Nothing like some birthday smores....

Happy 9th Birthday, Taryn!

She's 9! She's 9! We can't believe it! If Taryn were reading this right now I'd get a "Moooooooooooooom!!!!!" with an eye roll!

We're heading over to Dubuque to visit some friends for the weekend. We're all looking forward to a little weekend getaway.

Lovin' Summer!

The pool has definitely gotten a lot of use this summer. The kids have a great time and I think it's great we don't actually have to leave the house for them to go swimming. Now that I have a much better idea on how to actually take care of the pool it's less bothersome to me.

The new playset is the backyard is getting a lot of use. Ryanne loves to swing and the bigger kids love to push her. Karis likes to swing and see how high she can go before I'm telling her to slow down. Brennan likes it all and Jadyn likes to stand at the top and survey her surroundings while making sure everyone else is following the rules. =) Taryn's only complaint is that we don't have monkey bars. This is something we'll be fixing soon. Probably not as soon as she'd like it, but still soon.

Even with the new playset, the backyard is still large enough for lots of running around, tag, hide and seek, throwing the football etc. We wouldn't have it any other way.

Birthday Sleepover!

In lieu of a birthday party Jadyn & Taryn asked if they could have a sleepover with some of their friends. Of course we agreed and 4 more girls joined in for some fun! They pretty much swam most of the day, then it was movies and popcorn and whatever else they picked.

They all decided to sleep downstairs in the basement. This included Brennan and Karis as well. I'm so happy that the older kids don't have a problem with them hanging out as well. Someone decided to start talking about how DARK it was and any and all noises turned into the fact that it had to be a GHOST. It took us a while, but Kolin and I were able to get everyone settled down. It doesn't seem to matter what time they all actually fall asleep though.....they all still wake up at the crack of dawn...ready for the next adventure.

Obviously wasn't fast enough

this morning and didn't get the ladder put up.

Happy 11th Birthday, Jadyn!

It's hard to imagine that she's 11 already.
Jadyn is super busy with cheerleading. Right now the squad is practicing 2 nights a week and in a couple of weeks they will have their first game.

Does this look like a happy face?

Happy 4th of July!

Today was the Petunia Festival Parade. Jadyn was cheering in the parade and the rest of us were at a cookout and cheering her on as she walked/cheered by.

Ryanne got a hold of a sucker and decided to share it.....only if daddy gave it back!

No elephants were harmed....

Tonight we went and checked out the Petunia Festival. It's fun, but it's not as big as it used to be and just gets more and more expensive. I think more than anything we all go to get our annual elephant ear!

Happy Birthday, Kolin!

Happy Birthday to the best husband and daddy around!

We love you!