End of School Year/ First Week of Summer Break

End of school year included: 

An all school picnic 

A 2nd grade pet show

Homemade German dinner

Some walks trying to get my friend's baby to come

Travis's Residency farewell dinner party with his classmates! 

Summer Break!!!!!! 

Day 1: Off to a great start! 

-Completed our first day of our summer chore charts.

- Rode bikes/played beyblades at Roosevelt park with friends

-Cartoon and lunch

-Played out front, then the boys earned some i-pad time on a blanket out front. 

-All played at the counter to be with me while I made dinner. 

Baseball.

Travis let the boys stay up late to play. more. beyblades

Day 2:

-Went to the gym because Aaron really wanted to play in the daycare. 

-Went to East Park with friends.

-During naps, just after lunch I dumped loads of laundry out and we all sorted while watching a movie.

-Back outside to play, Aaron took a good spill off his bike. Ended up in bed with icepacks, and fell asleep; poor boy! 

-Addie had a "dirty" diaper that made her pants look like she'd shoved a toy down her pants! She came in laughing, "Eww, Steen-tee!" or stinky. 

-When he woke up he was too sad and sore to attempt baseball, so we took the night off. 

Instead we finished the second half of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. I went and picked up ice-cream, and then while Maddix went to scouts, I went and walked the neighborhood with my friend again, just trying to get her stubborn 6-day overdue little boy to come out! 

-Started The Hunger Games on audio book. 

Day 3: 

-Aaron requested we make a large breakfast! He made us whole wheat English muffins, with cream cheese and a special fruit design on each of our muffins. Then we also had smoothies. Eggs. And fruit. 

-Played at East Park again; there is a sandbox there with a really high wall that makes it easier to trap Addie in while I hold Avery and the boys run around. 

-Boys folded laundry again while watching a cartoon, and I went out to mow the lawn. 

-Baseball.

-The neighbors congregated in our front yard and we enjoyed a summer night chat while the boys rode their bikes around. 

-Late night grocery run. 

-Feeding Avery while watching Parks & Rec

Day 4: 

-Aspen and Millie came over for the morning because..... Natalie FINALLY had her baby! 

-While I was feeding Avery, Addie fell backwards off the bed and down onto her head! She cried so hard that she cried herself to sleep on my lap, and ended up taking an early nap :(

-I had a sitter come over to be with the girls while I took the boys to the swimming pool, as a rewards for being SUCH big helpers and doing chores with minimal complaints! 

At the pool Maddix ran off with a group of friends he ran into, and then it was just me and Aaron. We were having a great time, until he found some little friends and ran off with them. I had this moment, while sitting all alone in the kiddie area of, "when the heck did I become obsolete??" Thankfully Aaron did come back with me, and on the way home Maddix apologized for not spending more time with us. Why are they getting so big!? 

-Addie's movie night pick: Princess and the Frog; Aaron even made the old fashioned popcorn, all by himself! We all snuggled together, and I finally got my time in with the boys I'd been hoping for! 

Day 5: 

-We had another friend's two little boys over (Addie's age, and 6mo. old). While eating breakfast, I turned to Maddix and said, "You know, we have 6 kids here right now. If we added one more that would be how many kids Gma Janet raised every day; could you imagine?! You and Aaron would be in charge of changing LOTS of diapers!" 

-After they left, Maddix went to ball practice, Aaron took a quiet time, and the girls both were napping, so I was able to fight back my super dirty kitchen! 

-To end the night, we fit in an hour of play over at our friend's house before heading home to watch How To Train Your Dragon 3. 

~ Bring on Week Two of Summer Break! ~ 

played down, chewed her yucky corner, and fell asleep

Look at that CHUB!!

First and Last Days of school! 

My mini chef!!

Invited Susan and Glenn over to view all our Europe pictures;
it was so fun to re-live all those stories with an audience
who hasn't heard it all a million times! 

I love having time for large healthy breakfasts
again! 

Cheering on the brother... when she wasn't whining

LOVE having girls!!

Graduation!

Sending Daddy a Sunday pic since he can't be around
this month... back to long days!

