things we'll remember about summer '08...

We went through LOTS of this stuff...

...and this stuff.

Hand held video games...kind of a thorn in my side. I'm sure what the boys will remember about them are all of the time limits their mean mom kept putting on them. However, on rainy days, days when no friends were available & the occasional lazy day..these thorns were handy to have around. The best was renting games occasionally. They thought that was a BIG treat!

There was a lot of swimming, hanging out with friends (I've said it before & I'll say it again. There really should be a revolving door on my house because friends come & go all day long & I LOVE it!!), we got a lot of use out of our Classic Fun Center passes (divey joint...lots of fun!), lots of bike/scooter riding, popsicles, movies, birthday celebrations, family gatherings, etc. We really did have a lot of FUN!!

What do I remember about this Summer???

Washing towels & swimming suits a couple of times a week. Kind of a pain, but totally worth it.

Restocking the 24 hour buffet (my pantry). Kind of a pain, but totally worth it. It feeds the "hood" & keeps 'em going (albeit on a sugar high...)

And hanging out with these guys...!!

Our days were like a roller coaster ride. We had bad moments & good moments. I will say that after giving it some thought, the good moments were really wonderful! I got to know them all a little better in different ways. I really love spending time with them (as long as no one is fighting, teasing, screaming...) My hat is off to Julie!

We are ready for a new school year!

fountain fun...

We've been packing in the fun before school starts next week...

Water Park with friends...

hanging with friends...

hanging with an awesome cousin that drove up from Provo on his ONE day off this week to take his much younger cousins to lunch & the park (Hi Evan!!! YOU ROCK!) He did this voluntarily, by the way...

The fountains...

(in all honesty, there was a sale going on at Gymboree with some MUCH needed items for the little sister & this was my ploy to get them there without complaint...)

IT WORKED!!!

She wouldn't have anything to do with the water. That's a first.

She's like her mom...splashing water is like a slap across the face to me (and her)

Zach & anonymous after a nasty collision...notice the kid on the ground. Zach had a giant mark on his cheek from Mr. Anonymous' head.

This is the part where they like everyone to stay out of the fountains for a music/water show...

Are you kidding me??? This is the BEST time to be IN the fountains.

We weren't the only rule breakers...

HAPPY END OF SUMMER!!!!

lashes...

My friend, Carin is an AMAZING photographer...

She issued a challenge (& I'm way late...) to take pictures of your kids eyelashes & post the pics.

My kids have phenomenal eyelashes.

Here goes!!

Go check out her site...she has great tips for getting this shot!! (and she has darling little girls that she takes beautiful pictures of!!)

random pics...

I'm having "bloggers block" and couldn't think of anything fabulous to post. Especially since every day for the past week has been like the movie "Groundhog Day"...we wake up & do the same thing (pretty much nothing) day after day. My kids seem to be enjoying it. They are having fun hanging out with friends & laying low. Me, on the other hand...I am going a little crazy. Anyways, in an attempt to provide a post here, I just pulled the pics off the camera & there is a pretty random assortment. Maybe I can even make something out of them...here goes...

"Family Home Evening isn't fun anymore!!!!!"

That is what Sam said Monday night when I informed the people of the house that they would ALL be getting haircuts for FHE. Exciting, I know. You know the saying about the cobbler's kids not having shoes?? Well here we had the hairdressers kids (and husband) in DESPERATE need of haircuts.

Sam wasn't happy.

John took a picture of his fingernail...
...and his keyboard.
Some of the neighbor kids hanging out with the Williams kids (The Williams kids are the only ones wearing helmets...their mom is a little neurotic about this...and happy to see it!!!) PEEK!!
Two little girls hanging out in their undies. Brooklyn is potty training and Lizzie thought she needed to put undies on, too (her mom is so NOT ready for this phase.)
Hope this wasn't too painful, and I hope your week has been a little more exciting than mine!!

trading spaces...

Zach & Sam traded beds last night. Sam wanted a turn sharing a room with a brother and Zach wanted a room to himself (for one night!)

Zach in Sam's bed...

Sam in Zach's bed...

Sam pretending to be asleep...(with a smile)

I really did not have high hopes of this going smoothly. However, everyone got to sleep at a decent hour and they even slept in!!!!!

Next up...Matt in Sam's bed and Sam in Matt's bed.

Hey, we're running out of Summer activities here. We'll take whatever entertainment we can get!

polka dots & suckers...

I LOVE polka dots (especially pink!)...she LOVES suckers (especially pink!)

A winning combination!

Little cutie pie!!!

Sammy the salesman...

Sam has been wanting to sell something...anything. He wants to sell a Gameboy game that he is tired of. We asked him who or how he would go about this. His reply "Well, I saw a kid at Target that had a Gameboy...I'll just sell it to him for $10." His {new} plan (since we talked him out of trying to find the kid from Target)...set up a table, make a sign, sell it.

Today he changed his mind and decided to sell cookies. Now, I make pretty good chocolate chip cookies, apparently Sam thinks they are AWESOME, because he could not get the $10 figure out of his head. When we asked him if it was $10 for all four cookies he looked at us like we had completely insulted him. It was $10 per cookie. DUH!

He made a sign...

He set up a table...

He sat & waited...

and waited...

and licked a cookie...

and waited...

and licked another cookie...

This went on for about 45 min.

No luck.

It probably would have been easier to track down the kid from Target.

(oh yea...and our lawn really needs to be mowed. I'll pay $10)