I have been wanting to post this for two days now. However, I can't seem to get my videos to load. I guess I will have to try that at another time.



This last week Myles finished up his swim class. When I told him they weren't letting him move onto the next class because he kept telling them he couldn't lay on his back, or put his face in the water, and he refused to hold his teacher's hand and jump in he decided that he really could try. So, the last two days he made a huge leap in progress.
He really did a good job for the short time he was in class. It is so hard when you have a bit of a fear of the water.



Myles is loving Aeva's scooter. He really gets going on it.
Here is where I meant to post the videos. In them he was really flying on the scooter as some Star Wars droids were in hot pursuit of him. I thought at first he had fallen off his scooter, but he apparently did it on purpose............the droids had gotten him. I had to tell him that falling in the street was off limits and unsafe, but the sidewalk was fair game.

Rhaevyn sold all of her rice bags on Friday at another garage sale. She was thrilled, and I was so excited for her. Monday night she spent making a bunch more. She has the sewing bug now.

I sold the majority of the magnets I had made, and I spent Monday night making more.

I think my favorite are the little girl and boy shoes, but I do like how the ball ones turned out too. Especially the football ones.
Here is my little munchkin. She let me put her hair up last night.
It was so cute. I can't believe how grown up she is looking.

Wishing you all a very lovely week.

A Fun, Busy and Creative Week

It has been a really fun and busy week.
Myles started swim lessons. He is having a great time and really enjoying what he is learning.
He has been so helpful at getting us out the door on time this week too.
He is so cute. After getting his swim trunks on he gets the red bag Rhaevyn is letting him borrow and packs a towel, undies, and clothes. Then he stands at the door announcing he is ready and needs his flip flops. He tries to be really patient, as he usually has to wait on Elsa and me to be ready. He's so quick..............like lightening speed!

Aeva is finishing up her piano books and will start her next set after vacation.
She is really excited about this. She did get her wish and started on some school work this past week. By Thursday she was ready to have Friday off though.

Rhaevyn had sewing camp this last week.
I think she was a bit nervous at first, as she didn't know the teachers or the other four kids in the class. And after the first day she was feeling defeated. I reminded her that everyone learns at a different pace, and she would do great.
By Friday she was a sewing maniac. Her teachers were so wonderful and very helpful.
Rhaevyn's first project was this pillow case.
I think the hardest part of each project was the actual picking out of the fabric, deciding what went together.

Her second project was this reversible bag.

She did such a good job on it, and it turned out so cute.

She gave it to her new friend, Brooke.

Here is Aeva modeling it.

On the last day of class everyone used their scraps to make rice bags.

Rhaevyn wanted to do hand warmers too. She brought some extra fabric, and her teachers and other kids in the class gave her their smaller scraps for the hand warmers.

Then she came home and went wild on the sewing machine.

Here are some of her creations.
She put lavender in some and cloves in others.

Saturday I did a garage sale with my best friend.

Rhaevyn set up her own table and brought her rice bags and hand warmers to sell.

She got lots of compliments. When people asked who had made them her little face just lit up, and with big smile she would reply that she had made them herself.

I can't end without mentioning sweet Elsa.

This video clip is of one of her escapades this week.

She loves to scoot the chairs around in the kitchen to see what goodies await her on the counter tops. When I start hearing the chair legs scooting across the linoleum that is my cue to see what she is up to.

She found the flour this week. She was having a ball running her fingers through the silky powder, tossing it around and, yes, eating it.

What fun!

Today I got to teach Myles's Primary Class. It was a lot of fun.

I forgot how fun 4 year olds are to teach. They say the funniest things. We played some games, I told some stories, we colored and had a "picnic" of water and pretzels.

When it got to coloring time, one little boy told me he needed help coloring inside the lines.

He proceeded to hold my hand, cautioned me against coloring too fast, and then let go said "Yep, you're doing a great job!" It was so cute.

As we were getting ready for church this morning I peaked around the corner into the living room and was alarmed to see that Myles was missing. I called to him, but didn't hear anything. I saw that his door was closed and went to check on him.

He was busy coloring and using up the stickers.

He had a nice little Crayola marker drawing on his face and thoroughly enjoying his creative time.

This week should be a little less busy.

Myles does have swimming, but his soccer class has ended now.

Friday was family day, so Aeva and I participated in his class.

It was so much fun. Having a soccer ball fly towards you isn't so scary when four year olds are doing the kicking.

And that's a peek into our life the last couple of days.

May you all have charming week ahead of you.

Jello and A Play Date

Elsa is learning to sleep in her new bed, the trundle.

