Birthday stuff

I think Allie had a wonderful birthday.  We dragged things out for a week or so.  That's the best way to do it isn't it?
One of my favorite things about Allie's birthday was sitting her down on my lap and going through old blog posts and remembering all the fun things she did as a toddler and even the cute pictures from just last year.  She sat on my lap and giggled as we read about her finding rotten plums in the sand box and eating them days later, or about the mouse they wanted to adopt named Helen.  Helen obviously came before it became tradition to name everything alive "Bob".  I am usually nostalgic and sad when I go through old pictures and videos, but it was fun for us both to see the cute things she did and laugh about how much she's changed. 
I say that I don't know what I'd do without my Allie girl and I mean it.  Allie is an amazing helper throughout the day.  She has young legs that are always willing to run and chase Nate.  She can get there faster than I can and never tells me that she doesn't want to chase.  She just does it.
She compliments every member of this family on a cute hairstyle, or a nice tie, or a good coloring job on a picture.  She rejoices in every accomplishment and is genuinely happy for others when they succeed.
She isn't without her faults.  We work on things daily, but that's exactly what this life is for.  We make mistakes and we learn from them.
Allie got a letter in the mail telling her who her kindergarten teacher will be and she was thrilled to find out she'd be sharing a class with Lily.  She is a 6 year old now and ready to face the world.  Allie has always been ready for the next step.  I love her and am confident in her abilities.  I am so grateful that 6 years ago that girl was placed in my arms.  She puts her trust in me daily and I am glad she forgives my failings and loves me more than I could have ever dreamed of.
What a fun kid. 
Back to the birthday stuff...

She woke up to balloons and her favorite cereal for breakfast.

Nate didn't waste any time asking her to share.

Here's the birthday girl with two of her brothers.  (Note: Nate isn't participating in the usual group picture scream fest because he has a "bapple" and two balloons tight in his grip)

She got to open one of her gifts in the morning...a matching outfit for her and her doll. 

She had a party that afternoon with her little neighbor friends.  She wanted to do an Olympics party.  This was the Olympic swimming pool cake.  Can't you see the little swimmers?  Mike teased me about them and tried to shove a Lego character into the cake as a swimmer.  Just so you can avoid getting snapped at next time Mike, you don't do stuff like that to a pre-party girl who doesn't have time to fill up water balloons and worry about the state of the swimmers in a cake.

 Allie loved it and that's all that matters.

For the Olympic events, we had diving...

 Hurdle relays...


A balance beam...

 Water balloon volleyball...



And other various gymnastic routines with the trampoline.  The girls all had a good time and did America proud.



 

 That night, Allie got to open up a few more gifts and was excited to get a fishing lure and a BB gun from Mike.  Nothing says happy birthday to a 6 year old girl like a BB gun :)

It was a wonderful day and a good day to celebrate having this cute girl in our lives.  Happy birthday Allie!  Thanks for being our sweet little girl and for all you do for me and our family.  We all love you!

Birthday Girl

Allie Sue...what would I do without you?

6 years old...Happy Birthday kid!

Otter pop break

This summer has been so hot!  I'm glad the kids still play outside all day though.  It makes for less chaos inside.
They do come to the door often asking for popsicles.  I know they go from our house to the next seeking them out too.  I don't complain until I find all the wrappers strewn all over the yard.  They are getting better though. 
Isn't that a cute group?

Swimming!

The kids had swim lessons again this year.  I was so excited to see them swimming like real swimmers this year.  They can both make it all the way across the pool swimming backstroke and freestyle.  I am talking them into joining the swim team.  I guarantee they are both better than I was when I joined.

 They love jumping off the diving board at the end of the lesson.

Nate was a good boy and just sat and ate his lunch while I took pictures.  Parents don't sit in on the lessons...just on the last day.  So Nate only had to be good one day.  He sure was.

I'm pretty proud of these guys!  It's really nice to know that they are a little bit safer at the pool now that they know how to swim.

Girls will be girls

The boys might make sling shots, but the girls make babies out of water balloons.   Every once in a while Allie wants one of these water balloon babies.  If you make them from a big balloon, they survive many drops and lots of love.  She had one kicking around for weeks last time.  Then one night, it burst in her bed and made a mess.  They don't get to live inside anymore...
I love the faces they make.

 I wish I were so cute during pregnancy...

 Nate wanted to babysit.  The girls were very protective though and helped him hold their babies.  He gave them kisses and little hugs.

On another note, the boys came into a bit of luck.  Grizz gave them real sling shots.  It was just a happy coincidence that he came across them the same time they were in the middle of their sling shot building frenzy.  I'm not going to lie, it's nice to have them using something that doesn't break every five minutes and require help from me.

Rotten teeth

It's chokecherry season around here.  So that means lots of dark red bird poop on all our outdoor chairs, slide, swings, etc.  It also means that Allie comes in daily looking like this...

I'm pretty sure I've written about this before because it happens every year, but I couldn't help writing about it again.  It just cracks me up.  It takes hours to fade.  Brushing doesn't do a thing.  So gross!

More butterflies

Earlier in the summer, I took the girls up to look for butterflies.  They like to catch them, torture watch them for the day, and let them go. 

