Shirts Lake

The Withers family invited us on another crazy adventure camping by Cascade.  My camera died on my very first picture so Angela kindly let me use hers a lot.  Until I get those pictures, I just want to jot down a few memories before I forget.  (these pic. are from braydan's phone . .which also died soon after my camera!  arg!)



Eliza hiked 3.5 miles Saturday with 1400 ft elevation gain!  If you know Eliza, you'll understand this is a huge accomplishment.  She's of a more . . . um . . delicate nature  :-)  She was asking to ride in the pack after the first 10 min.!  We told her when Paige gets carried, then she could (Paige is only 2  . . or 3?  She's little but she "walked" the whole way :-) It would've been easier to just carry Eliza (then to deal with the crying and whining), but I really felt strongly about having her do something hard.  It was cute cause whenever Eliza would start moaning, Emery would run up and hold her hand.  So sweet.  Lest you think I'm the meanest mom ever ( I really might be ), I held her hand too and tried to say kind, encouraging things.  In fact, if I let go of her hand, she would stop in her tracks and not move. Fun times.  Eliza also got a few mosquito bites, which wouldn't be a big deal to most people, but to her they are miserable.  Her bites swell up, blister, puss oozes out, and then pop.  Crazy gross. Poor thing has one even on her nose.  Braydan also dug out two ticks from her hair today.




I loved the scenery.  We followed a little stream the whole way so if I ever got hot, I would dip my hat in and soak it.  Lots of wildflowers and meadows.


Kaleb caught a huge toad at the lake.  I was shocked that the quiet, dainty Withers girls took turns wanting to hold the toad.

The kids loved exploring and running through the woods

 

 Jane picking on Ridge :-)

I have one minute until my bed time, so I'll be fast.  Zoo with Sara today.  I am exhausted.  I walked/carried kids all morning, then we had a water fight at Sara's house, then Costco after dinner to get food for camping.  Then packing for camping.  Phew.  Good day.

Park days . . . finally

Fun day at the park.  My Monroe friends would understand why they put me in charge of park day this summer :-)  I couldn't believe there wasn't an official park day last year and I was determined to make it happen this time.  And today was a success!  

There were more ladies there then I could count! (okay, maybe not . . but more than I could even get around and visit with).

I feel like I have to explain why I feel so strongly about park days :-)  I know for a fact  (many have told me, which is sad!) that many of the sister need friends.  Park day is perfect for getting girls together.  It's low key, no one has to feel stressed about hosting kids at their house, no one feels left out because everyone is invited, and best part, the kids are outside having fun.  I'm a fan.  I tried not to be feel proud of this day, but I can't help it.  I was super proud that I brought all these awesome ladies together :-)  

And just some pictures of the classic: sprinkler under the trampoline.  

Why is it so darn fun?  

Girls Camp Part 2

This pretty much sums up how much Eliza loved the second day of girls camp.  

She had so much fun and came home exhausted.  She told me she didn't want a nap, but I found her asleep 10 min. later.  :-)  I'm not sure what all they did, but it was the baking and swimming session.  

Kaleb and I got bored again after lunch and decided to hit the library.  I love their summer shows they have.  Last week was an awesome magic show the kids are still talking about.  And yesterday was a cute puppet show.  

Clearly I'm not very good with pictures on my phone yet :-)  

I love how the library brings in tons of different creatures for the summer.  That's the first thing we do when we go --visit all the animals.  Kaleb loves the bearded dragon and gecko, of course.  I also love the summer reading program and getting prizes.  Kaleb's already done with level 2 and got lots of free stuff. Fun. 

girls camp

Today was a fun day for Eliza. Some of the yw in the ward do a mini-girls camp for the little girls.

Today they had the carnival session and fashion session. They did face painting, games, nails, she made a cute bracelet, a fashion show, learned a dance (this is their big performance) and I'm not sure what else.  She was gone all day!  

Meanwhile, we did our normal thing.  The kids thought it was pretty funny I put Jane in the sink for a wash :-)

After lunch, Kaleb and I looked at each other and decided we needed to go do something fun.  He earned tons of free ice-cream coupons from his teacher, so we cashed in on that first. 

Then he wanted to look for new cages for his creatures.  We found a pretty cool one at Goodwill for $1.50.  He kept telling me, "I forgot my money, but can I loan you some when we get home?"  :-)  

I also got him new church clothes and I don't think we've ever been a changing room together before.  

"I have to try it on?" 

"Yes, please."  

"But, why?!

"Because I said!" 

"Okay, but just the shirt."

"No, the pants too."  

"But Mom!"

Pure torture.  I wanted to do more shopping, but knew I better quit before he forgot about the fun time we were having.

