Father's Day

This post is dedicated to the one I love...

Marshall has completely stepped it up this year. He works so hard everyday and then comes home and helps around the house with anything and everything. When I'm at work he is keeping everything going and I when I get home I come home to a clean house.

He is the cream to my oreo and the frosting to my cupcake.

I love watching all of my kids light up when he walks in the door.

I'm one lucky girl!

Thanks Lovest for all you do! It doesn't go unnoticed.

Lynnlee's Hair

Lynnlee loves the color pink. We went to the splash pad a few weeks ago and her friend had hair crayons there. First Lynnlee got some stripes in the front of her hair.

Then a little blue in the back.

Then she and her friend got a hold of the crayons and went to town. By the end her hair was mostly colored. She loved it! Thankfully it all washed out that night.

Mini Moments

Sienna started saying "hi" last weekend. It is the cutest and she waves too. Taggart is really good at clapping. He is vocal too but mostly says "Dada."

They both love to hang on to things and walk anywhere. The picture is blurry but he was too fast for it to focus.

Taggart seems to be happier these days. I can definitely catch more smiles from him on camera.

Pony ride

We went to a birthday party last week. James, Lynnlee and Kaden each got to ride a pony. They were pretty excited about it.

Mini Moments

Mini moments will now take the place of the weekly Sunday Minis posts. It is so fun when I can capture these two playing and happy.

Monday started out hot and sunny which was perfect for the splash park. Then the clouds rolled in during the afternoon. We enjoyed a much cooler afternoon outside until dinner time. 

Sienna is no longer afraid of the grass. It is harder to keep an eye on her but with some good toys she will stay put. She is getting more teeth in. She has four new teeth coming in right now.

Taggart is still shy of the grass so I can at least keep him trapped for a little longer. He is getting his top middle teeth in. His eyes used to be very blue but lately they have started to change to a gray. We are thinking they will change to hazel like Kaden's did.

For our family night treat we rode down the street to our neighbor's cotton candy stand. These two didn't get any and they didn't even care. Good thing they don't know what they are missing.

Jameson's Soccer

I really don't like the phrase "boys will be boys." That is just an excuse for bad behavior and lazy parenting. Boys still need to be kind and polite. I'm not saying my boys are perfect but I am trying hard to teach them how to be nice. The golden rule goes a long way and it's easy to teach to kids. 

James finished up another season of soccer. It went well and he had a few friends on his team and made a few new friends. He loved seeing kids from his elementary school on some of the other teams.

Girls' Night

I had the best girls' night with Betsy and Ali last weekend. We went to dinner and a movie and spent lots of time chatting. It was so fun and a nice break!
I haven't had a girls' night since the minis were a few weeks old. Here is the post. A lot has happened since then and I'm so glad to not be sleep deprived like I was for the last girls' night.

Kids K

James, Lynnlee and Kaden ran their first kids race of the summer. It was 1K and strollers were allowed so the minis came too. James and I ran at the front of the pack because he wanted to go fast. He wanted to run with Marshall but Kaden was being a daddy's boy and wouldn't let Marshall go. So Marshall ran with Lynnlee, Kaden and the minis in the back with the other stroller people.

They each got a finisher's medal, even the minis.

Go Minis

I saw this one morning while I was out running so I had to take a picture of it.

Swinging

James and Lynnlee go to a class at the library on Mondays and Wednesdays. So I took Kaden and the minis to a park during their class on Wednesday. Kaden made himself comfortable in the swing.

James

I've been wanting to do this post for awhile. A few weeks ago for family night, we had a lesson on our body is a temple. We told them that there may be times when all of your friends are doing something bad but you still shouldn't do it. I told him it would be a really hard decision because when you see all of your friends doing it you might think its a good choice even though deep down you know it is a bad choice.

A few days later James came home and told me what happened at school that day. He was sitting in class and a girl got out her scissors from her pencil box and cut her hair. Pretty soon half of the class had their scissors out and were cutting their own hair. The whole class had to go to the principal's office while they called the parents of those involved. Most of them were his friends so he could have easily joined in. He knew it was a bad choice though and he didn't do it. I was so happy that he learned something from family night.

Our Family

Lynnlee drew a picture of our family the other day. The best part is the minis. They are literally mini. Marshall and I are the biggest stick figures and the minis are on our arms.

Weekly Minis

It hasn't really worked out to take pictures of the minis the last few Sundays. They are so wiggly that it is near impossible to take a picture of them before they crawl away. So the weekly pictures are a little different this time. They are officially 11 months old. We have come a long way. They are definitely getting easier but it is still exhausting doing everything twice 24/7.

The minis got some water table action. They love being outside with everyone else. I ended up having to put a blanket underneath them, after this picture was taken, because the grass was making them fussy.

They are spending a lot more time in the stroller these days. They used to hate it but they are starting to adjust.

Thank goodness for double seater shopping carts! It is so nice to have hands free at the store.

Bean Museum

Summer has been fun so far but really exhausting. I didn't realize how much of a difference it would be. It is non stop with entertaining five littles and giving them attention. Some one always needs me for something. Plus they are always hungry. I made a trip to Costco yesterday and stocked up on fruits, vegetables and healthy snacks to help keep them satisfied. It is going to take some adjusting. 

I am a schedule person. Every morning James helps me get the minis out of their cribs. In this picture he put them in the same crib and then got in with them.

Before my kids can have any screen time they have to do reading, practice math and writing. We will see how long we can stick to this. Some days are hard if we are trying to get out the door. If it doesn't get done in the morning then it usually doesn't happen in the afternoon.

We get out of the house in the morning. Monday we went to the Bean Museum. Tuesday was grocery shopping and Wednesday we went to Neptune Park.

The newly remodeled Bean Museum is a lot more fun than the old one.

A employee came around with different types of animal fur.

This was from our morning at Neptune Park. It is a really modern park and really fun. James climbed the pyramid at least 3 times.

Even though it's a lot of work going places, it is nice to have something to do.

Box Children

We had to get a new lawn mower and it came in a big box. At first I didn't want to keep the box but then I changed my mind when I realized it made a great play pen for the minis.

They can even drink their bottles inside of it.

For now I put them on a blanket when we go outside but once they start crawling away I will have the box as back up.

One day last week Sienna and I were sitting on the porch waiting for James to get home. She was so serious as she watched him walking home.

Then she got all excited to see him.

Sunday Minis

The minis are changing so much. They are napping less and playing more. They love being outside with everyone. Taggart is really good at clapping. Sienna is really good at waving. Sunday was the first day we tried all three hours of church with them awake. (We did all three hours when they were newborns and slept they whole time) They did pretty good but they were super tired but then end.