Water sliding at the Valley Y

So glad I grabbed their suits last minute when we were headed to Brianna's volleyball game in the Valley....I didn't realize the big slide would be open and they would have the time of their lives going down it a million times!


 I got the cutest video of Bennett yelling, "I don't need your help but THANK YOU!"

" show me your muscles!"

The lighting section at Home Depot

So bright! 🌞

Nap when the baby naps! Or...just be lazy

I really should get up and DO something. Because there are a million somethings to be done.
But the older 3 are at school, the toddler is asleep, it's silent in my usually noisy home....and I just wanna stay right here doing nothing but relax and stare at her.
Well, and play on my phone of course:)

Morning swim

The twins plus a friend played while I did laps.
And apparently Bennett is working on his gang signs.

Big girl doing big girl homework!

A report on an endangered animal of her choice...she picked Snow Leopards. Then used her tablet and asked Google to tell her all about Snow Leopards, including how to draw them. It was so cute. One of those omywordmybabyisgrowingup moments.

Oh kale yeah!

Planted kale from seed LAST summer...got some great leaves from it in the Fall...left it out all winter...spring hits and BOOM! more kale! Zero effort from me!

Day of rest?

My sundays are pretty busy, with meetings and church responsibilities....I love it and believe whole heartedly I'm doing what God wants me to do...but at the same time, I miss lounging around with these goofy faces Sunday mornings.
They're my loves.
At least Brian texts me pics so I know what I'm missing ;/
Where much is given, much is required, eh? Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of Heaven:)

Checkup!

A couple months ago - around Brianna's 8th birthday, I realized she hadn't been to the doctor in....ever? Like since that time she put a rock up her nose. Or got her last round of immunizations before Kindergarten. And even then, they didn't do a checkup. Since our insurance covers an annual physical for everyone 100%, and Brianna had been ASKING to go to the doctor (I think she thought they give out prizes or something...or maybe she just wanted attention)... I went ahead and made an appt! With a PA, cuz the nearest Pediatrician is kinda far. And I don't have any more faith in a Ped vs PA for stuff like this. It was kinda ridiculous they couldn't get her in for 2 MONTHS.
Checkup went great- she's in the 75th percentile for height and weight. Eyesight, BP, and everything just perfect. I asked the PA to explain the importance of SLEEP to Brianna, since she likes to try and stay up too late:)
I'm so grateful for healthy children!!! What a blessing.

I made pretty signs!

Gorgeous trails, sunny days

Been loving my morning runs on the trails behind the Y. They're super short cuz I've been a big slacker in the running dept,  but I'm grateful to be doing what I'm doing. 

The YELLOW wildflowers (and even the dandelions!!) are especially making my day.

"My first recipe!! Send it to Nonny!!"

She was super stoked to "invent" a smoothie (smoothy, as she cutely spelled it) recipe and write it down.
Can't really go wrong with fruit+froyo in a blender...
Next time I'll show her how fun it is to add GREEN stuff to the recipe :)

sdrawkcab gnitirw ttenneB

Is this normal or do I need to be worried?!
His preschool teacher says it's common enough...but man...so trippy! Letters AND words AND the sentence backwards!!

Happy BIRTHDAY Papa!!

He'll come from his trip to find this on his garage! Plus some hanging fushia plants, balloons on his fence, and 2 boxes of organic Figgies :)

The best races

These are my absolute favorite types of races to do.  

I used to care about courses and accurate maps and good competition and blah blah blah.... 

Now I'm happiest when my kids get their faces painted and take pictures with Batman in a beautiful park on a gorgeous Spring Saturday morning. 

Bonus: they learned what Autism means and we had a good discussion about how to treat kids who act differently  (ie - the same as everyone else! With kindness!)

The only downside is that I'm super out of shape. My time was awful and I got beat by a pregnant girl. A very speedy pregnant girl, but still. It's embarrassing. I'm going to fix this!! [starting monday] :)

Avoid the fiery darts of the adversary!

