Maeli

Our sweet Maeli has vanished, and been replaced by a 3 year old! She knows best, has her own opinion on everything, and would rather people just not talk to her, unless she happens to be in the mood to talk in which case you better not try to get a word in. She has become super in dependant, including dressing herself, shown here:


She is just loving pre-school! This is her first day of school picture:

She goes to school on Tues/Thurs mornings, and is still in gymnastics on Wednesdays. She's totally potty trained now, even at night. She's at this wonderful age where everything she says is funny, and she's a master at making up stories, so you really have to pay attention to what she's saying, or you'll be totally lost by the end. She's all about princesses and girly things and right now, she's all about Dad (which I am totally fine with). If it were up to her, she'd spent her entire day like this:

Blast!

I am trying to update my blog, but I'm having major issues getting my pictures loaded. We are still alive!

Cute Babies!

I love the side-by-side of my cute cute babies. I think Riker looks a lot like Maeli, but everyone keeps telling me how much he's his "own." I think in this line up, Tuck is our odd man out.

Cute Kids!

4th of July

My niece Hayden flew out for a few days to help watch the kids so I could get some things done, it was so, SO wonderful to have her here, and she is more than welcome anytime. My sister and her family came out for the fourth, and not being one to miss a chance to see my kids (who are the farthest away) my mom bummed a ride. We all really loved the parade.
Riker had a great First Fourth.
All the kiddos got lots of candy
And our corn was almost "knee high by the fourth of July" It might have been taller had the family of ducks that moved in not chosen our garden as their path to and from our yard.

The Garage

After a lot of stressing about it, the concrete was a total success.
Only with all of our amazing helpers!
Scott came over for the Fourth of July and he and Jeremy got the framing done for the door. They also got the back door, and the window in.
We had a little mishap on the 4th, but the damage was very minimal. The Albion parade was about to start, and the fireman smelled the smoke, so they walked on over to inspect our extinguishing abilities.

What's a garage without a car to park in it? Thanks Kaitlyn, we love it!
Our Brother-in-law Jason is the President of All About Doors so he came over from the West Side to install our new door for us. Thanks Jason!
Jeremy's Dad came over and the siding got started, we're hoping to be all done by the end of Labor Day Weekend.

Laugh

I was trying to get Tucker to dance, which didn't really work, but I love the way that he laughs at the beginning of this video.

Just some photos

Tucker is teething and is chewing on everything. It is just like having a puppy.
Maeli is all about "the truth" lately. We've been working on lies vs. being wrong...for example, "Maeli-go get your shoes, they're in your room." "No, my shoes aren't in my room, I found them in the hall, Mommy, you lied." Things like that. Anyway, she's always telling the boys "the truth." When Tucker wakes up from a nap, she goes into his room, shuts the door, and when I came in she tells me that she's not done telling him the truth yet...hmmm. And here, she's whispering, "what are you saying Maeli?" "Oh, I'm just telling him the truth." I'm just not sure what truth she's telling them.
Our sweet Riker is getting so big!
Maeli often spaces out when there is a movie on. Riker had been crying and when I came in she was giving him his binky and patting his head...her eyes never left the TV. I think she may have a problem...but for the record, she only watches one movie a day under normal circumstances.
Tucker has become the world's best "wish I could help"er. He loves to be outside, but mostly in the garage. If we're all out in the yard, he'll go in to check out the lawn mower or motorcycle. I caught him helping Jeremy dig the trench.
We have this play mat thing, and if you jiggle it a little, the star on top has flashy lights and plays music. Riker just figured out the kicking to keep the lights going and WOW! Can that boy kick. He loves it!

A day in the life of a 3 year old!

We woke up our birthday girl by singing Happy Birthday, she informed us that she needed "just 5 more minutes of sleep." I told her we'd be having cinnamon rolls (her favorite) for breakfast, THAT got her out of bed.

Dad got her a fishing pole and tackle box. They had to test them out, so he took Maeli to Pompa pond to make sure it worked...she really like digging for worms the best, but she said fishing is fun.

While they were gone, I transformed her bed into a Princess Bed fit for a 3 year old. She knew she was getting a Princess bed, but she hadn't seen it before. She had to try it out to make sure that it would fit. It does.
Then we had to have meatballs and sauce, Maeli's favorite dinner, which was quickly followed by a bath for obvious reasons.

As requested, we had "a pink and purple cake, kind of like a cupcake, with sprinkles and sparkles, and fire."

It was a pretty amazing day to be 3.

Oregon Highlights

We had a great time in Oregon and really enjoyed the vacation. Jeremy had to fly back on Monday and the kids and I stayed a while and drove back on Friday. We all enjoyed the time, but these are just some of the highlights:
Riker met Gramma Vi (Jeremy's grandma)

We got to celebrate the birthdays of Jeremy, Kaitlyn, and Maeli with banana splits!

We got to play with cousins! These are Jeremy's sister Amanda's youngest boys

We had a double-family picnic after the blessing

We got to play with cousins (this is Olivia, one of my brother's daughters)

We got to visit Grandma Opal, my Great-Grandma (who is turning 100 this summer and still knows how to tickle)

We got to play with cousins (this is Roy, my little sister's boy)

We had an amazing tea party put on by Grandma Terry

And we got to play with cousins (this is Kennedy, another of my brother's daughters)

Good times were had by all