Memori-able weekend

I really wanted to do something fun for Memorial Weekend. It was such a nice day that Saturday, I just felt like getting out and going to the beach! Lake Michigan wasnt my first pick, but the other, cleaner water beaches werent open yet, or were too far. So we ended up going to North Beach off of Lake Michigan. I always wanted to check this beach out. Its all the rave in the Wisconsin travel brochures and every time we drive by it, it looks so inviting. It does have really nice beach sand and a huge play area for the kids and most importantly...bathrooms, which is a huge plus when you have a newly potty trained little guy! Unfortunately, the temps were quite a bit cooler right next to the lake with the breeze that was blowing. (It was so calm at our house!) So we didnt end up staying for too long. And, note to self...picnics at a breezy beach dont go so well, unless you literally like SANDwiches! Brylee enjoyed it more than I had expected, and was perfectly content just sitting in her little camp chair, covered in a blanket and sipping her drink. The girls have been taking swimming lessons, so they have really gotten much braver in the water...a little too brave. Madi and Katelin were up to their necks out in the waves when I had to call them back in closer! Alissa even looked like she was enjoying it, and she usually hates getting her face wet!

Ryan was helping Zack "jump" over the waves!
Zack got so cold after being in the freezing water and cool breeze, that his lips were purple, but he still didnt want to leave. So he started burying himself in the warm sand to warm up.

Then it turned into a sand castle.

After we had all had enough of the cold water, we decided to move our little party to a cleaner, and warmer indoor pool. Zack was beat and just wanted to sleep, so he and Ryan went to the van to take a little snoozer while I took the girls to the huge playground for a while. Afterwards we headed over to the Y and swam for about an hour indoors, and then went home to crash.

The next day, we had a little surprise for the kids. Since they didnt have school on Monday, we decided to set up this...

Our camping experiences have been non-existent since we moved here, (something about lots of bugs and no mountains) and the good ol tent was just collecting dust down in the basement, so I figured it was time to pull it out and have a camp out in the backyard. Its the perfect place after all...close to indoor plumbing and everything. We decide to have tin-foil dinners (in the BBQ) and s'mores. Sadly, that plan didnt go quite as planned when we ran out of tin-foil...and then propane. Since it was Sunday, we had no other choice then to improvise. We finished dinner in the oven, and pulled out our portable camp stove to roast the marshmallows. It worked. See now, if we hadnt been in the backyard, this might have been a real tragedy! (:

S'mores faces.

Once in the tent, one of our nice neighbors contributed by providing a real camp fire smell, and another one provided fireworks! We didnt even ask them too...arent they just the best!? We had a quick game of Uno Attack with the kids, and Alissa must have inherited my late night silliness, because she decided to do this with her cards...

Funny enough, Alissa won the game. Strange how Uno can be like that when you trade hands of cards 4 times!

All of us girls being silly.

Remember last year how Zack got eaten alive by mosquitos? Well, looks like things havent changed much. He must have laid down on top of one, because when he sat up that whole side of his face had been devoured! Alissa may have inherited my late night silliness, but Zack got Ryans mosquito attracting blood! So just remember kids, Mom gave you all the good stuff! (:

We did a search through the whole tent, because who can sleep knowing that guy is in your bed, and turned up the culprit and one of his little friends. They now sleep with the tulips. Here he is still happy, before the swelling kicked in. The next morning, he couldnt even open his eye. Must be allergic or something.

Good thing we got all of our fun in, because on Monday, the rain came.

Happy Memorial Day! (late)

Projects

Some of you know about the things we have been working on in the yard, and have asked for pictures, so this is for you. For those of you who dont know, here is a list of some of the spring projects we recently got done:

• stained the swing set
• rubber chips for the play area
• laid new patio and steps
• made permanent location for trampoline with extra rubber chips
• poured gravel by the trees in back
• planted 3 new fruit trees
• planted grass to fill in spaces around the new projects

The first thing on our list was getting the rubber chips put in. The kids havent really been able to use their play set much because of all the rocks, dirt and weeds. Every time it would rain it would flood around the swing set and make it all muddy, so it was off limits. So the first thing Ryan did, was install two new drains to solve that problem. Then we laid fabric and had 5000 lbs of recycled rubber playground chips delivered. Of course it was an all day job wheelbarrowing it all from the driveway to the play area, but the kids enjoyed every minute watching their play area get transformed and playing in the chips.

