Summerfest

I took the kids to summerfest this year.  Jake was at hunter's safety all day, so he didn't come, but the littles did, and Allie brought Lily.  It was super hot and pretty crowded, but it was fun to go. 

The boys liked painting in the kid corral.

Jason gets so intense with his work.

Nate was more concerned with using up all the paint on his tray.

We really went to see our friend June's mom sing with her little Jazz group.

The boys thought it was so cool to know someone famous!  They loved hearing her sing.

One of these days, I'll be at Summerfest wandering around, actually looking at art and I'll miss dragging around hot little friends who are constantly thirsty and begging for the expensive concessions.  At least that's what they tell me.

Play House

Our play house has never really gotten used.  The tree above it drops all sorts of things on it that mess it up and make it gross.  Allie and Jake used it a lot when they were little because they loved going down the slide.  Allie asked Mike if he'd make it into more of a house for her.  So he went to work putting sides on and a tarp roof.  I don't have an after picture, but I got these cute ones while the work was in progress. 

Jason, trying to copy dad with his screw holder...

Is he a help?  I don't know.  I do know he's cute.  That's got to count for something.

Red Pepper Girl

Allie is my side kick.  She really likes to run errands with me.  I don't mind if she comes, but for the most part, I spend more money when she's there.  She talks me into all sorts of things that I wouldn't normally buy.  I never mind it when those things are healthy snacks.  We were at Lee's and she tossed a red pepper into the cart.  I never buy those.  I can't stand them.  I tried to think of something I could use it in and said we could buy it, thinking that we'd make fajitas.  I don't mind them if they are cooked.

Anyway, we got home and I see her at the sink washing the red pepper.  I asked what she was doing and she told me she wanted to eat it.  Maybe this is normal behavior for all of you, but I would never in a million years, just eat a red pepper the way she ate that thing.  It was gone in minutes.  I had to take a picture because I was so surprised.  

I am often reminded of a podcast that I heard once where a girl went to college and discovered that there were other meats besides chicken.  She called to ask her mom why she never cooked anything other than chicken and the mom said something like, "you all liked chicken...so I cooked it."
Just because I don't like something, doesn't mean I shouldn't buy it for my kids.  So, I guess we'll put more red peppers in the cart for Allie in the future.

Slip-n-Slide

It's not summer without some sort of slip-n-slide.  Heidi buys a big piece of plastic and has a perfect hill for the slide.  Allie and Lily set things up and Jason and Nate got to tag along.  They thought it was all wonderful.

A great time was had by all.

At the Car Wash

I start out the summer with grand ideas of children who do jobs, read, practice the piano, and live in harmony together.  The only thing that really sticks are the jobs.  I guess that's better than a kick in the shorts.  One day, Allie chose to clean out the inside of the car as one of her jobs.  I was happy about that because it had gotten to be an embarrassment when I was taking people for car pool.   

It turned out to be a Honda appreciation day for the whole family.  Mike came out and helped the boys wash the outside.  Allie and I tackled the inside.

Jake missed out on the party because he was mowing a neighbor's lawn.  Allie really is my girl.  She was listening to her book on the ipod as she cleaned.
Believe it or not, things have stayed pretty good in there.  Yay for jobs!

Moth

Allie and Lily came to the door to show me a moth that Lily had found.  It was totally creepy with all it's furry parts, but also totally cool.

We decided to get out the microscope to check it out up close.

It totally just sat there and let us look.

The boys were glad to be allowed in on the fun.  I think they may have contributed to the demise of the moth though.  Sorry Mother Nature...we might have messed things up a bit for this little guy.  Allie and Lily had a proper funeral for him though and buried him in a lovely place by the river.  RIP little moth.  Thanks for letting us check you out and inadvertently torture you in your final hours.

