working hard

Cody has been telling me over and over that he wants to learn how to cook things on his own,

so at the beginning of summer I had Cody write down 5 things that he wanted to learn how to make.

The other day I surprised Cody that he would be making a cake all on his own from scratch.

I decided on an old recipe that a friends mom used to make when I was young.

Mayonnaise Cake

The kids were disgusted at first seeing the mayo as one of the ingredients but realized that it is a really yummy, rich and moist cake.

Cody did a great job and wanted to do it ALL on his own, even getting all of the ingredients out.

After the cake cooked and cooled, I helped him make a frosting and we all enjoyed a piece.
Oh so good!

That same day Cody decided that he wanted to teach Ryan how to build legos by following the instruction manual. Cody loves any chance he can get to teach someone about anything. He figured that since this lego set said between ages 5-12 that Ryan was close enough and would be able to do it. Ryan was excited but soon became frustrated, Cody was right there to help answer his many questions and help him fix a few mistakes. It was so cute seeing Ryan concentrating so hard on trying to find the right piece and follow along with the directions.

Ta Da.....he did it!

My boys worked really hard today and I was proud of them.

Lions, Giraffes and Wallaby's Oh My

Yesterday was the most perfect zoo day ever!

The weather was good, the animals were out and the kids were all there together.

My favorite part was watching this lion put her paws up on the glass whenever she saw the kids hands up there. She would paw at the window really fast and the kids thought it looked like she was cleaning the window and found it hilarious.

Always so hard to get a good picture, at least the lion cooperated.

Cody loved to read each and every fact on any animal he could find.

For instance did you know a giraffe's heart weighs 22 pounds and is 2 feet wide?

Luke and Ryan each took a turn feeding the giraffe a $3 piece of lettuce.

Ryan would always drop the lettuce right before the giraffe could eat it out of his hand, silly kid.

What a cool experience it was to feed a giraffe.

The Wallaby Walkabout is where we got really up close to the animals.

The Wallaby's hopped freely around us while we walked on a path through their cage.

The kids decided that this little pond was really a wishing well so they each took a turn throwing in their pennies. It was so sweet to hear Luke's wish said out loud, "I hope that Mrs. Wallace is my first grade teacher". She was his kindergarten teacher and is moving up a grade so there is a chance he could have her again which makes him feel good.

Finally it was lunch time.

All of the kids were starving so we found a shady spot, threw down a blanket

and enjoyed a picnic and then headed back to the zoo for a little more play.

And then the day was done....
Five friends with new memories made.

Letters to God

After a wonderful and exciting day spent at the zoo with friends
where we got to get up close and personal with the animals, (pictures coming soon)
I thought that tonight would make a great family movie night.
I stopped at the redbox to rent Letters to God.
I've seen it advertised and wanted to know what the story was all about.
The kids and I (Heath was called out to work) really enjoyed it, even Ryan followed the story.
There were many questions asked about cancer, God, and heaven from the boys, it was good.
It's one I think you should watch, just have your kleenex close by!

The Monday News

Okay we are at 3 weeks and counting...

The time continues to fly by and I continue to think of all the things that I should of been working on all summer long.

News: New Tricks/Old Training Wheels

Ryan decided last night with the skies getting darker and the wind blowing that he wanted to ride his bike without training wheels. Since he asked we thought that we would give it a try, he looked so big all of a sudden on his bike. Heath took him up and down in front of our house a few times and then he was done, he hadn't gotten the hang of it and wanted the training wheels back on. That was fine with me because I wasn't ready for the extra work at this point. He stayed outside riding his bike though showing me all of his new tricks, riding with only one hand and riding with his bum off the seat.

News: Good Vision/Long Lasting Stye

I got Luke into see an Ophthamologist today to have his eye looked at because of the stye he's had for over a month. The antibiotics that he has been on haven't been doing anything so we didn't know what was going on with it. Thankfully the doctor thinks that it will clear up on it's own with the help of a different prescription so he should be good soon enough. He had his vision tested while he was in there and all was well.