One bag down, 1 1/2 to go! Zack getting free rides to the play area... helping unload...

and getting free rides back.

Brylee doing what she does best...taste testing! One project down!
We found out we had a few extra chips, so we decided to move the trampoline and put them around that. It was always a pain having to move it to mow the lawn, and now we wont have to! Imagine lush grass around it once it finishes growing!

The next project was going top be getting a new concrete patio poured. I really wanted a place to put a table and our BBQ on. After getting a few price estimates, we decided to go the cheaper route...MUCH cheaper, and just install one with pavers instead. And yes women, I did it mostly myself, again. Please, hold your applause! Ryan did do the hard labor part of digging out all the dirt to make it level, and making many trips to the store and hauling those blocks to the back yard, so lets give him credit as well. Again, imagine it when the grass is done growing.

After getting it done, we discovered our back yard wasnt as level as we thought. I ended up having to make 3 steps as well. Anyone know what to put in between them to lock them together and prevent weeds from growing? Next up was tackling the weed problem back by the trees. For those of you that dont know, we have a "nature preserve" behind us, complete with 2 sets of train tracks, and a nice view of the flour mill. Not that we dont love watching the train and seeing the trucks go in and out of the flour mill, but we decided to plant three maple trees along the back after we moved in, with a line of shrubs behind them. When they grow to full size, there will be no more view of the train, and hopefully it will cut out some of the sound as well. The gravel was to fill in between the trees and shrubs. Good bye weeds!

Did you spot the fruit tree? (There was one in the wheelbarrow picture). In case you are wondering, we got two kinds of apple and a peach. It is so relieving to finally get the yard to a place where we just have to maintain it, and we have the whole summer to sit back and enjoy it! Sometime we will have a BBQ so you can come enjoy it with us...you know, after the grass finishes growing!

The robins and some ducklings too!

First, a little update on our robin friends. The rescued baby robins were never found after they were placed in the nest. But a couple of days later we discovered this up in our playhouse portion of the swing set:

Yup, its another Robins nest. Not in the best place mind you, but the word must have spread that we are friends to the birds and now they are taking refuge in our yard! The kids are very excited to be able to watch the robins hatch and grow. Ryan and I are just worried about being able to keep the cat and Brylee away from them. The nest is right by the top of the slide. The cat can get up to it, and Brylee has already picked up one of the eggs. They are delicious at Easter time you know! So over the course of the next month, we will have to keep a close eye out for our new friends. (Apparently, you cant move the nest, even a little bit, or the mother wont recognize it...so our research tells. So that option it out, in case thats what you are thinking!)

In other birdie news...
our little Katelin who is shy beyond belief around most of society, was actually in a play at school! I love that our school has these PBL (project based learning) groups, in addition to a great arts program. Madi has learned violin, been in orchestra and choir, marketing, newspaper publishing, and movie making to name a few. Katelin had her first chance this year as a second grader to be in a PBL group, and she chose the Theatre Guild. It was surprising to us when she put that as one of her choices, but I explained what it was, and that she would have to be in front of people...and talk at them, but she still wanted to do it. None of us had any idea it would actually lead to a big production at the end of the year! She even had the opportunity to drop it for another group mid-way, but she wanted to stick with it. She ended up spending A LOT of time rehearsing at school, and all her hard work paid off. She performed in a play of The Ugly Duckling called "Honk Jr." in front of a big crowd on two separate nights, and did an awesome job!
She played one of the ducklings, named Downy. She had about 5 lines and sang a couple of songs (as a group). It was a really cute play, and Ryan and I were very impressed at how well all the elementary students performed. She even got her own personalized T-shirt to wear!

