Start of School Pictures

Summer is coming to a close and Fall is fast approaching.
We are loving that the weather is still warm and sunny
and providing us with lovely days to still get out and
explore nature.
Myles found himself this awesome frog on Sunday.

We are finishing up our second week of school.
Everyone seems to like their school books and what they are learning, and they are all still smiling.

Aeva and Myles got new glasses just in time for the start of the school year.
It's hard to see, but Myles has blue glasses. I got to pick out the style, and he picked out the color.

The kids are all getting so big.

Elsa with her new bracelet that she wears day and night.

She never parts with it.

I couldn't get Myles to make a nice face.

My Miss Aeva, looking glam.

Rhaeyvn is now taller than me.

Myles got a hair cut today, and
he is looking mighty handsome.

This weekend we are going peach picking, and next week Aeva is hosting a jewelry party.
She is super excited about it. She's turning into such a little lady.

Lost then Found

We have been wondering for months, May to be exact, where our little ballerina's ballet shoes danced off to.

After three months we just decided that some gremlin must have taken off with them and they were gone for good. On Friday Elsa asked if we could please get her a new pair. Yesterday, after cleaning the house, Elsa got into a traveling back that we use for toiletries when we go on vacation. I was telling her that this was not helping to keep the house clean, but making a mess. All of a sudden she let out this joyous squeal. There in her hands she held her two ballet shoes. What a happy little girl she was. Later in the day she said "Mom, now you don't have to get me another pair of ballet shoes!"

I can't believe that summer is coming to an end. The kids have had a lot of  fun catching things this summer.

Myles caught an Agreeable White Tiger Moth, and Aeva caught a Garden Tiger Moth. Myles's frogs all hopped away except for one, which died. Here he is with Elsa's net. He caught a dragon fly, but unfortunately you can't see it. It was kind of a small one. 

 

Last weekend Chris and the girls went up to visit Ben and Stacy, as Chris was helping Ben with his car.

The wee ones and I stayed home and had pizza, went out to LimeBerry Frozen Yogurt, made a stepping stone, went to the Farmer's Market, and watched Bionicles (which made Myles so very happy). 

 Here we are making our stepping stone.

 

 

The girls had fun hanging out with Stacey, going to the art store, and painting a fruit bowl. A fun time was had by both parties.

 I've been wanting to make these little fruit cheese desserts. I finally decided to do it.
They were so light and yummy.

 Monday we are starting school. I think I'm ready. I've spent the last couple of weeks getting everyone's binders put together, putting together our school schedule, and getting school books. Some are more excited than others for Monday to be here. I know that I am excited :) They are happy that I've scheduled their birthdays off for this year.

Wishing you all a wonderful week ahead.     

 Rhaevyn has been wanting to try a recipe for pretzels that she found in the Friend magazine.
She made them on two separate occasions this week. The little ones loved helping to make and eat them.

Myles got a lesson in welding this week.
He wanted to help Chris on his tinker car. He really enjoyed it.

 

 
 Wednesday afternoon we left to head up to visit Ben and Stacey.
Thursday we decided to head to Mukilteo. The kids really enjoyed walking on the beach there last year.
This year we decided to do what some of us wanted to do last year when we went there.
We bought some fish and chips to eat.................
and ate them on the ferry ride to Whidbey Island.
Myles was very apprehensive about riding the ferry. I think he was worried about what would happen
if the ferry sunk. But about half way to the island he decided that it was really quite a lot of fun.

 

 After arriving at Clinton, Whidbey Island, we boarded a bus for Langley.
The bus transportation was free, and everyone we met was super nice and friendly.

The kids enjoyed walking the shore at Langley and searching for shells.
The tide was out.
Elsa thought the sand was very "sticky."
Myles had quite a collection of shells going on. He had to decide on just two.
Rhaevyn found a dead fish, and the kids thought the teeth were fascinating.
Then it was time to head back to catch the bus back to Clinton.

 

  For the ferry ride back to Mukilteo, we decided to go up on the observation deck.
It was so beautiful out. The sun was shinning and a breeze was blowing.
Once we got off the ferry we headed over to get some soft serve ice cream.
It was a wonderful day spent together.

 

Ben and Stacey's backyard was very entertaining for Myles. He enjoyed spending his time hunting for and trying to catch frogs and tadpoles. He was in heaven.
He came home with one frog, one tadpole, and one froglet. He just released the frog in our strawberry planter and then we put the froglet and tadpole in a container of water within the strawberry plantar.

Saturday, Ben and Chris went to a VW show, and then that afternoon we had bbq'd spiral hot dogs and cupcakes for Christopher's birthday.
As always, we had a wonderful time visiting with Ben and Stacey, and we had a great day adventure on the ferry.

 

 

 

A Sapling, A Bug, Some Bones, and a Birthday

 So, our horse barn Fridays are pretty much a science class day.
Deon, the sweet gal who owns the barn and horses, is quite a little teacher.
I think Myles has really learned a lot from her.

Last week Myles found a snake sunning itself, and Deon helped him catch it.
He was so mesmerized. She was telling him all about snakes, how to hold them, etc.
He ended up letting it go and was so miserable the rest of the day because he wished that he had kept it.

Deon also found some dear bones for the kids.
They were picked clean, and the kids wanted to bring them home. I believe we have part of the spine and some ribs. Some how a few of them made it onto my kitchen counter. And yes, I screamed.........and then promptly disinfected my counter top.





This is a little tree sapling that Myles found up at the barn in the driveway when we were helping Deon pull the weeds out of the gravel. He wanted to bring it home to plant. We gave him one of the old plastic containers to use for it.

 Isn't this beetle huge? He was on his back and having quite a time getting himself rolled over.
He was quite pretty in the sunlight.

 Mr. Myles loves to climb our trees out front. I think I am glad they aren't any taller.
He likes to kind of hang like a sloth and then pull himself upwards like he is doing pull ups. He
says this helps to make his muscles big.

 Myles turned six on Tuesday.
I can't believe my little man is getting so big.
We set up his presents.
 


He asked if he could do donuts for breakfast.
We decided to do candles for the donuts, since we were having ice cream drumsticks for dessert.
For dinner he asked for a repeat of his 5th birthday dinner, crispy chicken. I think he asked me several times if I was sure I understood exactly what kind of chicken he wanted and to please make sure there were drumsticks, as he likes the legs.

 

Legos and Lego pajamas.........what could be better??
He was in heaven!!

 Here we are skyping and opening presents with Oma, Opa, Cash and Tuppence.

 
 So, our next door neighbor had a garage sale yesterday, and Myles really wanted to go see what they had.
Rhaevyn took him over to have a look. He came home to get his money and wanted me to go back with him because he found something he wanted to get me. I told him that was so sweet, but that I really wanted him to save up his money for something for himself since he doesn't have that much.
He started to cry..........I had broken his little heart. I started to cry, gave him a hug, put on my shoes, and we walked over to the sale hand in hand.
Then he showed me what it was...........

 This is supposed to be me and Chris, Myles said. I have quite the treasure. It was a whole 25 cents, but the sweetest gift ever. Myles said he was sorry the man had a mustache because Chris doesn't have one.
I have it next to my bed. Man I love that little guy!!!

So, that is it for this post. Thanks for stopping by to have a look at what we've been up to.
Until next time...........