News: No Fall Sport/More Time to Relax

I knew flag football was starting sometime this month but when I got the email that it was starting today, I felt sick to my stomach. I was not ready for our summer to be over and for life to get completely chaotic so soon. With Heath's new work schedule, Cody not having a desire to play, finding out practices were 4 nights a week and games every Saturday, I was not ready to tackle it all on my own so we pulled him out for this year. I feel good about the decision, knowing there is always next year and giving us a little time to adjust to Cody and Luke being gone all day every day and Ryan in school three days a week.

This is what all the boys love to do, go outside in the warm sun, lay in my chair and fall asleep...I love it too!

News: Fun Project/Not so Fun Picture Taking

The kids had a lot of fun making their own tie dye shirts, they each knew right away which kind of design and what colors they wanted. Next time we would do things just a little different but overall the shirts turned out great (besides mine) and we had a blast. Ryan hates that his red faded to pink so he thinks it's a girl shirt now but other than that the kids are all very proud of their shirts! Getting my three boys to cooperate for a picture is hard enough but add the girls and it was nearly impossible, finally thanks to Amanda she was able to get this picture!

fun in the sun

After 5 hours in the sun yesterday this is all that we could manage to do today

absolutely nothing....

all of us that is except for Heath, poor guy had to go back to work.

We had a blast at the water park.

We played hard!

I wish that I would of had my camera but I didn't want the worry.

I could of had some great pictures though like...

Ryan going on the little green water slide 40+ times by himself, but actually waiting in line unlike last year.

Cody and Luke going down one of the big slides for the first time that starts out in a dark tunnel. I thought that they were going to be so mad at me for taking them on it but when it shot them out at the bottom the only thing I saw were big smiles!

Racing Cody and Luke down the big slide on mats. Me winning each time but I think that's just because the more you weigh the faster you go.

Going around and around in the lazy river. The boys feeling so comfortable in the water this year that they would swim way out in front of us, dive underwater, and try to get soaked in every water fall. Ryan was happy just floating around in the tube trying to keep up with the big boys.

Playing in the wave pool was a big hit, all of the boys loved this. The older boys would go out and try and conquer each big wave that came their way by jumping into them while Ryan would attack each wave with punches and karate kicks. Many times they would be taken down by a wave and just jump right back up for more, it was exhausting just watching them.

We stopped at Dairy Queen for blizzards on the way home and before we made it into the driveway Ryan was fast asleep. He stayed asleep from 5pm until 6am the next morning. That tells you how hard he played, that kid has never slept thirteen hours straight in his life.

My only advice to you when using the bathrooms at the park, never sit down on a toilet seat cover when you are still wet from the pool because they will disintegrate into a million of little pieces and stick all over your butt and thighs and it will take at least ten minutes to try and wipe it all off.

It's very embarrassing!

What a fun day it was though,

with many new memories made.

I just love hanging out with my family!

Can't wait to go back next week with Grammy.

addicted

Ryan has joined his brothers and daddy

in their addiction to video games.

It's just something that I get to deal with around here,

but he does look pretty comfy playing Star Wars Legos on the Wii.

No time to play today though

Heath took the day off from work so

we could head to Roaring Springs for some fun!

four weeks

With only 4 weeks to go before school starts we still have a lot of summer left to enjoy.

I know some people are starting back to school soon, so I am thankful for the days that we still have. I hope the time goes by slowly.

Besides the many play dates to plan with friends we also have 2 days to spend at Roaring Springs and we would love to get at least 1 camping trip in either to Cascade or to Bruneau.

Plus a fun kids craft project, some fruit picking, a water balloon fight, more movies,

lots and lots of swimming and popsicles and time to just sit around and do nothing!

Today we finished getting our school supplies which the kids absolutely love picking out.

Luke told me that he isn't so nervous to go back to school now because of all the cool new art supplies, he can't wait to start using them.

Besides just a couple of things, we are ready for school.

So we can now focus on the more important things like enjoying these 4 weeks to the fullest!