Dress #2

Here's the second dress. It's a little big on Ashlyn so will probably have to wait until next summer. It looks cuter on, but she was being a stink. I'm having lots of fun. Enjoy!

"Superest Weekend"

"Mom, this was the SUPEREST weekend! I got new markers (he's been wanting new ones for a while), we went camping, I played my soccer game, I got my trophy, we went to the airshow and saw airplanes and helicopters...it was great!" In the words of Isaac, that sums up our weekend. Well, at least the guy's weekend. Friday afternoon about 4:00, Eric and the boys pulled out for Father and Sons campout. Eric said they had a wonderful time until bedtime. Apparently our air mattress has a pretty speedy leak and was completely flat by the time he was ready for bed. Eric didn't have a sleeping bag, so he used the few blankets I sent to try and pad the ground. We've been having really warm nights, so I only sent three and unfortunately a cold front happened to come through that night. The boys were snug in their sleeping bags, but Eric was quite miserable.

They got up in the morning and by the time they braved the cold outdoors and cleaned up their site, breakfast was gone. The early bird gets the worm! So they hit McDonald's on their way home and made it just in time for us to change Isaac and head off to his last soccer game.

The morning continued to be cold and windy, but Isaac played a great game anyway. He's finally finding the confidence to get in and get the ball. After his game we headed to the park for more cold and wind...I mean, his end of season soccer party where he received his trophy. THE reason he plays soccer. It's definitely the highlight.

L to R - Coach Todd, Isaac, Coach Eric

(Just a good picture of a couple of my men!)

After the party, we rushed home and I sent all the guys off to the airshow, where they met up with our friends, the Galloway's, and had a great time. They got to sit in helicopters, airplanes, jets, etc. They were quite impressed.

Eric couldn't get Carter to turn around for the picture. Why would he when there's a plane flying by behind him?

This was an old Russian airliner (I think!)

Picture of a helicopter with the annoying boy who wouldn't get out of the way cropped out so Eric could look at the picture in peace!

Ashlyn and I had quite a different weekend. After the boys left, we hopped on my bike and went for a ride around the neighborhood (aka apartment complex). We came back for dinner then read and played and I put her to bed. I spent the rest of the night sewing. A friend directed me to a blog that has a really fun dress to make. I finished this first one Friday morning, and am 90% done with the one I sewed Friday night. All I lack are the straps, which I needed Ashlyn for and she was sleeping. I'll post pictures of the second one when it is finished. I made it out of one of my mom's old shirts that doesn't fit, but that I haven't been able to part with. The first one was made out of one of my old shirts.

Before....

After!

Saturday wasn't nearly as exciting. We hit a couple of garage sales in the morning, but then the day was taken up with soccer, napping (which is nice), babysitting, and cleaning. It was a nice day, just not as fun as the days I'm doing my projects!

Good Times!

It's time to play a little catchup again. So here goes...

Isaac has started piano lessons with one of my good friends. I pulled the keyboard back out and Ashlyn loves it! I'm sure she's the next child prodigy! As for Isaac, he neither loves nor hates it. The hardest part for me is remembering to have him practice.
The most exciting happening of the last month was my parents coming to visit! They were here Monday evening, April 21 until the wee hours of Friday morning. The boys were so anxious for them to get here and we had a great time. These pictures are from letterboxing on Tuesday. The letterboxing itself was moderately successful - only finding a few of the boxes on a hot, muggy day with Ashlyn screaming over a new tooth coming in and Carter refusing to walk. However, we had a wonderful time playing in the cement "V" at our picnic table. The things that make kids happy!

The evening after letterboxing, we took them to enjoy a rousing 6 yr old soccer practice. They wouldn't be here for any of Isaac's games, so he was excited for them to come and watch him during practice.

Wednesday they got to spend a lot of quality time with the grandkids. They watched them in the morning while I stood in line at 5:30 am to get Isaac into a different school (I was the 20th in line - the first person got there at 3:30). They watched Ashlyn while Carter was at preschool and I was helping at Isaac's school. Dad watched Ashlyn and Carter for three hours while Cindy and I had some girl time and went shopping for clothes and ribbon. Aren't they so nice? They seemed to hold up well enough. At least that's what they said! I really appreciated the time to myself and not having to stress over the kids while I did a few different things.

Thursday we had our grand finale at Inflatable Funland. It's a big warehouse that has tons of bouncing castles, etc. The kids are half off on Thursday and adults are free with kids, so it was a cheap, fun time for all. Isaac said his favorite part was wrestling with Grandpa. Dad would catch him at the top of a slide and then toss him down, only to chase him back up again. They took the kids to the Dollar Store on our way home. They each got to choose three things, so they thought they were in HEAVEN! Thanks so much for all the good times! We really enjoyed your visit!

The spoiling continued when my inlaws came for Isaac's soccer game on Saturday. This time they got to babysit while Eric and I went out for a couple of hours and then I went out again that evening with my mother-in-law. It's been hard to get back to reality!

The Saturday before Dad and Cindy came we went to the annual tri-ward McKinley party. The McKinley's are in Temple Second Ward and every year they invite all three Temple wards to their home for a cookout and firework show. They make homeade hamburgers, potato chips, and rootbeer, with all the fixings, for everyone. All we have to do is bring a side. They live on a large piece of land with tons of roaming and exploring, so the kids had a blast. They had an awesome rope swing and a cherry picker to give all the kids rides up and down. The best part was the firework show at the end. Bro. McKinley is a pyro technician and he makes his own fireworks. They were upclose and personal, original, and AMAZING! I've never seen a firework show like that before. The Fourth of July might be a bit of a let down this year!

Eric was a good sport and took Ashlyn up for her ride!

She fell asleep during the best part! This party girl pooped out right in the middle of the firework show. Just because it was almost 10:00 and she usually goes to bed at 7:00....

Just a couple pictures of Ashlyn being cute!