work for hire

Grandad built this rack to store firewood and offered to pay Gwendolyn $25 if she would paint it with a coat of wood sealant. She gladly accepted (this kid loves saving and counting her money -- if you ask her what she plans to be when she grows up, she replies, "A philanthropist"). Though she didn't quite finish before we left town, she worked hard and was thrilled with the $18 she earned.

run sprinkler boy run

The boys got a little hot and sweaty while helping Granny in her garden, so Granny helped to cool them off.

With Todd busy preparing for next week's workshop, I took the kids up to Dallas so we could play with grandparents and aunties and cousins and uncle BJ this week. We're all looking forward to it!

31

Today is Granny and Grandad's thirty-first wedding anniversary, and the family was able to get together to celebrate. Here's to another thirty one years!

travelog, day 5

Monday was a bittersweet day for us. We had to say goodbye to the Turley family (which meant Gwennie saying goodbye to Zoe). Thankfully we have our memories, and this photo Todd put together of the girls dancing to a song from Gwennie's playlist, "Wildcat," transposed to the Serengeti.

During the reunion, the girls decided to perform the song as an interpretive dance, which they choreographed extensively outside before coming in to present their feral moves.

We spent the afternoon and evening driving to Grandma and Grandpa's house (something which Linus, in particular, had been looking forward to) with a stop for dinner at "Pickle's Place." This restaurant is in the tiny Idaho town of Arco, but boasts a giant rocking chair and some pretty good fried pickles.

travelog, day 4

We attended the sacrament meeting of a local ward, which was very nice. Our group was large, so we weren't all able to sit together. At one point during the meeting, Casper decided he wanted to go and sit with his Daddy, so he scrambled off the pew, walked to the back of the chapel, turned and walked straight out the door. Thank you to Grandpa for going after my boy and delivering him safely to Todd.

Lydia with baby Gabriel, Zoe with baby Felix, Gwennie with baby Christian

We spent the rest of the day with family, of course. There were so many babies to be held (three boys born this year) and cousins to play with. I love the sweet friendship between Gwennie and Zoe. They enjoy each other so much and play so sweetly together. I'm glad they have each other (since 17 of the 20 cousins are boys).

The girls were out back "exercising" with crunches and push-ups before we snapped this photo. Fun game, kids!

travelog, day 3

We celebrated the 4th of July with a little family reunion. Lots of time spent together with good food, good company and lots of kids (18 of the 20 cousins were there). We had an auction of handmade goods, just like last year, and to include the kids, we made them all little goody-bags (uh, just like last year). This is certainly one of my favorite traditions.
That night, Gwennie had a sleepover with Zoe at the hotel and Todd and I put our other two exhausted kids down for bed early (sorry boys -- no fireworks for you this year).

Then we drove to a town about half an hour outside of Boise and visited with some of my friends from High School/Arizona who I haven't seen in years and years. It was so wonderful to reconnect with them and great to catch up and see all their cute little kids.

travelog, day 2: the wedding

The main reason for our trip to Idaho was to attend and celebrate the wedding of Todd's brother Stephen to Shawna. The wedding was perfection. It took place at a ranch just outside of Boise. The ceremony and reception were both outside on the lawn overlooking a beautiful pond. Gwennie and her cousins Zoe and Lydia were flower girls.

They were so adorable and thrilled with their duties, realizing how important it was for the bride to walk on a bed of flower petals.

And the brothers of the flower girls

The reception was just about as kid-friendly as they come with sparklers, bubbles, a bounce house and a pinata (in the form of a wedding cake topped with the bride and groom, made by the bride and groom) with great food which included hot dogs, hamburgers, cupcakes and raspberry lemonade.

Casper was an absolute junkie. He drank cup after cup of lemonade, waiting for strangers to refill his glass and then wandering around swiping neglected cupcakes off of other people's plates. Not really wedding etiquette, but it was amazing to watch him in action.

After the reception, most of the family drove to a nearby church building where Todd's brother Ian blessed his new baby son, Christian. What a blessing that we could all be there for this event, since Ian and Sarah now live in Alabama.

