The Annual Changing of the Rooms

It's like the changing of the guards, but it doesn't happen as often.

I think most of the kids look forward to room changing now, even when they get a smaller room because they know it is only a year before everything flips again.

We started changing rooms as soon as the play ended and when Grandma went home. And we finished up just before Ethan arrived to play. I did not take any  pictures during the changes and I even forgot to take 'before' pictures. But I got the 'after' shots, so check out the bedrooms as they are now. (Although you have to imagine them dirty, because that is how they usually are.)

Ivory has the big open space downstairs in Atlantis. This is her second time downstairs. She didn't make it through last time because of spiders, but it doesn't matter how many arachnid friends she finds...she is staying down there. (Haha. Pearl pointed out that Ivory doesn't have any spider friends, she only has spider enemies.)

We figured out how to put up Robyn's art on her walls, so now she has a fabulous, one-of-a-kind display. I love it.

Daisy got a new addition to her room. She had the tiny dresser that we bought June when she was two. It was time for an upgrade. I found a beautiful wood dresser on KSL for only $80. Sweet deal.

Pearl has the most open space in her room. It is mostly because she placed her bed in a weird place, but she likes to look out the door. It makes sense, so she can keep it there.

And finally Miss Juniper. We also put her art up in her room. She has the small space and is quite snug in there, but it is good practice. I can't imagine she will have much room when she goes to college. Although I try not to think about her leaving. :( We still have a few years.

There you have it. The changing of the rooms. Complete for another year. It is exhausting but oh so satisfying in the end.

Back At It (It Being School)

Ahem...I would like to take this moment to welcome myself back to the blog. I kinda got lost in stitching and going back to work and enjoying the end of summer. Of course, this will only come back to bite my future self and fill my life with guilt, but it was mostly worth it. I have great memories. Now I just need to put them on here.

But first up...school started again. It has this annoying habit of being the boss of everyone and when it decides summer is over, no one gets to argue. So we all dutifully fell in line this morning. Except maybe this guy. His hair seems to say, "I don't care that I got up early. You can't keep me from crawling  back into bed when everyone leaves for school."

I even got pictures of everyone as they headed out to three different schools. That's right. We have one in High School now. Can it be true? I'm trying not to think about it too much. Just enjoy every moment.

Here are the kids favorites as of this morning. It is possible they have changed since it is 12 hours later, but if you go back in time, some things have stayed pretty consistent.

In no particular order:

The girls have mixed feelings. I don't think anyone was terribly excited to go back, but after coming home from school, some people are excited and everyone is at least resigned to their fate. Welcome back to another year of indentured learning...

June Phone Dump

Speaking of phone dump, my phone is slowly dumping me. It is getting old enough that programs are no longer working on it. I believe they have decided they aren't compatible with so old of a device. I really need a new phone, but I just can't afford one. First world problems. If I do get a new phone, I want to get one with a nice camera. My phone camera is not terrible, but it struggles sometimes. The other day, I could NOT get it to focus on a snail on Robyn's hand. It just wouldn't do it. It is frustrating.

The good news is that blog wise, I'm only a month behind. (And I haven't blogged last December, but let's not talk about that.) That is pretty good for a busy summer. The bad news is that they already have me back at work. I can feel my time slipping away. Oh summer, where hast thou gone? Why hast thou forsaken me so soon?

Time just keeps chugging along. But let's get down to brass tacks. June (the month) happened. I felt like the month was girls camp and the play. But there were a few other tid bits here and there.

Tyler found Pearl reading in the library. Most people don't read like this...but whatever floats your boat.

Our baby birds hatched in the back yard. I heard them chirping away one day waiting for mom to come feed them. I'm amazed so many little bodies can fit in such a small space.

Tyler had extra time to hang out with the littles while I was at girls camp. It looks like they did some fun things.

Speaking of camp. It is so fun, but totally exhausting. Check out the kids on the afternoon we got home. It was sad because we had to wake them all up for rehearsal.

Robyn edited this selfie Daisy took and put a banana on her face. I love it!

I'm not sure why Tyler took this picture of the sprinklers, but I really like it, style wise.

