, but it was windy cold. So today, even though no friends could join us, we headed to the lake. It was worth it! Notice I tried to focus on Tana a bit with the photos -- somehow she is always left out. And somehow Hallie gets lots of shots. :)

Hallie Story

Today we had planned to go to the lake, but it turned out quite windy and chilly. By 2:30 we were all antsy and wanting to get out. Matt was out working. So I decide to load up the bikes and take the kids to the track to get some practice in. The track was being utilized by a group that I did not want to disturb with my kids, so I took them to the park instead. It was cold. We decide to go to Dairy Queen for dinner. As we are leaving the playground, Hallie says, "I went poop." I ignore her, hoping it's not true. I am hungry and really want my cheeseburger. As we are loading into the car, Tana is holding her nose and saying Hallie stinks. I had removed my supplies to fit in the bikes, thus no Hallie sized diapers. I look in her pants and can't really see anything and for some reason can't smell it yet either (I think it's the cross wind caused by both doors being open). I say we can get in in the drive through and eat at home and the kids start whining (I had promised Carson a banana split a long time ago). So I say she's not that bad and it can just wait. When we arrive at Dairy Queen and I begin to help Hallie out, I realize she smells too bad to take in. I grumble under my breath, "why does this always happen? I'm such a stupid mom!" Hallie says, "what?" I reply, "nothing" she says "stupid mom?" I say, "yes" So I decide to take off her diaper, clean her bottom and just leave her in her pants/skirt combo she has chosen to wear. As we are walking into Dairy Queen she is shouting "I'M NAKED! I'M NAKED!" I get her hushed before we get in. Dinner goes fairly well, no major mishaps, no accidents, although myself with the four kids is clearly a source of entertainment for other patrons of the restaurant. So, we get home and I get down to the business of feeding Ollie, while instructing the kids to go play upstairs or else it's bedtime. The older two, as usual, go in Carson's room and shut the door, excluding Hallie. A few minutes later I hear pounding on the door and Hallie yelling, "LET ME IN WITH MY BARE BUTT!"
The End

Carson's Rock n' Roll Show

Carson goes to camp...

A major turning point in our lives as parents. Our kids have stayed the night with grandparents, aunts and uncles more times than I can count and have never missed home. When I thought of Carson going to camp this year, I was thinking my mom would probably be the nurse during his time there, but that did not work out with my dad's knee situation. It was wierd to think about him doing such a "big boy" thing without a family member there to look after him. He loved it. When we picked him up today, he showed us all over camp. I have many fond memories of being a camper at Solid Rock and I know our kids will attend every year that they can.

 

 

Summer Play

Uncle Dave passed down the trampoline and the kids really enjoy it. So far, we've had no troubles with safety. And I, personally, think that those net things give a false sense of security and kids do a lot crazier, stupider stunts when they are there.

Good Day, Sunshine!

Finally we've had more than one nice day in a row! And I can't tell you how much it affects my feeling of well-being. I need the sun!

Is this not the cutest swimsuit you've ever seen?