Keeping Cool

We went to a spray park yesterday with my friend, Jana, and her two kids. It was really hot! Cole and Berkeley were more than happy to get soaked, while Sadie played on the toys and Alyvia hung out on the swings. Jana, Jayda and myself were content sitting in the shade watching everyone else get tired!

July Fun

Ready for church

Ready to shop!
Giving kisses
Say cheese!
Cooling off

Happy Pioneer Day!

Growing up, my Mom helped us make the best memories celebrating Pioneer Day on July 24. We would dress up like pioneers, cowboys, etc. and Mom would have different things set up for us to do....sewing a button, hammering nails, sawing a log, shaking cream to make butter and she would always make Brigham Young's Buttermilk Donuts. I love you, Mom!! This year, the kids and I decided to start making our own memories. I think their favorite part was shaking the cream and watching the butter appear, although they also really loved eating the donuts.

Shaking cream
Cutting out the donuts

Summer Fun

It has been really hot lately...we try to beat the heat by playing in the water. Cole and Sadie went to their friends house to try out their water slide. Cole totally loved it....Sadie wouldn't even try it out.

We went to an outdoor farmer's market last Friday with several friends. There were some yummy breads, fruits and vegetables that we were able to buy. Sadie couldn't decide between a peach or an apple, so she had both!

Some of the kids...taking a break in the shade!

Happenings of the Week

Here are some random pictures of the kids.

Sadie and Jayda in their twinner shirts for family pictures.

Sadie has worn her new tutu every minute possible since she got it on Monday...especially enjoying it with her swim suit. She loves "twirling" in it.

It started out as helping dad mow the lawn, then moved to having popsicles, and that moved to getting soaked by dad with the hose. Here are a couple pictures of Sadie and Cole completely drenched. They loved it! :)

Good-bye to the Gaskills

We went swimming with our friends, the Gaskills. They are leaving tomorrow to move to Serbia. We will miss them so much. Cole and Alex got to be good friends while playing soccer together and Carli and I have been great friends since their move here. We look forward to staying in touch with them.

Alex and Cole

Ellie "smelling" and "looking at" the flowers. Somehow, 80% of the petals ended up on the ground! :)

Sadie takes awhile to warm up to actually get into the water. She loves dipping her toes until she is ready to make the plunge!

Cute Stratton Kids!!

I know that I already put up two new postings today, but the kids were being so fun and cute tonight, I took a few pictures and wanted to share.

Cole...with a skid mark on his chin from the moving treadmill...I'll let you figure out that story.

Sadie eating dinner.

Jayda being her smiley self.

Say "cheese!"

Cole and Sadie!

4th of July

Sadie wearing Cole's soccer shoes

Cole being an airplane at the Air and Space Museum

Mt. Vernon

9-1-1 Poop Alert!

This is going to be a words only posting, so if it's pictures you are looking for, feel free to skip this one.

Yesterday I took the kids to get Jayda's pictures done at Babies R Us. We had a great experience for Cole and Sadie's birthday pictures in March, so I was expecting something just as great for Jayda's 3 month photos.

Jayda is by far our smiliest baby. The photographer and I couldn't get anything out of Jayda. No smile, nothing. I was getting so frustrated! Maybe it was because the photragrapher was calling Jayda "buddy". Anyway, after a few minutes, there was a loud sound and I knew I had about 5 seconds to react before Jayda would be leaking poop out of her diaper. So, I quickly changed her. No problem. Then, the photographer decided she wanted to put Jayda on her tummy for some shots. I told her to shoot quickly because Jayda does not like to be on her stomach. She was only there for a minute and started getting fussy. So, I picked her up. There was a yellow mess all over the white rug! Jayda had performed a "quiet, but deadly" yellow, runny poopy diaper. I looked down and it was now on my shirt and all over Jayda. She was leaking down her legs, up her tummy and up her back. Good grief! I quickly tried to get things under control. I stripped her down and then found out, of course, I didn't have another diaper in the diaper bag and I was out of wipes. I asked the lady if she would watch Jayda while I took Cole and Sadie and ran to the car to get another diaper. She politely let me know that it was against the rules for me to leave a child with her (none of the employees were any help in this situation). Frustration!!!

Picture this...me carrying the car seat on one arm, the diaper bag and my purse on the other arm, holding Jayda straight out in front of me (naked with a nasty exploded diaper and covered in yellow poop) Sadie holding one of my pants pocket and Cole holding the other pocket and all of us marching out of the store. I'm sure it was a sight to behold and one that I hopefully won't ever have to experience again!

I can laugh about it now, but it wasn't so funny yesterday. When I called to tell Bart, he asked why things like that happen when I do things by myself, but when he's there it all goes without a hitch! Good question! He's coming with me to try this again on Friday. :)