Here are all the ducklings before the show, waiting behind the nest. She had to sit back there for about 20 minutes.

We weren't allowed to take pictures during the performance, so here she is after in her "costume". It was pretty low budget, but what do you expect for a first time performance from an elementary school. She actually had one of the better costumes. You couldnt really tell what the other kids were supposed to be at all.

The 3 normal ducklings.

I tried really hard to upload the video's of her performance, but the Blogger wouldnt work for me. I did get them to work on Face Book, so you can check them out on my profile page. (sorry if your not on FB) There are 4 scenes she was in. It is worth it to watch them I think...not only because Katelin is in them, but it is a really cute play. You probably wont recognize her in this setting...you know, all vocal and everything, so Ill just let you know she is usually the orange one in the middle. She had a great time, and even loved it so much, shes talking about doing it again next year, and wanting to play the lead!

Who knew all she needed to be heard, was a stage and some lights!?

A little rescue...attempt.

Before I begin this post, let me just make something clear. I like animals...at least most animals... outdoor animals...the kind I dont have to take care of and clean up after. (The kids are still on their never ending plea for a dog, but Im just not ready for that yet! But thats another story.)

I hate hunting.

I dont get how people can find joy and entertainment in killing something so beautiful that God has created. Im this close to going vegetarian. I dont think Ill ever get closer than this, but I have a hard time eating meat, or eggs without thinking about where they came from, and what Im eating. But again, not my point.

We have a cat, well...lets just call him a miniature Lion. Hes big, and hairy and loves the outdoors, oh and yes- he's a hunter. So, I have mixed feelings about the cat, because on the one hand, hes an animal, and thats good, even though I have to clean up after him. But the hunting thing...major dislike. I know its natural for him, he is an animal after all. Its in his nature...the circle of life and all that jazz. Now dont freak out when I say this, but I also like mice. They are animals too. Not mice in my yard, or my basement...or garage...or near me at all. But they are cute, right? From a distance, or in a cage? Okay, you dont have to answer that. I am grateful that the cat keeps the mice under control around the house and yard, I really am-but do I really have to see them? We did rescue one once in Utah, because the Lion had just been playing cat and mouse with him for too long, and the poor little guys heart was beating out of his chest with fear. I couldnt take it anymore, so bravely I scooped him into an empty container and drove him to a safer Lion free location. Heres some proof of our heroic rescue attempt.

2005I just dont get why the Lion cant just politely ask the mice to find another location. This one is taken. He doesnt even eat them 90 % of the time! He has his fun killing them by torture, and after hes done with them, he leaves them for us. I guess its some sort of friendly gesture from beast to master. Its like an offering to us. But sorry Lion...I dont want your offerings! I dont like walking through the nice lush grass, only to come upon a dead mouse, or stepping out on the patio in the morning to another one of your victims! Is it really too much to ask that he just dispose of them himself when hes through with them?

Well, just when I thought the mice thing was bad, the Lion took it to a whole new level! I dont think I can get past this one. The other night, when I went to let the Lion in the house, I noticed another one of his offerings on the patio. It was dark and I figured it was just another one of his mice so I called the man of the house to clean it up (hey, I have poop duty!) Well, it was bedtime, and we had to get the kids in bed first, so the offering had to wait a minute. While the kids were brushing their teeth, I snuck another look and decided to give the Lion the benefit of the doubt. It looked more like a hairball...or two hairballs? So I got closer to investigate. Definitely not a mouse...or a hairball! It was two very newborn baby robins! They werent in good condition, but they were alive...barely! It was pretty cold out, and they had some abrasions from where the Lion sunk his teeth into them. Neither Ryan or I had the heart to put them out of their misery (or the guts, whatever you want to attribute it to). So I decided to scoop them up and try to save them. I know these pictures dont make them look very cute...they are hairless and their eyes arent open yet, but very newborn humans arent all that either. They look dead, but they were breathing, moving around, and opening and closing their mouths. I could imagine them screaming for help whenever their mouths would open. I couldnt take it! I brought them in the house and Ryan and I contemplated whether or not to tell the kids. Sure...why not! Its a good experience and they are kinda cute. Kinda. They would want to see. We were right. They loved them! My motherly instinct took over and I went worm hunting, while Madi held a flashlight over them to help warm them up. FYI-crushing a worm up is not as easy as it sounds! When I thought it was small enough for the birds to swallow, I put it in their mouths with a skewer. It was tough for them to swallow, and I hoped they wouldnt choke to death! Eventually, they got them down. I dripped tiny droplets of water in after to help wash it down and wash off their injuries. Then we were stuck. Now what?

