Camping Dinner

One of the things that we had put on our summer bucket list was to do a camping dinner. We aren't camping people, but for a meal so that we can go enjoy the outdoors is something that I really love. Well we never seemed to find a day to do it during the summer, but we decided to still do it the weekend after school started.  It ended up being the craziest day. We wanted to head up into the mountains but we had to settle for Folsom Lake.  Next summer we will have to make it up to the mountains.  The kids had a blast though. We went with our friends the Wrights and it was so fun to have friends there.  We made foil dinners and roasted marshmallows and the kids did some exploring.  It was such a fun evening. 

 My friend Amy is the best photographer and she sent me a bunch of pictures which is just awesome because they are a million times better than the pictures that I took!

 I don't know what it is about roasting marshmallows but it is a favorite childhood past time.

 I love this face!

 Clara absolutely loved being outside. She got so filthy but who cares right?

 Annie tried to fit tow marshmallows in her mouth at once.  Little chipmunk

 Little monkeys!

 Jane was being such a good sister to Clara.

What is it about boys and sticks?  I love having a boy and getting to participate in boy stuff too!

I just had to post this picture of Annie because it was too funny. She has had a problem with wetting her pants daily and so she of course did it here and we didn't have a change of clothes, so she had to stay in them and then they got filthy dirty, it was kind of hilarious if it wasn't so frustrating!! We had such a great time and next year we will do it again, hopefully in the mountains though!

The First Day of School

What a crazy first day of school we had!  I am a little worried that if this whole school year is this busy then I am going to be dead by the end of it!  We started by getting the two Junction girls off to school. I rode bikes with them so that I could take pictures.  Luckily Lizzy doesn't go until later so I could leave the little ones at home and not have to drag them with me. 

 Nellie was in fifth grade this year and this is the first year that she got to be in the same class as her best friend Kennedy.  She was disappointed that she didn't get Lizzy's teacher from the year before Mrs. Donahue, she got Mrs. Cochran . But I think having your best friend in your class is pretty dang awesome!

 Janie is in Mrs Carr's class and she is in the same class as one of her good friends Trinity so she is excited about that too!

 I got home form taking the girls in time to see Lizzy off to her first day of middle school. Luckily she wasn't wanting me to take her, she is too big for that now, and I am glad about that.  I don't want my kids to feel too attached to me. She was really excited about starting middle school and I am excited for her too! I just hope it doesn't get too crazy for her!

 Russ started TK today too.  The bad thing is that our school is too crowded to have TK so we have to drive to a school that is about 10 minutes away.  It sounds like that's not a big deal but it really adds a lot of time to my day.  But the greatest thing to come out of him going to TK at Blue Oaks, is that the first day we showed up to meet the teacher and it just so happened to be his preschool teacher Miss Mandy that he adored!  What luck!  We were so excited!  We had no idea that she was going to be a TK teacher! I also love in this picture how Annie had to wear her new shirt and backpack. Poor girl wanted to go to school too!

It ended up being the craziest day, but its so fun to see all these kids growing up and getting so big!

Swimming

Every year it seems we spend a good amount of time swimming.  It was something that I spent the majority of my summer doing and I am glad my kids love to as well. This year I thought it was going to be much better and easier.  I thought now that the kids were getting older we would have so much fun.  Unfortunately I didn't count on Clara absolutely hating it.  The first few weeks of swimming were absolute torture with her.  She would cry and whine and cling to me, even at the Roseville pool that was really warm and zero entry.  What's not to like about that?!  I almost dreaded taking her swimming because I couldn't even sit down in the two inches of water and have her sit on my lap and be happy.  It was really frustrating!  On the other hand the other kids absolutely loved it and everyday weren't happy when it was time to go home. Jane did have a bit of a hard time because she couldn't quite keep up with Nellie and Lizzy but she was too big for Russy and Annie. The other thing that absolutely drives me nuts about swimming is that everyone just has to have goggles but yet they cant seem to keep track of them and that somehow becomes my fault.  There are meltdowns and crying before we head to the pool because inevitably someone cant find their goggles.

