Let Summer Play Begin

Bubbles, noodle wars, swinging, scooters....oh my.
I love the rain, but it is so nice to have some warm weather and sunshine so the kids can
romp about outside. I love hearing there laughter and loud voices waft in through the window.
We have more kids in the cul-de-sac this year for them to play with too. It is great that they all get along so well despite age differences, which range from 4-12. Even Elsa seems to be incorporated into whatever they are all playing when she goes outside.
I have taken a couple of pictures of Aeva, Myles and Elsa on the swing. Yesterday Myles and Elsa collided. Elsa got the worst of it with a bloody nose. Poor thing, yesterday was not her day. She also ran into the front door handle with her forehead. She's got a nice purple egg, but she didn't let it slow her down.

Elsa trying to push Myles and Aeva on the swing.

Ah, my handsome little man... I just love this guy!

I can't believe he is almost 5.

This is Myles's version of a Lego aircraft carrier.

I had to take this picture. I loved how by the morning they were crisscrossed.
Elsa is so good with Myles's teeth grinding, and Myles is so good with Elsa waking up crying in the night. Once they fall asleep, they are usually pretty heavy sleepers.

It is never a dull moment around here, as I know I have commented before.
I happened to find some pictures of Myles from around 18-24 months.
I had forgotten how much he was like Elsa......eating bananas through the skin, climbing, and taking apart anything he could get his hands on. It is funny how when you are so focused on the current youngling you forget that they aren't the only one of your kids to do all that fun stuff like bathing in the sugar canister.

Elsa's latest was trying to shave her lips with Christopher's razor.
She was in the bathroom with me while I was doing my hair. I looked down and discovered she had a hold of the razor. I am not sure how she got the drawer open because it has a child safety thing on it. I put the razor away. A minute later I picked her up because we were getting ready to leave, and I notice her lips were bleeding. It took me a while to get it stopped.
I love this girl.....she keeps me on my toes and gives me lots of stories to someday tell and laugh over.

Elsa wanted to be rocked and Myles came bouncing over to volunteer his services.

Have a wonderful first official week of "real summer" as Myles says.
He wanted reassurance the other day that it was "real' and not "fake summer."
I had to giggle.

Father's Day

I love watching the kids get so excited for Father's Day.
They usually can't hold out until the actual day to give Chris what it is that they have either made or bought for him with their own money.
This year Myles made Chris a card, writing his name all by himself. He gave this to him on Wednesday.
Aeva went to the dollar store and bought Chris a package of York Peppermint Patties, which are his favorite and was given to him on Thursday.
Rhaevyn bought Chris a card this year from the store. She was so cute picking it out. She got a perfect one, which she said made her cry when she read it because it reminded her of her dad.
Happy Father's Day, Dear!

Blessed indeed is the man who hears many gentle voices call him Father.

Surprise!!!

Ben and Stacey came down to visit this weekend.
We had lots of fun. Ben came on a two mile walk/jog with me, Stacey went to Micheal's with me so I could finish up Christopher's gift, the kids enjoyed their time with Uncle Ben and Auntie Stacey, Chris enjoyed having a man date with Ben (lunch and test driving cars), and we had some yummy treats.
Our time with them always seems to go by too fast.

Myles took this picture of Ben preparing the cookies
for our cookie hot fudge ice cream sundae

Ben had fun with the Doodle Pro.

We took a few pictures before they left for home
and we left for church this morning.

Piano Recital

Today was Aeva's piano recital.
She normally gets pretty nervous, but she was very calm today.
We were a little worried about how things would go today because yesterday she accidentally got her fingers slammed in the door heading out to the garage. Thanks to ice, Tylenol and prayers here fingers worked just fine today.
Here she is all dolled up, curls and all.

Her first song..."Puppet Dance."

This one is called "Fandango."

She did a great job. It is always so fun to see and hear the new students and what pieces each student has chosen to play. I love that all the students and parents are so supportive of each budding pianist. We couldn't ask for a better teacher either. She picks a piece to play each time too, and that is always neat. She usually picks one that she wants to learn or hasn't played since she was young and works on it. Yesterday she played Fur Elise, and what a treat it was to hear.
Afterwards we all enjoyed ice cream with a smorgasbord of toppings each student brought.

Chehalis Steam Train

School has unofficially ended for us. All the books have been turned in, semester tests taken and courses 100 % complete. Ya!!!!
For our end of the year hoorah, Chris took the day off, and we all went on a day outing to Chehalis and road the #15 steam train. Our Wava teacher arranged for this fun field trip. We were joined with a busload of kids from a nearby school.
The train ride was over an hour long. Poor Myles was having a hard time at first with the noise of the train, but I think by the time we headed back he wasn't having so much sensory overload.
He kept busy by trying to catch leaves as we passed by all the greenery. He also spotted three deer. We were all excited to see the bald eagle and its big nest. Aeva was excited to walk the train while it was moving and volunteered to run the errand of getting us some red licorice to share.
The landscape was so beautiful, and I felt like I was in a different time.
We crossed a small trestle bridge and rode along the Chehalis River.
We also learned about the legend of Ruth....