Other highlights:

At FHE we were trying to get the kids to guess the word "fasting."  I said, "you know, what's it called when you don't eat all day and night?" Kaleb quickly said, "Death."  

sunday best

I was looking back through old posts and realized I still didn't have a picture with Jane!  So, now that she's almost a year old . . . I finally made Braydan take some :-)  

Add caption

Oh man, she is a handful at church these days.  She gets pulled from her nap to get to church.  Then she is a wild lady.  She doesn't sit on our laps, but wants to be crawling around everywhere.  We are starting to spend more and more time out in the foyer.  Sad.  I forgot about this stage.  I love it though, watching her chubby legs walk along the pew (or bench? do we call them pews?), waving at people, making goofy faces . . . she is kinda distracting.  

Other highlights of the day:

BBQ pulled pork, popcorn and watermelon smoothies, games, walk, missionary fireside, Braydan doing dishes again! 

let's go fly a kite

today's highlight:

Braydan bought a kite a few months ago and I kinda rolled my eyes about it.  BUT, now I'm so glad he did!  We've had many fun times with it at the park. 

The breeze was off and on today so the kids got lots of running in trying to keep it flying.

 Cooling off in the shade

I didn't take a picture of it, but I loved our bike parade!  We started out down the road and then all the neighborhood kids wanted to join us on our trip.

Other highlights of the day: Carters 25% clearance sale.

When I say, "Jane, give me a hug", she puts her head on my shoulder and snuggles!  Love it!  And when i say, "kisses," she kinda bonks her cheek close to mine for me to smooch.

Homeade cilantro lime fish tacos, popcorn cauliflower, and watermelon. yum.

Braydan doing the dishes

goodbye

Sad!  Alisha and David are gone.  We had fun yesterday.  We went to Kleiner Park and Alisha told me to leave the kids with her and go shopping.  

I was a little hesitant, but she's like, "GO!"  I knew it might be my last chance to shop.  EVER.  kidding . . .  kind of.  So, I went. We went out to lunch after and went to Kohls together.  My kids are not trained to shop.  At one point, Kaleb was curled up on the floor in the middle of the purse section saying he needed a nap.  He told Braydan later that "it was the worst day ever cause we had to go shopping."  Seriously my kids are spoiled!  We were only in Kohls for 20 min.!  I joked to Alisha that I'm going to take them marathon shopping next week to get them trained.  Maybe I really should . . .

 Alisha saying goodbye to Jane.  

I am in trouble!  We caught Jane doing this tonight!

Eliza took this picture :-)

Alisha really spoiled me yesterday, letting me shop, then cooking dinner and making me go get a haircut.  Then after dinner we played one more game of trains.  We've been addicted!  And I finally won.  But, I think they let me so I would stop asking to play.

Thank you Alisha for everything!  I almost had a meltdown already before dinner without you!  I was trying to cook while holding Jane and kids fighting and mess everywhere.  Sigh.  We survived, but barely.

Love you sis!

I had to take this picture last night of the kids.  They've had 6 weeks of sharing a room and they are excited to have their own beds back tonight :-)

things i'll miss

Alisha and David have one day left here : (  I'm trying not to think about it!  

There are a million things I will miss, but I wanted to capture our dinner time scene because it's one of the highlights of my day.  

I think we've eaten outside almost every day since April?  Or March? For a long time!  I love it.  Thank you RaeAnn and Paul.  

Maybe the reason I've especially enjoyed it lately is because Alisha is right beside me cooking and cleaning up.  It hasn't seemed such a chore as before.   

We always used to tease Alisha about her cooking.  . . . and for good reason.  One time when we visited her in college, she was really excited because she said she found a new way to make chips.  Well she went and put a tortilla in the microwave for like 10 min. and it started on fire.  True story.

But, she's come a longgggggggggggg way!  She cooked us some awesome grubb,

We love you Alisha :)  

Jane update

Jane is changing again.  Drats.  She crawls all over the house, not just army crawls, but really crawls.  She pulls herself up on everything.  She has two little teeth on bottom and 2 on top ready to break through.

She says Dada all the time and only when she's really mad and crying does she make a sound that's like, "Mom!"  

She eats a lot in her high chair and doesn't nurse much.  Sad!  This morning she had half a banana and then she ate pancakes and strawberries too!  Okay I found most of it in her lap, but still.

She does not want to sit in my arms or anyone's for that matter.  She has things to do and places to drool.

She loves peek-a-boo and splashing in the bath.


She hates getting changed and tries to crawl away.  She loves getting kisses and tickles from me.  The kids try, but she just stares at them, like what are you doing weirdos?  :-)


She is finally in that good two nap routine.

She's officially attached herself to a blanket, just like Eliza did.  She sucks her thumb and holds that blanket on her face.

She sleeps 12 hours or more!

She has to have her bath after dinner every day or she gets grumpy.

She likes to crawl as fast as she can to the stairs. She will look back to see if we're going to stop her, sometimes wave goodbye, and then continue on her way.

If she hears music, she either waves her hands or bounces up and down.

Her newest thing is saying "uh-oh".

The Bestest

Yes, we kind of love this guy.

