a day at the river

it was a really good day

we got out of the house by 8:30am (that never happens) and garage saled

then we shopped in lewiston

and went to the river

 eleanor spent the day perfecting her newest skill (thumb-sucking)

 it was really nice out 

and we finally found the sandy beach part of the snake river

 olive's hair in a bun

it's way too cute

me

 happy boy

hazel was very busy working intently on sand castles

using a burger king cup as her only tool

so resourceful

olive is so darling!

i could just eat her

i love this guy

and the cute girls who hang on him

olive juice

growing up, there was always a can of black olives

at family get togethers

and we all loved to eat them

now, in our house, it's the same way

the kids love olives

i will admit that it can be a little confusing

when you throw around the word

since it is our darling girl's name

but don't worry

no matter how much i love olives
i will not eat her

and i did not name my daughter after the food 

i named her after my great aunt olive

i'm glad we all like olives (except michael)

and that we all love olive (including michael)

see how confusing it can be?

t-ball

it was a nice sunny day at sports camp today

both kids hit the ball

and had fun with friends

success

pajama day

i don't know if it's because it's raining

or because hazel was screaming throughout the entire night

so we all slept in until 9 this morning

but either way, i declared it a pajama day
we're not going anywhere
and we're eating lots of popcorn

10 of my favorite things that happened today

1. after noah and hazel made a big construction paper mess

they cleaned it up

2. when we took lunch to michael at work

he decided to take the rest of the day off

3. we had a fun mid-day date to the mall

and bought a new trash can

4. instead of my hauling all 4 kids to sports camp and meeting

michael there, he took noah and hazel and i stayed home

with olive (napping) and eleanor

5. i had time in my day for the first time in a long time

to lay down, nurse and enjoy eleanor

we both got a little nap in

6. while i could have been productive

i sat and ate pistachios and enjoyed the quiet

7. watching the kids run around in the sprinkler

8. we had our new favorite dinner which consists of 

brown rice, grilled chicken and corn

everyone ate it 

and there were so few dishes

9. family home evening about loving everyone

no matter how they look or act

the kids seemed to really understand

10. having the kids to bed by 8:45pm

for the first time all week

their normal bedtime is 7pm but summer is

totally throwing us off

all in all it was a very good day

my very favorite part

was a little time to myself

tummy time

 eleanor had a little tummy time today

and guess what she did first thing..

she rolled over!!

noah rolled at 5 months, hazel rolled at 7 months

and both olive and eleanor have rolled for the first time at 2 months

sports camp

noah and hazel started (a two week) sports camp this week

they are split up by age so we're there for two hours

it gets a little bit long for olive, but it's fun to be outside with friends

here are the highlights of week one

soccer

 basketball

track & field

 it's so fun to watch them!

home work

teaching does not come naturally to me

it really doesn't

i even feel uncomfortable trying to teach my kids

but i really don't want noah to regress over the summer with reading or writing

so i've been printing some worksheets from education.com 

for the kids to work on while olive naps in the morning

they both think it's a lot of fun

and it gives me some free time to do the dishes and clean up

while they work on things

it's the sort of thing that works way better

since they do it together, i don't think it would work

for just one of them individually 

noah practices 1st grade worksheets while hazel works on preschool

the other day i was having hazel practice the letter "s"

and she said, "just like in my name!"

no....so next we practiced "z" 

water park

today it was finally hot enough to go to the water park

it was in the eighties

so michael came home from work early 

and we spent four hours there!

 eleanor is such a nice baby

i started out with her in the moby wrap

but it was kind of awkward trying to keep her completely covered

i was worried she was too hot so she spent the rest of the time happily in her car seat

 michael having fun with hazel

 olive playing with michael

 me and the girls

 olive looks so sweet

too bad she's not really that content just sitting there

that girl keeps us buuuuuuuusy

she liked being there way more than i expected

and wouldn't take a break to warm up

 hazel with purple lips

when i was little if i was even just a tiny bit cold in water

my lips turned purple

and our poor kids are the same way

 the girls (minus eleanor)

noah warming up

sometimes i think we're a little too ambitious

when we do things like take all four kids grocery shopping,

out to dinner, or on a bike ride

so i worried we couldn't really handle the water park

but it went better than expected

and it was so nice to be out in the sun

it's summer!

today is the official first day of summer

a picture of olive last summer

here are some things i'm looking forward to this summer

otter pops

moving to utah

the water park

barbecues with friends

getting a tan

watermelon

family reunion

having a garage sale

slurpees

seeing my sisters 

having a backyard

being outside

olive turning two

getting family pictures taken

projects

garage saling

and running

i love summer!

six

When I was One,

I had just begun.

When I was Two,

I was nearly new.

When I was Three,

I was hardly Me.

When I was Four,

I was not much more.

When I was Five,

I was just alive.

But now I am Six, I'm as clever as clever

So I think I'll be six now for ever and ever.

A.A. Milne

i just came across this sweet poem

i love my clever six year old

best. picture. ever.

father's day

i am so grateful for michael

he is such a good dad

he is patient and fun

loving and nice

our kids adore him

every one of them

i really and truly could not have a better

dad for my children

we love you, michael

ps. michael is wearing the
"world's greatest dad" t-shirt
that i gave him for fathers day
5 years ago
on our honeymoon!

i couldn't do it

as hard as a milk protein free diet is

i tried to switch eleanor to formula last night

and she took it

but it felt way too painful (emotionally) to stop nursing her

she is so little

and such a good nurser

i decided to nurse her again this morning

i don't know if i'll last an entire year nursing her 

while on this diet

but i would rather not eat eggs, cheese, milk, ice cream, etc.

than stop nursing her right now

she is worth the sacrifice

i will probably just try adding foods 

with small amounts of milk-protein

back in my diet, little by little

we'll see how it goes

i just love eleanor

five year anniversary

today is our five year anniversary

yesterday the kids had a dentist appointment in spokane

so we spent the night there just for fun

to celebrate our anniversary as a family

despite staying on the 5th floor of a hotel overlooking the river,

taking them to a movie, swimming, lots of treats, etc

they were brats

and we left spokane early with hazel and me in tears

we should have stuck to our original plan of michael's parents watching the kids

oh well

thank goodness for good friends

the livelys watched the kids this evening so we could go out to dinner

we even left eleanor for the first time

so it was a relaxing evening without kids

and michael got me an anniversary band as a gift

so that was really sweet

we also made the decision to switch eleanor to formula today

so i can quit the super strict diet i've been on for the last 5 weeks

and we shared a piece of Belgian chocolate cheesecake

it was amazing 

and i'm excited to eat normally again

i am so lucky to have such a wonderful husband

kind of crazy we have 4 kids and we've only been married 5 years now

but it has a been a really fun journey

and we're excited to see where we are in another 5 years

love you, michael!

just love this girl

the way she teaches me interpretive dances

step by step

the way she paints with water colors that makes me want to

frame every single paper

the way she tells knock knock jokes

that make absolutely no sense

the way she says she was just joking to save face

if she says anything that is incorrect

the way she loves doing her hair and make-up

just as much as i always have

the way she loves being a girl

and playing with girls

the way she acts just like me

that keeps me on my toes

and reminds me of the great responsibility

it is to be a mom

so much fun

michael moved the kitchen table and chairs

to the living room

so he could sweep the other night

the kids thought it was so fun to play on it

 noah and olive love to wrestle

 hazel was more interested in posing

then they all helped clean the floor

is it weird we don't own a mop?

i don't like them

my dad taught me to use a towel or washcloth

and "ski" to clean the floor

so that's what i prefer to do

and the kids think it's fun to help