Morning fun

Oh man I love these kids, Zack being Zack,  Dillan and Popcorn smiling it up.

Happy Birthday Zack!

This Cute Little Man turned 5!

 Yes he is half asleep but still super handsome and so excited to be five. He has not stop talking about it since the spring. Can't you just see the excitement in his face that Today He is 5!!!

 Yes that is a watch that lights up and it has not left his wrist since he got it. No he can not tell time but he loves it.

 Every time I asked him what he wanted for his birthday he told me a mow lawner and a snowmobile (not a toy snowmobile but one that he could ride in the snow in. Sorry bud I don't think that will happen) but you did get your mow lawner from Nanny and Grumpy Gramps.  He is out mowing the lawn or mow lawning everyday.

Oh man from a very rough start of not every wanting to eat (still not a big eater, some nights not at all) to a little man who when he is at home is so full of energy and runs none stop from morning to night.  Really running non stop up and down the hall.  To a very shy and timid kid when others are around.  Whether being shy or running we Love You and are so happy to have you be apart of our family.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZACK!

1st day of school

School is in!

                 

 Dillan's first day of 2nd Grade!

 Zacks first day of preschool, he even walked in all by his self.  This was a hug. Last year I had to walk him inside every day. This year he was so excited to go.  Hoping that this will continue.

And a group shot of our cute kids.

Summer

The last of our summer we Packed with fun, fun and more fun.

We decided to put the kids in Summing lessons hopping that they would get over their fear of the water.  They would cling to me and watch everyone else having fun.  You could see it in their faces that they wanted to join the other kids but were to afraid to venture off.  I am happy to say that it worked and now they love the water.  Both of them will jump in without plugging their noses (a feat I hope to accomplish one day).

Dillan is swimming and was so ready to learn more but that will have to wait till next year

Zack was so shy that it took a few classes for him for warm up and start trying what the teacher would ask him to do.  He did warm up and although he would not always do what was taught in class he would practice a lot outside of class, mostly in the tube.  Hopefully next year her will warm up a little faster.

Enjoying some time at the pool.  He would be in the pool with the kids if he was not strapped down.

Zack with his teacher (being a little stubborn) and Dillan in the Back with arms up straight working hard.

Dillan learning to go into the water backwards

Trying a new adventure

I was getting tired of buying bread, the price just seems to keep going up and up and the brand that we liked was no longer the cheap bread. So around the same time that I needed to pick up some more bread Kelly told me that she had a super easy and yummy wheat bread.  I gave it a try and it was a hit with the family Popcorn is even starting to like it. He was in love with the store brand and honestly it was my go to food for him when he was not wanting to eat anything.  This is a little harder for me to just give to him because it is crumbly where the other was not and he could walk around while enjoying his bread.
I hope that I can keep up with making it when dance start, it has way more flavor and it makes the house smell amazing while it cooks and who can resist homemade bread with homemade strawberry jam.

Dillan is in 2nd grade

She was so excited for school to start.  Mostly just to be with her friends every day!  She has Mrs. Groll and absolutely loves her. Dillan loves school and so far this year is a little more willing to do her homework.  (The sun was bright that morning. Every where she stood the sun was to bright to open her eyes more then a squint.

We went to Yellowstone

We love to play in the water at Max Inn.  We catch Minos (finding mino nets up there is nearly impossible), ride on paddle boats (while Spence paddles and Ira pushes), and float the tubes.  There is a lot of relaxing by the water watching the kids play and eating ice cream at Arrow leaf .  

This is one of the places that I find so peaceful even when there are warnings of a grizzly bear.  I can go for a walk, bike ride, or drive and get away from the world and just think. It is so easy to get lost in the beauty that was created for us and not think or care about what is going on in the world. 

This picture does not do the sun justice.  It looked so large and red as it went down.  It was one of the most beautiful sun sets I have seen.

And Eating Lots of Ice Cream 

Zack and Popcorn are the best of friends. He is always looking out for him.  Zack has a very tender heart and is making sure that his brother and sister are taken care of.

I am sad that summer is over but ready for school to start.  Each school year I wish that we had taken the time to have more picnics, swimming and time together.  This summer was a lot of fun and I can't believe that it is over.

Curtains!

After 10 years of No Curtains, I finally have A Curtain. (I still need to make the other side) But I am loving them.  Hoping it doesn't take me 10 years to make the other side!

Mckay's 1

This little man turned 1!

 He was loving his milk this morning.  He downed the entire cup, fast.  He only quite drinking long enough to catch his breath.

 For each of the kids birthday breakfast we do muffins or donuts.  We let popcorn decide which one he wanted to eat.  Here he is looking over his choices.   

 This one looks good.

 Not so sure what to do with the candle.  His big brother was there to show him how it's done.

 With a nick name like popcorn I knew that we had to throw a popcorn themed birthday party.  These are the popcorn cupcakes.  Rusty even helped me decorated them (there are a lot of marshmellows on them)

 This is the table display.  I found the cutest popcorn boxes and knew that I needed to use them.  Since we were doing a cookout I thought they would look cute and the kids would have fun with them if I filled them with chips.  The kids loved them!

 Showing off his cute sunglasses.  He thinks he is pretty cool in them!

 See what I mean. 

 As I was handing him his cupcake to "devour" he was so excited.  When he is excited he kicks his legs and flaps his arms, gets a very excited look on his face and makes the cutest noise.  Once he saw the candle his excitement changed into confusion.  Once again the kids helped him blow it out.

  He didn't hesitate getting it to his mouth.  He picked it right up and started eating.  He was very clean about it, but there were marshmellows covering the frosting, but still any crumbs that fell the would pick them up.

 So we gave him a second cupcake with the oh so delicious rainbow chip frosting.  That did the trick sort of. 

Still pretty clean but with the cupcake but can you see how hard he is working to put the whole thing in his mouth.

It's crazy how fast a year goes by.  Through out the past year there were so many times that I wish that I could make time stand still and enjoy the moment even more.  I don't know if it's that he was my third one but I didn't not want him to grow up.  I was not wishing for him to get to the next stage but wishing for him to  stop growing. I took more time to enjoy him each day.

How does he go from being so little to so big in one year.

We absolutely adore him!