Deck

 

Here is the deck as it looked a few weeks ago. We have made a lot of progress since then so I will post some updated pics soon. It's nice to be able to step outside the door and have something there :) The kids are pretty happy to be able to go in and out a lot easier. It's a big deck we will have to figure out a good way to use the space.

Swimming

 

 

 

We bought a pass to the neighborhood pool this summer. We have been going a few times a week ever since. It's fun since it's an activity all the kids enjoy. It's a little stressful for me since none of them have any fear..... Jackson is a pretty good swimmer now and goes all over the pool on his own. He's learned to do some shallow racing dives, a flip turn, and side breathing. Maggie is getting to be a stronger swimmer but I still don't allow her in the deep end without me. She used to wear her lifejacket most of the time in the deep end but recently is confident enough to go off the diving board and swim to the ladder without it. She has been working on treading water and actually has a pretty good front crawl. Hailey wants to swim without her lifejacket ALL the time but she can barely keep her head out in the 3 ft so we battle over it often :) She just jumps in and tries to do bobs to the side. I really have to watch her. We have worked with her on swimming and now she can jump off the diving board and swim to the side or sometimes the ladder without her lifejacket or any help but gets tired after awhile. Caleb has also made a lot of progress and keeps me on my toes. He loves to jump off the diving board too. Now he wants to do it without his lifejacket and tries his hardest to swim to the side. He wants us to hold onto him as little as possible as he swims and climbs out on his own. He knows that I don't let he and Hailey go without lifejackets at the same time in the deep end so he tries to get her to wear hers by taking it over to her constantly. He loves to jump in and does so without hesitation. It gets a little frustrating for the bigger kids that I can't watch their tricks and accomplishments very much because I have to keep a close eye on the other two. They love it when Matt can come and see what they can do :)

4th of July decorations

 

I didn't take any pics of our fireworks this year - we had 5 other kids here so we were a bit busy keeping little hands off! :) The kids loved it as always. On the 4th itself we went over to friends house for a BBQ. We took our big, blow up waterslide for all the kids to play on. We were there for hours and had lots of good food and fun. It was at the house of the family we trade babysitting with. They are pretty amazing. They have six kids, ages 12-3, and their house isn't huge but they are more than willing to invite people over for a party and work with what they have. I am always wishing we invited people over more but I put if off until this project is done or that room is finally super clean..... so it never happens. My goal is to be more relaxed and work with what we have because it's the people that matter not the things :) Maybe we will start with a "the-deck-is-done" party. Wait, that means I'm putting it off until a project is done.....hmmm.
I only made one decoration for the 4th this year. That red, white and blue pennant flag over the fireplace. It was pretty quick and easy. I recovered that lampshade shortly beforehand too.

Chickens

 

No we didn't get chickens...... but the kids definitely wish we would after a week taking care of some for a friend! We went morning and night to take care of their animals while they were gone on vacation. All of the kids loved it. The were all pretty good at  catching chickens by the time the week was up :)  We also got to keep all the eggs - usually 13-15 eggs EVERY. DAY. We ate a lot of egg related meals that week and the next :) It made me want to have a little more property and space for some more animals. I have never really loved chickens (like my Mom and sister) but it was so nice to have fresh eggs.

MMM mmm

There is just something fun about watching kids eat corn on the cob :) For a little while there we had to cut Maggie's off of the cob since she had a hard time with a missing front tooth.