Distract the 3 yr. old!

 Bailey has been begging for preschool to start.  She is ready to be a big girl! 

So I have been playing "distract the anxious 3 year old" for the last week.  We have one more week until school starts...I don't know if my house will last.

Only a week late

 I can't believe I have 3 in school now.

Our little sweet Addison is off to Kindergarten.

 Parker was very nervous about 2nd grade.  "Mom, is it going to be a lot harder than 1st grade?  Is the math going to be really hard?"

 Poor little Bailey, she wants to go with her sisters and brother so bad.  She hates being left behind!

 Has this girl grown up a lot this year or what?!?!?  I love seeing Kas come into her own.

 I love that these two always have each other.  It is not as scary to start something new, when you always have someone there to start it with you.

 We have them in separate classes, but they still watch out for each other.

Addison went to school like a champ.  She walked right into the school with her sister and brother.  However, the teachers put her in the wrong place for pick-up, and she was waiting all alone for long enough to scare her.  By the time she got home, she was pretty traumatized.  But thankfully she went back the next day, without much of a fight.  I am hoping that they all have really good years.

"Midway" home...

 On our way home from WA, we were lucky to be able to stop in Midway and see Mark's parents.

 They are staying at a fun place called the Zermatt.

 We swam...

 and we visited a couple fun parks.  (I love seeing uncoaxed sisterly love.)

 We had a good time.

 But my poor mother-in-law has seen us on the tail end of our summer extravaganzas, twice now...

 And by this time, my kids have had it, and let's be honest, so have I.

 So Judy gets grumpy grand kids and a grumpy daughter-in-law.  It's not very fair, sorry Judy!

 Midway was gorgeous! 

 It is a little old Swiss town, up in the canyon. 

 There was lots to see and do, but we chose to entertain ourselves with stickers instead of enjoying the beauty outside.

 Remember how we were tired and grumpy? 

 Stickers are the trick.

Who doesn't cheer up with a few stickers on their leg?

Thanks for a fun couple of days in Midway.  Even though we weren't the best company, it was really fun seeing you and getting a couple hugs.  We love you both!

The Open House

This is where
all the fun
 began!

 Did I just say fun...this zip-line never got old!  This is what the kids were doing while we were busy setting up.

 The zip-line wasn't the only fun ride.

 And this little punk, I take that back...big punk...was doing the tie-you-down-and-string-a-long-line-of-spit-down-and-then-suck-it-back-up-at-the-last-second thing.  Gross!!!

 The open house at my parent's house was an all day event to set up for.

Here is "the man"...

 And here is "the man" with "my man" laying on the back of the 4-wheeler.  They were on a mission to obtain apple bins.

 Mission accomplished!

 Me, Aunt Karen, Lori, and Aunt Peggy.  Poor Aunt Peggy dislocated her finger that afternoon.  The sacrifices we all made for a beautiful open house.  Way to take one for the team Aunt Peggy.

 Can you tell we are related?!?  Funny.

Here I am putting the paper lantern masterpiece together.  It turned out so pretty.  When it got dark and the lights were all twinkly, the lanterns had a soft glow...gorgeous!

 And here is our oompa-loompa worker...we would say, "Put an apple bin here please." And he would reply, without any complaint, "Sure.  And where would you like the next one put?"  What an awesome oompa-loompa we have!

 Here is the sign in table...Didn't it turn out so cute?!  We found all these cute antiques in my grandparent's shed.

 Here is the drink station.

 I think it all came together great.

One more look at my
 paper lantern masterpiece. 

 The gift bench by the sign in table.

 The little girlies taking advantage of the drink station.

 The dessert table, complete with 2 soft serve ice cream machines.

 The cute couple.  Welcome to the family Ash!

My mom and her mom, grandma Taylor.

What a fun night!  I'm so glad I was home to be a part of this special night!

That's what I get for being nice...

 My hats are off to anyone who gets a good picture of a group of small children!

 My mom really wanted some pictures of her grand kids.

 Ok, I thought, I will be nice and get some cute shots for her. 

 I have a nice camera, I can get everyone dressed up and take some pictures.  Piece of cake...

 No one would look at the camera at the same time, the wheat was too itchy, it was too hot, the sun was in their eyes, she's touching me, I'm bored....

 Then I left the wheat colored bench in the wheat colored wheat, and the combine (a very expensive machine that harvests the wheat) almost combined the wheat colored bench, which would have cost as much as my house to replace.

 I seriously could not catch a break.  How hard could it possibly be to get 6 children to just look in the same direction at the same time for 2 seconds?!?!?

 As you can tell......IMPOSSIBLE!!!

 These are the only ok pictures that I got...one threatening to throw rocks on grandpa and grandma's yard, and...

 one in the wheat.  Not everyone is smiling, but they are all looking in the same general direction.

I've decided I'm not going to be nice anymore, it is way overrated!