Nate likes to splash around in the water as the girls try to catch butterflies.

As we were inspecting the milkweed for Monarch caterpillars, we found one!  That made the desire for butterflies go away and the girls began searching for caterpillars. 

 We found two and took them home to watch them eat and grow.  I can't believe how much they eat...and grow! 
Jake and Allie each claimed one and named them Creepy Crawler,

 and Bob the Schwab.

Creepy Crawler was the first to build a chrysalis...and the first to come out.

I have to admit that I think I am more interested in these things than the kids.  I find myself peering into the net several times a day to see if there are any changes.  I am amazed by how much the caterpillars eat and poop.  I am amazed at how you can look in there one minute and see the caterpillar curled in a "j" position and then minutes later, it is wrapped in a chrysalis.  It's amazing I tell you!
These Monarch caterpillars, chrysalises, and butterflies are a million times more beautiful than the last ones we watched transform.
We watched Creepy Crawler for a few days and she didn't seem to be eating anything after she came out of her chrysalis, so I talked Allie into letting her go.

 She had an audience.  Jake wanted to get it on video and Nate wanted to be a part of the fun.

This picture is funny because it looks like the butterfly is on Jake's head.  It took off so fast I couldn't get anything else.
Bob the Schwab emerged from his chrysalis three days later.  Allie wants to hang onto him for a few more days so he can get to know her and come back for a visit now and then.  Lily suggested that we put a sticker on his wing so we can identify him in the future.  I persuaded them to just let him go, no strings attached.

 
We have been up the canyon almost daily looking for new caterpillars, but haven't had any luck.  We'll keep looking though.  Who would have thought buying this silly little butterfly habitat would set off such a fun hobby for all of us.

Just in case you wondered...

The dozen or so bb balls your son eats at 9:00 in the morning will appear in the after nap diaper at 4:00.

Now, if you want the long story on why I know that, here it is.

Remember Jake and Allie's bb ball obsession? Well, we still have those cups full of air soft bullets.  The kids occasionally add to their collections, but for the most part they have just sat in the cupboard.  Jake got them out today to load into a gun and left the lid off.  Nate found his way onto the table (as he often does), and decided to see what was in the cup.  We heard what sounded like a heavy downpour of rain and discovered Nate yelling as if he didn't know how to stop the awful scene.  He just kept saying "Uh oh" as he continued to slowly pour the balls all over the kitchen.
Allie, Jake and I scrambled to pick them all back up.  I was a bit annoyed.  Jake was still talking about how he thought it was just rain, and Allie was warning me that Nate was eating them.  I ignored her warnings because I have seen Nate walk around for hours with one of these things in his mouth and he never swallows them.  He shows it to me, says "kuk!" and spits it out, only to put it right back in.  If I try to get it out of his mouth, I usually end up with a sore finger and teeth marks that take hours to fade.  Either that, or he swallows it in his panic.  I guess I have become complacent about them because I figure he can't choke over them.

We got all the balls cleaned up, and the next mess too (an entire box of frosted mini wheat's), and went on with our day. 
Nate took a nice nap and when he woke up, I changed his diaper.  I opened it up to find a brightly colored display of bb balls.  Several of them.  I guess Allie was right.  He was eating them.  What a silly kid...hope they all came out!

Batter up!

Both the kids did baseball this summer.  If I had known when I signed them up that we would be at the field 4 days a week, I might have thought twice.  They both had so much fun though, I guess it was worth it.  Jake did coach pitch.  There were several strike outs, but there were also some good hits.  Jake has a pretty good arm and can catch well too.  Mike practiced a few nights with him in the yard.  I think with more practice, he could be pretty good.  Jake wasn't really aggressive in soccer, but in baseball, that doesn't really matter.  It was fun to watch him play.

 Allie was great too.   She only needed the tee for a few of the games and was hitting the coaches pitches pretty well by the end.  She was fun to watch out in the field.  She went after the ball in a pack with the boys.  She makes friends with all the base runners and is a chatty Kathy with everyone out on the field.  I love it.





What good kids!

Baby

I just remembered about these pictures.  Nate's hair is drastically different now, so it's obviously pre-hair cut, but I just had to share.

Nate has quite a vocabulary now.  It just exploded in a matter of a few days.  I love it and he thinks he is so cool when he uses a word and actually gets what he wants.  Anyway, back when the words were new, he used the word "baby" to mean anything soft and fluffy.  All his stuffed animals were "baby" and Allie's dolls were "baby" too.  He took to dragging all sorts of babies around the house.
So when we were in Star Valley last time, I witnessed one of the cutest things I have ever seen.  Mike took Nate to see the baby kittens.  It ended up being a half hour of pure bliss for Nate.  Luckily this was one patient "baby".  He was chanting "baby" over and over as he gave the kitty kisses and squeezes, and all sorts of love and attention.  I have always hated cats but after seeing how much Nate loved this cute thing, I was convinced that we must have one too.  Good thing I was able to snap right out of it as soon as I walked away from the cuteness explosion.  We came home kitten free. 

Note to self:  kittens grow up to be cats.  Then they poop in your flower beds and stink.  Sometimes they get old and cranky and end up leaving a claw in your head (remember Mittens?).  Don't be fooled by the cute pictures that follow.