Picture blog

These last few weeks have been devoted to getting our family ready for our new sweet baby girl!  We have been organizing baby stuff, and getting the extra odds and ends needed to fill in the gaps for what we didn't have.

This week I decided to do a big photo dump with pictures from my phone and Logan's phone that didn't make it on the blog, but deserve an honorable mention.

I know these pictures are practically identical, but they were the only ones this crazy boy would slow down long enough to take! Logan had a great time exploring, playing, and simply trying to keep up with Jack.

Evelyn made marshmallow pie and brought it home to share with us.  She made a layer of scorched marshmallows for the base and uncooked marshmallows for the top layer.

Evelyn and Papa created one of their notorious fairy houses.

Also, Evelyn and Logan walked into a moose on a hike, and brought home a three foot long snake skin that they found in some bushes. 

Sleepover on Mom and Dad's bed! They told each other spooky stories until we moved them to their own beds.  I couldn't get enough of the giggling I heard coming from our room.

Evelyn and Jackson at Ev's Kindergarten Field Day.  Yes- they are holding hands in line.  Cute.

A random Family Night activity where we recorded pictures in our journals.

When these letters are in the right order they spell 'Papa.' For Father's Day we gave Logan a picture frame to go in his office at work.

Interesting story- Jackson hit Adalie and on a whim we asked Ads what his punishment should be. Her immediate response was that she wanted us to hold him down while she painted on his stomach.  Umm. Okay. This led to more body painting that you will see below.  It may have been more of a reward than a punishment, but oh well!  Sometimes you just have to have a little bit of fun.

This was one of my projects last month.  I couldn't find any Family Night boards that I liked, so I decided to make this one all with my own ideas.  Let me say that pinterest is a lot easier, but I feel proud that this was original.

My friend Joy and I went to a pottery paining place and had fun making our own creations.  This is the new birthday/special event plate for our family.  Our old special plate is in pretty sad shape.

Thanks to my siblings for this part of my baby gift!  I love this car seat cover!

The three photos above were all taken by budding photographers on my phone.

To the love of my life

Logan never ceases to amaze me.  I am so darn lucky that he is my husband! On Father's day I was thinking back on the week I had with Logan and I came to the realization that he is, in fact, Super Dad.  Here is a recap of this week.

Monday night Logan planned a great family night fully equipped with a campfire and smores.  He planned a great lesson and the kids had a blast.

He has been awesome keeping up with the dishes, doing all of my bending (I struggle in that area lately ), and helping me by going up and down our stairs when needed (another area in which I struggle).

On Wednesday Logan rushed to the Kroc center from work to help me juggle the four kids during swimming lessons. When lessons were over he had me sit in the hot tub while he showered the kids and got them ready to go.

Thursday night he took the kids while I went to the chiropractor and enjoyed a ladies night with my meet up group. When I arrived home I took Evelyn on a 'Mama Date' to Pizza Hut because we had filled up her 'Moma time' sticker chart.  I have dates planned with Adalie and Jackson this month as well.  

On Friday afternoon he had his weekly Papa afternoon with the kids while I worked.  Every week he does an activity with them and then goes to the Kroc center for rock climbing for an hour alone and for an hour on a 'Papa date' with one of the kids while the others are in play care. When I arrived home on Friday he had cleaned up the entire house, vacuumed upstairs, downstairs, and the stairs, and cleaned both bathrooms.  Really?  I am the most pampered woman ever!

When I arrived home on Friday night he had the car packed and was ready to take Adalie camping.  Oh yeah... This month he decided to take each of the older three kids on individual special camping trips.  The kids love this!  Logan and Adalie arrived at the camping site, hiked around together for a while and spent the night in the tent telling spooky stories.  It rained the entire night and when they woke up it was off to I-hop for a special breakfast (in leu of a campfire breakfast).  I must say that this was a perfect fit for our Adalie.  Of course Logan's phone battery died and we have no pictures!

Saturday we had a lazy morning with the kids, went swimming at the Kroc Center as a family, and had a wonderful date night that evening.  Perfect.

What a great week to show what an amazing person Logan is.  He is a wonderful father and husband.

Brag moment- On top of all the the great things he does at home he is really excelling at rock climbing!  Many of you don't know, but when Logan was in high school he climbed a lot and was even given an opportunity to make some money at it.  He did a lot of climbing in Provo, but when we moved to Cleveland there were no opportunities available.  We have climbed off an on at Q'emlin park in the Summertime, but nothing really extensive.  A few months ago we got Kroc Center passes which included free access to a climbing wall, and he decided to start climbing regularly again.  In the midst of being a great husband, father, and business owner he is in the best climbing shape of his life.  He won't tell you this, but it has come to the point that whenever he goes to the Kroc center one of the regulars or staff members has another climb that they set up specifically for Logan.  He has yet to leave without completing each of these climbs.  I am very impressed.

