School is in!

Justin and Elizabeth started school last Friday and Will and Bruce started pre-school on Monday. Who ever heard of starting the middle of August? We still have over a month of summer left! Despite my poor attitude, they are enjoying it and I even enjoyed it today when it was just Madelyn and I at the grocery store. Wow, was that ever easy! After taking five kids around with me everywhere all summer, it was a treat!
Justin is in the fourth grade this year and Elizabeth is in the third. Will is actually old enough for kindergarten, but we decided to wait another year which is really common here. Bruce is in his first year of pre-school and is thrilled to be among the big kids who go to school now. Madelyn and I have been outside waiting for the bus everyday when Justin and Elizabeth gets home and she is so excited to see them. I'm sure it's a big change after being played with constantly all summer - she just loves her older brothers and sister!

Baby news!

We just returned from our annual trek out to Idaho for a family reunion. We had a great time, but have wayyyy too many photos to go through so I'm trying to pick a few out for our blog. Until then, just wanted to update some of you who may not have heard our latest news...we're expecting a girl! We found out the day we left for Idaho that it's a girl. I took all of the kids with me to the doctor appointment. The kids were all just sure it would be a girl because this evens out the scale. We'll have three girls and three boys. Could life get any crazier?! I'm sure it will in a few months. She's due to arrive January 26th. We haven't really talked about names yet, but the kids would like to have a say in it and have suggested a small election. Any suggestions...?

Will's 5th Birthday

Playing with friends on the waterslide

Will is loving being the center of attention

Will celebrated his fifth birthday on Friday, July 11th. The celebration started on Thursday with a friends' birthday party at our house. He was thrilled to be the center of attention and loved every minute of it. He picked out a "bike" birthday cake because learning to ride a two-wheeler was his big accomplishment for the year and he loves riding his bike.
Friday we went to Ohio for the weekend and the celebration continued. I think about everywhere we went, someone had another gift for him. The cards continued coming in the mail this week so he has truly felt loved.
Another big first for Will was losing his first tooth two days before his birthday. I don't know that you can call it "losing" his first tooth because he had a little help from the dentist. He fell at the YMCA a few months ago and the dentist didn't like the way his roots were looking in the x-ray at his last check-up so she thought it should be pulled. The good news is he did great. She said he did ten times better than he expected. I didn't go back with him, but I could just imagine him with a big grin during the whole appointment. That is typical Will!

Although Will is now five, we have decided (I think) to wait another year before he starts kindergarten. He barely makes the cut-off (August 1st) and it is very common here to wait for summer birthdays. It's a big school so we feel it will give him another year to prepare and another year to enjoy time at home with Mom, Bruce, and Madelyn. This decision has not come easily for us, but we feel it's right for him.

4th of July fun!

We found a great way to celebrate the Fourth of July yesterday. We went with our good friends, the Davies, to a water park about half way between here and Chicago. We had a great time, despite the unseasonably cool weather (Aaron likes to call it "global cooling"). The kids all had a great time in the wave pool, the kiddie area, the lazy river, and, of course, the water slides!
Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of Justin. The Davies have a son a little older than Justin, as well as a son who is almost thirteen. They were off and running all the time so I didn't ever get any pictures of him.
Madelyn loved the water and was much braver than us. She didn't seem to mind the frigid water temperatures at all. We got lots of comments from people who thought she was adorable walking around. She loved the little water fountains.
Elizabeth surprised us and actually went down some of the slides. Historically, she has not been very brave at water parks, but she did great yesterday. Will is becoming quite the little swimmer. We just went swimming with the Davies again today and he was jumping off the diving board and swimming all over. We just finished swim lessons last week and the kids all learned so much. It was fun to see them practicing at the pool again today.

Elizabeth feeding Madelyn "dippin dots"

Big girl Madelyn

This past week Madelyn has decided that she has finally had enough of crawling. Everyday now she is walking more and becoming more steady. I'm thrilled because I'm tired of carrying her around outside. She won't be very steady outside for awhile, but at least it's progress.
As you can see, Madelyn is so proud of herself to be walking like a big girl. All of the kids are right beside her trying to "help" her all the time. Of course, that isn't always appreciated by Madelyn. Watch out Mom, now the fun really begins!

Pizza time!

While in Ohio, we went to visit our good friends, the Bennett's, who just bought a pizza shop a few months ago. They wanted us to bring the kids in and let them make their own pizzas. We went with our friends the Jeppesen's and all of us had a great time! Carol is so proud she has learned to make "hand tossed" pizza.

Dwayne demonstrates how to make sure your pizza doesn't bubble up...

Even Bruce got in on the fun...

Elizabeth spreading the pizza sauce...

Adding the cheese and toppings...

Time to bake! If only cooking was this much fun at home! We loved your pizza, Bennett's!

Catch up

Cheers for the last day of school!

Elizabeth had her spring ballet recital June 7th.

Justin's last soccer game was June 7th.

The week after the kids got out of school, we went over to Ohio for the week. (Aaron came over Thursday night). We had so much fun swimming, relaxing, and visiting family and friends. Another highlight of our visit were the baby kittens at Mama and Papa's house. The kids spent so much time holding the kittens and of course asked several times to bring one home (not happening). Monday night there was a terrible storm that picked up the trampoline and carried it into the power line. Luckily, everyone was in the house, but the trampoline was not so lucky. The kids were sad about losing the trampoline.