Family Day

We went up to Salina for a fun family day last weekend. They were having their county fair and the city waterpark was right across the street! Matt had gone up early in the day to help a friend haul a load of cattle to the sale barn and then the kids and I went a little later and looked around the fair while we waited for the waterpark to open.

The kids thought these mini horses were the cutest thing ever!! Lillie wanted to show her Daddy as soon as we met up with him!

When the park opened we headed on in to swim!! Zethan used to be so so scared of most things and swimming on his own was one of them. But this summer he has conquered his fear and was quite the little swimmer with his life jacket on!

Lillie also was getting quite brave and tried all the big slides except for one. 

Matt took came down a few slides too! Just after this picture above was taken, his tube caught the water and flipped him over backward! Haha!

Zethan and his daddy. They are pretty good buds.

And then Titus and his cousin Everet are best buds as well! Everet was so cute with his goggles on. He kept them on the entire time we were there!

Some more swimming! The waterpark was just perfect for our family! It had a lazy river that went around the middle of the park and you could get off at different spots. It has a mini wave pool that was just the right size! And a big family slide that all the kids could slide down together at the same time. Since it wasn't a huge place, we didn't feel like it was hard to keep track of the kids. If one of them got ahead in the lazy river, we knew we could catch up quickly! And it was cheap too! Only $3.50 for kids and $5.50 for adults! 

Latest Craft Creations

I have several different areas of "crafting" that I like to do. Sewing. Crocheting. Jewelry making. Paper crafts. But the desire to do each of them kind of comes and goes. I just finished up a bunch of sewing and my crafting mood is starting to swing back around to crocheting.

I decided I wanted to try my hand at making some stuffed animals. I got a book with some patterns and have found some fun free ones online too. 

I started out with making a cow. I had thought maybe it would be one for the new baby but as soon as I was finished with it and Zethan got a hold of it and I saw how much he loved it, I told him he could keep it!

Then Titus found a pattern he wanted me to use for his. He wanted a dolphin! They are very inexpensive crafts to make but take time! Titus kept asking, "Are you done yet? Are you done yet?"....

He was very happy with the end result though!

And miss Lillie Loo wanted a kitten. (When she just brought it to me to take a picture of it, she said the eye and the whiskers needed redone-they played with them on the trampoline last night).

The kitten's name is Melody and Lillie picked out the colors for it =) 

I thought with the new baby coming it would be fun for them to have something special and new here just for themselves. I have been making a lot of baby things so it was fun to make something for the little munchkins too! Something to make them feel special too!

And of course she wanted to pose with her kitty. Crazy, unbrushed hair and all =)

Zethan and Tractors

 My little Zethan man sure loves to farm. The only thing better than playing with his toy farm stuff is being out farming for real with his Daddy! He can just play and play with his tractors, combines, cows and fences. And anything and everything is fair game to get loaded up with his tractors.

This day it was colored pencils that were getting hauled around.

He is always entertaining us and giving us something to laugh about. I just love his imagination!!

Sometimes it is colored pencils, sometimes it is toilet paper that he is pretending to be hay bales, sometimes sea shells. Whatever is available-he hauls around.

So intent on lining them up just right! It is so nice that he can play independently! Soon his older brother and sister will be starting school and he won't know what to do without them!! But I have a feeling he may just enjoy being the oldest at home for a few hours each day =)

Hay Balin' Fun

The hay out in our pasture got baled. And that means the kids LOVE to go out there!


Lillie brought along her notebook to count how many bales there were.


This is our ride. And the only reason I am wearing a dress and am barefoot is because I was working in the house getting supper put away and the kids said I just had to come ride, right that second. =) Who was I to crush their hopes and say no =)


Watching the baler.



Daddy shot =) I love those =)



They thought it was the greatest watching the bale plop out of the back of the baler.



And then it would get a little shove from the arm and roll away.



Standing up on a bale so they can get a better view.



And here is the part where I bore you with pictures galore, but! it is the kids favorite part of going on four wheeler rides. When they get to get down and RUN!!



