Summery Day:9-11 (Rock Creek Reservoir Camping)

This weekend we went camping at Rock Creek.  It's on the East side of Mt. Hood.  I grew up camping there just about every summer.

It was fun to take the kids somewhere I was familiar with and get to show them all the fun things I used to do when I was their age.

My dad and stepmom Christine, my Uncle Richard and his wife, Rebecca came also.

It was by far the best camping trip we have taken with the kids to date.

They were perfect little angels the entire time.  I'm being serious.  I have no idea what got into them but they were just perfect.  Except for Caleb who refused to sleep at night unless he was in his carseat in the car...poor Wes had to sleep in the car both nights.

Something extra fun about this camping trip was that we got to try out our new canoe and kid kayaks!  Sadie and Kins loved fishing.  They both caught the only two fish in the lake that anyone in our family caught.

Hite and Caleb weren't that into canoeing or fishing.  Caleb's lack of interest might have began about 5 minutes into the first canoe trip when he fell head first out of the canoe and into the lake.  Baby heads are kind of heavy, you know.

So the two boys and me went exploring while the girls fished.  We found a little spring and Hite LOVED playing in it, even though it was freezing cold water.

After the girls came back we showed them our little discovery and we spent a good portion of the afternoon playing in the spring.  Wes and I collected pine cones and sent them down the spring for the kids to collect.  It was pretty much effortless fun.

Later I went fishing with the kids which I hated.  Seriously.  I have no idea how my dad fit four kids into his little boat and had five lines out and kept both his calm and the motor going.  I was losing my mind with just two lines out and trying to row.  I ended up giving up on fishing.  I just rowed to shore and had the kids jump out of the boat, swim to shore and then I'd pick them back up.  On repeat about 20 times.

 Our kids were filthy, free and happy the whole weekend. 

This is a little pre camping picture.  The kids were waiting on the porch for dad because they were so excited and couldn't wait one more second!  They also packed the entire contents of their rooms before I told them they could only pick 1 blanket, 2 books and 3 toys each.  You should have seen it.  Their floors were covered with piles of what they thought they were taking.  Ha!

  

Summer: Day 2

Today was by far better then yesterday.

We woke up, skipped chores, workbooks and went to the library.

Yes,  I took all six of my kids to the library.

No one hit the big display glass (which always elicits a shout from the librarians of, "Don't Touch The Glass!").

No one had a meltdown about getting to check out their own books.

No one even tried running out the doors before everyone else was leaving.

Though I can't figure out why Caleb always seems to save pooping in his diaper for the library...

In the evening Wes and I went on a "date" to go watch Novalee dance in her, end of the year dance performance.  

It was soooo nice to just sit and relax for a while.  

I take excellent selfies.  ;)

You might be wondering about this pose. 

 I think my dad secretly, not so secretly wants to be a Rockette.

He may or may not have hinted at really wanting to get up on the stage and dance with the kids.

Novalee was so super cute dancing.  

It looked like we were going to wrap up the day on a high note but then we realized we had missed a call from the babysitter.  

It's never a good sign when the babysitter calls.

Tomorrow the kids will be writing apology letters.

 

Summer: Day 1

Today began the time of year that I both look forward to and dread at the same time.  

Summer Break.

This year, we, I decided that we were going to have an electronic free Summer.  

Just kidding.  

My kids think I'm being mean and punishing them.

But it rained so much this winter and the kids spent so SO much time inside watching TV or playing tablets.  By the end of "The Continual Downpour of 2017" I was so sick of hearing them fighting over whose turn it was next.  Sick of turning off the TV and getting to listen to them gripe that they didn't get enough time watching TV.  So sick of them acting like I was torturing them when I actually asked them to help out around the house.

So yesterday before the last day of school got out I hid the tablets and remotes.  

Mwahaha!

This morning started out well.  I fed them.  We cleaned up a bit and then we worked on Summer workbooks.  

Look how good the day began.

But it didn't end well.  

Not at all.

Sadie whined all day like a broken record about the time limit I set to work on Summer workbooks being too short.  She was on constant repeat about it.

It rained which meant no electronic and no outside play.

Sadie, Kinsley and Hite were crazy.  So crazy! They were running around downstairs from one end of the house to the next slamming into the walls and screaming and roaring at each other.  

About every 2 minutes I had to get Caleb off the table.  He has learned how to push chairs that have been pulled away from the table so he doesn't use them to climb, back to the table.  And also how to set them upright when we put them on their sides.  It has become futile to even try stopping him.

After lunch I asked Novalee to put away her laundry.  I just happened to go in at one point and discovered a bunch of clothes, dirty and clean, that she has been storing in a corner between two dressers with a bunch of other stuff.  Not a big deal except she recently brought home from school, one of the biblical plagues the Pharaoh of Egypt was struck with.  

So then I felt like I needed to wash a bunch more things to hopefully eliminate being struck with the plague again. 

Plus vacuum their rooms and beds.  

It just took time.  

