One Chance I'd take over and over again

PB and J on the countertop.


Swimming at the lake


View across to the main beach.

Colten gave Chance a black eye for his birthday. His little brother has an awfully hard head.

I guess holding his nose helps Chance think, shortly after doing so, the light bulb went on and Chance figured out where his next clue was.

On the trail to treasure.

Thinking.

Oh so close!

Victory at last. I was happy that Chance was actually the one who found his treasure.

First lessons with Dad. This is what happens when you let Dad do the birthday shopping.

Chance turned SIX this week! My little man. I love Chance. He can be so stubborn at times but for the most part he is a very good kid. He is kind and giving, smiley, happy and cuddly. Aaron was out running errands and volunteered to do Chance's birthday shopping for me, of course I took him up on it. I should have known better! My poor poor neighbors.

All day long I kept thinking about how blessed we are to live where we live. It is so beautiful and perfectly suited to Aaron and I's personalities (Only in the summer for me. I need to be a snowbird :)) We started the day out with waffles at Chance's request. For lunch we had his all time favorite PB & J. I don't know any kid that likes peanut butter sandwiches as much as Chance. Then we headed out to the lake. The lake is pretty close to our house and a great spot to cool off in this 90 degree, scorching weather (he he). The water there is warm and fairly clean for a lake and most of all, it is just plain pretty out there. Then we came home had dinner and started a treasure hunt for his birthday presents. I am a sucker for treasure hunts, ever since my sixteenth birthday I have been hooked on treasure hunts (Thanks Cori and Shannon and whoever else helped planned that. That was the best treasure hunt ever!) The kids had a great time figuring out the clues and we enjoyed many laughs watching the light bulb come on. At the end of the treasure hunt, stashed under a tree, was Chance's treasured BB gun. I wanted to thump Aaron when he told me what he got Chance, but after seeing Chance's excitement it was hard to be mad. He told us about how he had wished on a star the night before for a BB gun and how his wish had come true and that he had the best dad ever. I found it funny that he instantly knew Dad had bought the gun for him and not mom. Funny how well kids know their parents. We stayed in the field for a while and all the kids had a turn with target practice. We have some pretty good little shots in this family. Then we came in for cake and ice cream and Chance opened all his cards from family. Thanks for the kind wishes and bills ya'll sent his way. We ended the night with hide and go seek in the dark (another game I am a sucker for, it's never hard to talk me into a game of hide-in-seek). It was a very exciting, tiresome day with my sweet little kids. Thank goodness for non-birthdays so I can recover. Happy Birthday Chance, I've had a wonderful six years with you.

Flashback

Just a couple of little things I wanted to blog before I forget them. Fathers days was a fun day. It was so much fun to watch the kids try to show Aaron how much they love him. They helped make him breakfast in bed. Gave him the cards and coupons they had made in school. All day long he was showered with gifts (used toys) wrapped up in blankets and towels. The cutest one was when we went to bed, I turned the covers back and was arranging the pillows and under Aaron's pillow was a collection of plastic dinosaurs and action figures the Chance had left there for Aaron to find. It was a sweet way to end the day.

On the 4th of July we spent the day with our neighbors. That week spareribs had went on sale and we were able to get 10 pounds of ribs for $10 which was a smoking deal. Aaron made some of his best ribs ever. They were delicious and really hit the spot. After dinner we went over to the neighbors and had a bonfire with smores and watched them light off their hundreds of dollars of fireworks. We definately got the best end of the deal. We provided dinner and they provided the fireworks. The kids sang the star spangled banner all day long and we are still trying to convince Anna that it is not "Jose can you see." Cait declared it her new favorite holiday as long as we live in Washington where we can set off our own fireworks. It was a wonderfully relaxing day. The only thing I wished we could have done, is went to see a parade somewhere. I have decided that I really enjoy parades, next year I will have to seek one out.

Lunch on Top of the World

We feel like we have been hanging out on the bottom a bit lately and decided it was time to feel like we were on top of things again, so we went and had lunch on top of the world a couple of times this week.

I love this picture. Anna was like a little Gazelle on this hike, hopping and bouncing up and down the mountain. I caught her in the air as she was jumping down to the next log.


That was the mountain we just climbed behind them.


These next couple of pictures are of a bike trail about a mile from our house. It is great to run down too. We have hiked this area quite a few times and always find a new trail to take. This one is by far one of the coolest trails we have been on. It had really cool obstacles all throughout the trail. This picture is one of the many plank bridges.




Some crazy sideways jump they had built.

This was the top of the mountain where we had lunch. We had invited the neighbor and her little girl to go with us too.

Colten having lunch with Dad.

Anna and Autumn with the Maple Valley area behind them.

Aaron and Colten on top of the world. Colten had a pretty good nap going up the mountain.

Anna, Autumn and bud.

Our Little Artist

Chance has a great imagination and it really comes out in his drawings. He loves to sit and draw and color. Aaron and I really enjoy having him explain to us about his drawings. The one below is one of our favorites. I am hoping he will follow in Aaron's footsteps and develop this talent as he grows.

A quick explanation: Dad (Aaron) is hanging from the helicopter. He was stabbed with a knife and is about to be attacked by that eagle flying towards him. He barely escaped from the bear that was chasing him through the woods. Chance's explanation was much, much, much, :) more detailed, maybe I will have him help me edit this later. There is even a fallen log in the forest and the cave the bear just came out of behind him.

Huh?

Cody:
Yesterday as we were pulling into a store parking lot, Cody says to Aaron and I, "Mom and Dad can we adopt an 'african brother', I hear they are a lot of fun. My friend Capri from school is getting one." Aaron and I busted up laughing, it was like she was talking about a new toy or something. Cody has never ceased to amaze us with the things that leave her mouth.