Mess

Things have been a bit of a mess around here lately.  Mike came up the stairs on June 30th saying that his back and side hurt really bad.  Bad went to worse and he drove himself to instacare.  I knew it must be bad, for him to go in to the doctor like that on his own.  The diagnosis was a kidney stone.   We had plans to go to Star Valley for the fourth of July parade and a Schwab reunion.  He loaded up on pain pills and we hopped in the Leprechaun for some fun.  He got progressively worse and we ended up coming home from that trip early.  Over the process of the next three weeks, we found out that the stone was a red herring for Polycystic Kidney Disease.  It's genetic, and something he's likely had since he was a teenager, but things finally got bad enough to start causing trouble now.  Long story short, we don't know much yet and have an appointment with a kidney specialist in August.  He still has the stone and has been really miserable. I have felt really bad and helpless.  In my opinion, it is way easier to be the one dealing with pain and suffering than to watch someone you love go through it.  Ugh.  

We have been juggling things just fine, even though it is Mike's busiest season with work.  I have gone out on the job with him a few days and farmed the kids off with a grandma and an aunt.  They have a great time and I feel like I am doing something to help.  I'm so grateful for the help we've had. It's all working out.  But in the mean time, the laundry doesn't get done and Mike doesn't have any white socks left to wear.  We are out of bread and our dinners have been thrown together.  That's only with me being gone 2 days!  How do working mom's juggle it all!?  

When Jason played in his room today, I was just grateful that he wasn't watching tv or something.  I should have known that when he said he wanted to fall asleep all by himself in his room that there might be consequences...

...on the plus side, he did fall asleep on his own.  I also let the cleaning fairy clean up for me while I was on the phone with my friend.  That's always nice.  In case you aren't aware, the cleaning fairy is actually me, but when I am on the phone with my friend, sometimes I walk into a room and find that I have made the bed and I don't even remember doing it.  That's why I like to spend hours on the phone.  When I hang up, I find that the cleaning fairy did all the dishes, swept the floor and folded 20 loads of laundry.  In this case, she also made short work of every toy we own in the house.
There is no excuse for not keeping up on the blog.  I really love to write and post pictures, so it has nagged at me.  But if all this stuff with Mike could be an excuse, that's probably why I haven't written.  So, I am leaving the messy house for now and catching up on this.  Hope you're all happy.  (By "all", I really just mean my mom and sisters.  I think that's my only audience these days.)

The Strider Bike

Our neighbors loaned us a Strider bike.  It's one of those bikes without training wheels that kids can learn to balance on before it's time to start pedaling.  Nate learned to ride it and as soon as he saw a bike with pedals, he was able to just take off.  As soon as he was riding a bike, we passed the Strider bike onto Jason.  He took to it quickly and it soon became his favorite thing to do.  He'd hop outside all hours of the day for a quick ride around the driveway.  

I found him like this a lot...because you can't be bothered to get dressed in the summer time!

We went around the block several times a day and he loved this spot to go "diggin".

Maybe you noticed that I have said things in past tense.  That's because there is no longer a Strider bike to ride.  Jason left the bike behind the car and we were in a hurry one day and I ran right over it.  It's a super tough lesson to learn.  Especially when the bike was only borrowed and not ours to begin with.  We took it to Grandpa Joe's and are hoping that he can fix it.  It's such a bummer.  Jason won't ride a pedal bike, so he took to riding the wiggle car around the block.  We miss the Strider bike.  :(

Airplane

Allie's headphones broke and the only ones I had to offer her had a little microphone attached.  That inspired her to pretend she was an airline captain.  So, she and the boys made an airplane.   

Jason was co-pilot.

This was the day after Nate broke his arm, so I think he was on medical transport.

They sure have fun together!

Treasure Hunt

On one of the first days of the summer break, Allie and her friends made Nate and Jason a treasure hunt.  They had them going from one end of the neighborhood to the other finding clues to the treasure at the end.  They gave them snacks to eat along the way and had some cute prizes at the end.  It was just a really cute thing to do for the boys.  They loved it.

When they were half way through the hunt, I got the call that we needed to come in and get a splint put on Nate's arm, so I had to drag them away, but they got to finish the hunt the next day.
These boys sure are lucky to have a fun sister with fun friends.