Seeing red

We took the kids to the strawberry patch.

Eat a little, pick a little.

My mom and aunt were in town and got to come with us.

After we picked three baskets-full, we went home and made pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream.

They were so good!

field day

Micah had his field day and end of school party.

I always enjoy those events and this year was no different. They had fun games set up for the kids and they were able to go outside instead of wasting the last week watching movies and have some fun.

Spectators.

These games are intense.

The end of the year party was a luau. They had congo lines going, hula hoops, and some good food. All the kids seemed to enjoy themselves.
Micah had an awesome teacher this year. He is actually pretty sad to be leaving the 2nd grade. A lot of his friends were in his class too. He had a great year and we are so proud of how well he did. Next year I'll have a 3rd grader and a kindergartner!

Four years

Four years ago, we moved to our home.

Four years ago we met these great families who were also moving in.

Four years ago, four years seemed pretty far away-but it went by so quickly.

Now that these four years have passed, a lot of our friends are done with dental and medical school, so they are moving on.

In four years we have made memories and friends that will last forever.

We love you guys!

Mom always said not to play with sticks...

Asher learned the hard way.

He was playing at a neighbors house when I heard the screaming. Here comes Asher around the corner to show me this. ..

I guess he was laying with his stomach on the swing and also had a stick in his hand, the stick hit the ground and jammed into his leg and the tip broke off. It didn't look TOO bad, but he wouldn't let me get near it and when he finally did let me try, it was actually wedged pretty tight. I made three good pulls without getting it out, and then I started getting a little queasy.
So, naturally I called a friend to come help pull it out.
What good friends we have.
Of course Asher didn't make a peep when Arron got over to help (thanks!). He must have been all cried out.

I might add that Micah was a very good brother. He wouldn't even go back over to his friends house because he didn't want to leave Asher while he was hurt.

The good news is, Asher hasn't really picked up a stick since then.
See, Moms do know what they are talking about.

Lucky, lucky me...

Because of these three.

It was that easy

Olivia loves her pacifier.
I mean REalLy loves it.
I was actually okay with it too. I figured she'd out grow it eventually.
I was wrong.
She wanted it all day and it started to really drive me crazy.
I tried a ton of different things-toy bribes, treats, sticker charts, force, the "big girl" talk, you name it, I think I tried it.

Then a couple months ago we saw "Princess and the Frog." Oh, how she loves that movie.
I had given up on the whole weaning of the pacifier ( aka the paa and pappy paa, I seriously don't know where she came up with those names), because I was exhausted.
Around the same time she entered the world of Barbie.
One day I just casually asked if she would give me pappy pa if I bought her a Tiana barbie.
She say yes, so I took her to the store, bought it (okay she also weaseled an Ariel barbie out of me too, but if it worked, it was totally worth it), and she handed over the paa (I guess she was just waiting for the right toy).

It has now been two months and I haven't had one single problem with that old pappy paa.
She still has it at night, but I think she's just holding out to see what else she can milk from me.

Cubs and wolves and bears...oh my!

When Micah turned 8, we entered a whole new world- the world of scouting. It has been really fun for him. He LOVES it. A few weeks ago was the scout birthday party. It was his first pack meeting and everyone was asked to bring a cake.
Micah won "most thematic."

Micah got his cub and is now working on his Wolf. He also received the behavior award for his age group. They give out behavior beads each scout night for the boy who listened/behaved the best (I guess whatever incentive works to get a bunch of rowdy boys to settle down) . Micah had received the most for his age group. I was really proud of him for that.

What pack meeting would be complete without scout skits?

I sure think he looks cute in his uniform and hope he keeps up the motivation to do scouts!