Her average is three hours, although she had one night of six hours.

The other night was her all time record of shortness. I think she lasted all of 15 minutes.

Then she came in our bed and tossed and turned and whacked me in the face most of the night.

Finally at about four in the morning, I thought I was at my wits end. I was going on very little sleep, as every time I actually fell asleep I'd get a fist or back hand in the eye or nose.

I rolled over and looked at Elsa. I said to her, "Elsa, why can't you just be still and go to sleep!" And then I stopped and thought about what I just said, scooped her up and hugged her really tight and whispered, "even though I am at my wits end right now someday I am going to miss this, so I better enjoy it now, huh?" Then I laid her back down next to me and closed my eyes and tried to get some shuteye.

She has become quite a little rapscallion as of late. She is very , what's the word, clever ? at coming up with ways to get what has been put out of her reach. And that has become my new nickname for her when she is getting into trouble, which is on an hourly basis.

Rhaevyn had her new friend over on Thursday. I think they had a great time. Rhaevyn was a bit worried. She didn't want her friend getting bored. They made bracelets, played Barbies, had pizza for lunch, made cupcakes and decorated them and played more Barbies. I heard lots of laughter coming from her room. So, I think it is safe to say that her friend had a good time.

This week Rhaevyn is taking a week long sewing camp. She is pretty excited about it. She will be making a pillow case and a reversible bag. She is all set with her fabric. I think picking out the fabric was the hardest part, but she picked out fabric with cute patterns.

Myles starts swimming tomorrow morning. This should prove to be fun for him, I hope.

The school books have arrived, and as usual, it was like Christmas in August.

Aeva has been asking since Thursday if she can start on school already.

She just may get her wish this week.

Lastly, I am really excited because I think I have finally perfected my 7 layer jello making skills.

It has only taken me about a year. I'll leave you with a few of the photos I took of my great accomplishment.

Wishing you all a wonderful week, and don't forget to stop and cherish the ones you love :)

Glasses and Stuff

Aeva got a call from the eye doctor yesterday saying that her glasses were in. She was thrilled, as this was two weeks earlier than expected. She absolutely loves them and was happy that she needed glasses. I remember feeling this way too, when I got glasses in the sixth grade. I quickly became un-thrilled with mine. Of course, mine weren't as cute as hers. I hope the excitement she has over hers lasts.

On a separate note, I felt a bit crafty last night and so I decided to make three pacifier strings. These are all girl ones.

The picture seems a bit blurry. It seems like it is either lines or blurriness these days with the camera, but I think you can pretty well see the general design of each one. I have had some inquiries about the boy pacifier strings. We shall see if anything becomes of that.

Rhaevyn got some exciting news yesterday. I was telling her teacher that Rhaevyn was teaching herself to play Ashokan Farewell by ear. Her teacher gave her some incentive to actually read the music from her lessons instead of memorize it. She has the next two weeks off from lessons. So, if in that time she can show that she can read the music, her teacher said they'd jump ahead, she would buy the music for Ashokan Farewell, and teach Rhaevyn to play it.

Rhaevyn is soooo excited about this.

I think one of the best things about being a parent is seeing your child find something they love to do and really put themselves into it. It is such a joy to see their faces light up when they've found a talent they didn't know they had.

A Bit of This Week

Yesterday was Christopher's company picnic. They held it at the zoo for the second time.
We got there in the late afternoon and looked at the animals for about an hour before the food was to be served. After eating, the kids got a private show of an armadillo, bald eagle and an owl. The armadillo was really cute, but different looking than I had imagined it. The bald eagle was huge. I have seen documentaries on them, but seeing one up close was absolutely amazing and breathtaking. They are magnificent and beautiful birds.
I didn't get many pictures because I keep getting horizontal lines in the photos, as you can probably see from the above photo. So most of what I got was in the form of videos.
Unfortunately I think most of the animals were pretty bored and we didn't get to see too many of them. They seemed to be sleeping or turned their backs to us when we came up to the glass.
Myles said his favorite thing at the zoo was this gigantic grasshopper. He likes grasshoppers and had caught a baby one earlier in the day at home.

After the party was over we did the NW loop on our way out of the zoo. I think this was our favorite part. The animals in this part of the zoo were alive and kicking, awake and not shy. We got to see some bears up close.

Rhaevyn and Chris made this little desk together. We recycled our old shelves for it.
We thought this might be nice for the girls to use for their school work if they want to sit on their bed and do it.

