Olympics 2012

We've been living it up with the Olympics on tv! The kids are getting to stay up past their bedtimes so they can see more of the events. We even really bent the rules the other night and had popcorn and Reese's Pieces in our family room while we were watching the events.

It's been a lot of fun hearing the kids comments on the different events and sharing something outside the norm together. Go USA!

He...

...lost his first tooth last night!

We didn't even know it was loose! I was brushing his teeth last night and it just fell out! What a traumatic experience. Howard and I were so shocked and his gum bled pretty bad (probably from my brushing right over it) and Chase started crying so hard that at first we thought he was really hurt. Apparently it just scared him. One of his first questions was if he would still be able to eat! Oh I love this boy! :)

We are all smiles now. A visit from the tooth fairy improved his outlook on lost teeth too!

Construction

Our back yard (well our neighbors really!) used to look like this. The hill was no fun for them to mow so they decided to do something about it.

For the last few weeks our yard has been right on the front lines of a construction zone. Chase was in little boy heaven. Can you see his head peeking over our playset?

We had backhoes, dumptrucks, skid steerers, wheelbarrows, dirt, trees and mulch piling up everywhere!

The end result is that all their hard work and our neighbors money has given us this beautiful garden to enjoy. There are all kinds of flowering plants as well as quite a few trees that will eventually mature and give privacy to quite a few of us. We love it!

4th Outtakes!

We tried to get some family pics before heading out to celebrate the 4th of July. Some were good and some are worth saving to laugh about later!

Happy 4th!

We celebrated the 4th of July a little early with my family. These pictures were actually from last Saturday. It has been one busy week since then!

The kids were fascinated by the black snake fireworks Howard bought. They pretty much looked like piles of dog poo when they were done but the kids thought they were cool.

One of Howard's work buddies dropped off these bouncing toys for the kids. They were having fun giving them a try.

And falling off too!

Just hangin' out.

The kids spent time in the pool, sprinkler hose that Peter and Kendal brought over and climbing on the play set.

This little guy got such a big kick out of dragging these around the yard. He kept pulling them around our shed and then would go around again for another loop. Too cute!

He also seems to be quite taken with his cousin. These two smile at each other, study each other and seem to like each other. He was quite insistent with Kendal that he be able to push Evey himself. (Don't worry Aunt Kendal was right outside the shot to take over pretty quickly!)

The best shot I got of all the cousins (and mommies!) together.

Tanner had a great time throwing washers with Uncle Billy. He just doesn't like to share or care if it's your turn so it's not so much fun for the other person...:)

"But I wanna play too!"

Getting ready for fireworks.

Remember this scene from last year? She still doesn't like the sound of fireworks and didn't really enjoy them. She did much better on the actual fourth. 

We all brought fixin's for ice cream sundaes and by the time we had all eaten them we felt like absolute pigs! Too much candy and ice cream. All in all though, we had a really nice time together.