Relationship

 30:52 Relationship

All four of my kiddos dancing together on "Ballet day"... though Lucas is hidden I can see his little yellow slippers peeking out...

Sharing

A cold drink on a hot day

Lucas's antics

The other day I walked down the hall to find this... 

(with no kid in sight)

When it's time to brush teeth or wash hands, Lucas can find a way to do it on his own...

He has his own way of doing things, even when it comes to going potty

In other news, he finally got his very own bean bag!

All about Emma

Emma brings so much joy, laughter, sweetness, and femininity to our brood.  Her brothers all love her and the little ones especially enjoy having her as a playmate.  She loves them as well though she does sometimes like to have her own space.  She has a great imagination and I love hear the pretend play scenarios she comes up with and to see her made up dances.  

During the past year Emma has fallen in love with ballet.  While she is excited to attend classes, she also can't get enough of watching ballet performances.  

One day we decided to bury Emma in her stuffed animals.  She has quite a collection!

"Why God Made Little Girls"

God made the world with towering trees,
Majestic mountains and restless seas.
Then paused and said , "It needs one more thing...
Someone to laugh and dance and sing.
To walk in the wood and gather flowers...
To commune with nature in quiet hours."

So God made little girls

With laughing eyes and bouncing curls,

With joyful hearts and infectious smiles,

Enchanting ways and feminine wiles.

And when He'd completed the task He'd begun.

He was pleased and proud of the job He'd done.

For the world, when seen through little girl's eyes

Greatly resembled Paradise.

Our lives would be so different without our little girl... lacking in too many ways to imagine...

Angry Birds Day

Our second "theme" day of the summer was Samuel's pick... Angry Birds Day.

 "Angry" faces...

 BREAKFAST

 A few more birds to add to our flock (and a pig)

Angry Birds Bowling

Samuel knocking them all down on the first try!

 Emma going for the last few

 Nathan giving it all he's got (from much farther back-- his choice)

 LUNCH

 Grandma came over with dessert!-- Bird nests!

After lunch we made A.B. shrinky dinks.

Emma helped me make cookies while the little boys were napping

 Lucas playing the other A.B. game I made

 The kids enjoying Nathan's Star Wars Angry Birds game

 BIG Black Bird came too!

 DINNER

It was a very fun day!

Who is it?

Someone recently gave my Mom this photo, and when she brought it over she asked Emma who it was.  Emma thought it was a picture of herself.  

Of course it is actually me at around her age.

Lucas's turn...

Adventure

28:52 Adventure

Imagination

My Dad and John Deere

There has been much tractor talk around here this summer... specifically John Deere tractors.  It started with our little John Deere mower and has become a huge area of interest for Lucas.  He often tells me that he "dreamed about MORE tractors".  Of course the other day he asked, "What does dream mean?"

At fair time we always think of my Dad since he took so much pride in the tractor show.  Nathan remembers visiting him there.  With all the talk about Grandpa and his tractors I sat down with Lucas yesterday and showed him some pictures.  He was SO excited! 

At dinnertime I asked him to pick his plate and silverware.  He discovered this plate, which is not used often, and immediately said, "That is ME, That is ME Mom, and that (pointing at the tractor) is Grandpa's!"  How that warmed my heart!

This morning he told me that he dreamed about "John Deere tractors and Grandpa."

 I printed a couple of Grandpa tractor pictures today and he spent much time just staring at them and grinning.  He's now talking not only about John Deere, but also "A'cormick Deer" (McCormick Deering).  

The kids are familiar with the story about Grandpa's last year at the tractor show and how he won two trophy's... one was for the reverse tractor race- he was SO proud of this!

That particular trophy is a part of our summertime days... it's something we started last year and the kids asked about this year before summer even began.  

Each day they have a chance to earn a turn with what is now the Kindness Trophy (thanks to a little laminating paper and glue).  It is only awarded to one person each evening at dinner so it sometimes becomes a bit of a competition.

It is a much loved item...

Today Grandpa has been on all of our minds as it would've been his 80th birthday.  The kids thought we should have a cake for him, and they ended up settling on some brownies (one of his favorite treats) with blue icing (his favorite color).  We watched a video of pictures of him and the kids all enjoyed seeing various members of our family with Grandpa at different times in his life.  They yelled Happy Birthday Grandpa!  

And we all decided that he could probably hear us.

The Fair

We had a really nice evening at the fair earlier this week.  
The kids always enjoy the petting zoo:

 Emma LOVED the bunnies!

 Lucas is still talking about the tractors 
(one guy even started his up and drove it for Lucas)

 Emma has never been one to ride on rides (other than the Carousel and the giant ferris wheels we've ridden on vacations), and Samuel and Lucas have been a little cautious as well.  This year was a new experience for us... All three of the younger kids rode rides and had a blast!  We let them each pick three rides and they enjoyed each one!

Nathan has always loved fair rides.  This year was no exception!

 Daddy AND Nathan on the swings!

Samuel & I on the "GINORMOUS" slide

Daddy & Nathan going upside down (in the front car)!

Samuel & Lucas were flying high on the elephant ride!

Emma & I rode the tea cups (but did not spin!)

Round two on the dragon ride!

Snow cones to cool off

 He wasn't grumpy, he just didn't want to look at me because the sun was in his eyes