Sunday, June 27, 2010

Summer fun

One of the perks of having so many friends.....is using their community pools with them. Some dear friends of ours invited us over to swim on Saturday morning. The kids had a blast, we swam for 3 hours. Josh and Isaac went kayaking and met us at the pool for a picnic lunch. Chloe has been making huge strides in learning how to swim, I am super excited to teach her how to swim and probably Keira at the same time, Keira has NO fear....and is excited to be in the water anytime you go.

The only picture I got of Chloe, not the best, I know, but she was pretty happy all day.

Friday, June 25, 2010

Swim lessons

This week Caleb took swim lessons. He LOVED them and he LOVED his coach. I told his coach that he needed to be in the water where he couldn't touch otherwise he would cheat.....so he took him to the swimming lanes and they did their lessons there. He did great all week and by Thursday he was swimming the length of the pool without help, backstroke and freestyle.
freestyle
backstroke
and fun at the end, diving into the pool. Here he is attempting to go in head first...not too pretty, but he sure did have fun.


Craft Day

So, I decided a few months ago that I wanted to do a craft day this summer with some of my kids' friends. So every Friday for 6 weeks, we meet up at our house and do a craft. I ordered crafts from Oriental Trading and today we had our 3rd craft day. The first week was bug week. The girls made lady bugs and the boys made bug magnifying glass and we had dirt for snack. The second week we made sand art, the girls did ice cream cone necklaces and the boys made star key chains and we had goldfish for snack. This week we had country western day. The girls colored wooden horses and the boys made cowboys. I initially bought bracelets for the girls to make, but they were too hard for even me to do, so I went to Michael's and got an easier craft. So, here are some pictures from this week. Oh, and our snack was trail mix.....I will do better at taking pictures next week when we have 4th of July theme....

Here is Caleb enjoying his snack..
The girls coloring (Chloe, Keira, Austyn, Ashlyn, and Naomi).

We have a total of 8 girls and 7 boys doing the craft days, so you didn't get to see all the kids, but I will try and get group shots next week.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Father's Day

Lucky for me, I have the best dad, father-in-law, and father of my kids that anyone woman would ever want. I have been really bad about taking my camera with me this month. It is nearly over and I have only bowling pictures and a few pictures of Josh with the kids. The kids really do love their dad and are always so excited when he gets home from work and can spend time with them. I think their favorite thing to do with him is to wrestle on the bed or play on the trampoline or have him chase them at the park. He is very treasured here in our house.
June has been a really busy month. Here are some highlights:
1. Caleb started gymnastics
2. VBS at our church
3. I got my boot off - YIPEE
4. Josh has been training almost daily for his big race
5. Caleb is doing swim lessons this week
6. Visit from family in Iowa - spent almost the whole weekend at Grandma's house
7. Josh graduated from the Iron Men of God program he has been doing for the last 9 months
8. Lots of playgroups and park visits
9. Started craft days here at the house.
10. Today was the first day we actually went to a pool. Chloe put her head under the water and went in without her lifejacket. I was super proud of her as this is a big accomplishment for her. She jumped in with out being caught (she could touch the bottom) and I am really hoping this is the summer she learns to swim.

So, I am going to be better about blogging and taking pictures...we have a lot of fun stuff planned for the summer, so I have to keep up with this or I will never get caught up. Until next time!!!

Bowling fun

So, some of our bowling alleys offered free bowling for kids all summer (2 games per day only have to pay for shoes). We signed up and have only gone once, but we are planning on going this week again. The kids loved it and believe it or not, Keira beat both kids, both games.....I didn't really help her either. She just had the best aim off the ramp I guess. Needless to say, they had fun and that is what matters.


Her winning pose....
Maybe if we bowl a lot this summer, one day, my kids will be as good as Uncle Johnny, or I could show them Uncle Ryan's donkey kick style....hmmmm take a guess as to which route I will choose....

Memorial Day weekend

We spent Memorial day with family. Josh's cousin came to spend the day with us. Here is a great picture of the kids with Grandpa and Grandma Lunn.
Mark Julie, Luke and Zach - Mark is Josh's cousin. Zach is adopted and Luke is their biological son....an amazing story behind this family.
playing outside was tons of fun


taking a break from the water

doing a craft...I look quite confused, eh? The girls also made the headbands they are wearing.
We had a great time together as a family and we all slept very well that night.

Picnic at the park

We went to the park to play and have a picnic and spend some time together as a family. Chloe and Caleb now know how to swing themselves....WOOHOO!!!
A lot of the parks around here have splash pads and are very popular in the summer time. They are great especially when I was wearing a boot and couldn't get in a pool. We found this one last year and it is never very crowded, and the kids like it, there is plenty of shade too.

Not sure why, but they all think it is funny to have the water shoot up their shorts....


Picnic time

Caleb graduates from Kindergarten

Caleb graduated from Kindergarten and I was so proud of him. He had a wonderful year, made so many great friends, and had an AWESOME teacher. I had fun getting back into the school and doing things with him in his class. Here he is with his class walking into the gym.
Getting his hug/diploma from his teacher....I really need to figure out how to take a better indoor picture. My flash takes too long to reset so I couldn't get a bunch of pictures of him walking across the stage....
Here are all the Kindergartners singing for the parents. Can you find Caleb?
After the ceremony, the parents were invited to have a picnic and play outside with the kids. I took a bunch of pictures and decided just to include the couple that Caleb was in. Here he is with CJ, probably his best friend. They go to the same church, so they already knew each other before starting school, and amazingly enough, they were in the same class.
Hayden, Alex, Skyler, Caleb, and CJ....
Congrats buddy, so proud of you!

Chloe is 4....finally

So, I know I am a little behind in my blog, but I am catching up and have every intention of staying caught up after this. Here are some pics I took of Chloe on her birthday....almost a month ago....she is pretty adorable isn't she?
and flexible...we went and got her nails done for her birthday...she picked purple and green...not my first choice, but she was sure proud of it :)
She also got some tatoos/stickers that were pretty cute too...

Just in case you didn't know how old she was....
That evening we had a family party at the house....we served the kids spaghetti o's at Chloe's request. They played on Grandma's waterslide and had a bunch of fun.

Bella
Caleb
Chloe and Victoria
Halie
Austin
Eating spaghetti o's
Happy Birthday my sweet girl!


As always, I would like to share 4 things I love about Chloe:
1. She is super loving and always willing to give a hug and kiss.
2. She is very helpful and always helps me and her brother and sister do things.
3. She loves to sit and read or color or do a craft, and I love to do it with her.
4. She is giving. She almost never fails to give up what she has so that her sister will be happy (or just stop crying and screaming)..very unselfish.

Chloe lights up my life and I thank God every day for bringing her to me and allowing me the privilege of being her mom.