Garden

Think of having a garden - to dig and smell and put new slips into and - garden gloves! Old grubby ones, but still, what they do suggest!  (from Bring me a Unicorn)

These fun labels we made make the garden look cheerier while we wait for things to grow

Our garden is just getting started, but it's pretty fun to see things growing out there. Watering the garden while the kids play in the backyard has turned into a fun part of our summer days.

Anxious to get started on our garden, Landon started digging holes :)

Wall Art

The latest addition to my bedroom wall's fine art collection

From Ellie this morning

I made this for you! It's a picture of scribbles. And it's our family - that's Owen, and that's me, and that's Landon, and that's Mommy, and that's Daddy. It's our whole family hooked together! And they're all hugging each other. And they're not scared, because there are no animals in the room...

School time Week 2

We're loving our summer school time!  Here's an Animoto of this last week (the kids picked out all the props for the middle part :)

Slip 'n Slide

Jordan was excited to try out a new slip n' slide on Saturday with the kids -- here's an Animoto of all the fun :)

Adventures

On Friday night we adventured to Gaucho Grill for a delicious Brazilian dinner out on their patio on the river's edge. I loved the beautiful evening and the Brazilian lemonade, Jordan loved the great outdoor spot and his favorite foods, Landon loved the lemonade and throwing rocks in the river during dinner, Ellie loved the pineapple and the wandering ducks and Owen loved the fried bananas.

As always, Jordan helped Landon and I up the tough hills. But Landon was such a trooper.  We got home and mapped our route -- 8.3 miles! (I don't think I even knew how to ride a bike when I was five!)

The next morning we rode to the Farmer's Market - Jordan on his rollerblades, Landon and I biking. I pulled the trailer in case Landon needed to ride, mostly it just meant that Jordan spent more time pushing me up the hills while Landon rode up ahead!  We took a different route home with steeper hills that at one point had Jordan pushing both the Bob stroller with Owen and the bike trailer with Ellie while Landon and I rode our bikes up on our own. At another spot Landon and  I walked up the hill pushing Owen in the the Bob while Jordan rode my bike pulling Ellie in the bike trailer with Landon's bike strapped on top. (We are quite the downtown parade, I'm sure!)

We do love our adventures! :)

School Time

School Time

I'm excited about our Summer school plans. On Friday the kids were a bit crazy so we ended our school time early -- Landon in tears said "But this is my favorite part of the day!!" I'll take that as a vote of success for our first week :)

from ChildrenInspireDesign

Our school time this summer is focused on learning some Portuguese. We have a different theme each week (numbers, animals, shapes...) and the we're learning some Portuguese words around that theme, with a little bit of other practice on the side. We spend about an hour and a half, and the plan is to have school time 3 or 4 times each week.

Here's a sample of a school time plan from one of our days last week (learning the Portuguese alphabet)

And here's a short Animoto of Landon and Ellie's first week -- hooray for these great little kiddos!

Provo House Update

We got the paperwork back from the Church this week and our Provo house is officially under contract! As long as we don't stop to think too much about the details we love in this house, we are feeling very grateful to be moving forward. Just a few more weeks!