Here is a picture of the girls' room, finally finished.
This picture is not that great, so there is a video just below it.
We are so excited that they have actual drawers now.
And best of all, we took a piece of wood from our old shelves, Aeva painted it white,
and voila! they have a nice desk by the window to do school work.
We had one extra drawer, and they are using that for their pens, pencils, glue, etc.

Speaking of school work, we just got tracking numbers for their school curriculum. The girls are eagerly awaiting their new books.

This week Rhaevyn has invited her new friend over. She is on pins and needles.
Rhaevyn was invited to her friend's house this past Thursday and had such a wonderful time.
I am so glad to see that she has made a new friend who seems very sweet. They are a lot alike.
Her friend is also home schooled. It is nice that they have that in common. We had quite an adventure finding her house, and I hit a little bunny rabbit on the way there. I had hoped that I just stunned it, but after passing it three more times we concluded this was not the case. Poor bunny. Rhaevyn and her friend went on a bit of a dig and found an old tea pot and glass bottle. They also made mud pies and went swimming. Rhaevyn spent her own money on popsicles to take since the weather was to be hot.
Rhaevyn is also teaching herself to play Ashokan Farewell. I can hardly wait until she can play the whole thing, as this is one of my most favorite songs.

Elsa has taken to loving the vacuum cleaner.
Vacuuming the kitchen has become a task that takes a lot longer now because
she gets very upset if we don't let her vacuum.
She vacuums a little bit and then usually puts the vacuum down to give someone a hug and then picks the vacuum up again.
If you try to intervene, and get some vacuuming in yourself, she lets you know under no uncertain terms that she is not happy that you are interfering with her vacuuming job.

I can't believe it is time to pack clothes away again.
I just go out the next round of clothes.
I just made this little clip for her. Well, I bought part of it already made and put it on a clip.
Here she is dancing.
She loves music.

Last but not least, I had to get a picture (video) of this unbelievable bug that was at the bank the other day.
It was a very fascinating.

Wishing you all a very delightful week:)

Yeah for Soccer! Yeah for Myles!

Myles has been on the back burner for several months, as far as getting to do any type of activities. August is shaping up to be his month. Three Fridays of soccer and two weeks of swim lessons Monday through Thursday. He isn't sure about the swim lessons, but I think he will enjoy them. The day I signed him up for swim lessons he yelled "hooray, now I get to go to Idaho!" I tried to let him down gently and tell him that swim lessons were not going to be at the YMCA in Idaho. He was pretty disappointed, but I assured him that we would go back some time to Idaho so he could do the water slide there.

Today was his first day back in soccer classes since Spring.

He was sooooo excited. He has been asking just about every day for the past three months if "today" was the day I was going to take him to sign up for soccer again.

Tuesday was the day and he was ecstatic and wanted class to start right then and there. He did so good in class today. Here are some videos of him from today.

On a side note, this little guy makes me laugh. The other night he says to me, "Mom, my back really hurts in the middle. I think this means that I need a Tempur- Pedic or Sleep Number bed." I just had to laugh. He cracks me up!!

Magnet Making Maniacs

The girls and I have been making magnets over the past couple of days.
We've made 75 in all so far.
It all started really because Rhaevyn and Aeva have some cute tile magnets that spell out their names. However, I didn't have any for Elsa. Plus I thought this would be a really fun craft for Rhaevyn and Aeva to make. They loved it.


Then Myles decided that he wanted to help make some.
I compromised and said I'd do the making, but he could pick what he wanted for magnet pictures. He loves soccer, so he picked a soccer ball. He also loves airplanes, so I had him look at his poster that we got him from the Idaho air museum.


He picked out two of his favorites. It was hard for him to just pick out two.
And the other magnet is Captain Moroni and the Title of Liberty.




I had cleaned out a box and had found some postcards from the Evergreen Air museum and Myles was ecstatic. So he hung them up with his new magnets.




Here are some closeups of all the magnets.
These are the size of the bottom of a coke bottle.
The one with the crazy hair is from a card that my mom sent me.
I had it hanging up on my white board before the room got torn apart. Now my white board
is covered in quotes. So I decided to make it into a magnet because I love it since it reminds me of my mom.


These are the smaller magnets.


These are some of the ones the girls helped to make, but don't have magnets attached yet. I made one with a picture of Chris and I. Rhaevyn made two to give to her new friend.


Here are some of their magnets on their magnetic board in their room.


And here are my bookshelves.
I absolutely love them.
It is so nice to have my linen closet back for the use of linens.
Rhaevyn and Aeva each have a shelf for school books, which should be arriving sometimes in the next couple of weeks.

