Everyday Life: June

Jake hiding outing in the mudroom reading.

Viva sketching trolius blossoms.

Bentley testing out his Lego vehicle.

We made red, orange, and green popsicles. Green was very popular. Red was not! Bentley, of course, would not eat any color.

Evan is almost always sporting an owie and he loves to show them off. 

During the summer the kidlets have to do an hour or so of school every weekday. (Check out the collection of Lego models on the table. Matt has been bringing home new sets for the children when he travels to D.C.)

Viva helping her younger brothers do a Alex craft set.

Lincoln showing off his chicken. (Doesn't he have an interesting camera smile?)

Evan playing with Opa's magnetic polyhedron.

The trio ready for swim lessons. (Yes Viva has make-up on. Kara figured/hoped the pool water would wash it off.)

Viva reading.  (I could not bring myself to delete this photo even though I have too many photos of Viva this month and too many photos of readers.)

New Biker!!

 

He's going much faster and farther already, just three days later.  (He squeezed in his first training wheel free bike ride 2 days before his birthday!)  He tells us "biking is so easy" and "I want to do this all day every day!"  Love his enthusiasm.... now off to find him bike gloves, as he insists on being an all-weather biker.  The rain today was a bit slick and he kept landing on his palms when he'd turn too suddenly.  But it's all good, he gets right back up!

Beautiful Baby

I'm not sure if it's the haircut, the round cheeks, or the fact that he's the youngest - but I still can't believe Evan will be three in the fall.  He still looks so little!

He's a character.  Lately he says my name over and over and over.  I counted and heard it 40 times in 5 minutes.  I calculated that since he had been at it for 3 hours on and off I had heard it at least 500 times that morning.  It doesn't matter if I respond, he still persists.  He is certainly persistent with what he wants to communicate!  At least he is cute too... :)  Otherwise I just might go crazy hearing my name over and over (and over.)

Golfing Time!

Jake and Bentley now both have golf clubs and are big fans of the game.  A few weeks back they had a chance to go golfing with Grandma Karen and they are eagerly awaiting their next game.  They convinced Matt to take them to the golf driving range this past weekend  - that was another big hit.  I'm pretty sure they can already out golf me.... ! :)  It's fun to see all their hobbies and new skills!

Lincoln Turns FOUR!

 

New four year old in the house!  We had a quiet day together (quiet for us!) as only 3 out of 5 of the kids were home during the day.  Bentley and Jake were off at Scout camp, but we managed to keep busy without them.  :)  In the morning Viva helped Lincoln build a Lego Bday cake Daddy found:

  

Lincoln had a mid day visit over at Grandma Vicki's - he came home with a crown!

Part of the afternoon was spent working on Lincoln's requested puppy cake.  I enlisted Viva and Grandma's help, and Lincoln seemed very pleased!

Lincoln wants to go to the water park to celebrate his bday.  I told him we should go all together, so he settled on a run through the sprinkler.  Grandma was extra nice and hooked up the warm water to the sprinkler, but the wind outside seemed to entice Viva and Lincoln to stick close to the sprinkler!

Daddy came home early and the little people headed out for a park date.  Then Bentley and Jake arrived home, we had a pizza party with Tyler and Grandma Vicki, and it was present time! 

The evening wrapped up with a show!

After all the festivities Evan is VERY eagerly awaiting HIS birthday!  Happy #4, Lincoln!

Kangaroo Boy

 

I love this picture Opa captured of Bentley in flight!  For some reason he looks a bit like a kangaroo here to me.... :)  He is still loving the pogo stick, but not *quite* as much time has been spent with it lately.  Mostly because he is normally found hunting through our rocks for treasures.  When the original landscaping was done on our home fill rocks were brought in to surround our 101 coteneaster bushes.  Apparently that fill must have been rocks from different locations around the state, because Bentley has found some different treasures out there.  Fun times!

Words from Lincoln

Lincoln has a great vocabulary and lots of thoughts - I love hearing them as he's a funny little guy.

