Inflatable ball house

Our friend Susan gave us this hand me down house quite a while ago. I wasn't quite sure where I would put it so it just kind of sat around in the box. Last weekend Chris was working on the patio and I really needed to start working on a project so I got out the house to entertain Madison and Jackson. It did it's job. They loved it!

This is what he was able to get done by Monday night. I ended up helping a little on Sunday afternoon. I brought him some pavers while he put them down and I swept sand into all of the cracks. We still need to spread more sand in the cracks and the wall is going to be one more course high. Of course it's already covered with tree crap.

Jackie and things

Yesterday Jackie came over to keep an eye on the kids so I could work on a project. Jackson absolutely adores her.
I took her senior portraits last week. Go check 'em out.
We're going to do more though because her mother didn't approve of the shirt she was wearing. Whatev. She looked amazing.

When we first took the kids outside I went out with them so I could show her what they like to do and to warn her about the momma bird. There she was squacking and diving at us. I went up the ladder to check on the nest and there was one bird in there. The poor thing got scared and tried to fly away! He ended up on the deck of the playhouse a couple of feet down from the nest. Momma was NOT happy. I felt so bad!! What if he wasn't ready to fly yet? Then he tried to fly again and ended up on the ground. He hopped into some plants and I never saw him again. The nest is now empty and the momma bird isn't around anymore.

Last night as we were going to bed at 1:30 Jackson woke up very upset. Chris went in to hold him but ended up bringing him to bed with us. He just doesn't learn. There is not enough room for all of us so anytime Jackson moves a muscle it wakes Chris up and then he gets mad. All the while I can't sleep at all. Eventually we all fell asleep but at 5:15 Jackson woke up and decided to call our names. "Mama? Mama. Da-ee? Da-ee." Then he stuck his finger up my nose. He loved the reaction of me flinching out of surprise so he giggled and kept trying to do it. Da-ee was not happy so he kicked us out as if it wasn't his idea to bring him to bed with us.

The first thing Jackson said when we got in the living room was "Jackie?"

Two nights in a row of 3 hours sleep. Not fun for me.

My big swimming boy

I had to write a little more about Jackson swimming. I was just so impressed that he was able to swim without my help. He actually didn't even want me touching him. I was so proud of him!!

Picture

While we were at my parents' house we heard really loud jets go overhead. We realized that they were the fighter jets that were going to fly over Boston for the fireworks. They ended up flying over my parents a few times. They must have been circling waiting to go to Boston. On the way home they ended up flying over us again this time in formation. I was albe to snap this picture while we were driving on the highway.

Happy Fourth of July!

We went to our friend Kristin's parents' house. As soon as we walked in the yard they were both whining to go in the pool. Since we've had no sun around here in forever and the temp has been pretty cool the pool was COLD! I went in anyway and had a ball swimming around with Madison and Jackson and Olivia.

We got these great hand me down floatie things from Olivia. They worked out perfectly for Jackson. He was even able to swim completely on his own while wearing it. For some reason when I let go of Maddie she would roll over onto her back so I had to hold onto her. She wasn't loving the water like Jackson was although she did enjoy jumping in.

At one point Chris and I were standing on the patio of the pool. No one was in the pool. Madison had been sitting on the side of the pool with her feet in the water. She decided to get up. She lost her balance and fell right in the pool. My back was to her but thank God Chris saw her go in and was able to quickly grab her leg and pull her out. All I saw when I turned around was Maddie sprawled out in the water, going under with a terrified look on her face. She was pretty upset once she was out but she was fine.

Jackson was wiped out after all that swimming. He was so tired that he snuggled with Kristin for a pretty long time. She was in heaven :-) They're usually pretty squirmy (Jackson) or too shy (Madison) to let anyone hold them.

Liv and me.

My parents also had a party at their house so we went there after Kristin's. Nana and Papa were also there.

The kids didn't sleep at all! They were toast by the time we left my parents house.

Since it was FINALLY a nice day we drove around in the jeep with the top down. It's pretty breezy on the highway!

Jackson doesn't seem to mind it...

But Maddie could go either way.