Emi's 6!!!

Emi had a wonderful birthday party on Sunday. The waterslide was huge and the kids had a blast, except Ellie who slid down on her face the first time and decided she wasn't fly with the slide. Chloe and Emi slid down together many, many times. At one time we had 5 or 6 kids at once.

The other great part were the snowcones. I think Billy had 3. Maybe 4. Notice the snow cone juice down his belly. That's enjoyment.

At one point the breaker blew and the slide started to deflate. In order to save the water in the pool part (and save Travis' yard from another flooding) the kids grabbed on and held it together. That's teamwork. They were so cute and intent on the job- they barely lost a drop.

We all loved the twinkie/ding dong/rice krispy treat cake. So cute and fun, and, I must admit, delicious. Twinkies are good. Ding Dongs are good. Rice Krispies- good. The other food was delicious as well, and Natalie outdid herself (as always) on the food and decor. We were truly under the sea.

And how sweet is that girl? Six? I can't believe it. Happy Birthday, sweet Emily! We love you!

Bartlett Lake

We decided to take advantage of the gorgeous weather Saturday Morning and head to the lake. We brought a few fishing poles, a container of worms, a few snacks, and of course Mom's camera.

Hayden finally found a stick big enough for him.

Chloe liked fishing for about 7 minutes- 5 minutes longer than Mommy enjoys fishing. She spent most of the time playing by me, eating her snack and running from the bees. She REALLY does not like bees.
Ellie actually enjoyed fishing. She stood there quite patiently, and would reel her line in. It was pretty funny because Hayden kept telling her that she caught a worm. She was pretty excited about it.
Taking a quick break from the excitement.Hayden started out in the traditional fisherman's stance. Sittin' and Waitin'.He then moved on to a more active form of fishing- the net.
He finally decided to just go native- lets just catch those fish with our bare hands. needless to say, we did not have a fish dinner. But we did have a LOT of fun.

Progress!

I can't believe those girls of mine! Just a few weeks ago, they were scared to be in the big pool without me. Now look at them- jumping in off the side and swimming across the entire shallow end of the pool! Chloe decided a few day ago to start jumping in off the side. Ellie decided to do the same. Chloe decided yesterday to try to jump in and swim to the steps. Ellie decided to do the same. Do you sense a theme?? And I know it looks like Ellie won't quite make it- but she does, every time! I think we need to work on her form.

I took these movies this morning, before school. Yes, I let my kids go swimming before school. That's what a cool mom I am. Actually, I was dying for AC to see them swim, so there they were at 6:58 a.m. in the pool and showing off for dad.

And, of course, after a brisk morning swim you need to eat breakfast. In the nude. I look out there to see this view, and I couldn't help but smile. I love how the kids can be naked, or be around a naked kid and not even bat an eyelash. Its totally normal to eat breakfast completely naked, right?

Isn't she lovely?

Just playing around with a picture I took of Emily the other night.

It was an itsy-bitsy, teeny weeny . . .

yellow-flowered cute bikini!
Nana sent Ellie this "baby-soup", and she loves it. It is tiny- and she keeps flashing the world her nubbins, but she loves it anyway. I didn't think she would like it, because she has a tankini that she refuses to wear. I don't know what goes on in that girl's head sometimes. She is pretty darn cute in it, but there is no way I'm letting her wear a suit like this in a few more years.

Sleepover!!!

We had the 3 Deatsch cousins over last night for a sleepover! What fun we had. We slipped and slided, swam in the big pool (you gotta watch Abi- she thinks she can swim), ate homemade chicken nuggets and french fries, played games, colored, played the Wii and of course I insisted on a photo shoot.

The kids thought this was pretty funny- from their vantage point they couldn't see AC holding her up.

The bigger girls played dress-up and let me take a few pictures. Emi and Chloe also set up their own beauty salon and Abi and Ellie were their first (and only) customers.
If only Abi could sit still long enough. . .

The boys went right to sleep in Hayden's room, although Hayden informed me that Billy snores- loud.

The girls, well, they were a little more giggly. Abi went to bed first and was asleep by the time I put the big girls in there. Well, whispering woke up Squishy and then she joined in the party. There were giggles and laughs and shrieks and shouts of "night night!" over and over again. It was finally quiet by 9 or so, which I didn't think was too bad.

Everyone made it up at the crack of dawn, and we managed to get 8 people out the door by 8:30 for church. We got lots of looks when AC and I walked in the door with 6 kids in tow. The kids were all so cute holding hands and being so nice. It almost made me want 3 more of my own. Just kidding, it didn't.

We had so much fun with our cousins- we will do it again, soon!

My Little Mermaids

I started the summer with the intention of teaching Chloe to swim. She is five, and needs to know. I spent a week at the beginning of summer teaching Emi and Chloe the basics, and making them practice. Emi caught on pretty quickly, but Chloe was not interested. She could make it to the side if she fell in, but she was not enjoying it one bit. Fast forward to August. After seeing Emi swim at Hayden's birthday party, Chloe is a bit more interested. In fact, she started practicing by herself off to the side of the pool, so she could grab onto the wall if needed. Gradually her confidence grew, and she was getting better and better.

Meanwhile, miss Ellie has been asking me to teach her to swim all summer, so I've been helping her practice kicking and monkey walks and that sort of thing, not thinking she was ready to actually swim. Well, she proved me wrong. Not to be outdone by the big girls, Ellie decided she was ready. She started by swimming a few strokes to me from the steps, and then back. Maybe 2 feet at a time. That was Monday. This video was taken on Thursday. The girl can swim. She is 3 years and 4 months old. We are amazed!

I'm very proud of both of my girls- they decided they wanted to swim, and here they are. I'm also proud of Hayden, for showing them how its done, and helping Ellie practice. Next Summer: The Diving Board.