"Is there an animal rescue center close by? Its too late to deliver them tonight. What if they dont make it through the night?" Its amazing how quickly we all got attached. Katelin thought maybe they came from the nest in our neighbors yard. She was positive they looked just like the chicks in that nest. We let the kids say goodnight, and sent them to bed so we could figure out what to do next.

Zack loving the chicks, and saying goodnight.

We decided to take them over to the neighbors nest. It was 9:00 at this point, as I walked down the sidewalk with a box and a flashlight. I felt a little like I was out on a robbery or something. Especially when I walked up the the decorative tree on the neighbors porch, where the nest was. I saw it immediately after the mother bird flew away as I approached. How could she leave her babies like that? So close to humans? The light was on inside. I could see the neighbors. I couldnt just stand there, flashlight in hand and snoop around their porch, so I knocked. I told them the whole story and they showed me the nest. Nope, not these birdies home. They did look the same, but this nest was already full with 4 other, older and larger chicks. Now what? The neighbors talked me into just putting our chicks into the nest with the other chicks, and hoping the mother bird would adopt them and take care of them. I thought it was a long shot, and worried about my babies, but I felt pressured, so I did it...against my motherly judgement. The other chicks were going crazy! I thought one tried to eat my chick as I set him in the nest. Oh, what have I done!? Its too late to get them out now! The other chicks were stepping all over them. These newborn chicks should have been in the NICU, not thrown into a nest of 4 toddler birds! I apologized, and thanked the neighbors at the same time, and walked home. I felt bad all night. I couldnt wait until morning to go check on the babys. The kids were upset with me when I tucked them in and told them what I did.

"But you promised I could see them first thing in the morning!" one said.

"You can" ...hopefully..."their just at the neighbors house."

So the first thing Madi did after she was ready for school was head down to the neighbors porch. Katelin decided not to go. She is a little mother herself and I dont think was ready to face them if they didnt survive. I had Madi take the camera to take a picture to show us when she came back. Heres what she got.

Do you see my babies anywhere!? Me either. After school, we went over to check on them again. I got an eye witness account that they could not be seen. I dont know what happened to them. Either they got totally smashed, smothered and buried by the other birds, or the mother bird decided that 4 noisy toddlers was all that she could handle, and tossed the babies out on their bottoms. Thats the probable thing.

Now my preferred version:

While all the mother birds were getting together for their morning worms and coffee, they discovered that poor Mama Flitter's baby chicks had been violently stolen from her nest the night before! Mama Tweet peeps up and says she mysteriously found two baby chicks in her nest last night...at which point Mama and babies are reunited.

OR...

The toddler birds take to the new babies right away, and take them under their wings and protectively gather around them to keep them warm. Babies, toddlers and Mama live happily ever after.

And maybe someday, in the near future, a robin will come land on my shoulder and twitter "thank you" in my ear, for saving her life once upon a time on that cold spring night!

Hey, I can dream!

Easter

First things first...the Easter dress pictures.