Anna:
Last Thursday Aaron and I were cleaning up dinner and heard a loud gulping noise. I didn't think much about it, but Aaron looked over and saw Anna staring up at him with wide eyes. She looked like she had seen a ghost and he started questioning her as to what happened. She told him that she had swallowed a penny. I started questioning her at this point and found out that she had actually swallowed a quarter! Aaron was wigging out a little bit and went to get some answers online. I decided that since she was breathing perfectly fine, we didn't need to take her into the ER, that there wasn't much they could or would do at this point. (I hate taking my kids in only to find out that there is nothing they can do.) So we started watching every bathroom trip, but still haven't seen the illusive quarter. I have to admit, that we are not looking all that well, but I am still leary and keep hoping that she doesn't end up with some crazy blockage. Ugh!

Nothing says happiness like a .....

RIDING LAWN MOWER! A guy from church was getting rid of his riding lawn mower and asked Aaron if he wanted it. He told him it wasn't working, but if Aaron wanted to fix it he could have it. Of course Aaron wanted it! He has been wanting one for forever, even when we didn't have grass to mow. I swear Aaron can fix anything, he had that thing running in a couple of hours. It wasn't put all the way back together in these pictures, but it is now. After the grass was all mowed, he started pulling the kids around on sleds behind the mower just for an excuse to use his mower. Boys and their toys. Look at the happiness radiating from him.

Whistling away while he's cutting the grass. Oh yeah, I think his tractor's sexy!

This next one is just for fun. Aaron has been building us a shed with a really steep pitch to the roof. So to roof the shed, he decided to build himself a harness. He wanted to try it out before getting up on the roof, so he grabbed the dog's leash and hooked himself up to the porch. While he was up there the log he was standing on rolled out from underneath him and off the porch. This is what I saw when I opened the door to a soft knocking sound. I couldn't help myself, I let him hang there while I went to find the camera. Ha! Life is never dull with Aaron around.

Jeffers Visit - One "Fly" Week! ;)

Whew!!! This is a lot of pictures, but I think it pretty much sums up our week up with the Jeffers.

Aaron and Holli at Ocean Shores, WA. You have to love Spencer in the background.

The is in the Quinalt rain forest. The trees were fascinating there. It was fun to see, I can't wait to make it to the Hoh rain forest, that is supposed to be even better.

Aaron and bud. Have I told you how much I love taking a dog with us everywhere in our 7 passenger minivan. He makes 8 and makes himself very comfortable!:)

Hollow tree in the rain forest. That is Cait, Spence and Cody at the end there

I am concerned that Aaron may have become a tree hugger during our stay in Washington.

I like this one a lot. All 10 of the kiddos lined up by age - cute kids!

Chance with his collection of crab shells

Cait with her perfect sand dollar, she found two but gave one to Aaron. I haven't found any cool shells on the beach in a long time. It was fun to find these.

Mady the cutie pie.

Cameron with his sand dollars.

This is what Mady and Anna looked like during the kids water fight - Little princesses- I like Mady's unmatched shoes. Isn't that taboo for the little queen of shoes?

Fun picture of Spencer with his find on the beach.

I still can't get over this. I think the dog slept with Spencer and Cameron every night. He was pretty sad when they left.

This cracks me up. Here is Chance, Spencer and Payton bracing themselves for the upcoming water fight. That is Chance and Spencer hiding behind the snow sleds and Payton grabbed Aaron's hawk (for doing wall texture) and was trying to hide behind it. :)

Cody dipping her line in at Deception Pass. We didn't feel the need to tell the kids they were using fresh water poles in salt water. We just let all the other fisherman laugh at them.

Anna was pretty sure she knew how to fish all by herself so we turned her loose with the fishing pole and untangled it later.

Buddies! Cody and Aaron have always been good buddies, it is fun to watch them together.

Payton had a great time watching the other fishermen, finding rocks, and climbing the cliffs here.

Aaron was like a kid again with the boys all week long. This is them ninja fighting.

Bud welcomed Holli as soon as she got in the door. Holli laid down shortly after getting here and Bud joined right in. She especially loved it when he tried to lick her face :)

On the days the kids were in school Holli and I took the kids down to the park to fish and play on the toys. It was really frustrating fishing, because we could see the trout in the water but never caught anything. I suppose that is what you get when you have Holli and I trying to help you fish. Sorry boys, I will work on my fishing skills before the next time you come.

Spencer trying to catch the big one.

Holli and her kids came to visit us and from the minute they arrived life was full throttle. Aaron flew into California to help her drive up and when Aaron drives, he doesn't fool around. They arrived at 6:30 in the morning on Sunday after leaving Grandpa and Grandma's around noon on Saturday. I stayed up the night before watching all the movies that Aaron doesn't enjoy, like Pride and Prejudice, thinking I could sleep in and be ready for their arrival in the afternoon. Right from then I have been sleep deprived and have not recovered. There was not one single night that we went to bed before midnight. Anyone who knows Holli, knows that she is twice as much fun after 10 p.m. In the mornings we made enough pancakes, eggs, or french toast to feed a small country or at least the 10 kids. The days were filled with fishing, boxing, exploring, day trips to the ocean, bike rides, the rain forest, deception pass, playing with the dog, water fights, Aaron leading Cameron and Spencer to believe he was cool and convincing them to bring back the word "fly", dishes, lots of laundry, and making more food. We had a great time Jeffers! Can't wait until next year :) Thanks for the visit.