Father Son Camp Out

During the last weekend in May, our ward had a father and son camp out. This was our boys very first one with their Daddy and as you can see they were thrilled!!! Our boys love to go camping anyways but to make it just with Dad made it that much more exciting. So, they all piled in the car along with Uncle Jon and Nathan and headed out for some guy time. 

When the boys were gone Emeri and I had a fun girls evening as well. We painted our toe nails, got an ice cream cone at sonic while playing in their sand pit, and went to Grandma Heaths house to spend the night. 

I sure did miss the boys but I knew they were having fun. 

The boys got to cook their own hot dogs. Austin said they loved that part and sleeping in a tent the most. What is it with boys and fire. lol

Here are the boys paying attention to the member of the bishopric giving a spiritual lesson. That picture is probably my favorite one Austin took. 

Random Things in May

Emeri discovered that her jacket had pockets! Anytime she was wearing her coat she had her hands in the pockets and her hood on. HAHA Even in her car seat she still wanted her hands in her pockets. 

The boys helped me weed the front garden area. I showed them which weeds or grass to pull and they would dig it out. It was the perfect activity for them; dirt, digging, and a shovel. Plus, we were all enjoying some warm early May air.

I found these rollers at Walmart for a dollar or two and decided the kids would love to use those on the back porch. Well, I was right, so far we have only done water painting but soon we will try out some real paint. The box that Emeri is in has been used for climbing, as a tent, a fort, a transporter, peek-a-booing, and camping. The kids love big boxes. 

Okay, this was incredible. I am hoping this is how home schooling will work. I was drawing some stars and planets for the boys to tape under the table with a pen and Emeri insisted on having one to. I was hesitant to give my 22 month old a pen but I didn't want to fight that battle. So, I handed her a pen and to my surprise she positioned it herself correctly in her right hand. I was shocked. Andrew just about 6 or so months ago was still needing me to remind him how to hold a pen correctly, and this little girl, with no instruction from me, held it perfectly and started doodling like a pro. It was sooooooo cool!! I really hope this is how homeschooling goes.

Here is Emeri taking her turn being Joseph in the coat of many colors story for FHE. The boys love acting out stories from the scriptures and Emeri loves doing what they do. This is usually our go to activity for FHE. It works so well and I feel like the kids actually grasp the story when they get to act it out.

After church one day I picked up Emeri from nursery and Tammy mention how cute we looked matching. I didn't even notice that we were until she said something. So, when we got home I had to take a picture of course. Here we are, all three girls! I am about 34 weeks along here. Getting closer!!

Bead fun! The boys made some bead bracelets one day. I took advantage of this time to teach them about patterns. Isaac's second one was BYU colors, white and blue. It looked sweet.

Before we got our pest control back up and running we were have an invasion of potato bugs. The boys thought they were the coolest bugs ever. Every time we went out of or in the house the boys would stop and collect has many potato bugs as they could. They would collect them in their hands and close their little fists so that none of the bugs could escape. Yep, that meant half of the bugs usually ended up dead in their hands. Grouse...I didn't like that so much. It was cute to see their reactions when one would crawl up their arms.

One day Aunt Kadi came over with the kiddos and basically turned my dark house upside down. It was AWESOME!!! You should have seen her moving this desk here, this rug there, this stand there, all over my down stairs. It was so much fun! She literally made my life brighter, my family room looks so much better then it did before. Thank you Kadi! Love it. Here is everyone during lunch. Notice anything matching here?

One day the boys and I made a 'Batcave' to play in. I just happen to have black sheets for our king size bed which worked great for the cave. After that activity died down I cut out stars, rockets, and a moon for the kids to tape to the bottom of the kitchen table. They pretended to star gaze and be astronauts in outer space. It was a fun activity.

My little helpers in the kitchen cooking spaghetti with me. I love the atmosphere in the kitchen when my kids are all around me helping with the meal. It is such a wholesome and sentimental feeling to me. I cherish those moments.

Here is our Mother's Day picture. HAHA Don't they look so happy? I forgot to take a picture before church when they were in better moods. Getting home at 2, which is right at nap time didn't help at all. I still love them though and wanted a picture.

These picture are from last month but I just had to add them. Emeri is becoming such a little mommy to her baby doll. She comes to me to swaddle it and then wants to push her baby around in her stroller. 

This was just too cute. Emeri was trying to be silly while putting the witch hat on. She realized it stayed on when she covered her face like so.....I wanted to share her expression once she pulled it off. Isn't she a doll?

Dallas Zoo

At the end of the month of May, Jared and Sereen came with their kids to visit. It was great to be able to see Sierra for the first time, she is such a chunk. I love it. Poor Sereen was sick most of the visit but she was still up for a good day at the zoo. It was the perfect day to go, not to hot but not cool either. It was great.

A kind woman at the zoo gave Isaac and Andrew some of her lettuce to feed the giraffes. Their long black tongues were so cool and kind of grouse. The boys thought it was neat though.

Emeri with her Aunties!

The gorillas were a great turn out this time. There were three within 10 feet of the glass and one who leaned right against it. It was so amazing. They are huge creatures that look like they just want to hit something. For the 15 minutes we were observing the gorillas they never turned and looked through the glass, they just faced away. For about 10 seconds though, this gorilla turned and stared right at Emeri. It freaked her out and she backed away quickly. I don't think she ever returned, at least not as close.

There is an alligator statue that all the kids were obsessed with. They each had to take a turn pretending to be eaten by it. Even little Clara got her turn. Aren't kids just too cute? I love how they find fun in anything.

We stopped at the children's area to cool off a bit. The kids had way to much fun pretending to be wolves, splashing each other, and hanging out as cousins. 

Emeri loved this giant turtle tunnel. She would run in, wait a few seconds, run back out, and then stop with this adorable "peek-a-boo" expression on her face. HAHA She did it for a good ten minutes, in and out, just as enthusiastically as the first time.

Love these smiles more then anything else!

Petting the goats! I remember the first time we came to this zoo Andrew was 8 months old. Now look at my 3 1/2 year old boy. Crazy. Emeri didn't like the goats as much this time as she did back in October. She was much more hesitant.

Aunt Kadi was so cool! She bought some fish food for the kids to throw in the fish tank.