So It's August Now...

I realize that August is not YET complete, but I thought since I'm already on the website, I may as well post today because in a few days, I may be too busy!

At the beginning of August, Chad was finally finished enough with the new built-in that we (meaning "he") could paint it. And here it is. It has drawers now, but I don't have any pics of that. I also made a new placemat, which the kids constantly fight over.

THE BIRTH OF PAINT MAN

We had a new superhero in our midst. His name is Paint Man. He shoots paint from his body to kill evil villains. His one weakness: water. If water touches him, the paint in his skin diappears, and he is vulnerable.

On Ezren's 3rd (!) birthday, Grandpa Darrell and Grandpa Mel came over and brought a HUGE watermelon from the garden! The kids thought it was delicious and made a wonderful mess!

Then the festivities began. Ezren blew out the candles on his cake and then opened gifts. He loves being the center of attention, and finally it was his day!

Ezren had a big day on the 18th -- his first day of Preschool! He loves being around all the other kids his age. And even though he is one of the youngest in his class, he is definitely the biggest! On the way home from dropping Ez off, Isaac was a pod racer (from Star Wars) and helped me drive.

On August 22, the most glorious thing happened . . . all three kids went to school on the same day, at the same time. We left at 8:00am, drove for 15 min., dropped off Isaac at his Montessori school, drove 15 min., dropped off Olivia at HGES, drove for 10 min., dropped off Ezren at Preschool, then 10 more minutes home. A peaceful shower and some sewing were in store for Mom that day. I must say Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are perhaps the best days in the week!

For Olivia's birthday she received a Butterfly House from her friend Amelia in KS. We ordered the caterpillars and when they arrived in the mail, Olivia created a "journal" to record their progress. One week later, they were all safe in their chrysalides. One week after that, she ran downstairs screaming one morning, "MOM! ONE HATCHED!!!" Well, two days ago, we released them into the wild. Ezren says they are off making new friends. Maybe those new friends will help them make more caterpillars! :)

July Goings On

The last time anyone saw some pics was a while ago, and frankly, quite a lot has happened.

Olivia started 2nd grade. Yep, she's a big 2nd grader now. So far, she's enjoying it. Many of the same kids are in her class, so she has lots of friends.

She also had her 7th birthday. On her actual birthday, we had a family party. She got many awesome gifts, one being a Karaoke machine. She's quite the superstar!

She decided that a Spiderman party was what she wanted, and thus it was. Chad was quite brave and dressed up as Doctor Octopus. The kids loved it! He snuck outside and ran around the back yard until someone saw him. They all ran outside and shot him with Silly String. Zelda, who was in the back, freaked out and started barking like crazy chasing him around the yard (good girl!).

We also had a pinata. The kids improved from last year. Last year it took multiple turns with lots of hits from each kid. This year . . . the kids went crazy! They grabbed the stick and swung like they were going to kill it! Not everyone had a turn but I don't think they minded.

Oh the cake... We went all out again this year. The cake was a city scene with two skyscrapers and Spiderman on top with a web down to an American flag. How many cake mixes did that take, you ask? Only four. And three batches of icing. The kids' eyes were huge when Chad brought it out! It was delicious too!

And I had to include a photo of Isaac and Olivia playing in the back yard. Check out Isaac's getup. I think he was being Zelda (from the Nintendo games). Does anyone remember that skirt??? :)

Beginning

So, I decided that I would take a day off and finish up photo processing and start a blog. This came about because the website I currently have our pictures on decided to kick us out for not purchasing any of their stuff -- or at least they said they were going to kick us out. Phooey on them! That leads me here. I am hopeful to post once a week, but let's be realistic. It'll be amazing for me to post once a month. Is that a challenge?! Let's go!