When we were laying on the couch together, staring at the ceiling:  "Mommy, do you know what I think whenever I look up there?  I wish I was on the ceiling!!!"

Admiring my new scrubbing brush in the shower: "Wow!  That brush is beautiful!"

Wandering up to me in the evening: "How many minutes until my Jake and my Viva and my Bentley will be home?!"

And a hilarous conversation on the drive home from a playdate with Grandma Vicki and the little guy (Coltan) that she watches:

Lincoln: "What do you think Coltan is doing now?"
Me: "I'm not sure, but I think it's probably his nap time."
Lincoln: "He is probably dreaming about playing with me because he misses me."
Me: "Welll... maybe.  Did Grandma Vicki tell you that's probably what he thinks?"
Lincoln: "No.  I was just thinking that is probably what he is thinking."
Me: "He probably does miss you.  You're a fun guy!"
Lincoln: "Yes.  When I go to Primary Mommy says "where is my Lincoln?! I need him!"

I love conversations with this almost four year old.  He's a hoot.

More Cookies x 3

Evan was very excited after church when he saw there were still three cookies left.  All on his own he decided to eat one, and told me he was going to give one to Bentley and one to Jake.  He is a big food sharer (and a bit of a food pusher, to be honest).  He is also very independent.  He saw the cookie platter, grabbed his chair, helped himself, and grabbed the last two to distribute - he knows all too well that as a youngest sometimes if you want results you have to do things on your own.  A good and a bad thing I'm sure.... :)

Sand Play

The kinetic sand is still a big hit around here.  I pull it out once a week or so.  We have two colors now, which means more play space and less elbow jockeying for the best position at the tray!

Twins' Baptism Photos

I have way too many cute pictures of the twins before/after their baptism.  But I justify it by telling myself that since there were two of them baptized it's okay to have twice as many photos on my blog about it.... :)  Makes perfect sense to me!  They were lucky enough to have a summer baptism so the light was great and the flowers are in bloom at the temple next to the chapel, which made for some nice pictures (contrast that to Bentley's January baptism.... !)

The Almost Four Year Old's Photo Shoot

Since we had the camera gear out we figured it was a good time to snap a few shots of the almost 4 year old.  This kid has a lot of attitude and makes the funniest faces.  I think he gets that from hanging out with his older siblings a bit too much?  We love you, crazy little man!  Your infectious smiles and super enthusiastic attitude about many things are a pleasure to behold.

Tent Groupies - Still Going Strong!

My type of camping (other than the lack of a soft mattress issue) - they're still going strong, despite rain and winds.  I'm impressed!  :)  

Rock Club!

The fourth Thursday of June Opa and I took our young rock hound Bentley to the monthly potluck of the local rock club, Chugach Gem and Mineral Society (CGMS). The other four grandchildren went out camping with their dad, but Bentley didn't want to go. I've had the monthly CGMS meetings on my radar for a while, but between cub scouts and karate Thursdays are already overbooked. When Bentley opted out of camping, I saw an opportunity and I asked him if he'd like to go. He was all for it--an opportunity to show off his rocks and learn more about them! (It's not easy to identify random rocks when you are a neophyte rock hound. We needed help!)

As soon as we arrived we were welcomed by many different members. This is one of the friendliest group meetings I have ever attended. Within minutes of arriving Bentley pulled out his bag of rocks and Joe, a very knowledgeable member, identified all nine rocks for B. Awesome! Joe and others told us a little bit about the geology of our area, but I and Bentley didn't understand half of what they said because our geology vocabulary is lame. We will study harder!

Bentley and a toddler were the only subadults present; most of the group was my age or older. Bentley received a lot of attention and three different people gifted him rocks. A couple visiting from Washington was there and they gave him a nice polished river agate slab and 13 large sized unpolished agates! Two other members gave him fluorescing rocks. 