Courtneycourtneycourtney

I just reallyreally adore her.

She's as sweet as can be and ridiculously fun to be around. 

Now I love Fred Meyer even more!

I've seen this at other grocery stores in more enlightened areas of the country... but figured Spokane wasn't quite THERE yet.  But I guess we are, because our grocery store is now offering a free piece of fruit to kids instead of crap from the bakery! Yay! They behave so much better while shopping with me if they're munching on an apple or banana :)

Bouncy bed?

Inspired by Brian's tales from his childhood summer nights spent sleeping outside on his trampoline, the kids *jumped* at the first chance to do the same!

IMO - it's not quite warm enough at night to be doing this. But they insisted! So every pillow, blanket, and large stuffed animal was brought to their trampoline campout. 

And of course, Brian slept out their with him. Both for safety, and fun :)  They watched "Little Rascals" on his ipad before falling asleep. Then Courtney slept in til about 9am! Bennett transferred to his own bed inside at 5:30 or so. 

Honestly, I feel kinda lame I'm not out there with them. I totally would, but Charity is already such a finicky sleeper.... and I just treasure my sleep too much to risk losing a night of it!  Maybe next year? 

Spring art from Brianna

I love it when she surprises us with her cute little art gifts. She's so creative and sweet!

Aloha (goodbye!) dinner

Before mom, Dad, Lily and Mere left on their latest Hawaiian vacation, I wanted to throw a little goodbye party. The tropical theme is always fun, and I have a handy stash of decorations always ready to go! 

I wanted to do the pizza in the shape of the letters ALOHA, but ran out of time, so HI had to suffice :)  We had tiki torches lit outside and a little bonfire. 

I miss them when they're gone!! And not just because they help me with my kids :) 

They wanted us to join them on Oahu... but honestly I just wasn't interested.  A quick cost-benefit analysis demonstrates to me that it's not worth it. Maybe in a few years? Or maybe I can get away with just doing my style of vacations.... quick easy and fun!

Hard work pays off!

 THIS girl..... 

When she puts her mind to something, she's going to make it happen!

She's been wanting her own tablet. Bad. 

She discovered they can be as cheap as $49  (well, 50-something with tax, which she found really annoying.... me too, babe, me too).

Brianna has spent the past month doing jobs for Nonny, Papa, and her parents to earn all the money to buy this herself! 

She showed up at Shopko with her bright pink wallet, stuffed full of crumpled bills and heavy with coins.

The look of pride and joy on her face was priceless! 

And I was thrilled they offer a $5 insurance plan! Full replacement at Shopko for a year if anything at all happens to the tablet. Which is likely to happen, considering the ages of her siblings....

Easiest way to deal with the piano practice battle...

Hiring the older cousin to come help!
Such a win-win....she makes a few bucks, gets valuable teaching experience, practices PATIENCE...Brianna does a full focused hour of practice (which she'll thank me for in 10 years or so)...and *I* do NOT have to lose an hour of my personal productivity time!:)

Would you like a bath with those bubbles?!

Brianna learns to play Life!

It's hard work! Career choices, college debt, children, starter homes, lawsuits, parties, adoption, pay raise, job loss, retirement at millionaire mansion....
Lots for an 8 yr old to absorb! She loved it and it wiped her out mentally :)

Spring Break Chore Charts

Ready to make this week a productive one!
Or at least....here's evidence we tried.
:)

Grateful for one hour printing and modern technology on birthdays

I neglected to get a card in the mail to my grandmother celebrating her 94th birthday.
I wasn't even on the ball enough to send anything for her with my parents who flew out to see her.
FORTUNATELY, Walgreens has one hour printing. And I know how to write a big sign, take a picture, and get my parents to pick up the photo at the Walgreens next to her home and bring it to her on the evening of her birthday. Including the photo collage of all her great grandchildren from her son Steve and Debbie.
BAM, creative thoughtful card.
Procrastinator style.