Our Summer List

Last year we made a Summer List.
10 things we were going to try to do during the summer.
We did them all at least once and the kids looked forward to crossing things off of the list.
Since we liked it so much last year, we decided to do it again.
We looked at our list from last summer and put almost all of the same things on our list.
Then I asked the kids to come up with some other things.
We came up with 20 things all together!
Some things we will probably only do once, and others we will do lots of times.
Some things are really big....and others are very simple, but fun.
Hopefully we will get them all done before school starts again this August.
So, here is our list for
Summer 2010
1. swimming
2. run through the sprinkler
3. water balloons
4. riding bikes/scooters to the park
5. walk to Dairy Queen (and get ice cream!!)
6. art projects
7. sleep in a tent
8. family picnic
9. fishing
10. cooking projects
11. Worlds of Fun
12. Summer Reading Club
13. picking peaches
14.have a sleepover
15. play card games
16. do fireworks
17. catch fireflies
18. take a nature walk
19. go to the zoo
20. go to the drive-in

So that's it. Our big list!
Happy Summer!

Summer Vacation

Zach's last day of school was today.
Time for:
playing outside all day
popsicles
sprinklers
swimming
art projects
staying up late
S'mores
amusement parks

sleeping in (okay...I might be dreaming on that one...)

I can't wait to enjoy summer!!

Our First Campfire!

When we built the deck, we bought a fire pit so we could have campfires in our very own backyard.
The kids thought it was a good idea to have a campfire this past weekend......and to have S'mores at the same time!

I wasn't sure how long this family time would last....the kids don't always have the longest attention spans. =) But I was pleasantly surprised. Jeff told the kids a spooky story that ended up being funny, then the kids decided to tell their own spooky/funny story. Even Lily told a story and kept giggling throughout the whole thing. It was really fun to listen to their stories and to listen to them laughing with each other. Hopefully we will have lots more fun campfires!

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Summer......

Riley's Preschool Graduation

Riley graduated from Preschool last night!
Here he is with his teacher Miss Eva:

We LOVE Miss Eva!!
She was Zach's teacher, then Riley's.
Next year, she will be Lily's.

Before the kids got their hats and diplomas, they sang and danced for all of the parents and grandparents.
It was really cute and the kids all did great!
Riley was especially funny. =)
He is such a ham!

Here he is with his hat and diploma.

The whole class:

Now Riley is all ready for Kindergarten next year. (sniff, sniff!)

I don't know what I will do without him to crack me up all day long.

At least I have all summer. =)

Cub Scouts

Last night, Zach moved up from being a Tiger Cub to being a Cub Scout.
He is now a Wolf Cub.
First, his troop received there beads for all of the hard work they did this year learning about scouting and doing electives.

Then they had the Cross Over Ceremony where he moved from Tiger Cub to Wolf Cub.

He got a new neckerchief (he changed from orange to yellow) and a new slide with a wolf on it.

We are so proud of all of Zach's hard work!!

This summer he gets to go to day camp for three days & he is super excited!!

Next year he will start learning new things and working on new electives.

Way to go Zach!!

Cooking with Zach

Zach has to do electives to earn beads for Boy Scouts.
He does a lot of these with his troop, but he can do some at home to earn more beads.
One of the things he chose to do was making a snack for the family.
So, last night, we made Orange Julius.
First, we got out all of the ingredients.

Then Zach measured and added the ingredients all by himself and blended them together.

One of the things about this elective was that he had to make it for his family.

So, he poured the first glass for Riley......

which was kind of hard for Zach because he wanted the first taste.

When he did get his glass, he decided that he had done a good job!

And he was right.

It was YUMMY! =)


In case you want the recipe Zach used, here it is:

Orange Julius

6 oz. (half of a can) frozen orange juice.

3/4 cup milk

3/4 cup water

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

12 - 15 cubes of ice (depending on their size)

Blend completely and enjoy!

Riley's 5 Year Pictures

We finally got Riley's five year pictures taken!
We didn't buy all of these, but these are the ones I really liked.

Pictures of Lily

Because she lets me do it.

Grammy's Berry Pie

Whenever Zach goes to my parent's house,
he likes to go to this tree:

and pick these berries:

Zach will take those berries and ask my mom to make pies out of them.

I have no idea what kind of berries these are.

Or if they are even edible.

My mom is a good Grammy though.

She plays along and will make pies for him.....

even if they are not made out of the berries Zach picks.

Shh!! Don't tell Zach! =)

On Saturday, Zach saw that the tree was full of his special berries.

So he asked my mom to make him a pie.

On Monday, she brought these cute pies that she made over:

Zach was SO excited when he got home from School and saw them.

He inhaled his pie.

He might be catching on that they are not made from the berries he picks.

He asked why the pies tasted like cherries......

But for now, he is fine with thinking his Grammy makes pies from his special berries. =)

Thanks Grammy for helping make such fun memories.

Happy Mother's Day!

I have the most wonderful mom.

Really, I do.

She raised nine children.

Sometimes I struggle with three.

She always has time for us.....even when all nine of us were living at home.

She always put us first, and still does.

She taught me so many things about being a mom.

If I am half the mom she is, then I will count myself lucky.

Happy Mother's Day Mom!

I Love You!

Not only do I have a great mom,
But I also get to be a mommy to these three.
I am one lucky person.


Happy Mother's Day to all of the mommies out there!

Tot Trot

Zach and Riley ran in the Tot Trot today.
They were really excited!!
Riley did a great job running!

He was so excited when he crossed the finish line!

Look at this winning smile!

We had met up with my sisters Dianna & Amy who had just run the River Run.

They did it in 21 minutes!

Good Job girls!!!

This is what Lily was doing during the races. =)
Aunt Amy was spoiling her.

This was the last year for Zach to run.

The age cut off is seven.

He has been running it since he was three.

He made his last race count though.

This is his face when he realized he had passed the boy in front of him...

and crossed the finish line.

He won his heat!!!

Look how proud he is!!!

Super job boys!

We walked around the Riverfest afterwards.

Unfortunately there wasn't a lot for all the kids to do together.

If Zach and Riley could go on something, Lily couldn't.

And if Lily could, the boys couldn't.

=(

But Lily & Riley did get their pictures taken with some characters from PBS.

Lily will get to run in the Tot Trot next year with Riley.

She is excited about finally getting to do it! =)