Days like this

I am hopeful that our summer vacation will be filled with days like today.

It started out with a short nap for me (what better way to start a day, eh?).  I worked this morning and we are having friends over tonight, so I knew I was going to need a snooze if I was going to function as hostess with the most-ess.  While I was out, my kids decided that today was Happy Best Mom in the Whole World Day, and made me cards and a Powerpoint presentation about all the ways I am The Best Mom. Sorry to all you other also-rans, apparently I have this award in the bag.

While Jacob finished up his Powerpoint, I was not allowed to leave my room so Austin came in to "keep me company" by reading scriptures with me.  This is his new favorite way to spend time together - he randomly opens his scriptures to a page, tells me where to turn to, and then we read a few verses back and forth.  There's no rhyme or reason to how he chooses where we read, and usually it's just 3-4 verses out of the middle of a chapter and then we move on, but I love it and have found some choice nuggets of verse to highlight and ponder that I probably wouldn't have otherwise stumbled on.  I also love that this is an activity he chooses, and hearing this kid sound out scriptural vocabulary would blow your mind.

After I was presented with my award, we had a craft day with Jake working on sanding his Raingutter Regatta boat while Leah and Austin painted and I started Leah's flannel quiet book.

Iron Man and Hulk

 Leah's treasure boxes

Apparently it's Slurpee Days all weekend at the 7-11, and for .49 you can get a medium, which to my kids is like the Big Gulp of Slurpees.  I passed out 2 quarters to each kid and we headed down the hill for some sugar water goodness.  If I hadn't already been declared World's Best Mom this would have surely sealed the deal.

Random Fat Cat photo.  Leah's newest chore is to make sure Zumba has food and water, which is why our sweet feline is quickly starting to look like The Cat That Ate Salem.  Far be it from her to leave a food bowl empty, and Leah likes to fill it to the rim.

I found these pins in the bottom of my craft paint tote.  Don't ask me how I haven't pulled them out the millions of other times I've been in that thing over the last 15 years.  A Dances With Hunks pin from my mother circa 1995 and a Hardees pin from roughly the same era.  Ahh, memories...

The kids are playing in the sunshine, a lone day of spring beauty sandwiched in between 2 weeks of rain.  Dinner tonight will be yummy and the company fun.  Life's good.

Stuff

Heaven help me if I ever get all of my kids looking at the camera at the same time.  The excitement will probably kill me.

 "Mom, take picture of me with this pretty flower!"

 I may have found someone who loves our new hammock more than I do.

Westward Ho!

We love our school, in large part because of how invested all of the staff are in finding creative ways for the kids to learn.  The 4th graders have been learning about The Oregon Trail over the last several weeks, and their unit culminated this week with a trip on The Oregon Trail for all 4 of the 4th grade classes.  We went on a walking journey through West Salem, and all along the trail there were 12 different stations simulating points along the real Oregon Trail.  At each station the kids had to perform an activity, deal with a difficulty, or complete a challenge.  In our little group we had a snake bite, a broken leg, a pioneer child that wandered off and a broken axle just to name a few, as well as a rest stop where the kids were given "hard tack" and one where they got to sing and dance.  The kids earned or lost points based on how they chose to handle the different situations, whether they worked as a team, and sometimes based on a roll of the dice that determined their fate.  They also earned points by dressing like a pioneer and packing a pioneer themed lunch.

The effort and involvement that went in to this project was amazing!  From the work on the kids part beforehand creating pioneer "identities", decorating their wagons and deciding what provisions to purchase for the trip, to all of the parent and staff involvement developing the idea and volunteering along The Trail, I was amazed and so grateful that my boy got to experience something like this.

My Pioneer - AKA Pat Richards, a bachelor blacksmith

The wagon - courtesy of pool noodles and bedsheets 

 My little band of pioneers!  

These kids were so great, worked hard together and totally got into the spirit of the adventure. 

 Headed up the last hill into "Oregon City".

Jake and his bestie Evan.

Easter Weekend

We started off our Easter weekend with an egg hunt with friends.

 This sweet boy was allowed to help hide eggs, and then decided not to "hunt" for any and left them all for the little kids.  He's hitting an age where more and more often he is less in sync with the younger kids' activities, and it makes me so proud that he chooses to act this way rather than pout and sulk.

 Family warm weather favorite - Slurpee's.  After cooling off with a few of these, we spent the rest of the gorgeous day playing and riding bikes.

 I'm going to be honest, while I love Easter, there are a lot of things about it that I do not like.  Such as plastic grass.  And eggs.  Every year I have to Google how to hard boil eggs, because I only do it at Easter.  Not many people in our house eat hard boiled eggs, so we only colored 10.

True story.

 The Bunny scaled way back on baskets this year, and no one seemed to mind.  The kids each got a bible coloring book, a reading book and a bubble wand, and that was it.  

New Easter Sunday church clothes....  

someone please tell this young man to STOP. GROWING.UP.

 Love these 3.

 After lunch we headed down to Wallace Marine Park for what Brian and I thought would be a nice family stroll down their walking paths.  Of course the first path we took ran alongside this great climbing tree and dead ended at the water....  

We were foolish to think anyone would stay dry.

 Humorous that she was worried about keeping her skirt out of the water, but waded in still wearing her tights.

 Eventually the tights came off and she lost any concern for staying dry, informing us, "I'm wet now, I guess I need to get nekkid...."

 My family

 Sister is lurking in there somewhere...

A rare self portrait...

Sunshine and Cousins

Nothing makes me happier than when a playdate coincides with sunshine.