June Highlights

 This was our June in a nutshell.  We went to the Springville Art City Days (no pictures), used our milk water balloon catchers,

 had fun with ice cubes on the tramp (I love the beginning of summer when everything is still fresh and new and exciting, and the kids can entertain themselves with almost anything.  That changes mid-July)

 had fun with a new sprinkler,

 and slip-n-slide,

 tried out fishing on Spanish Fork's Free Fishing/Huck Finn Day (no we did not catch a thing, and I'm convinced fishing is the world's most BORING sport/hobby, but the kids enjoyed it)

 on the second throw out in the water, Brighton managed to get the hook stuck up in a very high, very prickly tree.  It's still there to my knowledge.

 Keaton, tired of waiting his turn with the pole, found this piece of plastic and was determined he was going to fish with it.  He refused the actual pose when it got to his turn, in favor of his own "fishing pole".

 Savannah, Baker and Chloe conducted a week-long Cousins Camp (more on that to follow),

 we went to Idaho Falls to drop Savannah off at Camp Magical Moments for a week-long cancer camp.  It was her last time being able to go, as she'll be a teenager next summer.  This was taken in front of the Idaho Falls Temple.

And we played with making giant bubbles, which was another item in the Summer Fun Basket.  It only kind of worked.  Not sure what we did wrong.

Chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes

 For a ward auction I made these yummy chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes.  Delish!  Oh-so-fattening, but delish!

Last Day of School 2012

 Adios 4th Grade!

 See ya later, 7th Grade!

 We threw Chloe in too; I swear I didn't coordinate their outfits that day, but they did great matching, didn't they?

Summer!

 I usually try to plan ahead for summer time, and our bucket list, but an unexpected pregnancy completely threw me off my game this year.  Luckily, I was able to scrounge some ideas together just in time for the last day of school and put together a Summer Fun Basket for the girls to come home to, thanks to Pinterest plus mymixofsix blog.

 The little ones were dying to go through it, but I made them wait til their sisters came home.  Inside we had maps of the trips were were taking this year to Idaho and Yellowstone, Coke and Mentos (we don't drink caffeine in our house, mostly because neither of us like it, so when I brought it home from the store, my kids gasped and asked what in the world I was doing with Coke!  You'd think I had brought home Budweiser, it had the same effect!  Funny), recipes and ingredients for homemade ice cream, makings for s'mores, treats for our outdoor movie nights, reminders of Art Days in Springville, and other summer festivals we would attend, water balloon catchers, glow sticks, and other fun things to do.  And, I'm happy to report, we made our way through all but 2 of the items.  Still waiting to make chocolate ice cream and rock candy sticks.

Elephant cans

 In an effort to do something fun with my 3 little ones, plus help encourage them to work in the yard, we made these elephant watering cans from Family Fun Magazine.  They had lots of fun watering the plants outside, but alas, it only lasted 2 days before they were left, discarded and forgotten in the backyard.  Ay-yi-yi, what's a mom to do?

Madame Tussaud's next entry

 Irelynd's 4th-grade class did a year-end Wax Museum in which the kids all chose a figure from history.  They had to write a short monologue about their life, dress in costume like them, and then on the appointed day, they'd stand in the hall like wax statues, and come to "life" when their button was pushed, reciting their monologue.  Irelynd chose Mary Fielding Smith.  You can see her blue button behind her.

 Afterwards, her class did a year end program, singing some songs they learned,

 and then ending in the Virginia Reel.

Drag Queen

 These photos can be taken one of two ways.  I'd prefer to say that this is one unselfish brother who will play a game of Princesses with his twin sister when the big sisters won't.  Way to go, Keaton!  We won't tell Daddy...ssssshhhh!

This just blows!

Question: What do you get when you take 1 Leaf Blower, 1 Inquisitive boy, and the following items?

 Not sure what this is called, but it's noisy!

 1 fairy Barbie

 A stuffed dog

 A Strawberry Shortcake horse

and a stuffed pink poodle.

 Answer:  An hour of cheap entertainment and a science lesson on aerodynamics.  The following photo shows which was the winner in flight distance:

The Thing-a-ma-jig.

Fun Lunch Fridays

 We kind of took a break from Fun Lunch Fridays during the summer;  I can do 3 fish scenes, but 5 is just too much, and my older 2 think they need to be included.  So here's a fish scene, and one for Independence Day we did.

Gender Reveal

 Due to some complications with my pregnancy (which turned out to be nothing), I had an unexpected, early ultrasound at 13 weeks.  After checking the supposed problem, and finding there was none, the tech asked me if I wanted to find out what I was having.  Scott was home sick with the flu, so he didn't come with me to the ultrasound.  She said normally the gender is not visible at this stage, but she could positively identify the sex already.  After finding out, I made a special dinner at home that night to tell the kids.  We had hot dogs and salads, and for dessert, these boy/girl cupcakes.  Everyone got one, and at the count of 3, they bit into them at the same time.  If the filling was blue, it was a boy, pink, girl.  Here's what they saw:

BOY!

The boys were really excited for another brother; the girls, so-so, except for Waverly who wanted a girl baby.  The gender was confirmed at a later ultrasound at 20 weeks as well.  Out of luck, Waverly!  Just call us the Brady Bunch!  (But where's my Alice?)