Boating!

Grandma and Grandpa (my mom and step-dad) got a new boat a few weeks ago, and they invited us out for the day! Mark and I skied (though I couldn't get up on 1, maybe next time) and we were sooooooooo sore the next day. Becca tubed a little with Mark (we went as slow as possible, I don't even think she got wet), but Nathan chickened out. The kids loved riding in the boat, especially in the bow. After a while, we found the most perfect little beach and we had it all to ourselves.

I can't wait to go boating in August and Sept, maybe even Oct....gotta love the nuclear-warmed lake!

(did I mention how much I love my camera's zoom??? I took these from the boat, while the boat was pulling them!!!!)

Swimming Lessons

Nathan's taking swimming lessons. It's Monday-Thursday this week and next week. He does ok...the first day, he loved it, but ever since then he hasn't loved it so much. He hates to float on his back, so today I told him he didn't have to. He does love jumping in though, and the kick board.

In other news, I have a new camera!! As you might remember (or probably not) Becca broke my camera, and I replaced it with a crappy cheap camera. I finally spent some savings bond money and bought myself a wonderful Nikon P90. I LOVE it, the zoom is amazing, I took 200 pics yesterday. I wasn't even close to the pool when I took this shot!

Look!

Look at what my little girl can do!!!! After working for sooooooooooo long with Nathan, I wasn't ready to start working with her yet...but she decided that she could do it herself. The bike is our neighbor's, she has a tricycle, but is just a bit too short to do it by herself. At least we know she can!

too much fun.

Mark and I bought a new coffee table, and consequently, we have a big box and a bunch of styrofoam. What better toys exist for kids??

Nathan and Jordan (our next door neighbor) broke up the styrofoam in to little pieces, and then they put it in the box and decided to go "swimming" in it.

K...updating every day doesn't work for me.

Mark's parents came up for the weekend, and we kept them busy. On Friday, Mark took Doug to a Chief's game, Saturday was the airshow and the observatory, and Sunday was church and the Spirit of Peoria paddleboat. Nathan loved the airshow, especially the fighter jets. It was hot, but a nice time.

Some funny things....

Nathan told me he couldn't find his shoes (he wasn't looking, just wanted me to find them for him) so I found 1 and tossed it towards him, and he said, "mom, I have 2 feet!"

We go for walks around a cul-de-sac, and Becca will tell me that she wants to go on the sack. It took me forever to figure out that she wanted to go for a walk.

Playing

We did go to the fireworks and they were amazing! I grew up in a small po-dunk town with really really bad fireworks, so I'm completely mesmerized when there's a huge display set to music. It was Becca's first fireworks show (last year we were on the way home from Sesame Street) and it was neat to watch her. She shouted out the colors and would keep looking at all of us making sure that we could see it too. She took turns sitting on everyone's lap (including Uncle Rob). Nathan started out with Daddy but ended up cuddling with me under the blanket. It was only 64 degrees, and very breezy. There was supposed to be an airshow preview before the fireworks, but that got cancelled due to the clouds and rain earlier in the day.

Last night, while Mark helped a neighbor roof, the kids and I along with another neighbor went to hear an Irish Marching Band. The event was poorly organized, but the band was spectacular. Their intonation was perfect. First was their field show, which was ok, but it was set to music from Les Miserables, which isn't exactly marching band material. Then an ensemble played some Irish jigs, and some girls danced. One little girl was only 8 years old, but she was great. Becca loved watching the dancers and tried to dance like them. Nathan liked listening for different instruments. Later, they had their concert band perform. The show started at 8pm, and at 10 pm, the kids had had it, so we went home.

Today we stayed home and played outside. The weather was perfect. Unfortunately, the kids were not....they kept picking on each other and getting into trouble. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Happy 4th!

I didn't get a chance to update yesterday....I spent the day cleaning. Mark took the kids out for the morning, and I worked on decluttering our bedroom. It tends to be the spot that everything that doesn't have a home gets dumped, so I finally took some time to clean it out.

Uncle Robbie is here visiting. It was his birthday yesterday.

Here's some pics from last week's church picnic. The kids had a blast. We stood in line forever for some face painting (only to have it come off when they went down for naps!).

A butterfly matching her butterfly dress: (I can't figure out how to turn the picture around).

And an airplane for guess who:

Becca was so cute during hers. She sat very very still. On the ride home, she tried to put some of it on her doll...she told her to sit very still, and did the same things.

Hopefully we'll get to go to the fireworks tonight. There's supposed to be a bit of an airshow before. It's kinda raining right now, though.

A Day in the Life of....

Me!!!!!

Woke up. Fixed breakfast. Worked out. Showered. Got kids ready. Went shopping. Came home. Made Lunch. Ate. Went shopping again. Cleaned out fridge (again--2nd time this week). Unloaded dishwasher. Reloaded Dishwasher. Made dinner for friend with new baby. Talked to brother on phone. Did mazes with Nathan. Got Becca up from nap. Let kids help make cookies for friend with new baby. Made dinner for kids. Ate. Frosted cookies. Loaded kids and food in van and went to see friend with new baby. Came home. Took more cookies to new neighbor (YAY!!). Came home. Talked to mom on phone. Watched kids (mine and neighbor's) play outside til dark. Bathed kids. Folded and put away 2 loads of laundry. Read stories. Dressed kids. Brushed 2 sets of teeth. Read just one more story. Put kids to bed. Got milk for Nathan. Sat down to blog.

Still left to do: clean kitchen from cookie/dinner mess. Decide if I'm going to freeze extra dinner or make it for tomorrow. Run 1 more load of laundry. Brush teeth/wash face/read/sleep.

Then repeat tomorrow.

Here goes...

I'm going to try to blog every day that I can in July. The kids are growing up so fast and I'm forgetting the funny things they say and do.

Wednesdays are my house cleaning days....which I dread, but I love having the clean house afterwards. I host a life group (bible study) on Wednesdays which the kids love because we get a sitter and have a blast with the other kids. Usually the kids seem to be more needy on days that I have to clean, but today they were off playing together. They're getting better at playing together, and I'm becoming less stressed out with them. I even steam cleaned the carpets!

Hopefully tomorrow I'll have some pics to put up....the computer hasn't been responding to my SD card.