Even Zethan thinks it is the greatest! His little legs are already running before he hits the ground.




But he needed to stop and make sure we were actually coming.



Lillie made it to the bales. Titus is coming in second.




Lillie just keeps running...



and running...


and running... But what is this. The boys are having technical difficulties.



Big brother will comfort you Zethan. While Lillie keeps running...



It's okay Zethan...



There you go, wipe your snotty nose on Titus. That'll make ya feel better.



Oh the poor baby. What's the matter.



Sissy will help you now.



Okay, never mind. Back to running.



Here we go running again! The boys are off!


Wait, I think I ate too much.

The end.

the Three Musketeers

These three little rascals are something else. They love to be together and play together but they love to argue and fight just as much. Some days I just don't know what to do with them.

Zethan is just getting plain naughty sometimes. You'll tell him not to do something and he will just look at you and giggle, then do whatever he is NOT suppose to do. But then he'll do something that is just so sweet. Like just today when we dropped Lillie off for Kindergarten he actually said "love you" to Lillie. Now it wasn't as plain as that but I knew exactly what he said. And he said "sissy" as he pointed to her out the window. I have tried and tried to get him to say Lillie or Sissy and he never has. Until today. So sweet. And he had to make sure that Lillie gave him a kiss and he gave Lillie a kiss.

And Titus. He is just ornery-er than ever. Well again, it is more like just plain naughty. But he never does it maliciously. Just deliberately. Does that even make sense to anyone but me? Anyway, I think with Lillie getting all the attention from breaking her arm and Zethan still being more "needy" than him, I'm pretty certain he has a bad case of the middle child blues. Also, he hasn't seen much of Daddy lately since drilling wheat and harvesting beans has come along. That started about last Thursday I think. With Matt leaving before 7:00 and getting home sometimes well after 10:00. It makes for long days without Daddy attention. But tonight is Awana so we get him for the evening=) And harvest doesn't last forever. And we will get to ride in the combine or tractor or semi whenever they get around to cutting our field! That is always a highlight! Several weeks ago already Titus was asking when Daddy would cut the beans because he wanted another combine ride.

But this morning Lillie was actually up before he left today so she was so excited, she saw him and ran full blast to give him a hug. They love their Daddy. She was excited to show off her pink cast to him. And she was excited for the kids in her class to see it.

And now the house is peaceful with the boys napping and Lillie at school.

Butterfly

Lillie and Titus love catching butterflies! Usually they just are able to catch the little yellow ones.


But Titus actually caught this pretty one all by himself! He came and brought it to me and I thought it was so pretty and was so proud of him for catching it all by himself that I let him put it in a jar! For a little while anyway. Then Daddy made them let it go so it wouldn't die. He's such a softie=) But I love him=)

Built in Friends

They don't always get along. And they aren't always nice to each other. And sometimes they they don't even like each other. But these kiddos definitely love each other. And more times than not, they are playing happily together. I saw the scene above from out the window and ran to the porch with my camera. It was just so sweet, the three of them holding hands.

Then Lillie, placing a protective hand around Zethan while Titus went to go do something.

Then she thought he needed a little help walking. Oh, and that train of toys in the background- Lillie and Titus worked so hard together to make that. I could see them out the window each carrying a side of a toy to go put the toy in the next spot.

These kids do have their moments. Like how Titus knows just how to push Zethan's buttons by taking his blankie away. But then again, Titus can get Zethan laughing hysterically just by doing something silly with him. All in all, I think I'd have to say I love these three=)

Mixing it up chocolate style

Lillie wanted to help me bake a cake so I let her look through the recipe book and choose a picture that she liked. She chose chocolate cake! Yummy!!
Licking the beaters. Always a given after mixing up some yummy batter!


Titus getting in on the action.


Scraping the bowl to get every last chocolatey batter bite=)


Kobe and Konnor had spent the night so they liked sharing in the goodies! Kobe(wearing the camo clothes) especially loves chocolate so he was super excited. I'm not sure what Titus is doing. I think he is trying to smile=)

Thanks for picking a great dessert Lillie girl!