sos

I didn't take any pictures today :-( Sad.  But I should post this old one of our neighbor friend, Elma.  Today she came and saved me again.  There has been so many times that I'm at my wits end, usually around dinner time, and then Elma shows up.  She loves Jane.  She plays with her, packs her around, swings her, plays peek-a-boo, dances . . .  Thank you Elma!  

Today I was a little stressed because we had people over for dinner.  Jane didn't take an afternoon nap,  so she was especially grumpy and I couldn't get much done carrying her around.  Then Elma came :-)  

Other highlight of today:  We finally finished reading the Book of Mormon as a family. I think we started when Eliza was born!  We've gone from 2 readers to 4, well kind of 4.  One repeats :-)  We've gone from one verse each to one or two columns.  Hopefully we can finish it a little faster this next time around :-)

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!