Jump

We have been wanting to get the kids a trampoline for a while. This weekend he went down to Sam's and picked one out. The kids were so excited. I have so many great memories of our trampoline growing up....the sleepovers (were everyone ends up in the middle in a big pile)...the creative (and dangerous) made up games (my favorite involved an inner tube and back in my day there was no safety enclosures...good times)....spraying the trampoline down with water in the summer... my mom's trampoline aerobics(how else do you exercise with five kids)...my brothers jumping off the shed onto it...every year trying to figure out how we could move it up to the pool area...the injures (which were surprisingly few)....and just wonderful times with my family. We haven't decided whether to bury it in the ground 0r not (Wes votes for not...mainly because it requires less work). No matter how it ends up, I know there are many good memories to be made:)

The Thing About Boys....

The other night I was giving Evan a bath and a thought came to me. I was washing his dirty little toes and I thought to myself...Boys are like really soiled laundry...they need to be stain treated first. It doesn't matter how cute I dress him...if there is mud he is in it...if there is a bug he will try to capture it...and hot or cold outside he back in sweating. Sometimes I feel like I to just need to let Evan soak in the tub for awhile...you know loosen up the dirt and grim he has collected throughout the day...Sometimes I feel like I need to drain the water and start fresh so I am not just cleaning him with his own filth....Soak-Wash-Rinse-Repeat....little boys. But my favorite part...how he smells when he is all clean. (even if it only lasts a minute)

The Party

This year Makayla decided to go on a birthday date instead of a big party. Of course we still had a family party with her cousin Leah and best friend Pearl. It was alot of fun!

Wes designed the "pin the bow" game. I thought he did a great job.

The pinata was a little different. You pulled strings instead of hitting it. (I know where is the fun in that) Evan pulled the lucky string and all the candy fell out. Sad for the girls....no on was a match for Uncle Bryan's lighting quick reflexes. My favorite part was when I saw Pearl sitting quietly with her candy bag and I noticed it barely had any candy in it. I asked her if she wanted me to help her get to more. Her response, "No thanks, this is all the sweets I need." I wish I could adapt that attitude.

Makayla was so excited to turn six. I don't know where all the time has gone. She is such a blessing to our family...here are a few of my favorite things about her...

*She is such a girl...she loves all things pink, princess, and sparkly
*Her sense of humor (even if her jokes don't make any sense)
*Her blue eyes and blonde hair (so unexpected)
*How sweet she is to Evan
*That she doesn't like french fries (I know she will look back at this and also wonder...why??)
*Her love of learning
*That she stand up for herself and what she believes in
*Her sense of style and love of shoes (she may not look like me, but we are kindred spirits)
*She is very helpful (most of the time)
*She loves art and drawing
....she is my girl and I have so many wonderful things to look forward to with her...Happy Birthday!

The Cake

The cake....what was I thinking! I blame it on Megan and all her big ideas. Heaven forbid we have a simple cake (you know...the store bought kind). I was in charge of the baking and Megan was in charge of the decorating. When I asked Makayla what kind of cake she wanted she told me she wanted strawberry. (I have no idea where she came up with that) I had alot of fun making the cake...I have never had a strawberry cake before. It was really good and Megan did a great job decorating it. We didn't give Makayla any idea what we were doing. She was really surprised and when she blew her candle out I remembered why I put all the time into that cake. Megan is already planning next years cake!