Easily entertained

While I was on the phone this afternoon, all of my boys were busy entertaining themselves. Easton and Luke were playing nicely and quietly in their room, but shut the door so Max couldn't disturb them. Max was wandering around the house happily, and didn't come whining to me at all during the phone conversation. When I got done, I saw why it was so quiet.

The cookie cutters.

The office.

The diaper bag.


The bedroom.

The kitchen. (Don't you love his "what did I do?" face?)

And lastly, when I checked on Easton and Luke in their room, I saw that they also had fun "entertaining" themselves. They all had such a great time, and probably didn't even notice that I picked it all up while they were eating lunch. Aren't they fun?!

All day long!

This is what we were up to all day Saturday. Earlier this week we had set the posts, and then put up the fence boards, but we finished it on Saturday. We started by about 9am and kept going until lunch time. We took a 90 minute break for lunch and put the kids down for naps, and then went right back at it until 3pm. We came inside to escape the 100 degree weather beat-down, ate dinner, put the kids to bed, and then finished the rest of it by 9pm. We just need to saw the boards now where the gate goes, build the gate, and put it up. Then my kids will be locked in, and we won't find Max wandering in the middle of the road anymore!

p.s. How do you like our dead sod that we swiped and are trying to revive?

Summer Reading Program

Our summer reading program just ended. It was 5 weeks long, and it was the first time that I had our kids participate. They earned points for the books they read, and earned bonus points for attending library activities. At the end, they exchanged their points for library dollars and were able to buy stuff at the "library store". A bunch of it was junk (i.e. toys from Oriental Trading Co. that will break in the next week), but they got some cool stuff too. They each earned a free ticket to the County Fair in August, a free meal at the Chuck Wagon, and bought some books, pencils, and other fun stuff with their points. I even won a prize! I got a coffee mug with 2 free coffees/espressos from McDonald's. Just what I always wanted!! I did get a free admission coin to the aquatic center, though, so at least that is worth something to me. Overall, I'd say the program was a success. We'll definitely sign up again next summer.

Nothing is safe anymore...

....because he can climb!

More backyard progress

We're coming along with our projects, but we wish it were coming along much faster. Our retaining wall is complete, we've had our cement patio additions poured, and we're almost done leveling off the side yard by loading tons of dirt into our backyard. We hope to start the fence this week, so that we can finally turn our kids loose outside. In another month it will look like a real backyard, and you would have never guessed that at one time it was just a sand pit.

10k

Today I ran my first ever 10k. I had been training for the last 8 weeks, but I was still very afraid of the distance. I had awesome cheerleaders at the 2.5 and 4.5 mile points, and then they all cheered me on at the finish line. Scott deserves a lot of credit for my training. He got up with the kids 4 days a week for 8 weeks so I could run at 6am. I finished with the time of 1 hour 13 minutes, and I was very proud of myself for never having to stop and walk. That was the goal, to run the entire distance, and now I can say that I have. Will I do it again? Ask me in a few days when my body has fully recovered.

Bend, Oregon

Scott and I were able to enjoy our first vacation without the kids this last week. Scott had a conference in Bend, OR so I decided to come along with him. My wonderful mother took the kids for us. (Thanks, Mom!) It is such a cute place with lots of things to do. It is located in the Mt. Bachelor ski area, and right on the Deschutes River. Our first day there, we rented a deuce coupe and strolled it along the river in the historic Old Mill area (a mill that was converted into a shopping/eating plaza right on the river), then we ate dinner at Flatbread pizzeria. It was the most amazing pizza that I have ever tasted, so of course, I took a picture of this masterpiece. We also went to Eclipse that night.

The next two days, Scott was in meetings from 8-3, so I went shopping, worked out at the gym, and lounged by the pool. I had brought my scrapbook stuff with me, and a few books, but that was too much work. I didn't want to think at all on this vacation. I got a great tan! On Wednesday night, we went to the historic downtown area, and browsed by all the shops and then ate at Bend Burger Company. The best burger I ever had with a hand made patty, and homemade french fries to go with it. Maybe food just tastes a whole lot better when your kids aren't there to distract you from the flavor or the experience. After we ate, we drove up Pilot Butte, which stands in the middle of the valley. It is 1 mile up, but you can see for hundreds of miles in every direction, and it had a map at the top telling you which mountains you could see in the far off distance. It was beautiful!

On Thursday night, we ate at Anthony's on the river. Delicious seafood, and fabulous creme brulee. Then we saw Knight and Day. Don't believe the reviews, we thought it was really good. Just think Bourne Identity/Mission Impossible with a little comedy and cute romance thrown into the mix.

We were definitely sad to see our vacation end, and have to be parents again, but it was the perfect amount of away time. I just wished Scott could have been with me all day, instead of only at night, but I'm sure he was glad to miss out on all the shopping and pool-side sunbathing.

Cousins and the 4th

We've had a fun filled week! My sister Erin, and all her kids came up last week and are staying through the end of this week. My kids have loved having their cousins around, and its really nice to see my sister again (once a year just isn't enough). We've seen the Reptile Man at the library, played at the spray park, had a few picnics/BBQs, saw Toy Story 3, went bowling, went swimming, and have just run around having fun. Our 4th of July festivities were fun this year. Scott's little City of Stanfield holds an annual 4th of July shindig, complete with parade, blow-up toys, and big fireworks at the park. He had to work at the event almost all day, but we were able to join him for the parade and some of games set up in the park. That evening the whole family came down for a dinner at our place, and for some awesome fireworks. I gave an Indepedence Day quiz to the adults, and Scotty won (thank goodness he learned something with his Political Science degree). I gave the adults a good laugh because I think fireworks are more fun when you know the names of them before they go off (American Heartland, Old Glory, Mother Nature, The Razzle Dazzler, etc). We combined our efforts with our neighbors and it was a slammin' good time. It was the perfect amount of razzle dazzle to entertain 8 kids ages 5 and under. It was a great Independence Day celebration.