whatever

last year we discovered that lauren has a serious love for fireworks.
they make me completely paranoid.
having so many kids using fire and making things explode is not something i enjoy.
but once a year i guess?
lauren loves it.
she and my nephew blew stuff up for hours.

morgan, talby and scott stuck with the sparklers.

we have a block party for the 4th.
we pool our money for big fireworks.
we have a potluck.
there are games for the kids with prizes!
they love the firecracker “cake” walk.

and the water balloon toss….turned fight.

and the egg toss.
annie wanted an egg too.
i never let her touch eggs.
jen gave her her own egg.
everyone started the toss.
annie took her egg and threw it on the ground
she shouted “I DID IT!”

craig was my partner…

right after the egg toss it started to rain.
and rain and rain.
we pulled the grill under our covered drive & the men cooked all the meat.
how cool is this grill?
an old VW Bug made into a giant grill.

we moved the potluck into a neighbor’s garage.
(if you look close you can see the blueberry buckle)
we ate in the sprinkling rain.
we watched the fireworks from our porches.
the rain was a bummer.

the best part of the day
was the midnight water balloon fight with the grown ups!
that is too much fun.

wow.
we had a busy week.
old fashioned family fun.
there are alot of pictures here but there are alot more i didn’t put on that are very good too.

hunter teaching scott to flip.

competitiveness runs in the family.

shannon acting out a clue for the game Pop 5.
too funny.

big family reunion on craig’s side.

annie finally being nice to aunt sherri.

we spent all day monday at world’s of fun.
i rode the blue and red one in the center and made the decision i don’t need to ride another roller coaster ever. i kept thinking…what is keeping this from breaking?
how debbie downer is that?

dolphin rides…on peter.

the pool was perfect for all the kids.
peter and gio threw them around making big splashes.
they loved it.

okay…how cute is my nephew?

i wish i could say they slept like rocks but they were up in the night both nights…ugh.
that gets old really fast.

and this isn’t even including the 4th of july block party.
that gets it’s own post.

thanks to deanne for all the work of putting our trip together
and all the work on the reunion.
we had a good time.
it’s important to have time with family.
when it comes down to it…family is all you have.
friends come and go.
but your family is forever.
and that’s good.

as far as our house goes…this is about as clean as it gets…without paying someone else to do it.
and it is this way because everyone pitched in.
the kids cleaned their rooms before bed.
we cleaned till late last night…it had to be done…it was just gross.

so this morning when i forced them to clean again they all went nuts.
(the kids..craig was at work)
there was lots of stomping, door slamming, crying….wailing…
give me a break.
i made them do it anyway.
i was also getting very crabby from them being this way.
i had just cleaned my kitchen and didn’t want them in there
so i shouted “whenever that room is clean we can have a picnic!”
“PICNIC? it’s raining”
“an inside picnic…so hurry up!”
it worked.
they were cleaning fast and actually did a good job.
then we had a picnic in the foyer.

it’s a proven fact…you can’t stay crabby at a picnic.

in the afternoon the family arrived!
always so good to see everyone.
i am glad they are here.

perfect activity for a rainy day…can you tell what he’s watching?

it’s a U2 concert of course…
a family favorite.
annie was eating her lunch but when she heard it she took off into the living to watch Bono.
don’t all 2 year olds love Bono?

we had 2 friends come over today at seperate times
trying to make the day go a little easier.
it went alright.
still a long rainy day.
they even crammed some swimming in…the 10 minutes it wasn’t raining.

annie made some nice art before dinner.

craig’s family starts to arrive tomorrow…all of them.
it is going to be a busy full week.
family reunion.
worlds of fun.
hotels.
hanging out.
playing games.
eating and eating and eating.
and ending with the 4th of july block party on our block.
i am going to be tired…and so is everyone else.

we were up early this morning.
making a meal for a new mommy at church.
i don’t think i have ever cooked chicken breasts at 8:30 in the morning.
i also made this incredibly yummy perfect banana bread and didn’t get to taste one bite!
jenny it’s your recipe…complete with the mashed potatoes. ha

it smelled so good.
we drove our meal out to her house which is out…way out…in the country.
it was so pretty just getting there.
in kansas they are harvesting the wheat so we saw combines everywhere.
annie kept shouting “TORN DROWIN”!!!” at every single corn field.
(corn growing)
there are alot of corn fields.
at her house there were baby kitties and frogs and a dog so my kids never even saw the baby.
BUT I DID.
ohhhh holding that tiny baby was too much.
i had an immediate internal reaction…i wanted one.
logically i know i don’t.
we have enough babies.
i don’t want to gain another 50 pounds again.
my brain can’t handle another baby.
but it is still in me…i wanted to take him home.
if we could…but we can’t…but if craig said “let’s have another one”…
HA HA HA HA HA HA
i would. i would. i would.
it won’t EVER happen though.

i cleaned up my yard this afternoon.
in the sprinkling rain.
all afternoon.
the kids played in the pool while it sprinkled.
i am in love with the pool.

lauren is at camp.
she is missed.
it’s very different without her here.
i hope she is getting filled with god’s word this week.
and having a blast!
and making new friends..being kind.
i hope.
and i don’t think she will be stinky at all when she comes home.
she will be all pretty and clean i am guessing.
the usual.

just some summer photos to share.

talby, scott and annie ate half a watermelon today.

who is the cutest girl on the t-ball team?
i’ll give you one guess.

it was so good.
the wedding and reception were so beautiful.
it started out hot…so sweaty! but the sun went down and it was the perfect night.
i saw so many high school friends i haven’t seen for many many years.
i laughed and laughed.
it felt so good.
i cracked up that all my memories of parties and things way back when contained many embarassing things about myself that i chose to forget i guess! lots of laughing over that. how many times did i hear “you don’t remember that?!” involving something so dumb that i did!
i just loved seeing everybody.
i love to see everyone grown up…and some married…with babies…
i am so happy that we aren’t the same people we were then…mostly. 🙂
i was so glad my sister was there too.
and our parents and their best friends too.
this reception was beautiful with such a classic style…white tent…lush green grass…sunset…delicious food.
amazing.
my husband had to drag my sister and i out at midnight.
i didn’t want that fun to end.
i wish adam and ashley all the best!
i will share more pictures when my sister and mom and mom’s friends email me some.
mine are not that good. of course now i totally regret not taking pictures of everyone.
for now i will just show a photo of my favorite shoes that i got to wear.