And some other favorite photos from the day:

Nana and Casper

The four toddlers. A re-creation of last year's "four babies" photo

travelog, day 1

Last night we drove to Dallas and spent the night at Granny and Grandad's house. Today we got up at 5.30 in the morning and hopped a plane to Idaho. It was actually a couple of planes. The kids did amazingly well. After the first leg of the trip, a man seated near us on the plane said of Casper, "He's done so well on this flight! I've actually enjoyed all the little noises he's been making." Music to the ears of any mother who has had a child scream through an entire flight.

During the second leg of the trip, Casper actually fell asleep in Todd's arms. Of course, I made Todd hand Casper over to me since holding sleeping babies is my absolute favorite activity in the world.We arrived in Boise in time for a late lunch with Stephen and Shawna, Ian and Sarah and Shawna's family and friends. I want to always remember how excited our server was about Linus's red hair ("Rojo!") and how shy this reaction made little Linus.

bonkers

It was a rainy day here in Dallas, so this morning we took all the kids to a gigantic indoor rat maze and they loved it. The big kids had been here before, but this was Casper's first time and that kid has no inhibitions. Linus was a little leery and wanted Mama to be up there crawling around with him. And I did, for a while, but I can only feel hot and claustrophobic in a place that smells like gym socks for so long. Next time we're bringing Daddy.

No good photos of Gwennie -- she was much too busy to stop and wave to the camera.

nature walk

We spent the morning with cousins trekking around a local wildlife preserve. We ran the kids ragged on our 2+ mile hike, but enjoyed seeing turtles (including a big grandfather of a snapping turtle, with algae along his tail and shell), beaver-gnawed trees, animal tracks in the mud, birds (swallows, finches, cardinals, herons), and of course, animal excrement.

day trip

Today I drove to Austin with the kids so we could lunch and play with some of our favorite people -- Granny, Grandad and Auntie Tiffany. Also, we went to Costco.

post-holiday road trip

We spent a surprisingly balmy day down in Galveston with Granny and Grandad. The kids thought that feeding the gulls from the ferry was just about the coolest thing in the world. So did the gulls.We had a drive around the peninsula (thanks to Ike, there's not a whole lot left out there) and dinner at one of our favorite restaurants. We also spent a little time on the beach before the sun went town and the kids could have stayed there all night long -- splashing in the waves, collecting seashells, digging in (and throwing) sand. It was a very fun little trip and I'm so glad we decided to head down there.

wildlife in the pelican state

This was a day for the kids, though all the adults had a grand time as well. We went to a local wildlife park. We've been to a couple of these before and the kids always love them (our kids adore animals). This one was neat because we rode around in a open wagon pulled by a tractor (instead of driving through in our own vehicle). This was an advantage for the kids because they had a lot more access to the animals than they usually do. Gwendolyn was very serious about the feeding of the animals and determined to get a giraffe to eat from her hand. Linus was eager and interested, but intimidated by the larger beasts. Casper loved being allowed to throw food out the window. The day ended with long and much needed naps for Todd, Linus and Casper and a late night of game playing for the adults.

new orleans

A fun (but cold and rainy) day in the city. Thanks to my cousin Michael, we had a VIP tour of the National WWII Museum. A really fascinating museum and a very interesting tour, this was enjoyed by all (except perhaps Linus, who likes to bellow his complaints in places that echo. A toy airplane from the gift shop set him right). We lunched at Mother's and then toured the city a little before finishing the day with a trip to a shrimp boat for 50 pounds of fresh shrimp.

thanksgiving in the pelican state

We headed to my Aunt Janie's home in Louisiana for the Thanksgiving weekend. Thanksgiving is a little blurry for me because during the drive on Wednesday night, I started throwing up in the van (and continued throwing up through the night. Gwendolyn joined in the fun, too). I stayed in bed most of Thursday but the kids had a fun day, running around outside and fishing in my aunt's pond, playing with cousins and watching Wall-E. I roused myself for late afternoon family pictures and ate a single dinner roll for my Thanksgiving dinner.