A FREE NIGHT!!

Today when Ben asked me what we had tonight, I was surprised when I realized that we had absolutely NOTHING!!! I can't remember the last time that has happened! (Well he does have a church meeting in 10 minutes, but that doesn't count.) I decided that it was time to have some fun family time. As soon as the kids got home from school, I had them crank out their piano/homework and then we headed out to the pool. Ben brought dinner to us poolside; rotisserie chicken, french bread, and strawberries. We had a great time playing Hot Tub Marco Polo (a Pribyl game), the Dunk Game (another Pribyl creation), and just sitting around eating and enjoying each others company. The kids had fun practicing their strokes in the pool, and Sophia started swimming again. The water felt so nice, and the weather was perfect. It was so hard to go inside! Things went so much more smooth when bedtime rolled around. It gave me a glimpse of summer, and I got excited.

Lately I haven't been excited for summer to come. Not because I don't want to be with my kids. I LOVE being with my kids. Just the end of school means my babies are getting another year older, especially my Ethan. He still has that sweet little boy personality, that I started to see slip from Boston this year. That means I only have another year of that innocent little boy left with Ethan. Ok, but that's life. They grow up and you have to deal with it and enjoy every stage! Right?! Well, doesn't mean I have to like it! Sometimes I think I'm meant to have a whole slew of kids, and then I realize that's crazy talk!

Imagination Emporium

The other day Ethan came home from school and instantly started getting out tape, scissors, paper and markers. He went right to work, coloring, cutting etc. He was super focused and knew exactly what he wanted to make. It's almost like he had the idea in his head all day at school and couldn't wait to get home to put it together. This is what he created.

I didn't pay much attention to what he was doing since I was busy with dinner, but I do remember him coloring and cutting really small robots, which he lost at one point. This creation sat on the island for several days. Finally, I asked Aubrie if she knew what it was. She told me it was an Avatar ship! Can I just say how much I LOVE this kids imagination! It never sleeps!

On a side note, here is a picture of the first time Sophia flew a kite.

I hate how I always forget about simple fun things to do. We get so much wind around here this definitely should not be the first time for her to do this! I need to write a list of simple, fun things for kids to do so I can remember. Like Hopscotch! There is my #2! It's a start!

A weight has been lifted!

Last week I lived in a bubble. This is why!

Somehow I found myself in charge of making DVD montage's for the boys classroom. It started with me signing up to help with scrap booking for Boston's, which somehow meant (unaware to me) that I was in charge of the whole thing. It just made more sense to do a movie, that way each kids got all the pictures. Since I was at all of Ethan's activities this year and found Mom's asking me for pictures, I decided I might as well do one for him, too. Of course, that has been something that has been hanging over my head ALL year! Especially since I had never done one EVER!! I must say that it was a lot of fun! The most time consuming thing was organizing all the photos and deciding which ones to cut out, since Boston had over an hours worth of photos. Finding the music was time consuming, too. I had to do some research, but it I was happy with what I found. I wanted to end each video with individual shots of each kid. I didn't have that, so I ran to the school on two separate days and took the kids photo's along with some group pictures. Each picture had their name on it and I used the song Good Riddance, by Green Day, to end it. It was a great way to end the DVD's. We found a few mistakes when I watched them back with the kids, but they were still amazing. I wish I had started them earlier so I could had done some more things I discovered at the last minute. While Ben was at Father's and Son's, Aubrie helped me copy them all, put CD stickers on them, and pack each in it's own sleeve, with each kids name on them. They are now ready to go! Whew what a relief to have that done. I'm sure Ben is glad, too! One reason I don't start projects very often is because I can't leave them for later....I live and breath them till they are done! Still haven't figured out if that's a good or bad thing!

A Change of Plans

Mother's Day started out normal, with Ben waking me up for my Mother's Day surprise. This time I came down stairs with printed out pictures of scorpions, spiders and such all over the floor. It was supposed to be my Mother's Day Scavenger Adventure! The first thing I was lead to was the picture of the kids on our computer screen, to remind me of what it's all about. I was then lead outdoors to the tire swing, where I dug up a sweet letter from Ben. Finally, I was directed to my gift in the BBQ; a much needed new pair of running shoes! Then the kids got busy making me breakfast.

We had a kink in our day, as Sophia was coughing like crazy and there was no way I could take her to church. I couldn't' imagine staying home and being without the older ones, but I also couldn't imagine being away from her. I told Ben I didn't want my family to be divided for Mother's Day and that I would rather we all stayed home and the kids could all sing to me here. Well, that wasn't exciting enough to celebrate my special day, so we decided on a picnic. Of course, a picnic in 90 degree weather is no picnic, so I suggested we take a drive up North and enjoy a picnic there. Montezuma's Well came to my mind. We had gone there for a family picnic when Ethan was only a month old, and I remember it being very secluded and quiet. I knew that was the place for us. On the way up I was trying not to feel guilty for skipping church as the kids were asking why we were buying gas on Sunday! I tried to talk to them about the ox in the mire! I am always quite hard on myself when I miss. I hardly missed even when I had babies! I do admit that this ended up being the BEST Mother's Day for me EVER! I had such a great time with the kids.

When we first got there we started on lunch, and Sophia was not in the mood to eat. Ben told me she felt hot, and when I felt her she was burning up. Ben went to get some Tylenol while the kids and I played some crochet.

We never seem to have time for things like that these days. We had such a great time! When Ben got back he laid down on a blanket with Sophia, while the kids and I went exploring.

They have all these mini-canals that are meant to irrigate the park. They have valves that you can open and close. The kids and I had fun opening them and following where the water went. One of the canals went quite a long way, so we ended up turning around. When we got back I laid down with Sophia while Ben played another game of crochet with the kids. After that game the kids had fun climbing this tree!

We ended up spending about 3 hours in the park. It was so fun and relaxing, and Sophia even enjoyed herself napping, and watching the squirrel's and cardinal's in the trees.

After our time at the park, we headed over to the Well. It's small lake where Indian's used to live. A lot of their houses are still there. They are built in the side of the hill.

The kids had fun checking that out, along with other beautiful things on the trail. After walking those trails, we headed home.

Such strong boys holding up this rock! LOL

How do u think this cactus started growing here?

We got back around 6, and watched Funniest Home Video's before we put the kids to bed.

Usually on Mother's Day I feel frazzled trying to get kids ready for church, etc. Then when I get home Ben always watches the kids while I nap, or do something for myself. This year I spent Mother's Day like it's meant to be spent....enjoying my kids and being Mom!