Mess Maker Mess Maker Make Me a Mess......

Owen loves it when I get the washcloth all wet to clean him off and then toss it over his face. He then pulls if off and swings it around or starts sucking on it!

Look at me I can clean my head!

You know I can't even remember what he ate to make this mess.

This is my kids' favorite treat. A frozen cookie dough ball. I usually make a double batch and only bake a dozen or so, then I scoop the rest on a cookie sheet and put them in the fridge for a few hours then in the freezer for a later date. The kids love eating the frozen dough.

Can you tell what variety of cookie this was?

Violet's Birthday

Enjoying birthday cake! MMMMM chocolate.

Bekah, Violet, TJ

Happy Birthday Violet we love you. Look at Erin gazing up at them so adoringly. How sweet.

Suzie...the hair pretties are here!

The big order board that Trevor has been taking to work for the gals to order from.

Playing with some teal and brown ribbons.

Special order for aunt Naria's baby, Kirsi.

Special order for Bekah's teacher. I loved this one so much I made 15 or 20 more!

Special order for Bekah's teacher. Great for private school kids who have to wear uniforms.

More Camping Adventures

The kids had tons of fun climbing this old tree, especially the boys.
Bekah climbing up the retaining wall. What is it about climbing all over everything but the path? Erin found some HUGE screws sticking up. She tried so hard to get up there.
Violet finally made it up in hte climbing tree. Yeah Violet!
Owen staying nice and warm in the moby wrap. It was so cold this trip. I am glad I packed emergency clothes!

Wildlife and group photo

I (wendy) totally caught this snake all by myself! I was so proud and then of course I had to share it with the group. The kids loved it.
While the rest of us (without the stroller) were upstairs exploring, Trevor and the babies (Owen and Violet) found this nest on the floor in one of the rooms of the fort! What a find! If you look closely you will notice this nest is on the ground.
Here is the mama bird coming in to feed her babies.
Everyone except for Heather , who is taking the photo. Thanks Heather!
Logan, TJ, Nathan, Rachel, Erin, Kymee, Bekah. They so did not want to pose for this shot.

Our family camp out.

TJ and our friend Nathan "sharing" the sand toys that I bought for the little girls.
"Mom, sand doesn't really taste as good as I thought it would."
Erin is out hunting for bears. After our last family camp out we now have to scope out all camping areas to make sure there are no bears. Thanks for the great story daddy!
Violet's favorite place to be while we were at the camp ground! After eating all that sand those diapers were totally a blast to change.
Owen just chillin out with daddy by the fire pit.

Spaghettios: human food or dog food?

We were looking in the grocery adds and saw that Albertson's was having a super deal on Cambells soups and labels for education. Since there is a contest at the kids' school we decided to go get some. We don't actually use cream of chicken or mushroom anymore so I figured we could get a couple cans of spaghettios and the kids might like it. This was their very first time eating them. We had it for lunch. Bekah's response, "this is yucky I'm not eating it.", Erin's, "can I go play now.", and Violet didn't even touch hers.

Well we have a rule at our house. If mom puts it in front of you to eat you eat it or it will be there for the next meal and the next until it is gone. This rule usually works.

At dinner the girls are VERY hungery and a little upset that they get the same bowl of spaghettios but relieved they get a new piece of bread to go with it. TJ having missed out at the lunch scene said he would trade with Bekah. Mind you he had a bowl full of fresh picked creamy potato and basil soup. He took 2 bites of Bekah's spaghettios and almost threw up. He then pushed her bowl back and said, "I can't eat that it makes me choke."

Needless to say spaghettios has officially been banned from our house. How great are kids!?

Blue Eyes

Owen is such a good natured and happy baby, not to mention totally beautiful if I do say so myself.

Hide and Seek

Ready or not hear we come dad!
Hey wait for me guys!

A day at the park.

All the kids after eating their lunch.
Who kne his mouth was that big. Tj enjoying a chocolate zucchini muffin.
Violet eating a dandelion head .....again.
"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, ..........27, 28, 29, 30. Ready or not hear I come!"
The kids in their hiding place.

YEAH SCHOOL!!!

First day of kindergarten. Bekah was soo excited! She loves school.

Tj, Rebekah, Erin, Violet, Owen at the bus stop.

Bekah's first day comes to an end.

Who new mud could be this fun!?

Believe it or not but the pool was up in the front yard and totally full of water. I am not sure who started the mud hole this time but it sure was fun to introduce mud bathing to our cousins Asher, Ella, and Brogan. The twins loved it and didn't want to get out even though everyone was shaking with cold and their lips were turning blue!

Violet kept dunking her hands and pulling them up full of soupy mud and saying "gick!"

The mud pit has always been a great "babysitter" for me so that I can weed the garden and know that the kids will stay close. TJ and Bekah have been sure to teach their little siblings how to make a good mud pit, thanks kids.

I'll help you mom!

Any chance to be close to the mixer, Violet is there! She will even stop anything she is doing if she can hear the mixer going and come a runnin to the kitchen to see what the "holy grail" of treats is mixing up today!

Dimpples

Hello dimpples. Owen is the happiest baby around!

A typical day at our house.

Rebekah and Erin enjoying some homemade cookies.

TJ and Violet watching pbs kids.

My 3 ballerinas, yes boys can be ballerinas just look at TJ!

Brothers! At last another boy in the house.

If you look closely you will notice that Violet had an important purpose for climbing into the wood stove. Polly pocket is in her hand safe and sound.

ps the wood stove hadn't been used for fires in a long time!