These were actually taken after church last week, since it was Conference on Easter. Surprisingly, they responded to my threat of not messing their hair up during church and still looked pretty well groomed for the picts. If I had been more on top of things, I could have gotten them ready in time to take pictures before our 11:30 church, but even late church seems to be a challenge for me to get there on time. But in my defense, I have to get them all ready to go on my own (Ryan has meetings), and it takes even longer with 5 girls hair to do in the morning. To make things better, Brylee skipped her Sacrament meeting nap, so she wasnt really in the mood for pictures, and Zack just wanted to go play. Anyway, getting to the point...

heres the best of what I could get!

Madison

Katelin
Alissa
Zack
Brylee
The whole gang

Now for the details.
Early Saturday morning, Ryan and I went out to put up the big Easter surprise...a new trampoline. The old one got its use and was definatly worn out. Plus we needed a bigger one with the 5 kids and the neighbors always coming over to jump (not that they all jump at the same time, but it makes me feel better for them to have more room to not run into each other!) Unfortunatly, it rained a good portion of the day on Saturday, so they didnt get to enjoy as much as we hoped. The next item on the agenda was the egg painting. I found a cool kit this year to make it easier for Zack, that included tiny paint rollers. He did an awesome job painting it all on his own! Then we tried another new approach with sticking the egg in a whisk and using it to dip it in the color. This didnt work quite as well, since the color in the cup wasnt high enough for the whisk to get into it; so I had to help more by tipping and turning it. The egg actually turned out looking pretty cool as well though. Next year, I hope to find some smaller whisks and it should work better. More kids coloring equals less eggs per kid to color. Usually they get about 4 to color dwindling from 6 with Madi and Katelin, but this year they each got 2. Daddy was nice and gave up his two, so some got 3. We almost finished in time to watch conference, but overlapped it by a few minutes.
Sunday morning the kids woke up early again, and headed down to see what was in their baskets. The Easter Bunny must have been on a tight budget this year (with the trampoline buying and everything), so they mostly got candy filled eggs, but the older girls did get a special Easter Webkinz, Zack got Fillmore (from Cars), and Brylee got a big spinning light up easter egg. Brylee also felt the need to take everything out of her basket and hand it to Daddy. It was a fun game to see how much he can hold without dropping anything! Since I neglected to take pictures of the kids finished painted eggs on Saturday, we included those in our easter basket picts as well. After breakfast, we read the story of the ressurection, and then headed outside to do an egg hunt before Conference started up again. It was a little chilly, but who cares when you are having fun, right? Then another attempt at an actual Easter day photo, which didnt turn out too well either. Alissa was afraid of the bugs in the grass, Brylee kept putting the basket in front of her face, and Zack just wanted to go play again. Mix all that with at least one kid making a funny face in each picture and you get the finished product (which you'll see it in the slide). Afterwards they finally got a chance to play on their new trampoline, Brylee included, which surprisingly, she loved! Throw in a few eggs with them, and you have a new jumping game. Dont let the eggs touch you! The rest of the day was conference...tramp...conference...tramp...dinner. And thats it, in a very large nutshell.
Now finally, the slide.

Our little boy is 3!

