Hannah's birthday - Part II

On her actual birthday, I decorated our house to surprise her so when she woke up in the morning it was a big deal. Do you think any other 8 year-old would thank their mom for putting up streamers and balloons? Not likely. But Hannah did. Again, evidence of the sweet little person she is.

Morning of Hannah's 8th birthday

I took the day off and as promised 2 years ago, took them to Cowabunga Bay. (Local water-slide park).

Left to right: Maddax, Hayden P., Hannah, Mia F., Kenna T.

When we got home 4 hours later, we were all exhausted but being the good sports they were, we did cupcakes and presents. (You can see Maddax was totally jealous he didn't get to open presents.)

Hannah had a GREAT 8th birthday!

Hannah's 8th Birthday - Part I

With Hannah turning the big 8 this year, her birthday became a month long celebration of sorts. It began with dinner at my parents house the night before where they gave her M&M's printed with pictures of her on it and an Ipad. Spoiled? You bet she is. But it couldn't happen to a better kid, seriously. She is so sweet and humble.

Lets go fly a kite

Hannah is obsessed with kites. She has tried multiple times to fly them, and you'd think she'd be successful since we practically live in a wind tunnel. You'd think.
Well...
Not so much.
A+ for effort though. The best she's gotten to is running around the furniture in the house trying to make it fly. It's hilarious and endearing to watch :)

Gardening 101

So I tried my hand at gardening this year. In mid-March I started some seeds indoors (many pics on the ipad...but alas, I'm not on the tablet so no early garden pics). My seeds were doing so well and I was so proud of my first attempt. Until one sunny Sunday I put the tiny little greenhouse on the deck out back while we went to church and forgot to unzip it for circulation and came back to steamed veggies, without the veggies. Nearly all of my seedlings had wilted from the intense heat and lack of air. On top of it all, my plant markers that were labeled with marker had washed away from the humidity in the greenhouse. As a result, I planted the remaining seedlings in the garden, just guessing what they were. They've come a long ways so far, and while these pics are only a week old, my garden is so much bigger now. It's crazy how quickly they grow. We've harvested lettuce, spinach, peas, cherry tomatoes, regular tomatoes and zucchini thus far.

There are a couple pictures of the backyard on the bottom right. We added a few flower beds this spring as well.

Welcome Summer

Swimming at the neighborhood pool

We are fortunate enough to have a pool right around the corner. We've only been a few times so far this year, but it is really heating up and now that Kolby is home more (more on that later), we are planning on spending much more time there. The kids are getting much better at swimming as well.

New Years 2011

Yes, I know this is belated. I'm just now getting caught up. Pathetic? Yes. I blame the Ipad. Ever since I got one, I have pictures split between that and my camera (which was then broken in April, and I've just now replaced it.) I'm too digitally scrambled. Anyway, here goes my major attempt at bringing us current:

So, for New Years, my baby brother and his new wife came over, we played games on our new Xbox 360. We haven't played it much since then, sadly. However, we had a great night, toasted good old cider and welcomed the new year. And what a year it has been since then...

Feels like summer

Lovin this weather and the general feeling in the air as spring comes full swing and gives the appearance of Summer.

Catch up

It's been a while, but I always say that. We've been busy, as everyone has. Here's some of what we've been up to aside from school/work, etc.

We went bowling, Maddax's first time - he was ready for the arcade games after two frames :)

I got an Ipad for my birthday. Here's right after I opened it and Maddax was right by my side saying 'My turn!'

Matt and Lisa went bowling with us, here's how I spent my tokens, squeezing all 5 of us into a teeny tiny booth.

The night of my birthday we met my friend and her little family plus Matt and Lisa at Planet Play for a night of pizza and games. Once again, I spent my tokens squeezing us in for another photo op!

Maddax loves Mickey Mouse right now (well...last 8 months) and so he wanted his picture taken in his favorite shirt.

Hannah doing homework, so obedient!

I'm going to attempt a garden this year. My seedlings just sprouted, well some. And I have some berry bushes I anticipate planting in a month or so too.

This morning Kolby and I built the garden boxes. Now after we situate the sprinklers, we'll bring in the dirt and see if I have a green thumb or not. I'm anticipating the gate and rest of the concrete pad to be done soon too...one can hope!