 It was fun to get to go to a few different pools too for the big girls who like the change of pace.

 Annie loved wearing her puddle jumper when we went to other pools and is so good at getting in and just paddling around all on her own.

 Clara did look super cute in her little suit though, I'll give her that! 

 By the end of the summer she had gotten to where it was quite a bit more tolerable which was good.  It was fun too because Kevy was able to come with us quite a few times this summer which he never really got to before.

 Probably one of my very favorite things about swimming this year was seeing Russ and Annie together.  They played so well together! It was the cutest thing.  Russ would give Annie rides and they would hang out together.  It made my life a whole lot easier since they were so happy and content. They were really funny too with their goggles and would wear them so they could stick their faces in the water.

 Being a mom is so much fun!  It's so fun to see these kids as the grow and turn into the funniest, coolest people. I adore them!.

All About Nellie- 10 Years

This Nellie girl of mine is 10!  It is hard to believe how fast this time is passing!  She is really growing up. I cant believe that she is going to be in her last year of elementary school!  Nellie really loves entertainment.  She loves to play with friends and play games and pretty much just play anything.   Her best friend is Kennedy and she lives just down the street from us which is so fun for Nellie.  She loves to watch TV and her grandma has gotten her into a bunch of really interesting shows.  She likes to watch cooking shows and vet shows and just all kinds of different shows that you wouldn't think kids would like.

Nellie loves to sing and is in the church choir with her sisters and her Dad. She is a very good singer and I love to hear her beautiful voice. 

 Nellie is still a lover of all treats, but especially chocolate. She also is still enjoying cooking and has a talent for it. She still talks about wanting to be a chef when she grows up and her Grandma gives her cooking lessons.

Nellie and her Grandma Hansen are very close.  They have a very special bond and there are times when I am struggling with her and don't really feel like I can get through to her but her Grandma can.  They have many similar characteristics and I think it is so neat.

A funny thing about Nellie is that she always wants to be doing whatever Lizzy is doing. Even though she is almost two years younger than Lizzy she gets so upset when we tell her that Lizzy gets to do it because she is older.  Nellie doesn't believe that is a valid reason.

Another funny thing about Nellie that has started more recently is that she has really started to notice boys lately. She will see famous people and talk about how hot or handsome they are. Its extra funny to me because it reminds me so much of how I was from early on. I was always obsessed with boys and fantasizing about romantic things.

Nellie really loves her baby sister Clara.  She has gotten a lot better at getting along with her younger siblings, and is really starting to be more helpful with them.

Nellie is really growing up and turning into such an awesome girl!  I love her personality and how fun she is to be around and how much fun she likes to have.  It makes all of our lives more fun to have her around. We love our Nellie girl so much!

Nellie's 10th Birthday

I know some kids struggle when they have a birthday that falls in the summer, and while I don't know what that is like it seems like a pretty amazing deal to me!  I mean you don't have to go to crappy school on your birthday and you get to play the whole day, and if you are Nellie more often than not you get to have your birthday with your cousins! I mean how cool is that!  Plus this birthday Nellie got to go to the beach!

My Nellie is 10! Wow! We were on our big family trip for Nellies birthday but we made sure that we still celebrated our girl. we went to the beach early in the day and then came back and the kids just swam nonstop until dinner.  We made her favorite, Salmon for dinner and she had gotten it into her head that she really wanted a Black Forest cake for her birthday cake, even though she hadn't ever had it. I guess she thought it sounded good.  

 I happened to find this picture while going through all the pictures and sure enough she took it on her birthday.  Its fitting too that her best buddy Max is in the picture too.

 And it was good!  It ended up being a super good cake.  As you can see she got out of the pool just long enough to have her cake and then she was right back in the pool again. Ha Ha!