Fourth of July

(It looks like I'm a little behind in blogging.)

We enjoyed a day together as a family since Darrell didn't have to work.
The pre-firework walk.



Here we are doing our $5.00 worth of fireworks. All 3 of the kids loved watching them go off. Tyler especially liked getting up close by Darrell while he lit them.



Guess who likes getting his picture taken now! (Well, at least he wants the same attention the girls get when I take their pictures.)



About the time we were finishing up with our fireworks our neighbors were getting theirs out to do. Tyler loved hanging out with the kids.

Well, I Won't Do THAT Again

It all began with a simple thought, really:

Let's have Spaghettios for lunch.

It turned out to be a little more MESSY and complicated than I originally thought.

We haven't had Spaghettios since way back around New Years. (Tyler used to love them--until he got the flu, ate a few bites and threw them up. Since then they have never sounded appetizing to him--can't say that I blame him.) Well, it's been 7 months since the offending episode so I thought we'd have them for lunch today.

They were a hit.

Maybe a little too much of a hit.

The girls LOVED squishing them and smashing them and *trying* to get those slippery little O's into their mouths...and into their hair...and on to the ground.









You KNOW lunch is good when it's stuck to your arms up to your elbows



or when it's stuck to your face.



And while it was a close race...



the winner of the get-yourself-plastered-with-Spaghettios contest is Emily!



Lessons learned:

Dried tomato sauce is WAY hard to clean up.



You don't have to clean so much off the floor if Megan is in "vacuum mode."



After a good nap (mine), I've decided that we might hold off another 7 months before we try Spaghettios for lunch again.



Bonus footage: (I love how Tyler says "Mommy, Emi is so cute." and then later, "Megan is so cute.")

Cousin Time

The kids and I were able to spend a couple weeks visiting my parents, and we loved it.

Tyler especially had a blast spending time with his cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents. And they got a kick out of watching him too.









Tyler loved being a part of the cousin sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's house. He was as big as the next person.



Listening to a bedtime story from Grandma.





Breakfast in the morning--pancakes and sausage. Yummy!



In the middle of our stay we attended my mom's family reunion. I didn't get a lot of pictures, but we had a great time visiting, and, of course, eating.



Tyler and Emily on the trampoline and Tyler enjoying the water balloons.





Emily and Megan enjoying the hula hoops.





One of the reasons we went to visit my family is so that Tyler could take 2 weeks of swimming lessons with his cousins. He wasn't so sure what he thought of the water, but he had a great one-on-one teacher who really helped him come a long way. Tyler even learned to jump off the edge of the pool into the arms of his teacher.



The girls had a great time getting to know their cousins too.











Here's Megan after enjoying a blue sucker. She was sticky EVERYWHERE!



Thanks Grandpa and Grandma for a WONDERFUL time!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Happy Birthday to my dear dad!


Happy Birthday Grandpa! We love you!

The behind the scenes video. (I thought I was taking the picture, but it turns out the video camera was on instead. Right as I counted to three Emily decided she'd prefer to lay down, and Tyler decided to do the same.)

Go Emi Go!

The last few days Emily has been getting braver and braver about walking all by herself. Here she is today. She still prefers to crawl, but she'll be independent on 2 feet soon!