Everyone attending was offered their choice of a small black peat agate from Chicken, AK, so all three of us received one of those. They had a drawing for six rocks and Mark won the first one and I won the sixth one--so Bentley picked up two more nice rocks, petrified wood from Utah and apophyllite from Sand Pt, Alaska. 

At the meeting a member gave a report on their last rock hunting trip. It was a two or three day trip and they went to lots of great rock sites north of Anchorage. Bentley was super impressed with the list of rocks they collected--he knew a lot of the names. He wants to sign up for a rock hunting trip with the group as soon as possible. (Most of the trips are local, but someone wants to set up a trip to the Keweenaw Peninsula in Michigan which is where Mark and I attended college and met.)

When Opa asked Bentley if he liked the meeting and would he go again he said "Of course! The only thing I didn't like was the eating part. Why do they have to waste time on food? Can't they eat before they come so we have more time?" 

Bentley was very happy with the rocks he was given and he was happy to have his bag of rocks identified. I think the CGMS has a new member!

Karate Cuteness

I know that karate and cute don't always belong in the same sentence, but I think they definitely do in this case!  It is fun to see the boys helping their sister out with her katas.  I'm not sure how long the three sibling karate madness will last, but while it does they are triple the cuteness.... :)

Belt testing for lower belts is in just a couple weeks and I've told Bentley and Jake to get their sister "up to snuff" for her first belt test.  First comes yellow, then orange and blue.  Once you're a blue belt you can attend the 2nd hour of karate classes in the evening and not just the first - which will give some more flexibility back to our evening schedule!  Keep your fingers crossed for Viva....  

On the other hand, Bentley and Jake are lobbying to have Lincoln start karate.  So who knows... perhaps I had just better get used to the return of the two hour karate block.  It could be here to stay for a while!

Deck Tent Time!

We have the tent set up on the back deck currently - we'll see how many nights  the kids want to sleep in it.  So far neither wind nor rain has deterred the twins!  On night one it was just Jake and Viva - we had some winds that kept gusting through and my Bentley was convinced there was going to be an Oz experience and opted out after reading time.   That same night it started raining towards morning, but luckily our Coleman tent held up to its "weather proof" claim of fame.

Night one of camping was hard core with just their blankets and pillows on the hard ground - I was reluctant to invest too much time in the endeavor so to test their resolve I told them they could camp out but I wasn't doing any set up besides snapping up the one minute tent. Last night I added some extra cushion (a nice thick memory foam mattress pad) to the bottom of the tent to soften the wood deck  and Bentley and Lincoln joined the twins.

Tonight my buddy Lincoln was more than a bit on the cranky side from his late night to bed and early morning to rise adventuring so I sent him back to bed with Evan in his room.  So Bentley, Jake, and Viva are heading back out!  I'm liking all the extra reading time the kids are engaging in so I think it's a win.  Tomorrow they're off for an overnight with Grandma Vicki, but perhaps they will be back to the tent after?  We shall see!

Cookies x 3

Apparently we bake many cookies around here.  Looking through the pictures on my phone I have many many cookie shots.  :)

Here are three shots from three different ccokie making times in the last two weeks:

Do you think we have a cookie habit?!  In my defense, the older three are getting better at completing the dough portion of the project all on their own.  They just require a bit of help with the oven still - mostly because I'm the nervous type.  I'm sure Genevieve would tell me she could handle that all on her own too.... !

What we do like?  Chocolate chip is the very favorite, of course.  A classic!  We put oatmeal and cornflakes and coconut in our favorite recipe.  Sometimes we make a chocolate cookie, and once in a while peanut butter.  No bakes with Nutella instead of peanut butter are another big hit.  So many cookies, so little time.  Good thing we have 10 in the house to eat the sweets!

Photo Shoot with the Princess!

We didn't go as crazy as I have in some years (think 5 dresses in one photo shoot), but we did manage two dresses!!  Genevieve has a little bit of spunk but she is also very sweet and helpful  I like to think I can see all of those things when I look at these pictures of my newly minted eight year old!  We're so lucky to have her!!