THIS BALLOON!!
This balloon came to us from Gma Lori, back when Avery was born.
It floated into the garage and lived there for 9 weeks before its escape.
A lot happened over the course of those 9 weeks.
We will miss you "Balloonie!" 

Finally got Addie shoes that will fit! Bonus, they're from Walmart
so they were dirt cheap!! 

Follow the Addie Leader

Thanks Residency Family!
I can't believe it's time to part ways and move on! 

Army Man, with his bow and arrow

L to r: Levi, (don't know boy in Gray), Will, (Don't know the boy in salmon),
Sylas, and Maddix... and Nala, of course. 

We have been taking advantage of as much family time as we can get our hands on, and all the outdoor time we can squeeze in!! I'll let the pictures speak for themselves!!!!

Sword fighting 

Susan is finally home from Arizona; however,
she said he's just going back to Arizona to
escape all this rain! 

My tannest baby!
She is getting so stinkin' cute! 

A couple of cute girls, enjoying the spring weather

Some little friend shared the eye black
at his game :)

I found a pizza recipe, and I was pretty proud of it.

Summer planning!!

 

A few friends and I were able to throw a
baby shower! The games were so fun
and the decorations were
gorgeous! 

There used to be a time where they
didn't know how to climb a tree...
this was actually pretty high up! 

This incredible little thing is already sleep training
herself. For one week straight she has been sleeping
from 11:00pm-5:40 or 6:40!!
So now she is going to bed between 8:00/8:30pm, getting a
dream feed between 10:15/10:30, I get to bed around 11:00pm
and then like I said, I'm not usually back up until 6:00ish,
at which point I feed her on the couch and we sometimes
go back to sleep for another 30 mins before the other kids
are out and about. 

These sisters... it's like seeing Maddix and Aaron all over again.
Addie is so much like Maddix, and Avery really is similar in
temperament to Aaron! 

She LOVES "Mimmie!" 

Seriously... I don't even want school to end
if we're just going to be stuck inside, like we
were over fall, Christmas, and Spring break.
I have never appreciated a sunny day as I have
living in the MidWest! 

Our new routine: We wait outside Maddix's piano lessons.
I feed Avery, and they Aaron, Addie, and Nala watch
30mins of a movie (it always is 101 Dalmations) 

Crushed it on some food prep! 

Aaron's Movie night snuggles

They boys all got the garden in! 

All the end of year art work being sent home

After school walk

Aaron's Kindergarten Musical Performance.
Way to crush is, Squeaky! 

Escaping the rain that so rudely ended
practice.

We watched all these little baby geese
plop right off the edge and down into
the water, like dodo birds :) 

Travis nailed what I was looking for in terms of
storage in our tiny garage.
Now there is hardly anything on the ground, and I can
get my car door open almost all the way, so that I don't
have to tip the carseat so bad. 

I broke the fridge all apart and gave it a
VERY overdo scrub out!! 

Squishy cheeks!!!

We know how to work a small room!!! 

One rainy night, Travis pulled out this game
and let they boys stay up late. Instead of
running off to clean the kitchen (as I always do),
I stayed to be on Aaron's team, and I'm
so glad to have the memory of this night.

I'm really trying to take advantage of the limited
snuggle times I have left with these kids that are growing
far too quickly!
Dramatic? Maybe. But totally justified! 

I had two girls in the stroller, Nala on the leash,
and Avery strapped to my chest.
People gave me strange looks as they passed me. 

Maddix made his tie-dye shirt in Kindergarten,
Aaron just did the same. At his musical performance
they asked people in the crowd if they'ed ever
participated in this school's tradition when they were in
kindergarten. There were a couple of great grandparents
that raised their hands and said they still had
their tie-dye shirts!!

I'm ONLY posting this picture for two reasons.
1. We were so happy to be able to support Aaron, as a WHOLE and complete family.
and
2. I want to be able to refer back to this picture AFTER i've lost all the baby weight
and feel good about the progress i've made!
(I believe this is 6weeks postpartum?)

BOYS CAMPING TRIP/ GIRLS WEEKED!!! 

This weekend has been SUCH a blast!!! and the weather has been spectacular!!