Father's Day
Logan deserved a very special day just for him.  He started his morning with breakfast in bed created by the kids, and then off to church.  After church he took the three older kids hiking at Q'emlin park while I had some Maren time at home.  Maren and I had a great time making a rib dinner along with Logan's favorite chocolate chip cookies. We topped off dinner with a hershey's chocolate pie (his favorite).

After dinner we did presents and Logan told the kids a bedtime story.  The story was about a very lucky dad who had four kids named Evelyn, Adalie, Jackson, and Maren.  The Papa in the story was kidnapped right after the kids had made breakfast in bed for him.  The kids followed clues and had to think of passwords that were related to how well they knew their Papa.  In the end the kids were able to rescue him because they knew him so well.  What a great story from a wonderful Papa and husband!

Funny kid moments- Lately the kids have been getting a kick out of the fact that Logan and I kiss each other on the mouth.  Probably three times a week we get requests from one or more kids that we kiss each other.  Afterwards there is a little bit of giggling and then one of them announces, "Wow.  You sure do love each other!" Very true. Very true.

Logan- You are my best friend and I love you with all of my heart!

I need to write this fast, as I could be ambushed any second. I am laying in the back yard and everything is very peaceful...but the kids are in the front and they are well armed with virtually every type of water gun imaginable. It's sort of scary.

Today, as soon as we got home from church, the kids found this set up at the top of the stairs along with a challenge to "choose your weapon and bring it on!" 

"Choose your weapon and bring it on!"

Let the games begin!

Jack was definitely the most willing to engage

Maren was the official water-gun-filler-upper

Eating popsicles after the action

It has been non-stop fun ever since. Summer is definitely here and this is one of the best ways I know of celebrating it.

Besides getting each other soaked, we have had a really good week! So much has happened that it is hard to remember it all. On a personal note, this week I sent three of my hardest boulder problems to date- all rated v6 (5.12c/d), and I feel like I am just barely beginning to get into shape for the climbing season. I have set a goal to send at least one v8 (5.13b) by the end of the summer. It'll take a lot of work, but I think it's doable. I try to climb at least 3 days a week, and each time I feel that I am a little bit stronger. At our local climbing area (Q'emiln Park) I have done all but 3 of the hardest routes in the guidebook- routes which I will probably do sometime in the next few weeks. It is fun to be able to have the time and energy to put into this. We'll see how it turns out.

On Wednesday we took the kids on a hike and it was one of the funnest outdoor things we have done with them so far. Rachel and Maren stayed together and I went exploring with the rest of them. We found caves, climbed, hiked to a waterfall, and collected rocks. As our kids get older these outing become more and more fun. We have set out a schedule where I will take each of them on a 1-on-1 papa backpacking trip this summer. We also have a lot of family camping trips planned which will be dependent on how Rachel is feeling with her pregnancy. I am looking forward to these trips and to exploring more and more of this beautiful corner of the country that we call home.

Tai Chi?

She knows how to strike a pose

She doesn't really know how to strike a pose. This pained expression is what we get whenever we ask her to smile.

Addy has really surprised me this summer with how willing she is to go out and take chances, makes mistakes, and get messy. 

Friday we have Papa Days while Rachel works. We had a fun afternoon together and then went to the Kroc Center where Evelyn and I went swimming (the Kroc staff watched the other kids in the play room). Evelyn is turning into quite the fish, and can now hold her breath for 15 seconds while swimming underwater. This is a big achievement for her and she feels very proud of herself for accomplishing it. All I say is that it is a good thing she can hold her breath because she still sinks like a stone in deep water and now I know I have more time to rescue her when needed. It's a good thing we have scheduled swimming lessons for her this Summer!

When Rachel got home from work on Friday, Jackson and I packed up my car and drove up to the mountains where we met with our local ward for the annual father-son camp out. After this weekend it is obvious to me that either the mountains were made for Jack, or Jack was made for the mountains, because this boy is insane! He played the whole time with kids who were more than twice his age, taking on the role of LEADER in various exploratory ventures into the woods. When other kids wanted to turn back, Jack encouraged them to push onward. He crossed logs over creeks and broke the trail when there was none. At one point a 9-year-old got stranded while balancing on a log and started crying, and it was Jack who ran back and held out his hand. "Don't worry," he said confidently, "I will rescue you." Jack then helped the boy balance as he finished the creek-crossing. I just tried my best to stay out of the way and let him do his thing, and I was a very proud papa. Jackson's self-assurance is something that I really admire about him and I hope this is an attribute that stays with him as he grows older. Unfortunately, my phone died after using it for a flashlight so I don't have any pictures. Sorry.

Yesterday when Jack and I got home, we got a baby-sitter and Rachel and I went to spend the afternoon with a couple of friends who we haven't talked to in years. It was really good to catch up with them, and we look forward to hanging out with them more since they recently moved into a house near us. When we got home we had dinner and put the kids to bed and then watched The Truman Show. I forgot how much I liked that movie. It always makes me wonder though, what Truman's life was like after he went through that door. 

Well, that's about it (I think) for this week. We are grilling in the back-yard tonight and I need to get things started.

Life. Is. Awesome. 

Have a good week!