It's just not the same.

I'm not sure why, but the kids have been finding wild bird eggs. They are not in nests, and they are not broken. Some are like this one, and others have been blue robin eggs. I'm not sure if the mother is laying them in strange places, kicking them out of the nest (which would probably cause it to crack), or if a predator is taking them from the nest but loosing them before it can eat them. Every time they find one, the kids ask if we can hatch it - like our chicken eggs. Unfortunately, it's not the same. Chicks pop out ready to eat on their own and are able to take care of themselves. Birds are not - you have to feed them and are much more needy. I'm not even sure the eggs are viable but we have not tried to hatch them.

Ooops!

It was really windy today.

I decided to have the girls fly kites in the backyard.
Ben and Kevin were at scout camp and we needed to do something fun.

Fortunately, my parent's accidentally left a bag full of kites in my car.

Fortunately, we had a great time because everyone got their own kite.

Unfortunately, we lot three to the trees.

I apologized to my parents.

I also apologized to my neighbor for littering in his trees.

Fortunately, we still had fun.

Next time, we'll go somewhere a little more open.

 

This kite got stuck at the very end of the string,

so it kept flying because the tree was still holding the end of the string.

It was actually very neat.

These were all taken after I put the girls to bed. I don't have any pictures of them actually holding on to the kites because I was too busy running from one child to the next trying to keep them up.

Literally

Now you can see what it really means when someone says you've put your foot in your mouth.

My husband, the Doctor

and the Scoutmaster!

The troop put up American flags in people's yards for the 4th of July (it was a fund raiser so people paid for it and the troop put them up and took them down on Memorial Day, Flag Day, and Independence Day) so Kevin and Ben headed out pretty early Friday morning to help out. Kevin hasn't worn a scout uniform (or any uniform) for quite a while so it was fun to see. He bought a scout pin to put on the hat so that it would count as part of his uniform - it's his do anything kangaroo skin hat from Australia (back in a time when he wore a different uniform). Anyway, it was neat to see my boys dressed up!

Kevin was just called and sustained as the new Scoutmaster in Church today. He has done it before, in other wards, but this one is a little different because there is a big group of boys and the program is doing pretty well. There are things to fix and Kevin will do that but I'm sure everyone will learn things and enjoy this new challenge.

Whose 4?!

Domonique celebrated her golden birthday today!
We started the day off with pancakes and chocolate ice cream! She helped with the pancakes, as much as I could let her. She is so excited to be a big girl.

Amazingly enough, we didn't gather wood as we normally have in the past. Kevin had the day off but needed to pack for Scout camp. We did keep the tradition of going to our friend's pool, but this time some friends joined us. We had a picnic/bar-b-que and enjoyed playing with our friends at the pool. My kids really enjoyed swimming and Camdilyn and I hung out in the shade, most of the time.

We borrowed this floaty for Harmonie and she loved it!

Marissa wanted to show me her trick...

Emily has gotten more confident and is enjoying the water more each time.

Kemiah has also gained confidence and really enjoyed doing canon balls into the water!

Marissa is working on shallow diving.

And then swimming to the bottom of the deep end.

Kemiah the swimmer!

Domonique loves the steps and is now 4!

Camdilyn got in for a little bit of a swim and really enjoyed the water!

Caught ya', Ben!

Trying to get away from me!

Xiomara is getting better and enjoyed swimming at the bottom of the shallow end.

Domonique went in for a little while with Emily, but quickly wanted back to the steps.

We stayed for a rather long time, and then headed home for dinner. We had popcorn chicken with sweet and sour sauce and rice. It's one of Domonique's favorite! We cleaned up and watched for Grandma and Grandpa Nichols. They brought a round cake with a butterfly drawn on top. Everyone was excited to watch the birthday girl open her presents.

Xiomara's homemade gift - yarn corking

Her very own Friends Lego sets!

Little People music CD of popular kid's songs...

and movie, How to Train Your Dragon.

A Big Pen... this is the only thing she asked for!

and a green light up ball.

Emily's homemade gift - red, white and blue paper bracelet.

New LeapPad books and machine (which someone gave to us a while back).

Grandma and Grandpa Nichols gave her a butterfly net...

$4 in her birthday card...

a game, Jumping Monkeys...

sandals...

a shirt and shorts (both have butterflies on them).

We left our house around 9:30 to go watch the fireworks. We went to the same spot as last year, but this time no one else was on the hill. We had a perfect spot and no one else was there. It was such a neat show and the kids all enjoyed it, even Camdilyn (who wasn't scared at all). It was a wonderful night and we were all very impressed with the display and grand finale!



I would say she made out pretty well on the loot and we had a great day celebrating her! I kept asking her, "Hey, Domonique, you know what?" She'd respond with "what?" and I'd say, "It's your birthday!" She would then either say, "I know," or "oh Mom!" or something else. I just wanted to remind her that it was her special day. (I think I do that with everyone so they are getting tired of it, I guess.) She is a special, sweet, very smart girl and we are so happy that she is in our family! We love Domonique!