June: Part 1 - the end of school

Wow. We are at the beginning of August now, and June seems like a lifetime ago. I had almost completely forgotten about Hunter's month+ long illness culminating in this torture device...the chest xray. I am all about following medical advice and getting necessary testing done, but I cringed when Hunter's pediatrician ordered a chest xray after pneumonia antibiotics hadn't been successful. Having a barely 1 year old with pneumonia is just draining, physically and emotionally, and he had been sick for almost 6 weeks. This is our second child getting a chest xray, so I knew going in that it had to be me, not Alex, to assist and that it was going to be miserable. They just scream and scream and there's nothing you can do except stand there and say you're sorry. I was really glad that this time I am not pregnant though, because I was able to stand right next to him and hold his hands, unlike last time when I was across the room out of Olivia's eyesight. However, Hunter made it through and after a week on a different antibiotic, the pneumonia was gone and he was able to figure out how to sleep and eat and be a kid without being held all the time. I'm super glad to put that whole adventure behind us.

In the beginning of June, the kids were still in school, and one Friday (pajama day for O) was also National Donut Day! Free donuts in moscow (about a 15 minute drive) was worth getting dressed fast and heading out the door super early in the morning :)

All of the kids loved their sugary 2nd breakfast, but none as much as Olivia. She couldn't believe that she didn't even have to share!

My school lunches got less and less creative as the spring wore on. 10 days until the end of school officially saw our first bag of chips in the lunch box. I am gearing up for next year by having O help me find easy make-ahead lunches to try out this fall. I will officially have 2 school lunches to pack, and kids who are old enough to join the assembly line of packing them :)

The kids were still in Tball through most of June, but most of the exciting action happened on the sidelines. I will never forget how SLOW preschool Tball is, but the kids had a great time.

Nope. It didn't break the camera :)

This picture just cracks me up. It's my reminder that I started doing some work for my dad's business in the evenings, but the work involved this book, which my dad has been carrying around in his briefcase for as long as I can remember. He should have it bronzed or placed on top of his tombstone, but instead he lent it to me to introduce me to the magic of measurement conversions. I am hooked, to say the least ;)

This sassy 2 year old is not really terrible, but definitely has her share of attitude. On one of Carter's last days of school, she insisted on bringing all of these things with her to school dropoff. I only have one rule, which is that if you bring it you have to carry it, and she succeeded on that account, so I guess all is good. Baby, Baby, Baby, the silverware, Mimi, and her purse had a great outing (and maybe I should help her name her babies a little more creatively).

Ants on a log for the win for after-school snack!

I just can't get over her hair in this picture. She's so much fun to be around every day, I can't wait for our fall adventures with her as the oldest kid at home.

Carter's last day at Montessori was June 8th. His preschool is in the old high school building, but I just love how little this picture makes him look. I can't believe he is going to all day Kindergarten this fall.

All of the afternoon preschool graduates. Most of his friends are staying with Montessori for Kindergarten, so he will get to make all new friends this fall.

First and last day comparison...he grew up so much! His puppy dog eyes better stay forever :)

We loved his teachers Miss Jane and Miss Nicole. Carter learned and grew so much this year, and was introduced to his love of learning that I hope continues for a long time. Montessori was a much different style of education than I would prefer, but it worked well for Carter, and I am really glad he was able to have 5 day preschool to prepare him for Kinder.

When we told him that we would all be coming to his graduation, he said 'and you will bring flowers, just like you do for Olivia's dance recitals!' I'm so glad he mentioned it, because I had no clue that this was his heart's desire. He loved his flowers and smelled them every day on the table until they got so rotten I had to throw them out. :) We will have to look for more opportunities to get flowers for this sweet boy.

Post-graduation ice cream!!

That evening was the end of year family picnic at Sunnyside Elementary. We enjoyed all the blowup toys, especially the obstacle course :) I'm also grateful that O stuck behind and helped Makenzie get through so I didn't have to go in there...

The kids were SOO mad when i fed them veggies on pizza plates. I didn't even realize how misleading that was, but they were quick to insist that I follow that up with cookies at least :)

Sometimes, after you have a garage sale, there is a bunch of stuff left over to donate. Sometimes you decide that it needs to be out of your garage NOW. And sometimes, you send your husband and 2 kids to do the donation. When all of those things happen, they most assuredly will come home with something strange from the thrift store. This time it was a *free* Nerf gun that was taller than Carter. Alex was super excited about the laser sight, multiple chambers, and little propping up thing so he could lay down and shoot across the room and out the playroom door. I am so happy to have this addition to the family, that now sits proudly on a high shelf in the playroom. Thanks, babe!

A little domesticity at work during the week before summer. I felt all sorts of pressure to get the house in order and complete all of my projects before I had all 4 kids home all day during the summer. I'm glad I felt that pressure, because the summer has been one long tornado of toys, crafts, fighting, baking, traveling, and fun. Here is the 2 lbs of refried beans that I made and froze. I also made black beans and shredded chicken to prep us for some easy summer meals.

School work to start the summer mornings!

While the kids worked at the table I was able to sit with just Hunter for a while, which rarely happens. He is at such a fun age right now, just starting to totally explore all the fun things around the house. He destroys more than he plays with, but I have a feeling that isn't going to change any time soon.

