This girl is so animated in everything she does, so the family loves teasing her to see her reactions.
The latest is every time she wakes up, and walks out of her bed with her crazy hair, I get so excited to see her.
And then I say, “Good morning Alfalfa!”
Then she looks at me in pure disgust and says, “I NOT ALFALFA!”
Then I say, “Oh yeah….good morning Spanky.”
Then she throws her arms into the air and says, “I NOT SPANKY!”
Then I go through a few more — and the kids add even more.
Darla, Buckwheat, Petey…..
When she has finally had it, she stomps her foot and says, “I PIPPI DOO DAH!”
Then I say, “Good Morning Pippi Doo Dah” with my arms outstretched.
And she runs into them.
We still love art class.
Check out Navy’s darling bird she drew in class today. Scout drew a matching pink bird that is really cute also.
And Scout was lucky enough to be featured in the front window with his Dragon from last week!
Have I ever mentioned that we all LOVE Gretchen?
Pippi ran right into her arms today, and is ready to swim!
And Gretchen had hers arms stretched out, and is ready to sing!
Nothing is more fun than ordering something for Dash on the Internet, and him religiously looking for that package on the front porch.
He knows all about tracking a package.
And when you tell him the date of arrival, he remembers it, and looks about every 30 minutes that day until it arrives.
Currently, he is looking for some bath colors we ordered off of Amazon.
He and Pippi ran out of their colors for their baths, and a clear bath just isn’t as exciting.
So after earning them, we ordered, and today is the big day!
I’m just not sure if FedEx arrives at 7:45 am.
Hopefully 8:15 will be!
Who knows what the official rules are, but I finally told Scout that he is legal to sit in the front with me. I love chatting it up with him, and having a little buddy. Navy was behind us and secretly taking pictures and video of us, and it is so fun to see our interactions. We really are friends, which I love. But I don’t get him all the time. If there is ever a long drive, I put on something educational for the kids — and he hops right back.
I loved our Memorial Day.
It was just us, with some floats for the pool, a hammock, some good tunes, and good food.
Every year, I am getting us an inflatable boat. The kids spend hours in it…filling it with Jacuzzi water, and having their own personal hot tub.
Dash created his very own floating hot tub - in the hot tub!
A few hours into swimming, Micah put up Scout’s hammock he got for his birthday, for the first time.
Needless to say — it is a huge hit!
For everyone!
Especially when I am manning the music, and put it on Micah’s favorite oldies.
Navy got second, and Dash got first in this year’s ward Olympics.
Dash and Pippi mastered the “racing position”!
He was so cute — he took it very seriously. At first, he was against pretty little kids, but then got put in the next category up, and won first in that as well! Everyone kept telling him that he lived up to his name.
Pippi liked racing, but loved being carried by everyone even more.
And Navy was the youngest in her small group, but had two pretty good runners.
She actually had the race in the bag, but she realized there was attention on her, so she started acting silly, and the runners easily passed her.
After the track events, we went onto the field events where Dash loved the “shot put”.
And then it was ceremnoy time for those who stuck around long enough.
Good thing my little ribbon finishers did, because they wore those ribbons as necklaces the rest of the day!
Where was Scout?
Still in the middle of his groundation.
Quite often, I find my kids counting their money they have saved. All four are good savers — even Pippi with her occasional penny, loves to put it in her bank. But Scout takes the cake. He is an incredible saver, and will do anything for a buck. I tell him that he reminds me of Grandpa Murchie. This particular morning, he was really anxious to recount his cash, because he had just made a few dollars off of summer reading. (And the guy is brilliant to get me and Nonnie in on the summer reading pay-out list!) He sorted it, counted it, and then re-counted it. All before he could even get his unders on after his shower. Clearly his life is prioritized, according to his own personal priorities.
We love Micah’s little stash of fireworks.
Because, who wouldn’t love to do some sparklers in May?
Notice no Pippi?
She is exactly like Scout was as a child — terrified of fireworks!
I love my oldest boy more than words can say. He came back to tell me that we have the very best view. And then I told him that my view, at those same moments, was better than his. One of the things that makes me the happiest in life, is seeing the world through my kid’s eyes. I love the wonder, the innocence, and the excitement of each of my kids, as they grow up. And today, as I watched my boy look out onto the world, I actually got a lump in my throat when I thought about the fact that he is already 9 years old, and that I am already half way to losing him.
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