Happy Birthday Ava - and a big scare!

Today Ava turned 9!  She is smart and beautiful and the BEST big sister!  The day started out with a few presents and only a few plans for the whole day.  Suddenly the day was filled with fun and we were out the door early.

The day started with a service project.  My marketing group hosted 'Paint the Town' this year and Ava and I joined the team!  For about 2 hours on Ava's birthday, we prepped and primed this house.  The weather was perfect and we had a great time.

After painting, we picked up Grandma and the boys and headed over to the Expo Center for Dinosaur Adventures.  It was a huge dino exhibit with large scale replicas, dino dig, bounce houses, mini golf and more.  For the next 2 hours we were swallowed up in dino land!

But the fun didn't stop there... next it was time for a bbq & swimming at Grandma Rix's house.  The weather was warm and the water was cool - but not too cool :)  It was so refreshing!

We ate and swam and ate some more.  

Then tragedy struck.  At the end of the night, we were all busy cleaning up and packing the coolers when DeAnna suddenly yelled, "Carter!"  When I looked, I saw the top of Carter's head under the water in the pool.  Somehow he had gotten away from everyone standing around the pool and fell in!  Seriously, there were 4 people all around the pool and it only took a second and he was on the bottom!

DeAnna yelled, Carter - then her & Jessica (8 months pregnant I might add) took 2-3 steps towards the pool and were getting it to save Carter, when out of nowhere - Drew was in the pool and scooped him up.  As we all compared notes later - no one remembers seeing Drew or where he came from - he was simply there - faster than everyone else standing right next to the pool!

When Carter came up - he didn't cough or gag - he started talking and told Drew that his head went under the water and he was scared!  We think he must have only been in there a few seconds and was holding his breathe.  Drew held Carter for a long time and the rest of us hugged and cried.  I can't express clearly enough how grateful I am for DeAnna, Jessica & Drew for their quick thinking and rescue of my sweet little boy!  That feeling of fear and panic and "what if" is the worst I have EVER felt in my entire life!  This story could have been so much worse.  

A few hours after we got home, I was still stewing and crying about the whole thing and asked Drew to take Carter to the ER just in case.  Carter was not showing any signs of further damage/problems but I didn't want to take any chances.  So Carter had a chest x-ray and a few other tests and was cleared by the doctors.  He was perfectly fine!  Whew!

On Sunday Mom & Dad came over to visit Ava for her birthday.  Dad has been SO busy with the Parade of Homes that they rescheduled Saturday for Sunday.  It was so nice to have them over!

They gave Ava some new pads for rollerblading - a good idea for this girl who thinks she can roll away like a pro!  I think these are going to come in very handy!

Well, Ava's birthday was a huge success - despite all the drama.  I am so thankful for my wonderful family - all of you!  Happy Birthday Ava!

It's Summer!

It is officially summer vacation!  Yesterday was the last day of school, so today I wanted to get out with the kids and have some fun.  So after Carter's nap, we loaded up and drove downtown to the Boise Art Museum.  Admission is free on the 1st Thursday of every month so I thought it was a good opportunity to try something new.  

The museum does not allow photos inside - BUT - at the end of our tour we found the kids artistic/discovery room!  There were all kinds of games and art projects... it was awesome!  Carter was especially thankful for this shift from "careful, don't touch", to "go play!"  

After some playtime - we moved on to the craft room.  The theme for today was weather, so the kids gathered some supplies and made "cloud" sculptures.  I use that term loosely because it was just a paper cup and some fiberfil glued together.  But the kids loved it - so awesome!

After the museum we walked to the park for some time outside in the glorious sunshine!  The weather was perfect and the kids had a blast swinging and climbing and chasing the ducks.  Poor Carter had some trouble climbing the ladder, so Ava gave him some help.  Love that girl! 

After the park we moved across the field to feed the geese.  It started out fairly fun an exciting, but then it got a little scary!  These geese are aggressive!  Poor Carter wanted to eat his own bread and the goose wanted a bite of it too.  Carter was scared to death.  Even Ava was a little freaked out.

Having had enough of the crazy geese, the kids moved on to gathering feathers.  

The kids were only allowed to keep 1 feather.  Brycen found this especially difficult.  He laid them all out so that he could choose the best one!

On the other side of the park is the Gene Harris Band Shell.  It's a really old outdoor stage.  The kids thought it was awesome and quickly formed a dance and a play and other theatrical performances.  The littles were perfectly happy playing in the large puddle on the side of the stage.  

It was such a fun afternoon together.  No phone - no computer - no deadlines... wonderful!

Cole's 1st Birthday

On Saturday we celebrated Cole's first birthday!  It's gone by so fast and he's so big! (do all parents say that?) It was nice to just relax with Kevin and Lisa and have cupcakes, ice cream and presents. 

 I blew out the candle just before he reached out to touch it!

 He really didn't get that messy.  We kept waiting for frosting and cake to be smeared in his hair but he just picked at it.

 He loves his new toys!  Thank you Grammy and Grandpa, and Nana and Papa!

 We also got him a bubble maker which all the kids enjoyed.  We learned bubbles can be entertaining for all ages.

It was a great day and we look forward to squeezing these cheeks for many more to come!

Before and After! Take that Pinterest!

So I found some inspiration on Pinterest, put together some leftover blue paint, a quart of red paint, lots of coaching from Becca, some borrowed sanders and voila!  A couple of ugly craigslist dressers become a matching pair!  My favorite part is the superhero drawer knobs.  I found a site online that gave instructions for using stickers, and with a collection of adhesives from Aunt Carol, and some elbow grease from Jason, I think it turned out pretty well. :)

Babbling Brook

Brook:  I wuuuuv enbewope!

Mom:  What?  

Brook:  Enbewope.

Mom: Envelope?  You mean cantaloupe? 

Brook: Ya! 

While driving in the car--

Brook:  I spy with my widdow eye.... something.. necklacey!

Me:  Is it a necklace?

Brook: Ya! You got it! 

Brycen's Kindergarten Graduation

Brycen graduated from kindergarten today - Yikes!  We were presented with a short program from all 3 classes, and then they were given little certificates.  He was so cute in his little cap and goofy grin!    Love this boy so much!

2027... That seems so weird!