4th of July Weekend

My whole family is here!! We went to Lincoln City, OR for the weekend and I have never laughed so much in my life. Here's our weekend in pictures:

 (These are all my brothers' bellies. I won't say which is which. They liked our menu for the week)

 Ben tried surfing ( I wasn't there to witness it so there aren't any pictures.) I think he was glad for the wetsuit. Brrr...

 Jason didn't have a wetsuit. He was so cold when he got out of the water that the kids had to bury him in the sand so the hot sand could warm him up. The sand was so hot that it was burning our feet. He was completely red when he finally got out of his sandy bed.

 Big surprise. Jason's cold again. David and Sara seem fine though. :-)

 I love my brothers.

 Jason buried his feet in the sand and got himself completely stuck. It was pretty funny.

 I love how short Jason looks since he's buried in sand. It make me look extra tall.

 Tyler buried himself and acted like he was sitting in a chair.

 Tyler was the only one brave enough to go out on the surfboard with Ryan. He loved it!

 Then Tori got sand in her eye and we had to go home.

Guess who lost her first tooth!

Nicole has a loose tooth. I mean, it was REALLY loose. It was gross watching her flip it back and forth with her tongue. Whenever she took a bite, it hurt. It was time for that tooth to go! Ben came to the rescue and put her out of her misery. (see video above-don't judge me because I have a load of laundry on the floor.)

We were afraid that the tooth might get lost under her pillow, so we put the tooth in a ring box and put it on her dresser. Just in case the Tooth Fairy didn't know where it was, we left her a note:

She was VERY excited. I wasn't sure she would ever fall asleep. This morning she ran into my room with this:

What's the going rate for a tooth nowadays? We give a dollar. I don't know if I'm overly generous or a cheapskate, but the kids like it so I don't care.
We are ushering in the days of teeth-that-are-too-big-for-my-mouth and awkwardness. Good times!

Summer Fun

My goal for this summer is to worry less about keeping my house clean and more about having fun with my kids. Less TV, more art projects and trips to the park. Less gourmet food and more picnics.

Sounds good on paper, a little harder to actually do it. Lucky for me, I found a great blog with a bajillion great ideas and decided to do one of them. I got the full directions here. Here's how our Bubble Prints turned out:

Preschool Graduation

I'm so proud of my little girl! Nicole has spent 3 years at Mill Plain United Methodist Preschool and finally graduated. She loved her teachers and her friends. Now it's time to say goodbye to preschool and hello to kindergarten in the fall. Congratulations, Nicole and the rest of the class of 2024!

A Weekend at the Coast

Belt Advancement

Tyler and Nicole both take classes at Kanthak Karate. They LOVE it. I love it too. I love the teachers, I love the discipline, focus, athleticism, and confidence that my children learn there. I love that it's less than a mile from my house. I am so proud of the progress they have made. Nicole has only been taking classes for a few months, but Tyler has been in for a year and he's doing amazing! Now he wants to be a karate teacher when he grows up. Not a bad goal. Here's the videos of Tyler and Nicole receiving their new belts.

 

Nice Work!

Tyler: "Mom for being such a great mom, you get this sticker. It says 'nice work', so... nice work, mom."

How do I feel about this?