Picking up where I left off last time, Ellie had a great time in Michigan with Granny, Lauren, Annie, Brad, and Savannah. She is ready to go back. Thank you so much for taking her, Granny. They sent us a few pictures from their adventures that included trips to McDonalds, a little amusement park, fun times at the pool and much more.
We kept busy at home with different things. Jackson had soccer camp through Thursday and he really had a good time. It was only an hour in the morning and he was excited to go, which isn't always the case with these things. We kind of tried to keep to the schedule, but with Ellie off having fun in Michigan, I felt bad making him do all the chores all of the time. We didn't make it to the library on Tuesday but just went swimming and Jackson also had a ball game in Novinger. Lincoln and Alex were pretty funny playing in the gravel around the field.
We are getting all sorts of new neighbors around us, but it has been too hot that no one has been outside, so we haven't met them yet. It is so odd seeing different cars around Tiffany and Mike's house. But not to worry, they have already started building on the lot right across the street from us and Lincoln is loving it. First off, he will be very excited to have Mike right across the street. He always get excited to see Mike. Secondly, he has been very excited to see the bulldozer at work. And all of the kids have loved playing on the dirt mounds.
The weather really started heating up the end of last week, so we had a morning swim date with some friends at my parents' pool on Thursday. It was a lot of fun and we all headed home a little after lunch so the kids could nap as it got even hotter.
As part of your Think of Others Thursday, we had decided to take drinks to the people working the K-Life fireworks tents since it was so hot. But we ended up not having time because the babies really needed a nap and we had someone coming to appraise our house for refinancing and therefore didn't get it done. But we finally got around to doing it the next Monday.
Ellie got home Friday afternoon and it was great to have her back. We spent some time at my parents during the weekend and tried to beat the heat. Andrew had to gather some calves Saturday morning and I think it was a pretty hot job. Andrew has also been trying to keep the yard watered since he put so much work into reseeding it and didn't want the new grass to die. So we still have some green spots in our yard. His other hobby lately has been riding his bike. He is really enjoying it and has done a couple longer rides out around the lake and a loop from the house, to the bypass, then on Route P by my parents, to Osteopathy, and then to his office. He even came down with bronchitis and was out for a couple days, but still got back into it quickly.
For the kids' craft on Monday, I had them paint citronella candles to use as decoration for the 4th of July party. I was trying to find a way to incorporate more Christian principles into our weekly schedule, so we talked a little about some of the beliefs of our founding fathers and they wrote "God Bless America" on their candles.
Jackson had his last ball game on Monday night and it was pretty warm. My parents and Lissy were nice enough to take the other kids for us since it was so hot. I have enjoyed watching Jackson play this year and Andrew finished up the season doing the pitching. And we are always appreciative of Joe volunteering his time to coach the team.
After it got dark Monday night, Andrew shot off some fireworks for the kids and then Tuesday night we met some of my family at AJ's Tuesday night. My Grandpa Mike and Karen were in town and they took all of us out. It was delicious as always. My cousin, Makenzey, was also in town and she ended up spending the night at my parents' house most of the time she was back and Ellie loved having her around. Owen was also in town while his parents took a little vacation down at Big Cedar and Lincoln had fun playing with him. Lincoln does well at playing with kids of different ages, younger and older. He just likes having them around to play with.
And Jackson and Ellie have taken it upon themselves to teach Lincoln how to be a big boy. They have been showing him how to get dressed, clean up (even though Lincoln is pretty good at being my helper when it is time to clean up) and learning to use the potty. He has also been wanting to help me more with things like getting diapers, calming the babies when they cry and getting his oatmeal ready in the morning. As far as potty training, we had a couple good days and are now going through some bad days. I am feeling a little more encouraged that he may be ready for preschool in just a little over a month though. Jackson also offered Lincoln some other advice. Lincoln had gotten into some of Ellie's nail polish and painted one of his toes. Jackson told him that big boys don't paint their nails, only girls do. And even though we have definitely had some rough times with being stuck inside with this heat, it is fun to watch the kids interact with each other and enjoy playing with each other. Lately Ellie has been giving Jackson foot massages and they both think it is great.
Back to our week, I tried to make some simple desserts for my parents 4th of July party. The kids helped me a little making the chocolate-covered strawberries but then I had to take over :-). I also thought it would be fun and easy to make star-shaped rice krispie treats and put them on sticks. I put sprinkles on them and drizzled them with red chocolate. They looked cute and I kept them in the fridge until the party to help them keep their shape. But once I set them up, they didn't last long and quickly fell apart. Oh well. I knew it was going to happen after one started falling apart as soon as we put them up, so I took a quick picture and just walked away.
Before the party, some of my cousins that were in town came over to swim for a bit. It was nice to get to see them and visit for a bit. And then it was time to get ready for the party. It was a fun group of people which made for a good party. We did have one incident where a firework that was being shot by someone behind us, fell over and started shooting towards the back of the pool house. Leah and some of the kids were behind the pool house and felt like they were under attack. I was beside the house taking some pictures and almost got hit by a few. Miles and Bennett loved watching the fireworks. They sat on Mary and Tiffany's laps and just watched and didn't hardly flinch at all.
While Lissy was back, she took some 6 month pictures of the twins that turned out super cute. I just love them.
Jackson kept asking me to teach him how to do flip turns in the pool, so one day when the boys were napping we finally got it done. He was so excited to learn how to do them and it is fun to see his strokes developing. Now I am really going to have to look into doing the swim team. And we have a couple more water babies. Miles and Bennet really haven't been in much, but we got them in one afternoon and they really enjoyed it.
Now Miles has learned to get up on all fours and he does it a lot and then kind of pushes himself backwards. I tried to get a picture of both of them up, but it didn't work for me. Lissy eventually got one though. I'll have to get it from her later.
We finished up the week with Jackson and Ellie both learning some new tricks. Jackson just learned how to do a back dive this evening. I noticed him doing it a couple times off the ledge, so then he tried it off the ladder and the next step was off the side.
Ellie worked on it too, but still has a little ways to go. She did teach herself how to do a one-handed cartwheel though and was very excited to show it off. She had a whole dance routine made up in just a few minutes with a couple one-handed cartwheels in it.
We ended up going on a walk this evening and the kids started collecting the flags that were put out for the 4th of July and attaching them to Lincoln's tractor.
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