Pip likes to snuggle. She was in her usual spot on the top of the couch and then she started to slide down. She was content to rest between Dad and Robyn. I think they were stuck in this position for an hour.

I went to a friend's house to drop something off and discovered that they have a giant tortoise for a pet. He is so cool. (They actually don't know if he is a boy or a girl. It is very hard to tell.) I watched him eat. I would not like him to bite me. If our fingers are like carrots then he would make short work of them.

Pearl finished her first crosstitch. I'm very proud of her. It looks very nice. I would say she has a skill for it. Now, we'll see if she has the patience. Now all the girls have officially finished at least one piece of stitching. Robyn doesn't stitch anymore. She likes to draw and I don't blame her. It is much faster.

Tyler's work summer party happened in June. We like to go swimming and hit the BBQ. In this instance, June was doing summer school, and Ivory was grounded, so I borrowed a couple kids and we had a blast playing at the Rec Center. Mathew and Abby were the perfect addition.

Game night still happens almost every Sunday. Sometimes we play Spikeball before. When we have a lot of people, we play four square style where we rotate people in. It is a blast. That game might be my most favorite ever.

Secret Hitler is also a huge favorite. This evening was a night to put in the books because Nate shaved his mustache and came over looking like Hitler. It was the best. I'm only sad that he wasn't actually Hitler that evening.

Robyn and I were getting books at the library one day and Robyn said they had a picture of her on the wall. I was dubious, but sure enough, the picture bears a striking resemblance to her. What do you think?

One of the things I forgot to mention about the play was the glitter. The faeries would throw it around and as the week went by, you could find more and more glitter all over the place. It covered the ground. One night while we were talking after the play, I put glitter on my pants. I liked the blur in this shot because it makes the glitter look like little lights. If you look closely, you can see more glitter on the ground. So much glitter. Sometimes the faeries would purposely throw extra glitter on people's heads. (Sneaky faeries.)

Grandma came to watch the play. We cooked her some healthy meals, did a ton of stitching and then she had to leave again. We loved having her. I took a couple girls to the airport with me. Don't ask me why they are in their jammies.

And to end the month, how about a huge strawberry. The kids made me take a picture. The end.

Chalk It Up to the Kids

We usually keep chalk on hand and it is just random when the kids decide to pull it out and draw with it. I'll suddenly come home to find colors and designs scattered across the driveway. I love it.

I've managed to catch a few this summer. Once I came home to mostly shapes, but I loved how the girls were experimenting with shades and gradation.

Then another day we were playing nine square and the girls were coloring nearby. Even though we hit them with the ball several times, they still managed to do some great drawings.

This is Daisy's fairy. Can you see. She is looking forward with her hair over one eye. And you can see her wings over her shoulders. Cute.

This one reminds me of a muppet. Or something from the dark crystal.

Hannah was over as well. She is an exceptional artist with any medium.

I believe Ivory did this flower. Lovely.

It makes me happy to see art bloom spontaneously on the sidewalk. The rain takes it all away which is a shame, but a new canvas is created for next time.

Nuestro Padre

Father's day is always a great day. We love our dad. I made a very yummy breakfast in the morning, but I forgot to take pictures. But here is a happy clan with empty plates. We'll call that a success. I made these yummy things that we don't have a name for. They are croissants with cream cheese and strawberries inside. Then you dip them in egg batter and cook them just like French toast. The cream cheese and strawberries get all warm and melty. Then you dust them with powdered sugar. Delicious.

It is very hard to decide what to get a guy who buys whatever he wants for himself. (Within reason of course.) We decided to go sentimental this year. Now that all the girls are baptized, we got him framed pictures of him with each of the girls on the day they were baptized.

You can't see them very well, so this is all of them. Gotta show off my cute girls when they were each eight. 

The girls put together a spa for Tyler. He loves being pampered. They had him choose what he'd like to do first. (His back was actually not feeling the best so he skipped the massage altogether.)

The girls had everything planned. It was the ultimate pampering package. Nails being soaked, music being played....

Cucumbers on the eyes and a face mask to peel off later.

Here is one content dad. He has such good girls who love him so. He is a great father. Happy Father's Day!!