Vacation to Washington Day 1 (by Becca)

 THIS IS A POST BY BECCA. BECCA IS HIGHLY AWESOME SO THIS POST MAY BE A LITTLE MORE AMAZING THAN USUAL. PLEASE DO NOT FREAK OUT, JUST GO VISIT BECCA'S BLOG FOR MORE AWESOMENESS.

Hi guys! In case you couldn't tell, this is a post by me. I have posted in the past, but today's post won't be like that.

It'll be really serious.

Hardcore.
 
Sort of like this cookie.

Except for that cookie is filled with sprinkles, which belongs up there with all that froofy stuff like unicorns.

Anyways, let's get to the vacation.

We went to Washington. I brought my camera and was an amazing photographer. Sort of. We'll start with Day 1

We started out by going to Steadmonds farm. It's this awesome little place. There's a guy who has lots of land and slip'n'slides and let's anyone use it as long as they call ahead.

The Slip n' slide was fun.

It was sort of cold, so we wore our jackets when we went down.

Sort of weird, but we didn't get too wet, so it worked.

Actually, me and Emily got wet. Our tube flipped over and we went sliding down clinging to each other with me shrieking "Don't let my jacket get wet! Don't let it get wet! My jacket!"

To warm up we spent some time playing in the sandbox.




Steadmans also had a playhouse.

Lyssa wanted to go in it. I got confused about what she was talking about, and told her that was the bathroom. So for the rest of the morning she really wanted to go to the bathroom.

They also had a zipline.

My dad went first and then he tricked conviced me into going too.

He had to help me up

So he wasn't there to catch me at the bottom.

All in all Steadman's was pretty fun.

By the way, I took all these pictures. Except for the zipline ones.

Next, we went to Shoshone Falls. It was cool.

Isn't that rainbow pretty?

It was really big too.

Really fun to look at, and the sound was really loud.

Alyssa was a little camera shy.

Next we went to my dad's old secretary's house. Her name is Nancy. She lives past Happy Valley Road (lots of chuckles when we passed it). She smiles alot.

And I caught it on camera!

Stay tuned for part 2!

June Birthdays

Jacob was proud to wear his wrestling singlet to celebrate his 11th birthday.

I made him a BYU dry erase board which came in handy on our road trip.

Luckily I found this basketball set for $1 at a garage sale just a few days before his birthday & he has loved slam dunking it in the kitchen.

 Since Alyssa's birthday was on the same day as the neighborhood barbecue & we were already stuffed with treats, we waited a few days to eat her cake, so I improvised and split the sheet cake in half for both of them to share rather then having 2 cakes hanging around the house to tempt me.  Alyssa loved her princess plates with the "strawberry shortcake" & the BYU tablecloth was perfect for Jacob.

After cake and ice cream I took all of the kids and Jacob's friend to the local tumbling/tramp jumphouse.  Jacob has always preferred smaller groups of friends.  Ever since I planned the surprise party for him with a lot of boys in the neighborhood, he's opted not to have a "friend party" but just to do something special with one friend or with the family.  I love that about him, because I don't enjoy throwing parties much!

Now that Alyssa's 3 she thinks she deserves all of the privileges that "BIG" people get.  Today she said, "Mom now that I'm big can I use the knife (to cut some carrots)?  Big Girls can use sharp knives!" I quickly dashed her dream on that one. She has been eagerly anticipating turning 3.

 Several months ago she wouldn't wear some clothes I wanted her to put on.  I convinced her by showing her the tag that said 2.  Since she was 2, she conceded and then began to be a frequent "tag checker."  This tactic backfired on me because she found a lot of her clothes that said 3 and didn't want to wear them.  So I showed her the "A" in "wAsh in warm water..." and she was satisfied that the A was for Alyssa so it was okay for her to wear them.  Fortunately pretty much all of the clothes she has say "wAsh...." somewhere on the tag:)   She loves finding "A's" in the books I read to her too.

Not enough fingers for 11... hard to believe my boy will be a deacon next year!

Sweet Suckers

Smiling

Sharing

Stealing... (the candy inside Jacob's mouth)

Sticky

2 more weeks & the cast is off!

I love the pleasant summer evenings relaxing at home.  Trips are good, but home is better :)

A String of Summer Fun

 So far this summer has been so enjoyable for me:)  I haven't taken much time to blog so I'm doing a string of posts all in one day. Part of my happiness is that my kids have been unusually cooperative about doing their chores & practicing piano everyday. I hope it lasts! Although I know my happiness shouldn't just hinge on their behavior or piano skills, it seriously makes my day when all 4 of my older kids practice piano & the house is pretty clean before noon.  Last year I tried a point chart from my friend Angela.  It worked okay for a few weeks, but maybe my kids have matured a lot or I've found more things that motivate them, but this year it is working so much better. 
Everyday they are expected to do their first 5 chores by noon & then the rewards start adding up. We lucked out and got a super deal for a fundraiser on a 3 month gym membership for $7 a month .  It has been fun to go on "outings" & teach Jacob & Daniel how to play racquetball.  I especially love playing Jared on our date night even though he totally beats me every time.  The kids are more motivated to work when they know they might get to go swimming in the pool.  They also each have great friends that live close by which is such a blessing.  I think one of my favorite parts is seeing them read spiritually uplifting things regularly & watching them be so helpful with Alyssa who still has 4 more weeks before she can walk again..

Prayer & Scripture (10)

Daily Job (10) (Rotate between bathrooms, family room, kitchen floor & playroom)

Practiced piano 15 min (10)

Read 30 minutes+ Learning Activity (10)

Bedroom Sparkling (10)

1st 5 finished by noon (25)

Read 15 minutes from Friend or New Era (15)

Extra Chore Weed/Laundry/Make Meal, etc. (25)

Care for Alyssa/Josh 1 hr (25)

Rewards:

First 5 + 15=Treat or $1 (to save up for Lagoon trip)

First 5 + 50=Gamecube 1 hr, Computer 1 hr or 1 Movie or Friends Over

First 5+100=Outing w/ Mom&Dad or Lateover

BYU Fans

The "Double Princess Twist" that Emily designed after looking at some cutegirlshairstyles blog videos

 

 

 

Pancake Girl

 While Becca was gone at Youth Conference & the other 3 "Bigs" headed down to help Jared put sprinklers in my parents yard, I enjoyed a quiet house with the "Littles."   I made some pumpkin pancakes & egg pizza for dinner.  Alyssa loved this "Little House on the Prairie" style pumpkin girl pancake.  It's hard to tell from the picture, but the syrup adds the finishing touches of blond hair like "Lyssa."

 

 Joshua enjoyed the feast too.  He is getting way too good at climbing and helping himself to anything he sees!

 I picked up this buckled booster from a garage sale in the hopes that it would be safer than his high chair which he easily slips out of and can stand on top of if you're not looking, but the booster seat didn't stop him one bit.

 At least he hasn't figured out how to climb out of his crib yet!

Party with a Twist

 Becca opted to have her best friend Ashlee over for a late-over for her birthday celebration on the last day of school.  The weather was perfect & her siblings joined them for some outdoor games and of course cake & ice cream. 

 But while they were jumping on the trampoline, Alyssa hurt her leg....badly.  In fact, she fractured her tibia & fortunately just has a cast for 6 weeks instead of a costly surgery :(   So the rest of the party was a bit more mellow with a quiet movie.  When Alyssa had finally calmed down and fallen asleep, Rebecca tried out her new camera by camcording some paper bag movie skits which were hilarious.  I gathered some random items around the house & had them come up with a commercial using them.

Alyssa with her pretty pink cast (2 weeks later)