Webster the Turtle

The other day I was mowing the lawn and I looked down and thought I saw a rock or something that I had just mowed over. It was a turtle. Poor guy (or girl) must have been really scared. So I put him in a box for the boys to see when they came home from VBS. Of course they loved him and wanted to keep him. We named him Webster for his webbed feet. We Googled him and discovered that he was an "ornate box turtle". They live to be over 100 years old. Later that night after the boys went to sleep he "escaped" and went back to the wild, oka, our lawn.

Yellow Day

Sleeping in the closet....

The other night we sent Luke and Grant to bed. They were their usual chatty selves and we didn't think much of the giggling. When we went in we realized they had set up camp in their closet. We didn't have the heart to tell them no, see we said it was okay. Before I went to sleep that night, Grant had wandered back to his bed. In the morning Luke was back in the top bunk. Guess they both realized it wasn't all that comfortable!

Oh The Irony

Sara is watching a tv show called, "John Plus Kate Makes 8". A reality television show about a family with 8 children and how crazy it is with a lot of kids (These people have about 5 people in the house cleaning and helping out). Sara keeps pausing the tv to tell her own children to "be quiet, stop fighting, don't climb on your brother, don't eat that, put your pants back on, go to your rooms", that sort of stuff. Um, who needs tv? Time to bring in the cameras for "Sara Plus Joe and 4, Oh No!"

Luke's 8th Birthday!

Eight candles

Luke's favorite cake, white on white

Remember when birthday's were fun?

When it's time to nap, ya gotta nap.

Lucky for Luke his birthday is the longest day of the year. He really milks it,
a family characteristic from his mother's side!

Top ten for the end of June

1. "HockeyEagle"....this is what Sam says everytime he sees a large bird. We think he is saying "Hawk or Eagle?" but it just comes out like hockey eagle!
2. The turtle....Luke loves reptiles. He begs everyday for some new pet. He seems to think that Mommy will one day let him have a scorpian or snake if he just begs enough. NOT GONNA HAPPEN! He was thrilled when we showed him the turtle we found in the yard.
3. Grant....the teachers pet. They had two VBS's this week, one in the morning and one at night. Of course each teacher pulled me aside to tell me what an angel Grant is and how they have never met such a well behaved child before. What a joy he is to have in class! Who is this Grant and when will he visit our house?? Just teasing. He has been especially helpful these last few weeks. He loves to clean and will do any job I give him. His favorite is cleaning the window and mirrors with windex.
4 SUPER SAMMY!!! Samuel found the superman cape in the dressup box and now he wears it everywhere. People just think it is adorable. He tells me everytime we leave that he is on the way to "rescue someone"! *usually L&G from Bible school*
5. Lukes b-day. We had a nice family party at home. We are hoping to do his actual party with friends in July. Joe has had to work the last few weekends so there hasn't been a good time to have one. I can't believe he is 8! He is almost up to my chin now, and will be passing me soon I'm sure. He got lots of great toys for his birthday. His new scooter keeps him occupied outside, and the new lego sets keep him happy inside. He will spend hours putting them together!
6. Karsten....is a little less of a chicken now and is taking more steps. He is also a little jibber jabber when none of the other boys are around. He loves to grab things off of counters and as of right now the tv remote has been missing 3 days. Karsten please tell us where you put it!
7. KungFu Panda...I took all 4 boys to see this movie on Lukes B-day. I think the last first run movie I took the boys to was the Robots movie (a long time ago!). They thought it was super cool. Now they want everything with the characters on it. They also think they are kungfu masters!
8. Science experiments.... Luke got a science kit so we've been doing experiments. They love to watch things change colors and fizz. One vbs was a science theme, so they've been making lots of slimey creations!
9. Anytime I'm in the car with Sammy he begs to go see Joe. He seems to have a great sense of direction to. He will yell "NO don't go that way, go to Daddy's office!!!"
10.Only 2 more months until school is back in!

Fathers' Day, fun times 4!

Karsten got a hold of some unattended chocolate pudding
about five minutes after coming out of the bath so
back to the bath!

Nothing is easy with 4 small children, nothing. Today we went swimming for Father's Day with 4 non-swimming children. Turn your head at the wrong time and you're a newspaper headline! Actually Luke is not bad. He can dog paddle enough to stay off the bottom of the pool. We had a great time, anything to beat the 95 degree heat. Luke loves the high water slide, Grant is much more cautious, showing great trepidation on the toddler slide. Sammy was continuing a crabby week and couldn't stop whining about everything while Karsten just loves the water, just like showers and baths. For dinner Joe had picked up some salmon for a special once a year treat. This turned in to a once in a lifetime disaster when the the entire house filled with fishy smoke when Sara skillet fried the fish and everyone except Joe had to evacuate. When Luke and Grant returned from Vacation Bible School the house was still smelly and we all hung around in the back yard while we ventilated the house. Next time I guess we'll use the outdoor grill.