Travis purchased a new tent since our 11yr old one was caught in a flash flood last year, molded, broke, and is now rotting in a landfill somewhere! We loaded down the truck and Friday he and the boys began their drive to Branton (?), Missouri. 

They spent that night at a friend's house in Kansas City (I'm looking at you Jess!), where the boys were DYING to drive her tractor, ha ha. Next trip boys, next trip! 

Saturday morning they visited around several places, waiting for their campsite to open. They got their campsite situated and went out for a bike ride! They later went swimming, and enjoyed all the junky food you could hope for on a campout! 

Sunday (today) they rented a fishing boat and went out for some peaceful fishing. Apparently it began to sprinkle for awhile, at which point both boys took shelter under each the driver's and passenger's seats :D!! And now they're just about to complete their 8hr drive back home. 

We miss you!

This poor little Aaron wrecked pretty bad
and has the largest bruise across one swollen
leg!
ANDDDD he had two tics on him at the campsite
and one that I found on him as I showered him
off tonight!!!
"This is a night I will never forget!!!" She sobbed out!

And poor Maddix is ALWAYS mosquito bate!
He made it tic free, but has a good 40 bites across
his body that are a extremely swollen!!!
"I think I'm allergic to all nature," he said through
a stuffy nose and swollen face! They even ate his eye lids and ears!!

Meanwhile, Friday after they left, I bathed the girls, got them in pj's, and took them for a pre-bed walk. The weather was absolute perfection (down to the lightly blowing wind), and I timed it so that we'd be home JUST in time time bed... however, this is when Addie said, "Uh oh! My Mimmie!!" Translation: "Oh no, my milk cup is gone!" So back we went to retrace our steps until we eventually found her cup. 

Saturday morning we were invited by a friend here who lives along the parade route to join them in sitting in their front yard. This gave me the courage I needed to pack up and attempt a long parade, by  myself, with the girls. It worked out nice that we had several other friends (including "Mimmie," which is also for "Millie," Addie's bestest little friend) that had been invited to sit in front of her house. All the little girls did a fantastic job entertaining and doting on Addie that she sat the whole 2hrs, strapped into the stroller! Afterward, this same friend then invited pretty much the ENTIRE street of people into her front yard to attend a bbq! Her husband (who'd the local neurosurgeon) grilled up hundreds of burgers, hotdogs,  and brats. They were so generous! It made for a wonderful experience! 

After naps we had a Disney Princess Night (Tangled) where I wanted to snuggle Addie, in our pj's while we ate popcorn; however, she would only sit with me for a few mins here and there and seemed to have little interest in the movie. 

After the movie, just before bed, we went out and sat out front with a few neighbors just to chat and enjoy the end of night sunlight. 

Sunday (today) I took the girls to church and ran into another one of our friends who is now living in Rochester and is a news anchor for our local news station. I didn't get to see her much, so afterward I took the girls over to chat with her, resulting in late naps at home... which I minority paid for when we got back! The rest of the afternoon was spent dancing, being silly, playing, snacking, and just enjoying our time together before the boys come home. This also included a little more outside time to end the night. 

Avery slept on the porch while I mowed, and then hung out
in my carrier while we raked.. then she was done. 

Ugh... I'm SOoOoOo lucky!!

Friday Night's outing

I HATE this pic of me, but I had to get a photo with these friends
I rant into at the parade! 

oh you know, just an ice cream sandwich from
our neighbor, JUST as we were heading to bed!
ha ha! 

SoOo happy we had some little friends to
be with to entertain Addie!!

Finished getting the flowers in before the storm! 

Can't forget this cutie on the girls weekend!

She tore apart the diaper bag while I fed
Avery, in the Mother's lounge :D

after bed hair!

And now... the forecast is calling for 10 days of thunderstorms, flooding, hail, tornado warnings, etc. but we'll see. I essentially did ZERO cleaning (to the point I was using plastic utensils and avoiding cooking) all weekend because any free moment was with my girls OR doing all the yard work before the next batch of storms! 

So.... Welcome home boys! Looks like our stormy/indoor Memorial Day will be spent rehabbing this neglected home!!!!! 

;)