::tummy time::

Pediatricians say tummy time is important for babies...

...I agree.

In other news...
We made brownies. They were hot. Matt and the kids put theirs in the freezer for a minute to cool them down. Bubb ate his. Then he said "Chloe can I feel zuh bwownie?" He crawled across the counter to feel it. Chloe was talking to us, so she was looking up from her plate. Then she looked down and her brownie was gone! I guess the only proper way to tell if a brownie is too hot is to eat it.

::bounce::

I told the kids after our Moroni adventure that I wasn't going to take all of them anywhere by myself again. That lasted all of a few hours. I've since taken them to the store a few times, the movies, and this place...

Kangaroo Zoo
Tuesday. July 19th. 1-ish pm.




They had fun.
The little boys played Mario & Luigi a lot.
Chloe was a sweaty mess after nonstop jumping for 2 hours. She told me she wants to have her birthday party there. Sounds good to me!

::lvd::

We started off with a race
(5 miles around the lake. Took us 51 minutes)

(Amberlee (my runnin' buddy), me, and Lynette (Matt's aunt). Me on the home stretch giving Portie high fives)

Then a parade...

(J helping Coop get some candy. Bee-Ava in her seat. She thought the parade was kinda loud)


(Portie kinda liked the dancers...we even caught him dancin' a little himself)

A few hours later we staked out a spot on the lawn of the town hall to get ready for some fireworks.


This is one of our favorite events of the summer. The whole day is just fun. I love Matt's hometown. I'd move there tomorrow if I could.

::T-ball's over::

Portie finished up T-Ball last week.

He played every week for about a month and a half. He did pretty good. He was great at batting and running. The outfield---not so much. He had a hard time paying attention to the batter and not playing with the dirt. Overall, though, he seemed to really like it.


His last game was pretty fun. He got to bat 3 times, and when he was running the bases, he slid every time. It was SO funny! I wish I would've gotten a picture of his awesome slides!! He got a little T-Ball dog tag which he thinks it's pretty cool.

(Coach Austin and the team)

There was a swim party at the city pool for all the "ballers" (softball & t-ball). Oh my gosh it was crazy! There were SO many kids in the pool! Matt and I were both there with all 4 kids. I held Ava the whole time. It was SO hard keeping track of the other 3! I took all 4 swimming a few weeks ago by myself, and it wasn't as hard as that! It was pretty fun though. We swam from 8:30 'til about 10. There's somethin' fun about swimmin' in the dark

:)

Great job, Portie!! Next up, flag football!

::Angel Moroni::

^{"...Moroni, whom I have sent unto you to reveal the Book of Mormon, containing the fulness of my everlasting gospel..."}

~Doctorine & Covenants 27:5

There's a temple being built not too far from us. It was announced that the angel Moroni would go up a on July 12, so we thought we'd go see it.

But we didn't see it.

It was raining. A lot. We got there and parked a little ways away. We walked down a busy road with no sidewalks (me and the 4 littles). We found a place on the lawn across the street from the temple where we could see the top where Moroni would be placed. We sat on what I thought was a waterproof blanket. We huddled our 3 selves (Ava was in her stroller all cozy and dry) underneath 2 not very big umbrellas. Our hair was wet, our legs were wet, our clothes were wet, our butts were wet (except for Bubb's 'cause he sat on my lap the whole time). It was a little miserable. I kept telling them who Moroni was and why this was going to be such a neat thing to see.

They just complained. All 3 of them. "I'm cold. I'm wet. I'm hungry. I'm tired. I'm hot. I'm bored. I can't see. I wanna leave. My butt hurts." All the other little kids there were running around playing in the rain. I saw one kid who was probably a few years older than Chloe get a running start and dive and slide on his tummy across the wet grass. My kids just complained.

I kept telling them just a little longer. After a little while it stopped raining. Then, somebody came across the speakers (they were playing hymns while we all waited) and said that it was too windy to take Moroni up there, so they were waiting for it to die down. They offered a prayer. I swear it got windier after the prayer.

