Burlington!

We had a fantastic getaway with Kent's family.  There was swimming, water slides, go karts, video games and lots of spoiling from Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Kevin and Uncle Kyle. 

Of course we visited The Crookedest Alley in the World.  

Seriously!

A little splashing in the fountains by the Mississippi.

Kase loved the pool! 

Thanks for a GREAT weekend, Pattersons!

Fun Bully, and a little mess

We woke up this morning and had no plans until later this afternoon.  My fun-bullying ways kicked in immediately: we had to get out of the house and have some fun! We have a park tour to complete! So as I rushed around packing stuff up and getting Kase ready, I heard a faint call from downstairs, "Mom I don't know exactly how it happened.  I'm so sorry." It was Kylee.  With gum in her hair.  Not just a little.  Or not like, on the ends of her hair, but right smack in the middle of the length of her hair, right in the front.  Regular Laura would have lost it but I'm trying to be a bit more patient.  I took a deep breath and told Kylee to go sit in the kitchen until I could work on it.  I had heard peanut butter or ice can help get gum out of hair, but no such luck. She looked super excited. "Mom, are you going to have to cut my hair?" she said with a smile.  I laughed.  Only Kylee could be so excited about a lopsided haircut.  Snip snip.  Bye-bye gum.  She was psyched about her new (sorta) bangs.

So that's how the day started. On the list of fun things to do was use the free pizza coupons we had received when the kids completed their library reading logs.  So off to Godfather's we go. We had just ordered and sat down when Kase woke up, so I picked him up out of his carseat.  I sat him on my lap and he gave a huge smile.  Awww, I thought.  He loves me so. Well, that may be true, but that's not what he was smiling about.  He had pooped all over.  Somehow he managed to get absolutely NONE on his outfit but successfully got poop all down the front of me.  Now, I had been a pretty good sport about the gum in the hair this morning, but the poop was threatening to send me over the top.  Then a verse popped into my head from the Proverbs 31 book I've been reading, "She is clothed with strength and dignity.  She can laugh at the days to come". Well, I was clothed with baby poop.  Lots of it.  But I chose to laugh.  Ran to the bathroom to clean myself and Kase then rejoined the kids at the table.

Our weekend is off to a messy, but laughable start.  Yours?

Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful for the return of boy bands.  Awesome.

I'm thankful for a friend who lent me the book My So-Called Life as a Proverbs 31 Wife.  Have you read it? A good read, and a bit of a wake-up call.  "...a quarrelsome wife is like the constant dripping of a leaky roof." Proverbs 19:13 Not that I'm necessarily quarrelsome, but I could try a bit harder to keep my arguments thoughts to myself.

I'm thankful for the first sweet corn of the summer!

I'm thankful for sparklers.

I'm thankful that Kent's mom could join us for dinner, fireworks and a sleepover last night.

Happy Thursday!

Fourth of July, Part II

Last night (July 3) there were a lot of fireworks going on around the area since the Fourth falls in the middle of the week.  Kent and I had been out to dinner and when we picked up the kids, it was kind of late, and they all were in good moods so Kylee and I tried to convince Kent that we should go watch fireworks.  He'd had a super busy day at work and was exhausted, and he also made the good point that we would be watching fireworks on the Fourth and next Sunday during Summerfest.  Seeing a firework show three times in less than two weeks kind of takes the magic away, I suppose.  Anyhow, we decided to just head home.

I told Kylee, who was a little disappointed, that when we got home we'd all get in our jammies and sit on her window seat in her room and look out her window for fireworks.  (She's got a pretty good/open view out her new room window.) We watched for a minute or two and didn't see any.  Then, as clear as could be, we spotted some fireworks to the north/west a little bit (Maybe Slater? We weren't sure.) I was silently thinking how nice it was watching fireworks from the comfort of our own home: just us five, in our pajamas, no bugs, no crazy traffic jams afterwards and just as I was about to open my mouth to say how lucky we are, Kylee sighed a happy sigh and said, "I'm just so happy after all." Girl took the words right out of my mouth.

Happy Fourth of July!

Our holiday started off with a bang (See how I made that Fourth of July reference there? Like fireworks? Bang? Ahhh I crack me up...) Kent and I had a very rare dinner date without the kids on Tuesday night and today has been a fun-filled family day.  

Tell me your husband also makes faces out of the veggies that he doesn't eat when you're out at restaurants? 

My littlest patriot.

Fourth of July-ish toast. I didn't have blueberries, or anything blue for that matter, but the kids didn't mind.

Kase's first boat ride!

When Kael woke up and heard that Kent and my dad were out fishing he really wanted to join them, so we did.  Turns out he's quite the fisherman! 

Kylee and I are similar in that while we do like to fish, but if we're truly honest, boat rides are for snackin' and sunshine.

Kael is holding up ten fingers because this is the tenth fish he caught.  He went on to catch a total of 12 (!!!) fish in less than an hour! What a happy guy. 

This is Kylee's second of two fish that she caught.  See above reference regarding snacking. :)

What a stud.  

The mandatory family photo. 

Red-faced kids and it was only 10 AM!

Red, white and blue make.....

Firework Floats!

Right now Kent and the big kids are at the pool, Kase is sleeping and I've got a blueberry pie in the oven.  Life is good.

Weekend Wrap-Up Part II

Made in the shade!

Having fun at Aunt Chris and Uncle Richie's pool.

What an amazing, fun, family-filled weekend.  We are so blessed!

Weekend Wrap-Up, in photos

Cool girls in cool hats.  Above and below.

Sorry gals, he's taken. 

Kase is ready to swim!

Pool rats.

A little piece of heaven. 

Playing around on the floating dock. 

My family is so fun.

Having a heart to heart with Uncle Rob.  When she was too scared to jump in, it was only Rob (and a little bit of a cookie bribe) that could talk her off the ledge into the water.

Kylee never strays too far from Brooklyn.

Super Kase!

Hanging out in the kitchen cleaning up snacking.

Justin. Kase.  Now that's just funny. :) I've been wanting to get a picture of the two of them together since he was born!

Happy camper.

Sleepy baby. 

My sisters and I. 

Got it!