Farmer Walters

Eli's class went on a field trip to Farmer Walters Fruit Ranch up at Greenbluff.  We went for a ride through the orchards, picked apples, saw how cider is made and learned all about apples.  Hailee came along and thought she was big stuff for sure!

 Enjoying my her apple...

 The whole class:

Go-Karts!

Just reveling in the last waning days of summer...

One of our neighbors built a go-kart for his boys and, well Nathan couldn't resist, so he and the boys built a cool little go kart of their own a few weeks back- now we get to have fun races in the neighborhood!

 Boys just being boys!

Three Months!

This little morsel is absolutely the sweetest.  He has grown so much!

We've finally figured out the whole 'eating' thing out (after only three months!).  Apparently I have class V rapids for a let down and he doesn't do so well with it- so I recline waaaaay back in my rocking chair to feed him and he is doing so much better.  It makes mama happy.  And way way way less stressed.

Cousin Dane

Alan and Brandi and Dane came to visit us!  We had a great time playing with them- I took the boys out of school one day and we headed to a jump and bounce place in Post Falls.  

We went to the lake and went boating, played at the park and enjoyed the beautiful weather we had.  I only wish I'd have gotten more pictures!  Lots of great memories- thanks for coming Alan and Brandi!

Eli's First Day (FINALLY!)

It was an agonizing five whole days to wait after his big brothers started school, but Eli's first day finally came.  In his own words, "this is taking for-yever!"

Mrs. Mackin is his teacher again this year, we love Mrs. Mackin...

He settled right in next to Megan (his "geel-friend") and was so excited to be a BIG Pre-K-er.

Expression

This little boy is turning into quite the smiler- getting it on camera is pretty tough though...

Got it!

My Five

these are the days...

First Day of School!

A few weeks ago, I felt like I was finally getting the whole 'five kids 8 and under' thing down.  It was still chaos, but somewhat manageable- either that, or I'd just become accustomed to the crazyness!  And then, it dawned on me... like a bright, neon, flashing epiphany... THIS IS NOT THE NORM!!!  Honestly, school let out just a few days before Jace was born and then I had all 5 kids home all day needing to be entertained... I really didn't have any down time after he was born.  I'm not complaining, it's all worked out fine, it's just been b.u.s.y.!! BUT I realized, that in a little while, school would start!  And that means not running errands with five kids, and having a few minutes of quiet during naptime, and the overall volume of my house decreasing dramatically for the better part of the day... but it also means having to be up and running by 7am, and making lunches every morning, and not having big brothers to snuggle Jace and help entertain Hailee.  It's bittersweet, but really, I'm looking forward to the structure that this school year will bring... and going to Costco with just 2 kids *grin*  I love having my kids home for the summer, and I kinda felt guilty for anticipating school starting, but I got over it real quick!

Never mind that it wasn't Eli's first day of school... I wasn't about to keep him from wearing his backpack and share in the palpable excitement!

My big third grader:

My big first grader:

Lining up!

So what if I jumped and clicked my heels on the way back to my car?