I feel free....

The spring is such a crazy time of year. I'm happy to say that it is over and we made it through!

As of today, no more getting up early for school, no more making lunches, and no more signing planners!!!

This last month has been full of...

Coach pitch which I didn't get a picture of cause the last two games were rained out. Briggs had a fun time playing, when it wasn't raining.

Haylie and Briggs both had their track and field meet. Micah's was of course rained out. Or was it snowed out? They had a fun day. Didn't get a picture of that either but here's Haylie's ribbons she won. They didn't give out ribbons for Briggs's class.



We also went to divisionals for Haylie. She wasn't feeling so great that day but still had a fun time. She loved getting to hang out with her friend Livi that she doesn't get to see too often.

We had the kids marathon a couple days ago. It was a gorgeous day for it. Me and the younger kids hung out at the finish line to watch the kids go threw, then we had a picnic lunch at the remington after.

We had Haylie and Micah's piano recital the end of May. They are both so lucky to have such a talented Grandma that is willing to teach them piano. They both were able to get their songs memorized and learned in time. I was a little nervous for them but they pulled it off and sounded great. Trudy doesn't teach very many students anymore so we had the recital here this year. I think that's why I didn't get any pictures of this, I was too stressed about getting my house clean.

Last week was Haylie's voice recital. It was very long, but good. This is one thing I'm glad to have over for the year. Her lessons were every Monday evening which didn't work out great for FHE. I always had to be really on the ball and get it done early.

This weekend is my softball tournament and once that is over I will feel like a free woman!!!

The other day Haylie was playing at a friends house and had a little tumble which resulted in four stitches. The knee is a really awkward place to get stitches Haylie is finding out. She can't walk great, swim great, and definitely not run great (found that out at the kids marathon).


Love the summer and the no schedule. That is until swim lessons start. And basketball camp.

Lame update, I know.

Our new pet....

Someone please tell me how in the world it is possible that I found this in my house yesterday....

In case your confused, yes this is a DEAD SALAMANDER!!! In my house! Last night Micah told me she found something weird in her room and to come look at it. I never expected this. The thing that really creeps me out is that if there is a dead salamander, that means that at one point there was a live salamander. And is there more lurking around??

We googled salamander's last night to find out a little bit about them and how they would get into a persons house. I highly doubt it came in threw the door and down the stairs. Anyways, turns out they can squeeze threw very small cracks. If there is cracks somewhere I would of thought we would of gotten water in our basement though which we didn't. We also found out it eats insects which it would of had a year's supply of in our basement since Skylie feeds the ants so well. They are everywhere. Luckily it also needs water which is why I'm assuming it died.

Has this ever happened to anyone else and how did it get into your house???? I will not stop thinking about it until I find out how it got in. I will also check every shoe I put on because I also read that is where they like to hide.

Weekend in Waterton....

This past weekend we took the trailer up to Waterton and went camping. We were going to leave Thursday but got rained out. Friday wasn't looking too promising but I decided to stop being a scrooge and just go. Cold weather and all. (have I ever mentioned how much I hate being cold??) Anyways I'm glad we went because it ended up being beautiful there.

This is my idea of camping right here. Relaxed on a chair, enjoying the sun and reading a book. Unfortunately Micah is the only one that got time to read.

Well it's pretty easy to sum up what we did. Rode bikes, threw rocks, rode bikes some more, climbed bears hump, rode bikes, and got ice cream. Oh and did I mention ride bikes???

There was this hill that Briggs was obsessed with going on. It had a little jump going down and then another one coming back up it. He was constantly begging someone to go with him. I even went once and showed him my amazing biking skills. I asked him if he saw the air I got and he said, mom that was just a wheelie. Then I ended up falling down the hill and I think he was a little embarrassed for me. I think he preferred Steve going with him after that!

The kids all wanted to climb bears hump. Usually one of us would go with the older kids and the other would stay back, but we couldn't decide who got to stay, so we decided to just go with everyone and see how the little kids did. They all made it and did really good.

They found this stream to cool off in and loved playing in it. On the way down Steve was showing the girls how it was fun to jump down the stairs. Kash saw him and decided that he wanted to do it too. Well this was taking forever for him to do so I decided to carry him, and that did not go over well, that is why he is so sad in this picture. So after a while I put him back down so he could jump too. Anyways it took a while for me and Kash to get down since he insisted on doing it all on his own but we finally made it.

