Summertime!

It has begun, and it is moving too fast already!

I think this picture says everything about summer! The kids have had a blast playing on their slip-n-slide. We have also gone to the pool several times already, but I have forgotten to take pictures each time. I love the fact that water is such an easy solution to 110 degree weather and an antsy family.

My sister surprised me with a gift for the new baby. It's a diaper bag on steroids and I love it! She even stuffed it full. Now, I just have to buy shoes to match. :)

The kids have been working on "long-term" projects this summer too. This first one I didn't get any photos that really do it justice, but you'll get the idea. Each of the older three kids made two different goofy-golfing "holes" to set up their own course in the backyard. I haven't got to play a game with them yet, but I love what they came up with. Emma's has one with three holes, using recycled peach cans, and each of the holes is worth a different amount of points. Colin came up with one made out of an empty milk bottle that you attach to the hose and it creates a waterfall over the entrance. And Chesley's is the one you see featured here. I love what their heads come up with!

Another one of their projects was to make a fairy village. The girls collaborated on the village you see on the right, and Colin's contribution is the rock hut on the left. I think they did an awesome job.

This summer they have also been learning songs on the piano, and also vocal pieces, and giving us a recital each Friday. It has been great, not only having the whole crew around and the house buzzing with noise and people, but also watching the kids get inventive with the recycling and still loving to create.

We were supposed to go camping at the beginning of this month, but Mike's master's class was way more time-involved than he expected and so we had to make a change of plans. Instead, we took the kids to the Rainforest Cafe to eat, which they LOVED, and then to the new aquarium at Arizona Mills Mall. They had each gotten a coupon for admission there from the summer reading program at the library, which made it nicer on our pocketbooks. It wasn't the best aquarium we have ever seen (especially for the price they charge) considering you saw many of the same fish over and over again, but the kids didn't care, and they had a great day out. The whole idea of a "stay-cation" really paid off.

Another summer project... learning how to sew. Crazy thing is, these girls have a natural talent and I didn't have to "teach" them much at all, just direct them what to do next. Emma's first project was a robe, and Chesley made some new pajama shorts. Ches has fabric to make a robe to match her shorts, but she'll have to wait until the beginning of July to start it. I think they did a fabulous job, and it was fun to watch them sew. They both thought that cutting out the fabric was tedious, Chesley loved the actual "sewing" part, and Emma agreed with me that the best part of sewing is when it is all done. (Of course she says it with more of a smile than I do.)

The next thing that sewing machine is going to tackle is a blessing dress for Ethne. I still have the pattern from the ones I made Ches and Em, so I am actually excited to design one for Ethne using the same pattern. I'm sure the girls would give me input since they are such experts now!