Daddy's First Day Gone

Aaron got to fly to Utah for his little brother's wedding to Linnea Stephenson this weekend, so I'm playing solo until Sunday night.  And I'm counting the hours til we see him again!  In the mean time, I'm going to stop and watch these silly kids, even if I don't take pictures of all their achievements this week.

Evelyn made her own lunch, unsupervised (because I was getting Carson cleaned up for lunch).  She made an extra to share with her sister, too!  Evie has also been BIG into reading.  She can read lots of easy books that we have around the house, so we checked some harder ones out from the library and I'm finding out that she really loves to read.  Naturally, she gets frustrated when she doesn't read a word right or doesn't understand the word, so I make sure she takes breaks.  She also really likes to play on the PBS website.

Lizzie has been having problems with listening to her body.  She'll refuse to eat, then be starving in between meals.  Or wait until the absolute last moment to try to dash for the bathroom, resulting in accidents and extra laundry.  She, like her sister, loves ants.  She'll pick one up and let it run all over her arms and shoulders, shivering at the tickles.  As always, she needs closeness.  Lizzie will snuggle without any request given.

Carson is going through a rough rash stage.  For the last couple days, I cannot seem to get a diaper rash to go away, so it makes for a sad boy sometimes.  But he is babbling a LOT and I get whole paragraphs of "buh-dah-an-suh-shhh-ba-woah!"  I miss a recent stage when he would nod emphatically to any question asked of him - now he shakes his head 'no'.  Carson is still very much my snuggly boy and will accept any offer from me to carry him.

I, myeslf, am finding it not 'hard' to have Aaron gone.  Just 'long'.  I'll take advantage of it a little to maybe make his birthday present. :)  Also I decided to try zipper flower hair clips - they turned out so very cute!  Must do them again with different colored zippers.  (I may even take pictures of them...)  Tomorrow is sure to be better, since the kids' cousins are coming over, with Aunt Coco and Grampa.  (I may even take pictures of them...I mean all five grandkids.  Sounds like I need to get out the camera and get to work! :))

Partial Roof

The weird section of the house that has a rubber roof is getting a make-over this week!  Yesterday and today, our carpenter has been hard at work, framing and getting ready to shingle a slanted roof over that portion.  He's hoping to get it completely boarded over today, in case of storms.  This same carpenter spent the last couple of times he was here knocking a hole in our wall and making an exterior door straight into the garage!

And we're not quite done with him yet.  His next several visits will include fixing the gutters so the deck doesn't get gross from the over-run, and repairing the exteriors of all the window casings.  He's had a rough time of it, since his wife broke part of her ankle the day he started, then he got a nasty infection in his own leg, making it harder to get a lot done.  So it's all stretching out a little more, but it IS getting done!

Pool Party June '11

Finally, half-way through June, we were able to get together with Aaron's family for a pool party!  The girls have been begging to swim for the last 3 months and, though we've had optimal weather before, there have always been other things going on for someone or other.  Well, today was our lucky day!  Aunt Coco is in town with Baby E, and Aunt Katie and Uncle Brian brought Baby J - two days running, we've had all five B grandkids together!  (And I'm SO kicking myself for not getting any pictures either day...but I've got another couple weeks. :D)

The girls were so excited to wear their new swimsuit covers that Aaron and I brought back from Los Cabos.  Lizzie cannot get enough of this horse at Gramma's house.  It walks by itself!

 When did she grow up?  I cannot believe how much older she looks here than some of her other recent pictures.  It blows my mind!

 Every time the girls get together with Aunt Katie, there are Pillsbury sugar cookies to be baked.  The girls love this tradition - all three of them! :)

 The kids always love playing on Gramma's porch swing.  Evie, especially, likes it fast!

 Love, love this picture!!  On the left, we have the Dennis B sisters, and on the right, the Aaron B sisters!

 After lunch, we finally dove into the pool.  Although we didn't get any pictures of Lizzie, I promise she was there, making her own splash!

 Evie was determined to swim 'all by herself', and even showed off that she can successfully dunk her head under water momentarily.  She has been practicing holding her breath in the tub all winter, in preparation for this summer!

 Cousin E and Aunt Coco.  This was E's first time in Gramma's pool and she really seemed to enjoy herself!

 Cousin J with Aunt Katie.  These two supervised us all, since J is still little enough to not get in the pool.  We were just glad they came out and visited for a bit.  It was sure fun to have us all there!

Rough House Daddy

I remember, as a child, loving the times when my dad would get down on his hands and knees and subject himself to the onslaught of several Daddy-hungry kids.  Looking back, I wonder that he was able to do so as often as he did - we were all pretty rough!

So it made my day (and does every time I see it, but this time I actually took pictures) when Aaron rolled around the floor with his own hooligans.  More often than not, it was a free-for-all pile-up with him on bottom.  But it ended with everyone giggling on the floor.

 Poor Daddy, all beaten up, but still so happy!  (This is the face he makes as one child or another launches him/herself onto his stomach.)

A Visit from Baby J.

We had a fun visit from Aunt Katie and her daughter who is almost 3mo.  The girls oohed and aahed over tiny Baby J!

Burn Days

In our current city, we are allowed to burn material on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.  This is good because we have had to get rid of one really dead tree, a couple of saplings, and a third of a willow.  One of these days full of fire, we took real advantage of it.  I tossed together some tin foil dinners, then ran to the store to get ingredients for s'mores.  By the time I got back, dinner was ready, so we feasted on hamburger/carrots/potatoes to our hearts' content.

Then it was time for the fun!  This particular fire was burning really hot, so Aaron helped the girls find some really long sticks, and even then, they stood as far back as they could.  It made for an excellent dessert!

Having Friends Over

Two weeks into living at the house, and we thought we were ready for guests.  While the house was far from unpacked or really clean, we were so happy to have our recent neighbors, Barb and Larry, over for dinner.  They got the grand tour followed by stew with my dad's biscuits.  (YUM!)  I made sure I took a picture with them because I recently realized I had none!  The girls always loved running across the street and visiting with 'Ms. Barb' and both she and Larry have been wonderful friends in our time there.  We plan to do other things with them and keep them around as much as possible!