Time I was planning on using to enjoy the summer with the kids, not clean

Then before I knew it, it was dinner time:  

Hurry make dinner.

Kiss my husband hello and goodbye.

Go to work. 

Come home.

Go to bed.

No electronics day 1.  

No fun for anyone.

Getting Old

Today I found not one but two grey hairs on my head

. 

 That's fine.

  However, the kicker was that they were completely grey from root to tip. 

My hair is long.  

Which means they've been grey a long, long, LONG time.

Which means, I'm old.  

On a related note, yesterday while running back to my car for something I forgot, I could hear my knees creaking. They were loud.  Loud enough I could hear them over the sounds of other people talking, the slapping of my feet on the pavement and cars.  

Getting old sucks.

Kinsley's Preschool Bike Rodeo

Jared has done it.

Novalee has done it.

Sadie has done it.

This time it was Kinsley's turn.

My goal has always been to get their training wheels off before the rodeo but Kinsley has been extra cautious since her fall and surgery on her knee last year.  

Hopefully this summer we can get them off.

She didn't seem to care.  

And she had a good time and that's what matters.

I think I might have a little ginger snap on my hands!!!

I guess it could have been the shirt making it look orangey red.

But I'm seriously hoping he's got a little Vessey in him.

  Besides the forehead of course!

He deliberately did pouty face when I told him to smile.

He doesn't even know how to talk yet.  

Could he really already be obstinate? 

Little stinker.

Baby Shower for Bethany

This week I got to co-host a baby shower at my house.  I basically just needed to provide the space, decorate and bake some cupcakes.

Easy enough.

Unless you have six kids and two part time jobs.

 Even one hour before the party started my house still looked like a bomb went off. 

The dust pan was full, even after round two of sweeping. (I usually have to sweep like two or three times a day).

Crayons all over the kitchen floor.

Dishes in the sink.

Duplo Mega Blocks and Plastic Food all over the living room.

I might have found six or seven socks thrown about the downstairs.

Library books all over the couches and rug.

I don't believe I've ever worked so fast in all my life.  

I was mopping at turbo speed. 

Thankfully it all came together and thankfully Wesley saved the day by rushing home and herding the kids outside to eat dinner and then took them straight to swim lessons so I could clean like a mad woman.  

Here are the cute guests and Bethany the guest of honor.

Now for the decorations.

 I saw this on pinterest and totally wanted to try it.

It was so easy!

I just cut raindrops with my Silhouette.

Hot glued them to thread that I pinned to my wall and later tied to the umbrella.

Easy, easy, easy.

The food table turned out cute too.

Sara made all the food and it was amazing!

I found this on Pinterest also.  It's so cute!

It's the guest list.

I found the almost exact same elephant online but it had the bunny on his trunk so I just edited it out.

Then amazingly I had a stamp pad in the old preschool supply box!

I love when I don't have to run to the store for things!

 I used some burlap scraps I had left over from some pillows I made and cut triangles out.  I used my silhouette to cut out the letters and heart.  Then I just traced them on the burlap and filled them in with permanent marker/blue paint.  I then hot glued them to blue ribbon.

I loved having the excuse to craft a bit. 

 It reminded me how much I like it.

Congratulations to Bethany and Thomas!

Mother's Day

I got everything I wanted for Mother's Day this year!  

My list was long, so that's saying something about how awesome my husband is.

For mother's day I really REALLY wanted this super cute teapot that I saw at Safeway with an orchid growing out of it.  

I really just wanted the teapot.

  I have plans to have Grand Tea Parties with the girls this summer.

The very elegant orchid that came with it is currently sitting in an empty can of black beans.

She's a beauty.

Every year my husband wakes up early and makes me breakfast in bed.  Then kids all come up and "quietly" gather around my bed and wake me up by yelling, "Happy Mother's Day!"

This year I was loaded down with presents.  I loved all of  them.  Sadie had spent at least an hour drawing cards with little flowers on them.  She was so cute working on those, trying hard to make it so I couldn't see them and ruin the surprise.  She has such a tender heart.

After church I got to take a nap or be left alone to do whatever I want in my room.

Guilt free leisure time!  

Wahoo!

Well mostly guilt free...I did feel a bit bad that Wes was working extra hard so I could take a break when I'm sure he could use one just as much as me. 

I might have requested these books a week earlier knowing that I was going to get guilt free leisure time... 

Later we went to my mom's.  She hates taking pictures because she thinks she always looks bad in them.

  She's so pretty so that is just silly.

  But maybe if she wasn't talking in the pictures... Haha!  

My dad Larry gifted this sweet mother of all surprises to me.  I love, LOVE elephants.  I don't really know why.  I don't know much about them.  I think I just like that they are extremely hard workers and that when their trunks are up, it's considered good luck.  Plus they are beautiful and sweet.

I kind of teared up a bit when my dad gave me this.

  Almost a whole week with my crazy six kids and it's still in one piece to that's something to celebrate!

I look forward to spoiling Wesley on Father's Day. 

 He totally deserves some spoilage.