Basketball camp: small and tall

I found this perfect little basketball camp for the summer. it was sandwiched in between Max & Madeline's birthdays... The camp is for 4-5 year olds, so because of when it fell, Madeline was barely still 5, and Max had just turned 4... So, in addition to the two of them being the very youngest and oldest, they were also the smallest and tallest. Well technically, Max had a few buddies in the small category with him, but Madeline was by far the tallest. This girl might actually have a future in basketball! Oh, and they held hands every day walking out onto the court :)

 

 

 

 

Happy 4th Birthday Maddox Keevin!

My sweet boy has turned four years old! I don't know what it is about the age of 4, but I remember with the other kids too that it felt like a LONG time coming... Like they already seemed that age, and FINALLY their birthday confirmed what was their reality... Just a funny mommy memory there :)

 

We celebrated Max's special milestone with a specially tailored day of his choosing. I was so pleased by the end of the day, because I could tell it really filled him up. He loved every minute.

 

His birthday cereal (for the second year in a row) was Lucky Charms... He opened a couple special presents, and then after breakfast, we went to church and Max got to announce to his class that it was HIS BIRTHDAY! And his girls promptly told everyone in their path "It's my brother's BIRTHDAY!!!" - they sang to him and he got a special birthday ribbon to wear. After church we went to Out of this World Pizza & Play, and used our gift card that Auntie Sarah & Uncle Drew gave the kids. They got a table-full of yummy food, and all the wild playing & jumping their hearts could handle. This lasted about four hours (Kyle ended up taking Marcus home for his nap, the other kids were still just going and GOING)... After we got home, it was pretty late for naps, so instead we let Max choose a new movie to watch (his choice: The Incredibles) and the kids sacked out together on the couch. We did a "make-your-own" pizza bar (his choice for dinner), and enjoyed a visit from Nana & Poppy who were swinging through town. Max then proceeded to dive into the remainder of his presents and went for a scooter ride through the neighborhood. The kids topped off the night with a swim in their underoos in the back yard kiddy pools (in their underwear?! why was that idea so appealing?! Seriously, redneck rodeo going on in our backyard...) - only to briefly pause for more cupcakes and ice cream. A good, good day to celebrate my special boy.

 

So the best of days to celebrate my precious little love. He has a sparkle to him that is just special and warms my entire heart. I am excited for this year of being 4 :) Happy Birthday to my darlin' Maxy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look at those cute buns...

 

 

 

 

We got all three big kids new scooters for Max's birthday... Took them for a spin (even Mom hopped on for awhile)!

 

 

 

 

 

The fruit of our land

Blueberry harvest from the Corrigan Vineyard!

 

Camping Trip 2013

I can't believe it! We actually went camping with a baby :) So proud of us... We had a fabulous, beautifully sunny & gorgeous, fun-filled, free-wheeling, food experimenting, freezing at night, roasting at day, baby-only-got-burned-once-on-the-campfire, staying up late, life sharing, letting loose week with our Bury Besties. That makes 4 adults & 7 kids... Perfection.

 

I cannot say enough how much I absolutely LOVE camping. Even despite the fact that normal things are 10x harder with little kids (bathroom situations), and you have to adapt to the change of 'living outside' (freezing at night)... But these are all things that you start to master, the more you do it... And the challenges pale in comparison to the immense joy I feel at having the fresh air in my hair, no makeup, communing with nature, campfire roasted food, the sun on my face. What can I say, I am a nature girl at heart! Too much of my life is lived indoors in a sanitary & technology soaked environment. Going camping & hiking just reminds me how much I LOVE LOVE LOVE being in out nature :)

 

We had a total blast with each other!! Side note: while we were all at the beach one afternoon, Sommer was observing our kids playing and how interesting it is to see their relationships change as they grow up. We were watching Max/Silas play smash ball, and Maddy/Jewel hugging each other and rolling down a sand hill together. What started as primarily a "Maddy & Silas" special bond, has morphed into: "Marin & Silas" adventure partners, "Maddy & Silas" quiet time partners, "Jewel & Maddy" girl power buddies, "Max & Silas" boy power buddies, "Trey & Marcus" hugging contest partners... just so fun to see how they change and grow. And it's all.so.special. Cherishing these moments in my heart!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This little boy... loves nothing more than to be perched somewhere with this Da-da... I love their relationship :)

 

 

 

Growing up...

I know this may seem insignificant, but I just had to take this picture of Marin. Her first time being allowed to use a very sharp knife to help prepare the dinner veggies. I am probably too much of a safety freak... But I was proud of myself for letting her go for it!

 

 

ps. do you see those beautiful flowers next to her? just a sweet thing Kyle brought home for me... just cuz :) love.

See you in Heaven, Gran!

Kyle's grandmother passed away last month... She lived a long and full life, and was more than ready to leave this world and enter her forever home with her Creator. We loved her dearly, and will always remember her sassy jokes and witty comebacks. At her memorial, Gran's children prepared many special touches to help us remember. They passed out ceramic angels to all the little girls attending (Gran always spoke of the angels), little laser pointer flashlights to all the little boys (reminding us to be a light in this world), and also small bibles to everyone, with a picture of Gran inside. Inscribed it said "See you in heaven! Love, Gran"... She would always keep a collection of tiny bibles to pass out to people she met. Special things to remember an important and significant life.

 

My girl Madeline had an especially hard time dealing with her passing. When I first told her the news, she cried very hard for at least 30 or 40 minutes. Real shedding of emotion and feeling, as my little sweet pea dealt with this idea of not seeing Gran again for a long time. Then again at the memorial, when the "sad music" (as she called it), started playing, the tears flowed again and she clutched that little bible with Gran's picture for several days afterward. Madeline feels things deeply, and as I observe her and walk with her, I marvel about how God will use that precious, sensitive heart.

 

We love you Gran... See you in Heaven!!

 

 

All of Nana & Poppy's grandkids:

 

 

All of Gran's grandkids:

 

A sweet moment with the cousins and Gran, a couple years ago:

 

 

Reading Rewards

This summer, I was looking for a way to keep the kids excited about reading... Both girls ended the school year on a super high note, really excited about their progress and I wanted to keep the momentum going into the summer months. So I made a little reading reward system, each of the older kids has a reading chart with several boxes to fill in. When they fill up a chart, they get to choose a reward from "the list". Max got to check off a box if he sat and listened to a story from a sister, and each girl got to check off a box if they read a book aloud. Marin much prefers reading silently so she earned a check for every 1 out-loud book, or for every 2 silent chapters in one of her books. The reward list included things like "a secret surprise gift from mom", a trip to get ice cream, a trip to get Starbucks treats, a trip to the pool for swimming, a playdate with a friend, other fun activities... The funny thing is my kids must all be very gifty, because they all kept choosing the secret gift :) After about 5 or 6, I ran out! So the next best choice was ice cream... Here I am with my three olders, enjoying the spoils of a delicious week of reading!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Funny, funny little people

These crazy kids have been snatching my camera and taking lots of funny pics... I love them all!!

 

 

 

 

 

Summer Days

The summer has been fun... I didn't overbook ourselves (in fact, I could have probably added a few more activities, but I am thankful for the downtime to go do WHATEVER we want)... Like this day, we went and fed the ducks and ran up & down wheat fields :) Love.

 

 

 

"Little House on the Prairie" opening scene, right there...