Just a few reasons why he's the best:

He's not afraid to sing lullabies or brush tangled hair.

 He's not afraid to change diapers or paint fingernails or fold laundry, including many pink bibs, panties, and tights.  

He's not afraid to go camping or hiking or adventuring with 3 kids.  

He is the best bike fixer.  

He builds swing sets

   

He acts out scripture stories.  

He hunts for bugs with Kaleb.

  

He coaches soccer, helps with piano lessons, reads bedtime stories, gets up with Jane in the middle of the night.  

He is great at giving big hugs and lots of tickles.  

He is pretty amazing!  

We love you Braydan!

Table Rock

The Withers invited us on a hike today and it was so fun.  Talking to Angela  the whole time up made it fly by.  I didn't even notice I was sweating and tired until I took my pack off.  

Not the greatest picture, but it will have to do.  Eliza was majorly pouting about life.  I love Jane's hat blowing in the breeze.  Kaleb is such a hiker rock star!  He comes alive outside and can't just walk on the trail.  He races around, exploring everything.

I loved this hike.  Awesome views, cool caves to explore, and only 20 min. drive away.

zoo

Went to the Zoo today.We have a pass and this summer I set a goal to go once a week.  I love having a pass because then I don't feel guilty when we only last an hour or two there.  Seriously, I need to get these kids toughened up!  Their little legs sure get tired fast.  But interestingly enough, they will suddenly have tons of energy when we get to the slide or sandbox play area. Hmmmm . . . .   

Eliza's favorite part is not even animal related.  She loves the carousel!  The first few times it was fine and cute and whatever.  But, I don't always remember to carry cash with me and she expects her ride.  Today she cried for a while because she didn't get to go on it.  Sadness.

But all in all, a good day.  The butterfly place is open again.  I love their little giggles when they fly close. I'm also too cheap to pay for goat food, so I love watching my kids pick up pieces other kids dropped to feed them.  I'm sounding like a mean mom.

Anyway . . . Kaleb loved holding a weird stick bug thing at a show.  He is starting to know every creature by name.

Last day of swim today :-(  I better do a picture of Eliza since I got Kaleb last time.  She progressed a ton!  She went from not even wanting to get her face wet to jumping off the diving board about 20 times today.

She swam hard. I always know because she asks to take a nap as soon as we get home.  What 4 year old asks to take a nap?  

a new life . . . i mean purse

Alisha's been bugging me for weeks about my church bag situation.  I'm usually carrying a car-seat, 2 (not-so-cute) bags, a binder, a discarded baby shoe or two, and who knows what else.  It's not a pretty picture, or so I've been told.

I knew I needed to get a new one, but never got around to it.  Well, she finally made me.  It only took us 7 stores to get the right one.

I know this is a stretch, but I wanted to post this picture because it's kind of a symbol of my life these past few weeks.  The purse on the left represents my life before Alisha came: unorganized, sloppy, dragging, kinda sad looking really :-)  

The one on the right represents my life WITH Alisha here: organized, shiny, clean, perky.  

I might not ever let her leave.  

it's a GIRL!

Baby girl names are on my mind again!  

We are so excited for Alisha and David and their little girl!  FINALLY. (on my side that is, I'm not forgetting about you Paris, Remi, and Cheyanne!)  Today Alisha had a doctor appointment and Eliza asked, "are you getting the baby out today?"  

They are ready!  

I was thinking boy and so was Alisha.  She was happy with either, but she said after hanging out with Jane and Eliza the past month, she was more excited for a girl than before!  Phew! I was worried my crazy girls would've scared her away from kids all together :-)

She is so amazing with kids. This little babe will be the luckiest girl in town to have Alisha for a Mom :-)

beauty is pain

 Braydan's secret talent:  painting little finger nails :-)  It probably all started on a crazy Sunday morning when I was running late and Eliza might have asked me to paint hers.  I perhaps said, "go ask Dad."

And then Dad became the go-to for all nail painting.  I swear I didn't suggest or ask or hint for him to do Jane's.  He just saw me getting her ready for church and said, "Jane, want me to do your nails too?"

He will probably kill me for this post :-)

 

Maybe one more picture to prove that he's not torturing her the whole time.

Mountain View

I missed yesterday, but I had a good excuse.  Camping!

 We had an awesome time with Alisha and David.  I knew our best chance of camping this year was to go with them :-)

A few highlights:


1. Butterflies!  I don't know if it's normal for Idaho, but this campground had them everywhere.  Big ones and small ones, all different colors floating around.  Kaleb and Eliza couldn't get enough of them.

2.  River Talk.  I had the best conversation with Eliza last night.  It was sunset and we just sat by the water and she talked my ear off, asking some deep questions about God and creation.  It was special.

A few things to remember for next time:

1. It gets cold at night

2. swimsuits!

3. Camera (thank you Alisha for letting me steal yours!)

 And I have to include one more from the ride home: