Memorial Day festivities...

We actually had a pretty busy day, despite the weather....

Mostly work...but we had some fun too.

The kiddos, Brent included, had a lot of fun playing the Wii.

We haven't had that thing out for a while.

So it was like a brand new toy!

Elsie has a lot of fun with it!

It is cute to watch her turn the wheel over and over...so cute!

But before the fun...there was work.

I am buying some shelves from my friend, Aryn, who just moved.

We wanted to put wall-to-wall shelving on the wall in our office.

But I started thinking that the desk stuff she left behind would match out roll top desk perfectly...

So we went for it.

And now I think it looks really cool.

Still some more work to do with it...

Try to figure out what to do with pictures and stuff in that room...

But I love it.

Thanks Aryn!

And I finally got the curtains sewn for the kitchen.
The kitchen is STILL not all put together like it is in my mind...but we are getting closer!

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Then we went out to eat tonight at Red Robin.
I found it quite enjoyable.
Porters face covered with food...which is good...it means he is eating.
Elsie's hands and face covered in Mac and Cheese...she loves that stuff!
Madi acting like a big girl, not wanting anyone to see her with a child's menu.
But it worked out good.
I got her to share my food with me.
I thought it was fun, and I think she felt cool to get an adult meal.
And Cassi, sweet Cassi...arms in the ketchup, sitting WAY to close to her Dad...just adorable.
Then a quick run to Walmart...and we met our friends, the Terry's at Spoon Me for some yummy frozen yogurt!
The ride home wasn't that great...we all had a little melt down...I think we are all really tired.
So it was to bed early and get rejuvenated for the last days of school!

Dere tooth fairy....

Cassi lost her first OFFICIAL tooth this morning.

By official I mean, the first tooth she lost was actually pulled...when she was like 3 or 4.

It was dead after falling off a slide, and then she ran into a wall and it broke in half...so we just got it pulled.

So she has been tooth-less there for a while.

She was so excited when a bottom tooth became loose.

But still a little weary to actually pull it out.

But this morning, the girls were outside and Cassi comes running in saying Madi knocked her tooth out.

She was so excited.

I think she was just excited to tell everyone that Madi knocked it out.

Funny stuff.

Cassi put her tooth under her pillow, but left this message for the Tooth Fairy on her message board.
Dere tooth Fairy
take this tooth and
help other pepol
love. CassiDy
I love. the. tooth fairy.

According to her the tooth fairy takes the teeth and washes them REALLY good.
Then she either makes dentures out of them, or give them to the new babies.
So sweet.

Movie night...

Another weekend...

Another movie night...

I better go join them!

Another one bites the dust....

Okay...

Maybe not 'bites the dust'...but leaves me for Arizona...same thing, right.

Aryn...who over the last couple months has become one of by best of friends EVER...left today.

I should stop getting myself attached.

I already know Jenni is gonna leave me...not sure when or where...but I know she won't always be two doors down, and that bums me out.

Aryn is someone special.

She is so great at looking at the good and finding the positive.

I am so thankful that she invited my family over for dinner one day.

I felt bad...she was the new one, I should have invited her.

But I am so glad that she started this friendship.

Aryn, I think the world of you and wish the best for you and your family.
This isn't the end...

(I had to get this shot right before we left for our 6 a.m. run this morning...thanks girls for letting me get the picture...you are beautiful...)

Manicures

Madi bites her nails.

She bites them BAD.

We are trying to get her to NOT bite her fingernails.

She wants to stop just as bad as we want her to.

She didn't want me to take a picture of how bad her nails are...

Poor girl!

It is such a bad habit!

So I bought some petite nails and gave them a try.

She is happy.

I hope they last at least a week, and I hope they help to remind her not to bite.

We will see.

But it was a fun night anyway...

The other girls wanted their nails done too.

Cute, cute, cute.


This is what Porter thought about it.

Happy to be HOME!!!

Can't you tell how happy they are to be home???

It always cracks me up how they act when we first walk in the house...

Elsie got so excited to see her walker, which we didn't take with us.

Porter started riding all his toys around...

It is always good to get home.

It also cracks me up that Elsie calls Porter 'my baby'. But in these pictures, I am not sure they look much different in age...He is heavier and his head is bigger...pretty soon he is gonna be taller too. But I am sure she will always call him her 'baby'.

We love the Holdaways!

We spent some time with Grandpa this morning before he had to go home and sleep before going to work.

And Melodie and Nathan hung out with the kids.

I told Nathan, the boy who is marrying my sister Melodie, how funny I think it is that my kids MAUL him.

It used to be Melodie, along with Ariel and Andy, who would MAUL Brent when we were engaged....

Now it is my kids who are MAULING Nathan...
I told Nathan that his kids will be the ones mauling the boys who come courting my girls.

Funny.

Then we spent the rest of today at the Holdaways house.

It is always fun there with plenty of cousins, bikes, and toys to play with.

It was beautiful weather today.

Complete opposite from yesterday.

So weird!
Owen is always so happy to have another boy around.

He wants so bad for Porter to be his little buddy.

I think they are getting close to it.

Porter is just such a little punk...

But Owen is persistent, and wants to hang out with Porter, even when he is so mean.

Sweet Owee is gonna get himself a little brother in a few days!

Another SNOWY day!

We woke up to MORE snow this morning!

Just crazy!

But it was a fun and busy day.

We started out by meeting up with Emily at Home Depot to get stuff for Brent and Nathan to put shelving up at Em's house.

Then we headed to Em's and the boys got to work.

I wish I had gotten a shot of the wall of shelves they put it...it looks great!

But here is Em with the kiddos.

They LOVE her!

And this evening the girls hung out with Grandma, Mel, and Nathan by the campfire.

Fun stuff.

Tomorrow is supposed to be better weather...

We'll see.

More fun...

Well, we headed to Utah later this afternoon.

And the kids had lots more to do there...

More baby goats to see, chickens to feed, bees to watch, more cousins to play with...

Lots of fun to be had.

Tomorrow we get to spend the day with Emmy...

And that is always fun.

Guess who got to ride Strip?????

Elsie did!!!

Yay...

Uncle Ugly...I mean, Uncle Doug, came to the house this morning with Strip for Elsie to ride.

She was so excited.

Man, she loves that horse!!!

The big girls are really getting good and learning how to get Strip to go where they want him to.

It will be fun this summer to get them on horses and really learn to ride.

Madi was riding AWESOME!!!

Doesn't she just look like a real cowgirl???

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Porter made good buddies with Bumpa this trip.

Today I gave him his milk, and he walked over to Grandpa with is blanky and hopped up on his lap and laid back...

It was just the cutest thing!

REALLY??!??!??!

We woke up this morning to a very terrible thing!

Okay...so it wasn't terrible...but it was not what we expected.

Although, we are in Evanston...you should not ever be surprised to see SNOW in any month of the year!!!

Yes, SNOW!!!

I couldn't believe it...it is almost June!!!

It hailed, rained and snowed on and off throughout the day.

It finally melted the snow away by the end.

But the cold, cold wind, the wet horse, and the muddy land made us change our Strip riding plans.

But we did take time to go and pet Strip and give her, and Sundance, some treats.

Strip was happy about it...

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The big girls got to spend the entire day with their cousins, Heather and Lauren, out in Randolph.

They had a really fun time, like always.

I love it here...

This is why I LOVE this place.

No, not to lay sod.

What I love about this place and these people is that there is never a job done alone.

Everything we do around here is done together.

And the best part...everyone loves to be around each other!

A little while ago we dug a big trench for the new water line coming in.

Well, all the yards needed some grass replacement.

So that was on the agenda today.

They also clipped Chester's toenails....

I know it might look mean...but he had toenails that could win him a spot in the Guinness book of World records. So they had to be clipped. And even though Chester is old...he is strong. It was fun to watch five fully grown men hold a little pony down. Chester was very happy to have them done and clipped.

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Elsie had a blast hanging out with Grandma.

It was fun watching the goats and feeding the Mama's.

Elsie sure loves it here.

It was too rainy to ride Strip today...but we HAVE to fit it in tomorrow!!!

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Today was Grandma Eastman's funeral. It turned out to be a beautiful service. So many loved ones there...so many great memories. She was such a great person.

It started out to be a terrible morning. Hail storms...freezing cold. We got to the church, had the service...and as we went outside to go to the graveside, the clouds opened up and it was just beautiful. Perfect weather for the graveside service. Grandma would have been very pleased with how the day went. She was such a great person and has left such an amazing legacy behind.

We love you Grandma Eastman.

Working hard...

Lots of hard work went on around here this morning.

Porter had a blast helping Dad and Grandpa at the feed store.

He sure loves to be outside and work.

I think that little boy is gonna grow up to be a hard worker like his Daddy.

I sure hope so!

There was also some playing going on...

I thought this picture was so funny with Porters eyes shut!

This boy has no fear.

That is a good thing, but a bad thing too!!!

Even the goats are working hard.

Madi and Cassi saw a baby goat be born, by accident.

Grandpa had just put one Mommy into the pen, and had to help the breech baby be born.

Well, the girls were out watching her clean off the baby, and out pops another one.

That's not something you get to see everyday!

Madi even had time to work on her homework today.

It will be nice not to have to worry about it on the night we get back home.

Safe and sound...

It sure is a long drive to Wyoming.

Especially when one of the little ones aren't feeling well.

Elsie is fine now...but poor girl had kinda rough day.

But we are here.

Safe and sound.

It is good to be with family at a time like this.

Boy cuts...

It was time again for the boys to get a hair-cut.

I know it doesn't look like much difference on Porter...but he had hair hang in over his ears and collar that were driving me crazy!

I think he looks so handsome with his little haircut.

Brent wouldn't let me do a before/after with him...

But I got some fun ones with Porter trying to cut his and Brent's hair.

Don't worry...he can't plug it in and turn it on himself...it was perfectly harmless to let him play!!!

I think my boys look great!

The Botanical Gardens

Today Cassi's class had a field trip to the Botanical Gardens.

It was a beautiful place.

Our tour started late, so it was cut short...we didn't get to see much of the beautiful grounds...

But it was fun anyway...and the little kids got to learn about all kinds of fun things.

This is when the lady asked Cassi if the worm had eyes...

Cassi thought she was nuts!

I think it is pretty funny!

The kids had fun and it was great weather for it...too bad we couldn't have stayed longer..

I guess we just need to go there as a family.
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On a sad note...
The world lost an amazing, hard-working, kind hearted, talented, woman today.
Brent's Grandma passed away this morning.
We had lost the real her a few years ago...
She was old and failing...but it is still hard when you loose someone you love.
But we are happy she is at peace now...
We LOVE you Grandma Eastman!!!

NURSERY!!!!!

Guess who went to NURSERY today???

My little boy...my sweet little boy.

Although it didn't go smoothly...I know he is going to just LOVE it there.

I took him and stayed with him for a bit.

Then when I left he had a meltdown.

I stayed away for a little bit.

Then I saw one of the teachers getting water...and she told me to just leave him.

She said if there was a problem they would bring him to me.

And that is what he needs...

He needs to not know that crying will bring me back.

So I am very happy for nursery workers who are willing to work with crying kiddos!

Porter wouldn't look at me when I came and got him.

He got over it quick.

But he was mad at me.

I am sure it will just get better and better!

Like I said...I am thankful for great nursery leaders willing to take care of the ones who cry!!!

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I wanted to go take some pictures...

I need one to put in my bulletin board...

I know.

I realize I am a dork.

But I have learned to live with it.

They weren't really up to it.

But I did get this cute one of them walking together.

It was a beautiful place we went to.

The kids had fun playing around in nature.

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I brought lollipops for some pictures...
I thought this shot was cute of Elsie trying to get her hair off her sticky face....
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Food, fun and friends

We had a fun little get together this evening.

The park by our house has a great big pavilion...

So a little get-together was planned, and it was a lot of fun.

Hopefully we can do it many many times!
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Tomorrow is the LAST day before the challenge starts!

So if you are on the fence about it...just do it!!!

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Porters stats

I can't believe that my little baby boy is really 18 months old!

When did that happen.

We took him for his check-up today...

Poor guy has fluid in his ears, so he has started some medicine.

But it does explain his recent grumpiness and sleepless nights.

Poor boy.

Hope he feels better soon.

But his 18 months stats are as follows:

Weight- 26.4 lbs. (60%)

Height- 33 in. (75%)

Head- HUGE...ha, ha...really it is 49.5 cm...which is 90%

I am pretty sure his head is bigger than Elsies.

Oh I love this boy.

He can now, and always will, be able to pull at my heart strings.

Don't you just want to scoop him up and love him?

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We have been palying games this afternoon.

Cassi's faces were cracking me up...

I had to get some.

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We are having our friends, the Youngs over later for S'mores.
The kids always have so much fun.
So I am sure it will be a late night.

up and down...

Elsie figured something out by herself today.

How to get ON and OFF the trampoline by herself.

This is a huge deal.

She usually just has to sit on the tramp and yell at us until we come and get her off.

But Brent was watching her out the window today and this is what he saw her do.

(By the way...our tramp is broken, and we are getting it fixed, but for now this works great for Elsie!)

UP the slide...She has been able to do this for a while now.

Jump JuMp JUMP her way across the trampoline....
(I sure hope she never bites her tongue off!!!)

Slither down the broken area where the springs are gone...

Duck under the bar...very good bending, Elsie!!!

And then off to start it all over again!!!

Isn't that so cute!

Kind of a bummer for the big girls, since they are stuck on one side of the tramp...but we are taking it to be re-sewn soon.

I am very proud of Elsie and how she is always looking for ways to do things herself.

She just makes me smile.

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By the way...as of right now I have had over 1,182 hits on the BEST YOU blog just TODAY!!!!

That is crazy!!!

So I know you want to join...so just do it!!!

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