It doesnt seem all that long ago that we were sitting in the hospital with a newborn baby boy. We were a little panicked when he came out a nice purple shade, but soon learned that it was just bruising. If you think he looked bad, think how I felt! I had to push him down to the birth canal, which he was obviously afraid of and could never descend on his own. He just wanted to hang out up in the higher life where it was more roomy. Can you blame him? So not only did he have to come out, he had to come down as well. With a few hard pushes he was forced down and out, like being shot out of a cannon. It was so fast (for him anyway), that it left his face bruised from all the pressure. It only took a few days to clear up, and convince Ryan that he wasnt born of another race...it was in fact, his child.
It seemed like a miracle that a boy was actually permitted to come to our family, and we were all so happy to have him, and a little nervous. How can changing a boys diaper really be that much different from a girls? Oh...it was! Not only did I have a little obstacle in the way to clean around, under and in between (too much information, I know), but he also had great aim! Diaper changing was taken to a whole new level with a little boy. It became a war waged between baby and diaper changer. Who dares take on the baby boy!? The first time he beat me, was in the hospital. As soon as I took off the diaper he took his aim and hit a bulls eye. Up his nose, all over his body...all over my body, and all the blankets. Seriously, how can a little guy like that make such a big mess!? Its like he was equipped with his very own super soaker! I swear that was the first time he smiled...if not outwardly, than clearly inside. I didnt know where to start clean-up efforts first. From that point on, I knew. This was not going to be the normal diaper changing baby like I was used to. It was a must to keep guard the entire changing process, and quickly make the exchange from soiled diaper to clean one before he seized the opportunity to soak again.
As he grew, he continued to be full of surprises. He has always been active and curious, and good for a laugh. We have enjoyed the new perspective he brings to our family and the funny things he says every day. He's such a fun little boy...when he's staying out of trouble! He is a good sport when playing with his sisters, and will do anything to join in the fun, from playing the dad, the baby, the pet dog, and yes...even the princess. But my favorite thing about him is that hes such a cuddler, and a total mommy's boy. He loves to just come and sit on my lap, listen to a story and cuddle up next to me when he sleeps. Not lovin that he wants to do it in my bed every morning, but love that he wants to.
So now he's 3, and growing up so fast. No more diapers for him, hes learned the art of going on the potty. He's learned that hes not a girl, or a princess. He's learned what he likes to wear, eat and watch on tv. Its like he's become his own little person all of a sudden...as opposed to one that his sisters have influenced him to be. So what did he want for his birthday? A train cake of course. What else is there? Train toys, train track's made from movie cases, blocks, crackers... pretty much anything you can put in a straight line, gets made into a train. His train cake is all he talked about for a month. And know what else...it had to be red. What did he do when he saw me putting blue frosting on the train...drop down to the floor, and with his best whining voice cry "no mommy I wanted a red train!" He is turning 3 after all. But dont worry, the main parts of it were red, or what I attempted to turn red with food coloring. I think it looked more pink, but thankfully it was close enough. If any of you know how to make frosting completely red...pass it along.
I think he was pretty pleased with the finished train, complete with a circus, wood and coal car, not to mention the engine and caboose. Too bad after hours of work it just got cut into little pieces and demolished. -sigh- But its all about the children, all that matters is their happiness...right? So on with the birthday details...we decided to let Zack have his best friend come over to join us. He was so excited to show him the train, after which we immediately ate it. Following the cake came present time. He was of course the most excited to receive another train for for his Geo Tracks town...Old Rust, or as he affectionately calls it "Ol Radust". But his reaction to all the presents was perfect. After the present unveiling was over, I attempted to add the new train toys and tracks into his old set, which turned out much more complex than I had expected. Are kids toys really supposed to be that complicated!? After much frustration, I left the train set assembly to Ryan who fixed it good enough to let the kids play with it for the time being. Later on, after the kids left it alone for a minute, I finally got it assembled to include more pieces. That was the first thing he went to this morning...after coming down to cuddle with me for a minute of course. (:

Happy Birthday to our special little guy!

The fight is back on!

To all you followers of Team Ryan, you may remember the post I made about 2 months ago. If not, click here . Unfortunately, the cancer has found its ugly way back. We are again asking for prayers, fasting and support on this incredible family's behalf. To join in the fight, and keep updated on whats happening, click the link on the side of the blog. Thanks to everyone who has made a difference this far.

I also cant end without putting in a plug for Ryans cousin Greg as well. He too has been putting forth the fight against cancer for a couple years now, and has yet to have a victory. Cancer is so awful isnt it! Its not fair for anyone who has to endure everything that goes along with it. Please keep these two families in your thoughts and prayers, and lets get a victory for them both! You know you would want the same support if it was happening to you, or one of your loved ones!

You can also follow them both on facebook groups: "Team Ryan Hess" and "Believe in Zebras!"