June 2019

Our June fun started off with Cub Scout day camp for Cole. The highlights for him were getting to shoot a bow and arrow, paintball slingshots and a BB gun. We're not the most coordinated family in the world, but I think he had fun.

Cole is the one in the middle doing the superman pose. ;-)

We finally got to see my birthday present - Les Miserable! It was sooooo good. Even Dave enjoyed it! Shortest 4 hours of my life. I sure love this guy.

Happy Father's Day, Davie!

The kids made individual cards for him that they worked so hard on. We went through a giant bag of buttons and many, many sticks of hot glue in the process, but they were so proud to show Daddy what they made for him.

Dave has been into patterned socks lately, so we thought we would add one to his collection.

It finally feels like summer around here, and I have the wildflower bouquets in my kitchen to prove it. Cole loves picking all different flowers for me, and he actually does a really good job putting together a pretty bouquet. 

Swinging for days. We had to buy a second set of swings so there's enough for everybody!

The kids, my parents and I took a road trip to Oklahoma for my niece Katie's baptism. She is about 6 months younger than Cole and they are already good buddies. Thank heavens for grandparents who are willing to drive with me and the four kids in the car so far!

While we were in Oklahoma Macy finally decided that she was ready to walk - Hallelujah! The only way she could balance for the first few weeks was with her arms up by her head - she looks like a baby T-Rex walking around! At 16 months old she is by far our latest walker, but our fastest runner. She does not slow down ever now.

Were were only there for a couple days, but we hit up this amazing park they have in town and had a blast.

Alice was Macy's walking buddy - the two were side-by-side all weekend.

A huge herd of geese came to see us so we fed them our snacks and the kids and Grandpa gathered as many of their feathers as possible.

 

So many feathers! Grandpa made headdresses with the girls. You couldn't pay me to put one of those dirty feathers on my head, but the kids loved it!

A visit to the neighborhood pool was in order too - it was so hot there compared to Colorado Springs!

Macy loves pointing at and waving to dogs, but she finally got up enough courage to actually pet Nate and Lizi's dog, Diko. She was tickled pink.

After our Oklahoma fun, we made the most of being at home for a little bit. A visit to Focus on the Family mixed up a slow day. Lexi is one intense huger.

Even a visit to Sam's club was fun with Slurpee's and trying out their swing.

Macy's very favorite book right now is "The Pout-Pout Fish". I highly recommend it. She carries it around with her frequently repeating, "Blub, Blub, Blub". Cutest thing ever.

She's also obsessed with hats.

Can't beat watermelon outside on a sunny summer day.

Or playing in the water.

We rounded out June with a camping trip to Mueller State Park for a couple days. Hiking in the mountains, playing in the hammock, campfires, and sleeping in a warm camper were a couple of the highlights. We were so glad that Macy was finally walking - camping with a crawler would have been so difficult!

May 2019

Now that summer is over, I finally have time to catch up on our family blog! May was a crazy month, starting with our anniversary trip to Italy, but it didn't end there. End of school projects and trips consumed the last few weeks. One morning before school the kids piled on me and begged for a picture with Mommy - how could I refuse? This is now one of my most treasured pictures.

Macy got a late birthday present from Grandma Beutler, and she LOVED trying on the new clothes. She is 100% girl and can't get enough of clothes, shoes, jewelry, sunglasses, anything that makes her feel like a big kid. Love her to pieces.

The kids have enjoyed the Sky Curve swing so much this summer. Even Macy will hold still and let her siblings hold her while they're swinging together.

My two crazies who have so much fun pretending together.

When did Macy get so big?!

I don't know why, but after living here for four years I am still shocked and completely crushed (along with my flowers) over our late May, heavy, wet snow storms. We easily got 18" of snow on May 21st. 

You can see that we tried to cover all of my flowers and things that had already started coming up in our courtyard, but the snow was so heavy that it just smashed everything. We even had to go beat the tree branches because the snow was so heavy that it was breaking the trees. Wet spring snow - now I know!

My dad recently built us stands to put our washer and dryer on so aren't so low, and Macy found a new hiding place. It's just the right size for her.

A few days after our crazy spring snow storm my sister-in-law and nephew and nieces came to visit. This was literally three days after that massive storm, and we are all outside playing in shorts and t-shirts. From left to right, Macy, Lexi, Alice, Clara, Ellie, Zac, Cole and Katie.

We visited the zoo the end of May also. One of Cole's favorite things to do is feed the parakeets.

Unfortunately he was directly under one when it had to relieve itself. Yuck!

Cole worked on a big project in 2nd grade, where he wrote a biography of someone important in his life (he chose his Grandpa Blacker). I was lucky enough to be able to attend an "Author's Tea" with him, where he read to me his completed book (professionally printed and everything), and got to share some lemonade and cookies with me. It was a memory I won't forget and I hope he doesn't either. I sure love this kid.

Speaking of love, Lexi sure loved her Kindergarten teachers this year, and it was hard for her to say goodbye at the end of the year. This is Mrs. Hammarquist.

And this is Mrs. Sylvestri.

Clara also had a fun year at the Family of Christ Preschool, where Pastor Ron greeted them almost every morning. Here she is with her carpool buddies, Solomon and Boston.