Love these smiles!

Wet day

We thought it was warmer than it actually was and when we suggested the sprinkler, the kids ran to get swimsuits on.  They had fun for a while, but then got chilled by the breeze.

Then, in the afternoon the kids thought they should run and stomp in the puddles after a big rain.  Of course, me being the great mom that I am, said go ahead.  It was bath night, so that helped.

Biker boys

Maddox and Beckett got bikes for their birthdays (one month ago).  I should say, they got a bike.  We've had some issues with the company we ordered them from.  First, we got 2 boxes, one was the bike you see below, the other was the wrong color and wrong size.  They sent us a new one, which was bent.  They sent us another new one, which was also bent.  Then they tell us they don't make the bike anymore and don't have anymore in stock.  Now I see why the other boxes they sent us looked like they had been opened a time or two before.  We now have a new bike coming (hopefully soon), after checking with Beckett to see if he'd be ok with a different color bike than Maddox.  Thankfully he is and hopefully will be riding his own bike next week.  So far, they've been sharing (sometimes not so patiently) one bike.  I'm wishing we had waited to give them the bikes until we knew that both were fine.  We learned and Maddox and Beckett have been learning to share and be patient.  Most of the time it's great.  But, you know, they're 5 year old boys.  Life would be boring without a little drama.

Trying on new helmets.

Maddox hopped right on and started pedaling.

Then Beckett got to give it a try.

What have we been up to?

Bible Study...yep, the kids came up with this one all on their own. 

This was finished a while back.  We still need to stain the mantle that Scott made.  The window and picture frames were painted during nap times.

I grabbed a bunch of dad's button down shirts (some that have been in his rotation for probably 20 or more years) and am planning to make some cafe aprons out of them.  The practice one is about done.  Then I can whip up the others pretty quickly. 

Reading.  Lots of books I want to get through, so we've got a book club going (some friends around here) and will hopefully get through these and many more over the next year.
The "I love dirt" book is motivation to get the kids out and explore.  I'm not really good at that, but would love to have ideas to get us going.  Because, I don't really love dirt, but I know it's good to get out and get in it sometimes.

Working on landscaping.  More specifically, making our landscaping edible.  I've never really liked most of the plants around our house, so this year we're ripping a lot of them out.  Herbs will go in containers.  Blueberry bushes are in the soil and will hopefully produce lots of blueberries in a few years.  Strawberry bushes will go in next week and raspberry bushes will go in next year.  Hopefully we'll have a raised bed or two for vegetables next year.

One of my biggest jobs these days...chasing after this guy.  His personality is really coming out, as you can see.  He loves to be outside, but doesn't necessarily like to stay in the front or back with the older kids.  And, do you think I can get the boys to keep an eye on him?  Nope.  Guess I shouldn't expect 5 year old boys to babysit.  Makes getting dinner ready while they play outside a little difficult when you have to run out front every few minutes to make sure Callum's not wandering off.  But, at the end of the day, he is still a mama's boy.  He loves to cuddle in my lap with his blanket and his thumb in his mouth (much to dad's dismay).

Flashback Friday

I know it's been too long since I've posted pictures.  We just haven't taken many, but boy, have we been busy.  Here's a flashback from when I was little.  After dad passed, we went through a ton of pictures, finding lots of great ones of him.  I also pulled out some of the four of us to scan and keep on hand.

Jake, such a good big brother, reading to the rest of us.

Playing in puddles at our old house in Livermore.

Wonder why dad looks so tired here.  Probably work.  Couldn't have anything to do with the 4 kids piled on the couch with him.

Sleeping in my Grandma Fjelstad's arms at the cabin in ND.  Looking forward to heading there this summer.  Won't be the same without grandma there to make her rootbeer floats at 10 am, but we'll manage.  I'm sure the 12 little cousins running around will provide some entertainment.

Riding in the camper.  Pretty sure that wouldn't be legal these days, but back in the day we had so much fun running around the camper while driving down the highway.

Running through the sprinkler at our old house.

Have a great Friday!