I looked at the trees blowing in the wind, my crying, hungry kids, and the clock, and decided that after 3 hours of waiting, it was time to go. I told myself that they probably wouldn't do it that day anyway because it was just too windy-especially when you're 40 or so feet in the air. I took them to McDonald's for some lunch. On our way home, when we were turning into our subdivision, I saw some people looking North, towards the temple. Moroni was just taking his place on top of the temple.

We'd missed it. I was sad.





Even though we missed it, I can't get over the fact that there's going to be a temple right here close to us. I often think of the people in other countries and even in our own who travel great distances to attend the temple. How lucky we are to have so many so close to us. I hope that we will be able to go often and enjoy the blessings it provides.

::really??::

I got this in the mail the other day...


Don't get me wrong. I LOVE school shopping. LOVE it. But, I feel like Summer just got started (especially since we didn't hit 80 degrees until around the 3rd week of June). We're lovin' finally getting to wear flip-flops and shorts and swimsuits. I don't wanna think about boots, scarves, pants, and sweaters and all that yet.

::slippin' & slidin'::

Yesterday, we slip-n-slided @ Grandma & Papa Snowman's house (because our grass isn't nice enough to run on yet-more on that later). Portie got it for his birthday. It's got 3 lanes so you can race. The kids loved it (mostly). Port and Bubb went a few times and then just kind of wanted to kick the water at eachother and watch the tractor in the front yard. Chloe slid about a billion times and even "swam" in the pool of water at the end of the slide. Little fish.


I think they liked it. Good ol' slip-n-slide. What would the world be like without slip-n-slides?

::fourth::

"America, America!
God shed his grace on thee."

-Katharine Lee Bates

This year...
We got to go to Stadium of Fire on the 2nd! And it was pretty awesome! We were crammed in there like sardines, but it was a good time.

Ava came with us ('cause she has to eat). She thought it was kinda loud. We had some little earplugs for her, but it was still pretty loud. She and I stood on the ramp and under the stands during some of the really loud stuff.

There were lots of pretty cool patriotic things. I especially liked the parachuters. They played a patriotic song (I can't remember which one), while parachuters dressed in red, white, and blue jumped from a plane above the stadium. The final (4th) parachuter brought the flag with him. It was pretty great. Something about seeing that flag and hearing the songs about America, just fills my heart with pride!

There was music, speeches, some beach balls being thrown around in the stands, some little dancers on the field...lots to see.

Then, the biggest reason why we wanted to go...

Mr. Brad Paisley himself.

I'm not usually a big country music fan, but this guy I like. A lot.
He was great! It was so fun!

On the fourth, we did our usual swimming, dinner in the park, and some fireworks.

(Chloe on the big slide)

(Portie-he came so fast, I only got his head under water)

(and Bubb w/ Da-da)

This holiday, again, leaves me feeling incredibly thankful. I try to always be mindful of the sacrifices made by so many for the freedoms and blessings we enjoy.

Happy 4th of July!

::date night::

Matt & Chloe went on a date on Friday night.

She was SO excited about it all week.
She wanted to wear a dress.
She wanted to wear my silver heart necklace.
She thought she better wear her "mom shoes" (heels).
She even put make-up on.

I'm a big fan of daddy/daughter date-nights for 2 reasons.
1) it's a great way for them to spend time together-just the two of them
and 2) because when the time comes for her to start dating (yikes!), she'll already know how she's SUPPOSED to be treated on a date.

They went to the batting cages and then for some ice cream.

They both had fun.

Now if I could only get him to take ME on a date!!
:)

::splash pad::

Last weekend we went to Grandma & Papa Kitty's house to celebrate Liam's 6th birthday. We had a cookout and some cake, and we went to a little splash pad not too far from their house. It was SO fun! It had a little river and lots of rocks with water squirting out of it. The kids LOVED it!!

Chloe brought her mermaid Barbie (she's really into Barbies all of a sudden). Her hair changes color in the water. There was a little current in the river, so Port would start his flip-flop at one end and follow it all the way down to the other. Unfortunately it slipped through the grate and is now lost forever. He was sad for a little bit.

Ava wasn't much of a fan. I dipped her little toes in the water and she screamed! She's happier in her warm bath.

It was SO much fun! I wish we had one of those by our house! I might take some pictures of it and send them to our city hall...couldn't hurt, right?