Happy (unofficial) 13th Birthday, Kendall!!!

This is another "strange" year for celebrating Kendall's birthday, mainly because we won't be with him. He's at scout camp ALL WEEK LONG. He left at 6:30 am today and we'll be picking him up on Saturday morning, on our way to our week-long family vacation. Two weeks away for him!

Since he won't be here (his real birthday is on July 13--and his 13th birthday, no less), we decided to celebrate last night. He wanted grilled steak (yes, Jon was out grilling in a thunderstorm), mashed potatoes and gravy, with peas. He also wanted an interesting cake--strawberry pudding poked. I made a strawberry cake from a mix and then when it came out of the oven, poked holes all over it with the end of a wooden spoon. I made a vanilla pudding mixture, which he wanted flavored with strawberry syrup, and poured over it while it was still warm. Then we put it in the fridge and topped it with fresh strawberries before serving.His gifts were also interesting. Since a cell phone, new iPod, and xBox were totally out of the question, we decided to give him a trip. So...he opened a few little things--iTunes gift card, new clothes, new blanket for his bed (his other one ripped), scuba goggles (camp is at a lake), and new earphones. Then we had him put together a puzzle which told that he gets a trip to Monterrey and Half Moon Bay, CA in October for a pelagic (looking for sea birds on a boat) trip. We had sky miles and Jon got an unexpected bonus from work, so it won't cost much at all. I think he had a good day. He sure was behaving super, super good!!HAPPY 13th BIRTHDAY, KENDALL!!!

Jenna's Room

We've had a busy week re-doing Jenna's room. Her room was Kristen's when we first moved to our house, about 10 years ago. We painted when Kristen was 3 and she chose lavender walls with a pink and purple ballet shoe border. Well...Jenna's been in this room alone for 3 1/2 years and we had yet to change it to fit her. I went to Kohl's a few months ago with her to choose some bedding so we could paint her room and she immediately fell in love with a dinosaur bedding set (which, by the way, I got for a STEAL!!). She decided she wanted green paint, so we got a bunch of samples and she chose what she wanted. This week was spent taking down the border, washing walls, priming, painting, and moving stuff back in. Crazy. But....it looks sooo cute and she is soooo happy with it!! The walls don't show up as bright as they really are in the pictures--it's called lime burst--a very bright lime green. Finally--her "own" room.You can kind of see that some of the shapes are that same lime green (tree).I don't have the curtains done and I repainted a shelf orange. I also spray painted a metal shelf for her stuffed animals a dark brown. Not quite done with all that yet.

Happy 37th Birthday Jon!!

Jon's birthday was last Saturday, July 2. I've always thought he has such a fun birthday. Our city does a big evening parade one night, fireworks another, and has a lot of fun things going on and we get to celebrate Jon's birthday right in the middle of it all. And he's officially a year old than me now--I'm not 36 and a 1/2 yet. :)He opted not to have a cake this year. He's not a huge cake fan and has been trying to be healthier. So...he asked for a fruit pizza. Granted, the crust is a giant sugar cookie and it has a cream cheese/cool whip "frosting," but lots and lots of fruit. It was soooo good!!We got to watch the fireworks this year, after having a yummy grilled dinner. I love kabobs. It was a fun day.

Flashback Friday

Today's flashback is summer fun. This year (weather-wise) has been very strange. Snow until the end of May, unseasonably cool. Usually, it seems that we have 16+ days in July that are 100+ degrees, but this year, we've had one. Granted, July isn't over yet, but it's not looking to be that hot. The kids will run through the sprinklers or "swim" in the kiddie pool and then freeze.This picture is of Jarren, the summer right after he turned 2. Kristen and her friend set up the slide'n'slide and Jarren wanted to join in the fun. He would run on it, instead of sliding and then when he got hot and thirsty, he'd help himself to a drink. That's what he's doing here--getting a drink from one of the many mini drinking fountains. :)

Flashback

So...maybe I'll just call it a Flashback and get to it whenever I get to it--not always on Friday. :)

Jenna's been having a little setback. So...my flashback is about potty training (late winter of 2009). I don't know what her deal is, but she gets so busy playing that she won't take time to go to the bathroom. She doesn't have full-blown accidents, just little dribbles, but it's driving me crazy!! She starts Kindergarten in 2 months and I don't want her to do this at school. She was by far my hardest to potty train and apparently it's not completely over yet. Or maybe this is just normal.

Loser/Zoo

So...I'm a loser. I missed Flashback Friday...again! We went to the zoo with some friends (thanks, Danyale!!!) and had a blast, but...it was a long, tiring, hot day and then the weekend was busy.

The zoo--I think I like to go to the zoo in the cooler months best because the animals are more active. But...it was fun. They have dinosaurs all over, which was pretty neat.Sadly, I only got two similar shots the whole day we were there! No one wanted to pose and we kept getting separated. All in all, a very fun day!!

Jasper

Kristen's new pet hamster, Jasper. He has a totally different personality than Mayzie did. Very active and a real climber. He's always climbing up the walls on his cage and climbing on everything he can in there.