Cabin 2012

We had a fun filled time at the cabin this year with our family.  The kids and I made the trek up there following Laura and Glen and Aaron joined us later that night (because he had to work during the week and we wanted to get out of the heat for longer).  I have to give a big THANKS to Laura, Glen, and Lauren for helping me out when Aaron wasn't there.  The woods is a little challenging with 3 little kids to one mommy.  I couldn't have done it without them.  I'm just going to post tons of pictures to tell the story.  We were there for 9 days.

 Not sure if that is Oreos on her face or dirt?

 Lane is not liking the camera lately, most of the pictures are of him covering his face.  This is about all I got of his sweet little face.

I just had to show this picture.  I enjoyed some peace and quiet on the drive home from one of our many fabulous hikes.  I must say, this is impressive.  4 kids sleeping at the same time!

Zackary earned his first Junior Ranger Badge. 

Otis gets really tired up north.  

The boys Dads, thought of a great idea!  Lets build the kids a tree fort.  Well I must say, it turned into quite a project.  Including detailed drawings (the architect in my husband) and some pretty serious materials.  The famous quote of the trip "we will finish in just a few hours."  Here is the start.

 Under construction...

 Still under construction...

 Waiting...

 Still under construction, but time to get the kids involved in a job, so painting it was the answer.

 Still painting...

Finally, 3 days later, we have a pretty amazing tree fort that I'm sure will last forever.  There was some pretty serious planning and construction involved.  With safety of the our precious babies in mind.  

They even camouflaged it pretty well.  

There are going to be some pretty amazing memories made in that tree fort.  

Swimming ISR

We finished up swim lessons with Chloe and boy is ISR impressing!  Every time I see my babies floating I almost get teary.  I don't know how to describe the feeling.  I am so proud of them, while being frightened that they could possible fall into a pool without anyone there, that they have learned to survive if that were to happen, the fear of how scared they could be, and excited for them to show off their new trick.  Does that make any sense what so ever?  I'm sure that anyone who has done ISR completely understands what I mean.  Anyways, here she floating and able to get to the edge or umbrella to stand up.  It truly is amazing and worth every bit of effort it takes to complete the training.
 Great job Chloe!

 

 

Breakfast in Bed

Little Miss has been getting breakfast in bed from her brothers lately.  They get out of bed head downstairs for breakfast bars (before we get up and now they know how to open them).  They decided it would be super nice of them to bring them for Chloe too (which it is).  Except for the huge mess it creates!  They are both so good to their little sister.

 

Trailride

As you know, Zackary is really into horses lately.  So I purchased a trailride for the 3 of us.  Aaron and I decided we needed some time with Zackary to enjoy what he loves. 
We all had so much fun, it was really fun to ride a horse again, its been a long time. 

 

Ice Cream

I just had to post some super cute pictures of Chloe on Memorial Day.  Yes, only the 3rd child would have a huge ice cream cone of her own.  It's sure funny how with each child you get more and more relaxed about EVERYTHING!  Happy Memorial Day!  

Hand made necklaces

(disclosure: the blue animal above is a giraffe, not what you're thinking in your head)
Again, another excellent idea from Pinterest.  We decided to make our own necklaces for Mother's Day gifts and end of the year teacher gifts.  I thought making the necklaces ourselves would make it just a little more personal and something extra special for the Grandmas.  I picked up some Shrinky Dinks (I used to be obsessed with these as a child) at Michaels, along with some colored pencils, and pre-made necklaces.  I had all the beads and jewelry tools to put the rest together.  We cut out 3.5 inch circles and punched a whole in the top and I let the kids color whatever they wanted.  We baked them in the oven,  one of the funnest parts of the project.  Then they chose which ones went to which person.  I think they turned out so cute!  And they were a hit with everyone.  

My niece Lauren made some book marks out of the left over pieces.  They turned out cute too!

 

Grandparents

These are some PROUD Grandparents! 
We are so blessed to have our families so close by and so involved in our children's lives.  It makes me so happy that they make the effort to be at all the kids functions and help us out so much with them.  They are always there for us.  Thanks guys we love you!

Pre K Graduation

It's official. we will have a kindergartner soon.  We just celebrated PreK graduation.  I'm so lame, I got a little teary during the ceremony.  I was so proud of him!  They did such a cute little celebration, sang songs, and got a little diploma.   Here is Zackary with his 2 teachers.  Miss Joanna and Mrs Laree.  He loved them and they were really good to him. 

 

 

Look how proud he was!  It's like a little preview of bigger graduations in the future. 

Our little family!  My 4 favorite people! 

Horse Man

Right now, the boys are soooo into horses.  I'm not sure why or what has triggered this incredible love for horses but it is in full swing around our house.  As you can see above, this is the horse corral that we find every night.  Oh and the backside, this might be even funnier.  We get a kick out of it just about every night around here.  They play cowboy pretty much all day, unless they are dressed up in their Halloween costumes.  I'm not sure why they don't make boy dress up clothes because these guys sure do like to dress up like cowboys, knights, pirates, or Star Wars characters.

Lane just discovered that he has cowboy boots (ones that Zackary wore back here).  If you recall Zackary has massive feet, so the boots he wore at 18months are just a bit snug on Lane now.  He pretty much wears them everyday.  They also really love all their cute little shirts from Old Navy that have the pearl snaps.  They are "just like Opa's cowboy shirts."
I did just order them a couple more, they are so dang cute.

This is also for your viewing pleasure.  For all of you that know us well, you have probably already had the privilege to witness "horseman" in person.  I finally captured it on video.  I can tell you horseman comes out usually when Zackary is over tired, wild, or needs to get out and burn some energy.   I am truly amazed at the amount of energy expended from horseman, it is unbelievable.  Horseman used to drive me crazy, I've learned to love it and now it's just and easy cue for us to know he is ready for bed.
Go ahead give it a try yourself...

(please excuse the horrible videography skills)