The origin of Ruth's name is a bit of a legend. Once upon a time, the train used to pick up and leave off a woman named Ruth at this point. She always met the train alone, and nobody on the crew ever knew where she lived. She'd just walk out of the woods to meet them, and walk back into the woods when they let her off.

The most exciting part of the trip for Myles, Aeva and Chris came after the train ride was all over. We saw that the public school children were all waiting in line and taking turns getting up onto the engine. Once the line dwindled down, and the school kids were getting ready to leave, Myles, Aeva and Chris hopped in line. Not only did they get to take a look around the engine, but the engineers offered them a ride on the engine as they backed up the train so the conductor could switch the tracks, and push the passenger cars back into the garage. Wouldn't you know it, my camera batteries died so I didn't get any of it on video. Note to self: Make sure you bring an extra pair of new batteries.
The three of them were on cloud nine. We were so glad that we decided to make the trek to Chehalis for this.
It was quite the memory maker.

Just a Few Snapshots

I took a few photos of the plane that Chris made Myles.
It looks like it has had a hard life, as he has had so much fun flying it the past two days.

Beautiful Girls.

Flight Videos....

Wee One.

This dress was my great buy at a garage sale across the street yesterday.
Can you believe 50 cents?
I think it looks adorable on Rhaevyn.

Last, but not least, I will leave you with a little video Chris put together of the new toy for him and the kids.

17 Years and Counting

It has been 17 years, but it feels like it was just yesterday that we were married.
What a wonderful day our wedding day was, and it just keeps getting better.

Happy Anniversary, My Dear.

Mostly All About Elsa

This entry is mostly filled with videos and pictures of our wee one.
We have had a busy couple of weeks.
Rhaevyn got invited to a movie night last Friday and went to help clean the Portland Temple last Saturday.
She has just finished up her first violin book and is moving on to the second book.
She has learned to play a song from Phantom of the Opera, and learning some Irish fiddle tunes may be in the near future for her.
Aeva's piano recital is coming up in two weeks. She is working hard on her songs for that.
The weather has been beautiful here lately. We've enjoyed feeling the warm rays from the sun.
Chris and Myles went on a church camp out recently.
This was the first time Myles had been camping in a tent and roasting marshmallows over a campfire rather than our kitchen stove. The two of them had a great time.
While they were camping, us girls had a girls night complete with hot fudge sundaes and Lark Rise to Candleford.
With the warm weather the kids caught a frog and several ladybugs. Auntie Jill found them a caterpillar on our walk. Myles named him Joey. He was was loved and handled daily, but alas we found him dead on Sunday.

Here is Elsa taking a break from running around

with her siblings in the sunshine.

After her rest, she decided she was hot and found this bowl filled with cold water, as well as dirt, and cooled herself off.

Elsa has learned to move the chair over to Rhaevyn's jewelry box and loves to pull out all the necklaces and bracelets and put them on.

Her hair is getting so long.
I decided to see if I could braid it.

Here are her two favorite things to say, as of late ....

"Superstar"

And "I love you", which really comes out as "I luv boo!"

We have about a week and half left of school, with a train ride coming up next week for the end of the year hurrah. We are all looking forward to this.
Until next time..............

The Trailer That Chris Built

Well, he helped build it, along with the other members on the engineering team.

This was the final project picture they had taken two weeks ago. It is nice to be able to see what he works such long hours on. Great job, dear! I'm very proud of you:)

Happy Birthday, Happy Mother's Day

I have now officially been on this earth for 38 years.
It seems unreal because I certainly don't feel like I am that age.
I don't mind being 38, it just doesn't seem possible. I feel like I graduated from high school not that long ago.

I had a wonderful birthday. A big thanks to everyone who called and sent birthday wishes.
I truly feel loved!
I treated myself to this most delicious chocolate mouse cake.
I am glad that Chris and the kids helped me eat it.

Rhaevyn babysat while Chris and I went out to dinner for my birthday.
That was nice, but not as fun as it could have been because I worried the entire time I was gone. Rhaevyn, I know, is very responsible and perfectly capable of watching the other three, but as a mother I just can't help worrying.

Mother's day was extraordinary!
I can't believe I have been a mother for more than a decade now.
12 years ago was my first mother's day, and I am so grateful for the blessing of being a mom.

I should have waited to put on my mascara the morning of Mother's Day.
Chris made me breakfast, and as I came into the kitchen he led me to my seat at the table with a big grin.

As you can see there is a jewelry bag, and inside of that bag was my wedding ring.

I had come to grips with the fact that I probably would not be wearing my wedding ring for quite some time after losing one of the diamonds in April. Chris outdid himself. My mascara was streaking down my face. Ah well, well worth it.......I had great big tears of joy and appreciation that he would do that for me.
And of course I had lots of hugs and kisses from the kids. Rhaevyn gave a talk at church on mothers. Myles wished me, at least 20 times, a happy Mother's Day! He offered to be my footrest for several minutes as well. Aeva made me a wonderful card, and Rhaevyn bought me some chocolate dipped strawberries.

I'll close with a few pictures of my dear munchkins and me.

Take the time to enjoy the sweet moments of life this week.