Don't you love Summer's "hiking boots"? Her and Skylie both insisted on wearing their gum boots.

We all made it!!!

The kids love the new park in Waterton. We had it all to ourselves on Friday.

I love the crew of bikers! Biking was my favorite part of Waterton. I love it and am always up for a bike ride.

We could spend forever throwing rocks. That is so entertaining for kids for some reason.

My favorite part about camping is that I don't have to cook. Steve does all of it and I love it!!!

It was a great weekend. Steve is already planning where we are going to go next. I have a feeling next time it will involve dirtbikes.

Family Fun Run.....

A couple weeks ago Haylie and I went in the 5km Fun Run. Haylie wasn't sure if it was much fun during the run, but after it was over she was glad that she did it. Here we are coming into the finish line. I love Micah running beside us videoing us.

We did it in 34 minutes which I think is really good for Haylie's first time. It was fun running with her and being able to chat the whole time.

After they had tons of food and prizes for everyone. Haylie won a sub from subway and a t-shirt and I won a pool party at the pool. Briggs and Micah want to go in it next just for the prizes!

Finally five.....

So for the past month Skylie has asked everyday if it's her birthday and if she is five yet. Well that day finally came a couple weeks ago. Then for a whole week following her birthday she asked me everyday if she was still five. She had a fun birthday. Here she is opening her presents that morning. Every time we go to extra foods she is sure to tell me what she wanted for her b-day. Out of the twenty things on her list I hoped that I chose her favorites.

So later on that day we headed into Lethbridge to go swimming at the Ramada with the Eatons. It was probably one of the worst swimming experiences, for me anyways. The kiddy pool was closed, the water was freezing cold and so was the air which is usually muggy and warm, which made the disgusting, dirty hot tub chuck full of people. It was so gross that at one point they had to kick everyone out to disinfect it. And yes I was desperate enough to warm up that I went in the hot tub. Anyways, the important thing is the kids didn't seem to mind or notice and had a blast. The highlight of Skylies day which she still talks about is when her, Charlie, Janey, and Haylie were all on the double tube and ended up flipping over in the water slide.

After swimming we headed over to the Dairy Queen and got ice cream cake which is another thing Skylie has been asking for for over a month. Don't you love her butterfly clip that the Eaton's gave her?? So cute.

The kids were in such crazy moods. Charlie kept putting ice cream on his face and Summer's hysterical laughter only egged him on I'm sure. These kids have so much fun together and ask almost every day if they can play with them.

















Here's the whole crew!

I can't have a birthday post and not write a few little facts about the birthday girl, so here it goes....

1. She has a really fun, crazy personality which we all love.

2. Her favorite food (today anyways) is ichiban, macaroni, and cheese and crackers.

3. Her favorite color is orange, yellow, blue, purple, and pink. She has decided she likes boy colors now. Even though they aren't beautiful.

4. She loves dressing up and putting on makeup.

5. Loves playing polly's and barbies.

6. She loves shoving apple cores behind the tv. One time I found 8 of them and I'm very confident they were all from her.

7. She loves a good party at 3:00 am. She just gets up, turns on a movie and gets herself a snack. And usually brings Summer along with her. It's a little annoying.

8. She says the funniest things (funny to me anyways). Here's a few of her latest quotes....

"My nose really hurts. I need to smell my blanket."

"Whenever I hold my ears like this I get so frustrated cause the dogs make me hear them."

We were sitting at the table and she kept sniffing so I asked her if I should get some kleenex to wipe her nose and she said, "No, I'll just smell if away."

9. She is really excited to go to kindergarten in the fall.

10. She finally learned the other day to ride a two wheeler. We really should of tried earlier but she isn't a huge fan of riding her bike. She rode up the street on her first try.

Happy 5th B-day Skylie!!

If the shoe doesn't fit, wear it...

We have a problem in our house. Anytime we go to leave somewhere, someone is always missing a shoe. The other day for example I was trying to find Summer's shoe's. I found three different shoes without a match. It is not uncommon to see my younger kids in mismatched shoes. The root of the problem is this little guy. He is always wearing every one's shoes then leaving them in random places.

I'm sure everyone is thinking, well just don't let him wear them, but would you say no to this face????