Bonding Time With Jude.

I would be remiss to not document these bonding moments with Jude - the ones that inevitability happen right smack in the middle of a meal (just when I sit down after serving the second helping of food to the kids or refill a spilled cup of milk): "Mama! I have to go poop!!". Why always during mealtime?

We race to the bathroom of Jude's choosing (did I mention that the new bathroom is rounding completion? I'll have to post pics of that - it's the one Jude is in these photos) and he begins to assault me with questions or just tell funny little stories to pass the time. "Mama? When is Papa coming home? What is a fireman? Why is he gone for so many days? I haven't seen him in so long! Mama? Where does poop come from? Why do we eat blueberries?"
He pauses to think what he will say next.
You'll notice he has bed head and pj's on here, which means it was during breakfast.
Jude really is a different kid when we hang out alone - more social, more sweet, less competitive. It's amazing how siblings bring out the worst in him sometimes!
And I want to remember sweet little pictures like this - where his hands don't reach the water yet. I'll be sad in some ways when he is big enough to reach all by himself.

East Lake Camping Trip.

We took a weekend camping trip to East Lake a couple of weekends ago. It involved a lot of biking and boating, beautiful weather and even more beautiful scenery. Oregon really is an incredible state.Colin took people around in his boat.
Juliet really didn't like wearing this quite constrictive life vest. She is also wearing a hat I made her!

I could not keep her out of the water.

Goat is the king of the world =) (cheesy "Titanic" reference - sorry.).

The little boys LOVED going out on the boat.
Juliet checks out the water for the first time.

Sissy's Swinging.

Sometimes when it gets real hot, Juliet likes to run for the swing and bask in the breeze. And sometimes when Samuel gets real bored during Jude's nap time, he will swing Juliet.
And sometimes when it's really really hot, I let Juliet do things like this:
Diapers really are unnecessary outside, right? =)

Jude's Oddity.

Those of you who know Jude, know that he's a bit odd and very much entertaining. The latest thing I laugh when hearing is, "Mama. I took the costumes off of the blueberries." And here is what he means:I give my kids frozen blueberries for dessert a lot of the time. And every time, Jude peels off the skins and eats those first. Which can be a bit annoying when I want my kids in bed and he is still there at the table, peeling the eight blueberry meticulously.
So serious about it too.
It just makes him happy.

Samuel Swims!

Just for my own records, Samuel swam all by himself during swim lessons yesterday! Here is evidence (super grainy, I know. It's the best I can do with a squirmy baby on my hip while shooting): Samuel crawls out of the water after he is released.
Here's is Jude learning how to dive in his Advanced Seal class:
Doggy paddle!
Jude retires to the small pool after his lesson and sits closely to his teacher, never socializing and rarely sliding down the slide.

Scrapbook Page (August)

I had my monthly scrapbook night last night and came up with this:I realized how happy I am to have this one thing on the calendar every month because most of the time, it's the only for sure thing I do for myself with friends in any given month. I seem to be in a season of serving my family first, but this gives me a nice little break. Ironically enough, I scrapbook for my kids to enjoy later in life =).
The morning after, my boys always wake up to my scrapbook-overloaded living room and ask to play with a million things. "Mama? Can I play with this cutter? What is this paint stuff? Mama? Can I open this?"

Jude basked in the Martha Stewart punch this morning:

Makeup Time.

Multiple times during the day there are a few quiet moments and I have to scramble to see what the baby is up to. Usually it is this:
She has an obsession with my makeup and jewelry. I try to encourage her to use the Victoria's Secret makeup, but she insists on MAC every time - I guess it's genetic.

Wrestling.

Tomorrow night I will be scrapbooking a page about the boys loving each other and in my attempt to stage a photo op, here's what I ended up with this morning: Samuel insists on doing his "crazy eye" as he calls it:
Jude also has a crazy face contribution:

Fourth of July

I've been meaning to get these pictures up since, well, the fourth of July. Anyhoo, here they are. My brother and his family came over to celebrate with us.

Ella did NOT like the fireworks. Samuel did.


Juliet loved watching the fireworks and even tried to run toward them on numerous occasions.
This was the water can that the fireworks were extinguished into. And Juliet loved mucking around in it.

I love this picture.



Joel and Eden.



Colin teaching his boys about fire =).