Candy!!

We have been doing an activity every day tis month to help us get into the Christmas spirit.  A few weeks ago we made gingerbread houses.  Lucy loved all of the candy and Bruce and Karina enjoyed decorating the houses.  

  We hot glues the houses together.  It was so much easier than the royal icing. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is Bruce's house (I helped a little). 

 

This is Karina's house.  I helped not at all.

 

They had fun and I learned how to make gingerbread from scratch so I call it a success.

Soccer!

Alan plays soccer on an indoor soccer league.  We enjoy watching him play, well mostly me.  the kids enjoy running around and distracting me from watching Alan, but we all have a good time.  Alan's brother is also on the team so on occasion the kids have their cousins there to play with as well. 

 

 

 

 

So big!

It is pretty amazing to watch the process of growing up.  Lucy is more and more inquisitive every day.  Sometimes she will get books off of the book shelf and sit on the floor and "read."  On this day she was exploring the quiet book.  I love this age.  

 

 

4th of July Part 2

In the evening we went to a BBQ with our friends the Hansens.  

We both bought some fireworks so the kids could enjoy their own little show.  

 We gave them pop its first.  They started off by throwing one at a time, but it quickly turned into handfuls at a time.  We were stepping on them the rest of the evening.  

Lucy in another car.   

Here are the kids watching the show.   

 And the best part was of course the sparklers.  

Happy 4th of July everyone.  

4th of July Part 1

We went to the lake for the 4th of July to cool off and to celebrate a day off.  I love to swim, but the kids really enjoy playing in the sand.  

 Alan decided to show the kids what a true sand castle looks like.  

 Not too bad for a guy who works a desk job. 

He's so proud!  

It was a lovely day at the lake.  It is nice to have a place so close where we can go and cool off.   

My little water baby.  

The kids are starting to play with each other more.  I am really enjoying that.   

I told Alan his castle needed a flag.  I mean a castle is not complete without a flag!  

The kids found Alan's castle and enjoyed its destruction.  Alan was a good sport.

It was a lovely day, even though I got a killer sunburn.  

Happy Father's Day

Alan is a great Father to my children and we are very blessed to have him.  He loves to play like a kid and the kids know that dad is way more fun than mom.  This year the kids each got Dad a special gift.  

 Karina wanted to get him new flip flops because he lost his during a canoeing trip.  Bruce wanted to get Dad a baseball bat.  

 I got Alan something I knew he would love even though we have never watched more than 2 episodes...

 the first 2 seasons of Duck Dynasty.  If that doesn't say "I love you and appreciate what you do," then I don't know what does. 

Happy Father's Day Alan! 

Yard Play

We still have dirt from our trampoline hole.  Someday it will be gone, but for now it is a fun place to play.  

 Lucy loves sitting in cars.  

Good thing this one doesn't move.  

She one happy little girl. 

Bruce took this picture of me.   

I took this picture of Bruce.  

 This is Fraiser.  He is a good dog. 

Karina decided that everyone needed  their capes on.  It was superhero play time.  

The kids are really starting to use their imaginations more and it is really fun to watch.  I feel so blessed that we have a nice big backyard where they can play and explore.  We are blessed.