Yesterday, Chris finished up the ladder for the bunk bed and installed it.
He even tried it out. Aeva loves that it is up now, and she doesn't have to use a chair to get up on the top.
Speaking of Aeva, she is getting glasses. She and Rhaevyn had their eye exams on Wednesday and she was really hoping that glasses were in her future. We'll post a picture of her with her new glasses when she gets them.

Today was a very laughable day. While I will admit I did feel like crying through parts of it,

by the time Chris called at 4:00 from church to check in on me, I was laughing about this.......

Let me start at the beginning. I was going to make waffles for the kids this morning, but decided to get the dishes out of the way first. Once the kids did the emptying of the dishwasher I started loading. The washer was mostly loaded when I decided to turn on the garbage disposal. I heard this splashing noise and a cold, wet sensation on my feet. I turn to see Elsa. At first I thought she had managed to take some of the dishes out of the dishwasher, but then I realized my kitchen floor was covered in water. I try and process this information, and it just is not adding up. Meanwhile the disposal is still going. Then I see that my dishwasher is full of water, and water is pouring out of it. So apparently the sink was backing up into the dishwasher. Rhaeyvn ran to get me six bath towels and then preoccupied the wee one in the bathtub for an hour. Meanwhile I put in a call to Chris at church and ask where I might find a Philips and straight slot screwdriver. He kindly replies that maybe he should get me an IKEA tool kit (which those of you who were here for Christmas will understand). Anyway, I take all six screwdrivers I find back into the house because I know two have to at least work. I find a straight slot that works but am out of luck with the Philips.

I get the heater vent off, which was no small task, and start to dry that out. During the process of cleaning the vent cover off a bit I put a niced half inch gash in one of my fingers. Ouch! Meanwhile Aeva comes in and reminds me I have a handy little Philips that is solely mine. I try that and, yeah!, it works on the dishwasher.

By the time I got all the water up and then decontaminate the floor Chris is home in time to help get Elsa out of the tub and dressed. It is now after 12:00. I get the batter made for the waffles and get the first one done and pour the batter for the next. While buttering and pouring syrup on the first one for the older girls, I hear this popping noise followed by an electrical burning smell. Yes, our waffle iron went kaput. I try and squeeze another two waffles out, and Christopher says it is time to put the thing out to pasture as he can't take the burning smell. So we switch to making pancakes. We have to say that the homemade waffle recipe actually makes awesome pancakes.

So, I just can't take much more I think to myself. I was planning on staying home from church, as Myles really hasn't done well since Friday morning when he got five shots. Poor guy really was brave, but his little legs have been so sore and he has been walking really slow and funny, plus he breaks down over anything. He is much better today, but I figured one bump from one of his classmates might send him into hysterics. Besides he is so content playing computer games right now I say to myself. So, Aeva went to church with Chris. I start dinner half an hour before Chris and Aeva are supposed to get home. I start the brown rice, hesitantly, because we seemed to have lost the instruction booklet. I discovered it was missing on Tuesday when I went to make rice. Anyway, so I start the rice hoping I got the rice/water ratio correct. When I put the pot pies in the oven I smelled this burning smell. I thought maybe it was the cookie sheet that was left in the oven. So, I open the oven again, but decide that is not where the burning smell is coming from. I look over at the rice cooker and see what I think is steam. That is normal I say to myself. But then I look a little longer and harder and realize that it is not steam coming out of the hole in the lid. It is smoke coming out from the sides. So, I unplug it and get some pot holders to lift up the cooking bowl. Low and behold there is the rice cooker instruction booklet. The phone rings, and I hear Chris asking me how things are going. I think I really just want to throw up my hands and cry because this day has been a dozy, but I start to laugh and tell him I found the instruction booklet. And while the house smells like burnt paper I am glad we are all okay, no fires today, thankfully, and it all could have been a lot worse.

I know these kinds of days just make us stronger and add to our character.

On a positive note, the three pages of the instruction booklet written in English were pretty much spared.

On another positive note, Elsa slept four and a half hours in the trundle last night. That is a record so far. And when she got up she didn't cry. She just trotted into our room and climbed in our bed. We may have her sleeping in her bed all night soon.

She is also potty training herself, so we may be out of diapers before long.

The realization of this notion is bitter sweet. Because while on the one hand I think that is pretty exciting, the other part of me weeps a little and think "my goodness, I don't have any babies in my home anymore."

Here is my wee-est one twirling in a dress.

As I look back over my day and think about my life, my children, my husband...I think I have been very blessed.

Here's to a wonderful week ahead and take a moment to count your blessings.