Company!!

Even if their visit wasn't long, the Lawson Family's visit was quite fun! Kelley and I grew up together. My great aunt Corky babysat us both until we could basically drive there ourselves. Now we are grown up, married and we have 5 boys between us.

Jansen and Ethan

(Kelley's oldest and my youngest)

Cameron -- The middle, sand-eating, sand-throwing, no-saying child!!

He's Aunt Corky's practical joke on Kelley!! :) She would have LOVED him!!

The 5 Children...

(OOPS! That's not a child...that's a child trapped in a 38 year old's body!)

Ok...so there are only 4 here. Ty was in his baby carrier, ready for bed...

I love how big Matthew looks compared to the little guys!!

Thanks for stopping by, Lawsons!!

Old Skool Mom

Matthew asked me if I knew how to make 'surfer bracelets.' I didn't get what he meant until he found this...

I turned that mess into this. You should have seen the face on this kid. He was thrilled and this is exactly what he wanted.

Ethan wanted one too. I didn't have the time or energy to do another one...so he just got a braided one. He LOVED it!

Success. It was just like riding a bike!

62 Years

This brought a smile to my face. Talk about being in sync with someone after a long marriage!!

Terrible Yellow Eyes

Anyone who knows me, knows how many books we have here for the boys. It's literally a small library. Those closest to me know that this book is my absolute FAVORITE of all time. Imagine my surprise when I was blog-stalking and I found a blog devoted to artwork based upon this book. HOW EXCITING!! Please check it out...there is some amazing talent out there and the different renditions of the TERRIBLE YELLOW EYES is quite interesting!!

TERRIBLE YELLOW EYES

The Perks

There comes a moment when you realize the 'free' toys in a kids meal are actually more fun to play with as an adult than a kid. Tonight was that night. We all got a good laugh at dinner and of course I had my camera ready.

Hey, look! It's Marc Schol, Jr. :)

Look out Schol and Associates...these two are only a few short years from taking your jobs!

"Can we help you find a suitable life insurance policy for you??"

LOTS OF ROCKS!

The boys have been bugging me to paint. They don't care what it is they paint. They just want to paint. Yesterday, Bryan took them to collect some rocks from a local creek. This morning the boys cleaned them all up so they could FINALLY paint.

Stacy came over to help which certainly made it easier on me!

Look at those clean rocks!

He stood on the bench almost the whole time. Yes. In his underwear.
I made this...

Stacy made this...

The boys' rocks are still 'works in progress.' Stay tuned. :)

Channel Your Inner Tupac...

I promise I didn't intend for my niece to look like this guy...

Let's just say there is a resemblance...

But Abby is WAAAAY cuter. :)

Abby's turn to play!

Going...

Going.

Gone.

But she just keeps on smiling...

Nothing is better...

...than having your cousins to come and play on a hot day.

It's a good thing...

...they are cute.

These days it's their only saving grace.

I'm either going to have to put these two into modeling or lock them away.

They really do think they are model material.

SAVE ME.

But darn...I love these two little men.

"Just like the olden days, right Mom?"

Tonight we made homemade bread, roasted rosemary chicken, veggies, stuffing and homemade butter. The homemade butter was the highlight of the night. We started with heavy whipping cream, a borrowed jar from the neighbors, and two marbles. Drop the marbles in the jar, pour the cream and start shaking. The marbles will make noise until your cream thickens. Don't stop shaking. Keep shaking till you hear them again...

Seriously. SHAKE LIKE CRAZY!! It takes about 15 minutes...

Pour out the excess liquid. Don't forget to remove the marbles...and enjoy!!

Two Ward thumbs up! Looks like we will making butter again soon. Unfortunately, I have a feeling I'll be the one shaking. Matthew HATED that job, but he loved the taste! He even asked me, "This feels just like the olden days, doesn't it Mom?" As if I knew what it was like to churn my own butter! Silly kid!

Old Man Smell...

We started off clean(ish), outside on a warm, summer evening.

Gave them some shaving cream...

...and let the boys just enjoy themselves.

Matthew said he looked like a unicorn. I agree.

Squeaky clean. Even if they do smell like old men. :)