We did the walk home from school one time before school was out. I ended up carrying the scooter almost the entire way, but Pullman is just one huge hill after the other, so I don't blame Carter for not being able to handle the trip. All of the kids happily walked home, and we will definitely do this more when both kids are at the same school this fall.

Pictures that dad sends to me when I send him to Tball practice without me. I was able to get the entire kitchen clean and dishes done from the day, so it was totally worth it, and I suppose that Hunter probably loved his new mode of transportation. Tell me again why we own 5 strollers??

Olivia had a school picnic that we met her at the park for, which was fun and apparently we accidentally coordinated with red sweatshirts!

Hunter loved all the super friendly ducks, and I just tried to handle the fact that we were all walking on poop.

Olivia and a bunch of her friends helped Makenzie go down the super old, super steep slide a bunch of times, which was the highlight of the day. She hadn't done it before, and it was great for O to see how excited all of her friends were to play with a younger kid for a while :).

Any guesses as to who's in charge most of the time? She definitely doesn't hesitate to demonstrate her dominance.  Fortunately for us, the other kids usually like her plans and let her tell them what to do without question.

Carter (and I) was super proud of his rubberband drawing! I helped him twist the person into a body and head, but other than that he did it by himself. He made a park with teeter totters and swings, a tree, and a person going to sit under the tree. :)

June 15th was Olivia's last day of Kindergarten!

First and last day comparison :) She has definitely grown up this year, and perfected her teenager pose for pictures. Maybe if I beg she'll let me put some huge bows in her hair next year to make her look her age?

I tried to get my last bit of summer prep in (making more taco seasoning) before I had more helping hands than I can handle. I always let the kids measure and pour the ingredients in, then I mix it. Let's just say they did a better job being clean than I did...Corn starch explosion!

School's out! These two girls didn't realize that no school meant 2.5 months of not seeing each other. O is begging to see Piper soon :) I am so glad for such fun friends, especially the four girls that O was so close to during Kinder. They are all polite, helpful, and they are friends to everyone. The perfect friends for my spunky, smart, helpful oldest daughter.

We were missing Kayla, but here are 4 of the 5 sweetest now-1st-graders!

Mrs. Kiblen was the best teacher ever! She was so aware of what Olivia was learning, and helped her join the classroom 2 months into the year with absolutely no drama or transition trouble. O continued to learn so much and feel like a mini-teacher to some of her classmates, which was the perfect thing for her. I secretly (and not-so secretly) hope that Carter has her next year.

And what happens at 2:00 when school got out at 11? The kids all ask for school work at the table, of course :) My kids take after their mother (or at least they all follow Olivia, who defintiely takes after me.

And a kid got my phone...

And there you have the first month of June! We were ready for swimming lessons and the start of summer!

June: The Great Wall of Pullman

I split the first half of June into 'wall-pictures' and 'non-wall-pictures' for the sake of the blog so that it's easier to see the progression of making the retaining wall in the backyard. I should also preface this by saying that my 4 wheelbarrows full of gravel (which I made Alex move for me) constitutes about 1% of the work, and Alex did the rest by himself. I like to point out to him that he couldn't do it without my help, but this was a remarkable amount of work over about 8 days to get from zero to wall.

Right after the cement dried for the patio, we realized we have this slight problem...a low spot. Yuck. We are newbies, and this one definitely got us. We will have to get a grinder and fix that in the future at some point, but for now we just sweep off the water every time it rains :).

This is the hole for the wall before anything went in. It isn't before any work happened, because Alex worked for hours getting the hole dug, dirt semi-level, gravel put in, and gravel level. But it is the first non-block picture we took of the project :).

On the weekdays, Alex was only able to put a couple hours in after the kids went to bed and before dark, but on the weekend he worked pretty much non-stop. This is a lovely picture of his sweat stain that I took on Saturday afternoon when he came in for some food. Pretty impressive!

Getting that first row of blocks in was painful. Everything had to be SO level, and it was going against a patio that wasn't level, so it was hard to see the line without actually using a level about 50 times per block. I was frustrated at that point (mostly because I wanted to be able to let the kids play in the backyard, but every night Alex spent outside was one that I did bedtimes and cleanup by myself, which is a big chore these days). I was being selfish, and just wanted the project done, but Alex put in the extra time to make it really well, which will be crucial to its durability and longevity. Thanks Babe!

The steps were the other HUGE problem. I didn't want unsymmetrical lines on the blocks, and I wanted a flat front face. Apparently these are two things that are hard to accomplish with blocks that are the same height as the ones we were using for the wall. After looking at about 100 different options, and me insisting that no, they had to be symmetrical, we found this solution which worked well, even thought Alex had to cut a few extra blocks and squeeze some in where they didn't want to go.

Every single night, I would go out after dark and make him come in, because he could barely see what he was working on. Slowly but surely, the wall was getting put in, and I was able to find a few things, like shoveling gravel and cleaning up messes behind, that I could help with.

The kids were quite 'helpful' on the weekend when Alex was working during the day. So helpful, in fact, that I wondered if any work was getting done! I am so happy to have a husband that loves being a dad and takes the extra time to play with the kids, even when he is working as hard as he is.

After 9 days, the wall was finished. We still need to fill the dirt in behind the wall and make a 1/2 wall going down the other side of the patio, but for now this is enough. For now we are thrilled to have a patio that we can sit and eat on, and a wall to hold up the yard which we will be able to make significantly more flat next spring.

What an amazing back yard end result! So much better than our sloped mess of a yard before he started.