Two Wheels

Lily had her training wheels taken off last summer but whenever I practiced with her it seemed to go nowhere.  She just wasn't ready.  Then Ben had his appendectomy, then his terrible recovery, and then school started and the last thing we had on our minds was Lily's biking skills.

A couple of weeks ago I encouraged her to try it out again.  She had her bike fall on her and she ended up with a big gash down her leg from it which scared her.  But yesterday afternoon I asked her if she wanted to try again.  She surprised me by saying yes!  After just a few minutes of failure [and me thinking for the millionth time, at least with potty training you don't have to run endlessly in the heat...] she finally had a few spurts of biking on her own which built up her confidence quickly.  Within minutes she didn't need any of my help.  

When I got worn out Ben switched with me.  In his bare feet.

The last time Skyler was interested in riding his bike was probably a year ago.  Nothing like a healthy dose of sibling rivalry to make your child want to try something.

Photos of the Every Day

Lily's a little dramatic when she knows she's being watched.

A split second before she slapped Skyler in the face with her arm...

"Lily!"

*trying not to smile*  "Sorry Skyler."

We now have a second plasma car and the fun (and noise) is never ending.  It's one of the few perks I actually like about having all hardwood floors.

Skyler Plays Soccer!

Skyler loved playing T-ball, but he wanted to try something new this season and asked to try out soccer.  He was so excited to start on Saturday that 2 hours before we had to leave he kept asking where his armor (shin guards) was.  The morning just kept dragging for him until his 10 AM practice.

Fortunately Ben stepped in the door from a campout moments before we were going to leave, so I didn't have to take care of all the kids by myself.  Whew.

Let's count the number of pictures with Thad's tongue.  1.

2.

And my favorite:

3.

If we could combine Thad and Skyler's pictures....

I'm pretty sure we'd end up with a human basset hound...

"Can we pleeeeease go to the playground now?????"

Thanks, Skyler, for making me an official soccer mom.  I feel like I've finally made it.

Ella with straight hair

Let it be known that I straightened Ella's hair for the first time today.

[I definitely think this occasion is worth its own blog post]

It is also important to remember that Ella is still a toddler and, therefore, got all of the bottom of her hair wet when she tried to get a drink out of the water fountain at church.  The tips of her hair then went back to its natural curl which was just as adorable.

Moral of the story:  Ella is cute with any 'do.

Skyler's Angry Bird Party

I realize that we are a few years behind on the whole Angry Birds fad, but Skyler looooves Angry Birds.  Ben and I really limit the kids' video game time and so Skyler always looked forward to being stuck at Lily's dance classes each week because it meant a full hour of playing Angry Birds on the tablet -- his only gaming hour of the week.

When I gave him a few options of possible birthday parties there was no competition -- it had to be Angry Birds.  So I collected our cardboard boxes for a few months and Ben built a giant slingshot out of leftover lumber in our garage and giant rubber bands.  If it wasn't for the pizza and party favors, this party was basically free.  Everybody won, really.  :)

Our family tested out the sling shot and balls the night before the party.  We learned that old tennis balls were far more effective at knocking stuff over than kickballs.  We also learned to build really weak towers for the kids' sake.  :)

Ella and Thad stayed on the sidelines during the first half of the party and then napped away for the second half.

Carter's little sister cried really hard when her dad dropped him off, and so he asked if he and his daughter could stay.  It ended up being such a blessing to have another super tall guy to help Ben build the towers.

Every single present Skyler got this year was perfect for him!  He got a bunch of super hero stuff, a bajillion lego sets, and Jurassic World dinosaurs from Nanni and Papa.

Skyler:  "Oh cool, Nanni and Papa gave me a pterodactyl.  Oh cool, they also gave me a velociraptor.   OH MY GOODNESS THEY GAVE ME A T-REX!!!!! AAAAAA!!!!" *flips out* (I'm not sure why he looks so calm in the picture.  It was hilarious). 

One of the ideas I saw on pinterest was giving away gummy worms to the kids as their "bird food" for party favors.  They also got to take home their own sling shots and birds to shoot.  It was seriously the perfect party for little boys.  All of them found something fun to do between the sling shot, trampoline, nerf gun targets, pinata, and pin the beak on the bird. 

We are so grateful to have Skyler in our family.  He is my most favorite 6 year-old in the whole world!  I love watching how his mind works in such unique and brilliant ways.  I can't wait to see what he chooses to do for a living when he's an adult.  He amazes me with his understanding and recall.  Skyler loves the gospel and tries so hard to live it as best he can.  I love hearing him talk in his baby voice to Thad and I love finding lego creations left on my bed when I go upstairs at night.  I love that he still gives me cheeky squeezes. I love when he asks us to tell him "No mischief!" followed by some crazy story (no flying around on the ceiling fan, using the blinds as ladders, flushing yourself down the toilet, going ice skating in the tub, etc) every night when we tuck him in.  Happy 6th birthday Skyler!