Splash!

So we headed to Des Moines today because Country Landscapes has entered a Dragon Boat Race for tomorrow. More on that later. We decided to stay some place with a pool so the kids could swim. Everyone had a really great time. Our friends Curt and Jill met us there for some swimming too!

Click the Play Button to Get Wet!

Weird Weather

So this summer has been quite different. What's all this hoopla about global warming? We have had a total of one week where the temps reached into the 90's! It's hasn't been a great year for the pool, but it has been a great year for playing outside! However, when the storms do roll in, the clouds have been very weird looking!

Because of the nice weather, we have seen quite a few hotair balloons floating around North Liberty. Not too long ago we saw them being blown up in the lot behind our house.

No One Is Leaving Until...

Have you ever had one of those weeks? It's just been a strange week. Jason woke up Friday morning complaining about being stiff and sore. He hardly complains about anything so I knew something was up. I suggested he go to the doctor and he actually agreed. (Translation: It must have been really really bad for him to make an appointment.) They ran all sort of tests on and off for most of the week and the only conclusion was that it was some strain of the mono virus!

One night I went down to the gym for my second workout for the day. As I was leaving the gym the lady at the desk says, "oh shoot, your husband called and I told him you had left already." I take off for the van because Jason never calls me and for him to call me at the gym means he went to alot of work to find the number so it must be serious. I call him back on my cell phone to find out that Maison was running through the grass, tripped and chipped his front left permanent tooth in the driveway! I race home and as I'm driving Jason is telling me it is only maybe a third of his tooth. So I'm thinking it won't be too bad. Maybe they can just file the other tooth down to match! Imagine my surprise when I got home to find that more like half of Maison's tooth was missing!

Earlier in the week, the kids were over at Grama Shari and Papa Ed's house and Izzy was giving the kitty more love than he could handle, so naturally, he "put the tooth on her". (Translation: he bit her arm).

Then there's Libby. She was next door playing with the boys on their swing set/fort. I hear a bunch of commotion and Libby comes home screaming. I asked her what happened and all I heard was... I was whaaaaa, sniff sniff sniff, sob sob, then whaaaaaaaaa, I told whaaaaaaaa, but I don't want to play anymore sob sob. I was never able to get the whole story from her and of course each kid had their version of the truth but some how Libby was going to slid down the slide when all of a sudden the rock climbing rope got wrapped around her neck. It's amazing that no one saw anyone put the rope around her neck! I'm sure when she's 30 we'll hear what really happened.

The story wouldn't be complete without Gracie! Our neighbor Carey thought it would be a great idea to have Gracie come over and meet their new dog Jack. I was hesitant in saying that she gets nervous around dogs that are bigger than she is. Against my better judgement I went and got her. Jack took one sniff of her butt and she snapped at him. He didn't like that and snapped back puncturing Gracie's ear. Gracie doesn't get mad, she gets even. After Jack lost interest in her, she took off and went up on Carey's deck and left a Cleveland Steamer right by their sliding glass door! I'm sure that really showed him!

At that point I made the executive decision to keep everyone in the house for a couple of days just because I could hear the cash register dinging in my head!

Summer '09

So I finally got my new camera; the Nikon 5000D. I absolutely love it! If I could only figure out all of the cool things it does by yesterday!!! Here are some pictures of the kids. Maison's 8, Libby's 5, and Squiz is 9 months. Maison says to me the other day, "hey mom, when I'm 11 Libby will be 8." I gave him my best "you're crazy" look and he says, "I did the math." Some days it's so hard to believe just how old they are getting!

9 Months Old

It is really hard to believe our Squizz is 9 months old! She is still a little peanut! Only about 15lbs still and a little over 28in long! She is traveling a little better now, mostly in town driving but you definitely know when it's time to head home!

She loves to eat, eat, and eat! She is drinking less and less formula as Papa Ed gave her strawberry milk in her bottle! At least the strawberry milk was whole milk! Squizz also loves playing with her Sissy's dollies. Unfortunately Squizz always has to be the Daddy because he is the only doll with hard plastic hair! Libby doesn't want her dollies' hair to be ruin as she spends hours and hours fixing and brushing their hair!

Squizz has been to the pool a few times and loves to swim! She loves just floating on her back! Next year she will be much more fun at the pool!

4th of July

Jason took all of the kids up to Vermillion, SD to visit their cousins for the 4th of July weekend so Mama could get some well deserved R & R! I was sad to see them all leave, but mentally my brain gave a huge sigh of relief. Maybe technically that would be considered a brain fart?!

The kids had a great time with their cousins as always!