July 2016

We've reached Oregon City!  Well, virtually anyway!  The boys finally completed the Oregon Trail game without dying of scurvy, snake bites, or starvation!

Do you ever take a picture then wonder why?  I was staring at this blob of silly putty we made, then it hit me.  It is the world of course!  I guess it's like seeing the Virgin Mary in your toast!

My boys love legos.  But it does come and go.  Easton is on a lego-kick lately and made this really cool set of army vehicles.  It started with the helicopter on the right that carries the little tank on the left.  Then he added the smaller helicopter with hanging cargo.  Pretty awesome.

Our family has many universal-loves (probably because they are all boys)...in addition to legos, we love shark teeth!  Xander just picked this great white tooth up from an online seller on ebay.  It is such a pretty tooth and we are pretty certain it is wrapped/secured by pure gold wire!  Not a bad purchase for $10!

Declan opted for the 100 small shark teeth instead.  They are tiny, but pretty cool.  The seller was kind to include a bunch of gems (another universal love in this family) and a small megaladon tooth.  It may not look small here, but compared to Easton's and Cache's 3-4 inch long megaladon teeth...this guy is a baby!

One of my friends frequently give me their things when they are done with them...we have a small trampoline and playhouse from them in the back yard.  This week's delivery...a giant teddy bear.  Needless to say, it will be well-loved around here!

Just like the good ol' days.  I got out the twins tricycle to sell at our next garage sale...they both wanted to ride it, so they both hopped on, and commenced the fighting!  Ahhhh...such sweet memories!

Most of the time, we use our Jenga blocks as building blocks.  Here is one of Cache's creations...

June 2016

Cache skipped school for a few days and went to Minnesota with David.  They gathered with David's side of the family to celebrate Cache's great grandma's 95th birthday!  Of course, as the only grand child at the party, he was smothered with love, attention, and legos!  They took a trip to the Mall of America and went on an indoor roller coaster, rope courses, and a huge lego area.

The boys gathered around the computer playing 'The Oregon Trail.'  We used to play this on the elementary school computers.  It was one of my favorite games along with a game called 'Lake Powell' (I think).  Was this because I grew up in Oregon or did other kids in other states play this too?  Either way, my kids love it!

Just another day in the hood.  Yep, all but one of those bikes is ours!

Welcome to our indoor gaga ball court.  Hours of fun in the family room!

Cache's final soccer game.  They played on the nice turf fields.  Apparently, Cache was made for turf.  The fields are fast and accurate.  He scored 5 goals this game!

Xander always begs me to buy strawberries at the store.  If only the other kids would eat them too...although he does a good job of eating them himself!  

One of our favorite snacks... pepperoni, crackers, cubed cheese, cut up pickles!

Could it be...the last day of 1st grade!  You survived Cache!

And the last day of 3rd grade!

How we celebrate...games with dad!  If you haven't played team Sorry, it's a great twist!

Possibly the highlight of the summer came early for us this year.  We got invited (or maybe I invited us) to our friend's lake house at Lake Anna.  The boat was big and strong, the house had plenty of room and comfortable, the weather was amazing, and our friends were so much fun!

Blake and Easton (with Sara hiding behind)

David thinking, 'hmmm...this is nice...how can we buy a house and a boat on the lake?'  I must admit, that was a good hour long conversation on the way home!

Declan, Lacie, and Xander

Best buds, Grayson and Cache

We went out on a perfectly calm night to fish.  It was a slow start, but eventually we couldn't keep up with the 6 rods over the boat!

Relaxing after a great day on the lake!

The boys played on a home school soccer team this spring.  I always treat them to trophies after playing a season of home school soccer or our own soccer teams I coach.  Each trophy costs like $8...so it's a pretty inexpensive way to make their day!

May 2016

I found a great new purpose for Jenga blocks...building blocks!  Ok, the game is great.  My kids love it...but I get so tired of rebuilding it.  Plus, these little blocks can build so many great things and take up so little space.  When I go to garage sales, I now keep my eyes out for jenga sets (for only $1 of course).

And yes, Declan's mohawk is a little early this year.  I wanted to wait until summer, but when a 5 year old demands the hawk, what can you do?

Honestly, the twins play really great together.  Of course there is occasionally the 'brotherly love' fights, but mainly sharing, kindness, and togetherness for these 2.

We celebrated David's 40 something birthday this year.  Another strawberry poke cake...this time instead of a plain whipped cream topping, I whipped in some cream cheese and also added some extra jello...even better!

David's birthday party (with the family) at the bowling ally.  These kids love to bowl.  And yes, we even have our own bowling balls and bowling shoes!

Easton almost beat his dad with 121 points.

Rough game for everyone but Declan.

David killed it this game.  

I love Easton's bowling name...'Grizzly Pig'. 

Cache rocked a 117.

The boys.

Cache's 1st grade music performance.  I went during the day because he really hates these kind of things and I wasn't sure if I would be able to get him to go back for the night performance.  The kids also had their fundraiser 'fun run', hence why so many kids are in the white/blue/orange shirts.  The school raised $20,000!

Declan and the amazing magnet line.

Declan showing off his missing tooth...by far the youngest to have lost a tooth in our family...and the other tooth is already coming in!

Welcome back garage sale season!  All this fun loot for about $10!

This great bunch of legos for $5...yes... just $5!  About 50 lego men and tons of pieces.

A random table I picked up for free off the curb...now a convenience shelf in my front closet.

The coolest wicker basket for $3...storage options are limitless :)

Hmmm...when you leave a cooler on the front porch and the twins decide to swing.

Dad and Xander rocking out to something...probably primary songs.

Declan doesn't exactly love his picture taken most days.  Sometimes I photo bomb him.

The twins were invited to Leif's birthday part and were given pieces of the map to tape together to help with the treasure hunt.  They are very excited for their adventure.

Declan the tree hugger and climber.

We went to Westmoreland State Park this Memorial weekend with some friends.  The boys were quick to find a blue-tailed skink.

We did the coolest nature center activity.  The boys each got an owl pellet to dissect.  This one was staring right at us.  The best part, each kid was suppose to pay $5 and the lady let our group of 5 do it for free!

Xander the glowing-wrist-band super hero.

Westmoreland is known for its fossilized shark teeth.  They get washed off the upper cliffs and onto the beach below.  We combed the beach for hours!!!!! But we came up with some great teeth and fossils.

The visitor center provided this chart to help us identify the most common shark teeth and fossils we would find.

Our friend's the Tikalsky's enjoying a cold cereal morning...genius!

The Macphersons set up a great slackline between the trees.

Easton and Natalie

Enjoying a small portion of our geotrax.

One of the boys' favorite places is Chuck E Cheese.  Painful, but oh how they love it.

I signed the twins up for a cute home school soccer team.
They are so cute and actually quite good.  It helps being the youngest in the family.
I love how they both wanted the gold shin guards, so they each settled for one.