This summer we have been doing the summer reading program through the library and Levi is going at warp speed, he goes through books fast and he quickly accumulated a pile that he had to write the titles down. It took a while but he eventually got them all.
Looking at this reminds me of 'homework' during the summer because this is about all the writing I've had him (or Max) do. At the beginning I was like "we'll do homework every day first thing in the morning along with chores!". Me and my ambitious self. Guess how long that lasted? A few days if that. We have been doing reading with Max here and there and Levi does his thing but we mostly just hang out. I'm choosing to not feel bad about it, though should I feel bad? Some people (whoever the heck they are) say you should because you don't want them to forget or get too rusty during the summer but I think I'm going to opt to follow the 'teach through experience' method. Seems to be doing well so far.....
And while we have been remodeling the front bathroom, leaving it out of commission, we have moved Davis from the bathroom back to the closet. He loves it, can you tell? Just kidding, this picture was taken because he had woken up but I had to do one quick thing and I asked Max to get Davis one of his toys and play it with him. At first it was quiet happy sounds, then I walk in to find this. Max got a little enthusiastic bringing his little brother toys.
Water fight!
While we have had a lot of raspberries in the yard this year we wanted to pick some more for us and for our visiting/home teachees so we went off to the West Union Gardens. Can I be honest? The boys are terrible pickers, I mean terrible, especially Levi. He mostly wants to stand/sit and tell a story while everyone else works. Max will put in a decent effort but then stops after a short bit. Sometimes they even say "Everything I pick is going in the hole!" that's their mouths. Hopefully I can make good workers out of these kids yet. The good thing is they were able to keep Davis occupied while Jason and I picked.
And afterward, berry smoothies.
At the beginning of summer our ward started a walking group. I have definitely been needing something like this so I went to the first one. It was fun to see old friends and new friends. I didn't want to leave Jason with all the kids so I took Davis in a stroller and on the last mile he started being a cranky butt and Emily offered to carry him while I took the stroller. Can I say how much I love her? Not just for that but for so many different reasons. One of the main things I love about her is that I always feel better about my life and about myself when talking to her, she just has a way of doing that. I wish I lived next door to her and we could hang out more.
Also on the right is a gal I knew from girls camp back in the days. She was older and her mom was a leader, we weren't buddies or anything but knew each other. Anyway she, her husband, brother and sister in law and all their kids recently moved into our ward and sadly her brother, who had a wife and two really little kids, got it a motorcycle accident and died. It was so sad, I can't imagine how hard it would be to be newly married, with two kids and all the sudden your life changes forever in a matter of minutes. I can't think about it too long because I'll start to cry. Because they were the ones who headed the walking group (the wife of the man who passed away and his sister) it has been on pause. Seriously. It is so sad but makes me glad that I know about the gospel and that death is only temporary. I guess there is some comfort in that, though that doesn't lessen any of the pain.
And on a sillier note. Here is Davis with Mr. Potato Head, he has been loving it lately.
Max's cereal of choice has gone from mini wheats to Cheerios. He eats them daily. Levi? Raisin Bran. Just if anyone wants to know what my kids eat for breakfast pretty much every day. Who knows why the syrup is out.
When we go to piano lessons I usually keep an eye on Ivan and Abby since we have been going at a weird time when she doesn't have a sitter for them. I don't mind much, get my baby fix. Isn't he cute? Just a little lump of baby. Oh why do they have to grow so fast?
Levi and Max also love this little guy and are both awesome with babies.
We were preparing and getting supplies for our big campout so we went to Trader Joe's for the first time. I'm super lame and the only other time I had gone was actually at a field trip for Max's school. It was close and we wanted to try it and get some snacks for it. Hello mini peanut butter cups. We got those along with some veggie sticks. It was a bad idea getting all this a few days before we left because the boys fell in love with the veggie stick and pb cups so they didn't last long. Just as we were about to ship out I made a quick trip so we would have them camping. Lesson learned.
And camping! We planned this months in advance and it ended out a lot of people couldn't go, Kate and Pat, Marissa and her gang, Megan and her gang, half of Danielle's crew but despite the lack of people and a bit of rain (poor Carter's came a day early and got the brunt of it), we all had fun and even added Scarlett at the last minute.
I loved waking up and seeing this guy in the morning. He wakes up way more chipper than I do. Side note, he was an amazing sleeper as usual. We lucked out with this kid and his amazing sleeping skills.
The boys mostly went off in one big herd to the lake, to ride scooters and just explore camp. Jackson's 7, that works for a chaperone right? Kidding, we all kept tabs on them but we did manage to play a number of games. We had an extra smaller tent so we put a blanket and toys it and let Davis have at it.
The bigger boys ended up sleeping in the tent with Aunt Rose. Oh my sister, she gets so nervous about them sometimes! She had this panicked expression at first like what if they have to go to the bathroom, leave without her knowing, won't go to sleep.... I suppose I would have been like that too if I didn't have kids and I then had to take care of and be around them. It's amazing the confidence being a parent gives you sometimes. I just hope that girl has a kid of her own someday. She would be a great mom.
Max with his frisbee and the Levi desperately trying to get all the boys to look for a toy he lost. No one did. Oh well. Then below I have no idea why Ethan was so astonished, I'm sure it was something awesome.
I love going places with friends because they help take pictures. Sometimes your phone dies, you don't feel like getting it out or can't for some reason snap a picture and at least with these moms they will often send a picture so you can have it. She took a handful of these. Isn't technology great?
This moth attacked us at night when we were playing games. It was terrifying because we thought it was a bat. Even after we knew it was a moth it was still scary because anything that big that comes flying at you is going to make you pee your pants a little, at least for the girls. Jason and Halsey were just laughing at us jumping around screaming, then even more when the people next door told us to quiet down. You try to stay quiet with something like that circling around your head. Mothnado!
At night Brooke was awesome mom of the year and got some glow in the dark bugs the kids could find along with some glow sticks to play with. Max made circles and put them around his thighs and tried walking, it was hilarious.
On the way home we met up at McDonalds which went as usual. Kids sucking down some fries and burgers then running off while the adults watch on. This time Davis did some table crawling and sitting. That kid is so wiggly. And drooly. He's so cute I even love his drool.
No comments:
Post a Comment