To keep or not to keep

I feel like a really terrible Mom when I move the kids art straight from their backpacks to the recycle bin.  I wonder if I am the only Mom out there who doesn't keep it all and organize it so that some day the kids will look at it and be so happy to see their handywork from so many years ago.  Sure...I put a few odd pieces on the fridge and they look cute, but the majority are long gone.  It's just that art at this point tends to look like this fantastic piece, which I pulled from Iris' backpack last week!

Yep, that would be a big yarn tangle glued to paper :)

To alleviate some of the guilt I will start posting some of the work on here.  Then they will still be able to see it someday (if I ever get around to printing this into a book), but I won't have cats choking on yarn!

I can do anything

I can do anything!  Those are really cool words to hear come from your kids mouth after they do something they thought was impossible.  Last summer at Ridgecrest playground Miles tried jumping from a tire to a pipe and fell short.  He split his chin opened and howled and bled all over.  It was a rough night, but mostly we were thankful he didn't leave any of his teeth in the playground mulch!
We went back last night for the first time since then.  He wanted so bad to try it again, but he was nervous (as were we!)  We helped him for a few minutes and he built up his confidence and then kept doing it over and over again.  By the end of the night he was so happy.  He turned to Jeff and said, "I can do anything if I try hard enough!"

Success

Success, Air Jordan style!

The best peach of the season!

Our sweet little Charlie Brown Christmas tree-looking peach tree produced one beautiful peach for us during its first season.  We babysat the tree all summer and made sure we watered it often.  I didn't have high hopes for the lone peach that started out looking like a crab apple, but Miles and I went out to pick it last night and see what we got.  He chomped right into it and juice dripped down his chin and he smiled.  We fought for the rest of the tiny peach, but did save Jeff a small bite.  It was perfect!  I can't wait to see how many we get next year.

Indiana!

We just spent two weeks back home in Indiana.  It was such a great time, but not enough time, as always.  We made the rounds and stayed at a few places.  It's fun to watch the cousins play now that they are all getting a little older.  I hadn't been back in more than a year and it was amazing to see how they all changed.
We lucked out and had perfect weather, unlike sister Jen who was home last month when it was record setting 105+ degrees with 98% humidity.  We had pool time and beach time and boat time.  I'm now in the post home visit state of depression that always hits me upon returning to Utah.  Since tomorrow we are back to the grind I won't have much time to wallow.  I just need to start planning my next trip back.

Riding Uncle Dan

Iris was blown away by the amazing assortment of princess dresses in cousin Allyson's closet. I love this shot!

Iris' first sleep over with Ally, although in reality she slept in a pack and play next to the bed.  It was cute to see them play together so well.  They chattered long past bedtime in the dark. 

We went to Sunset Hill farm to feed the animals.  I went there when I was Miles' age for summer camp, so it was fun to be back with my own kids.

Jeff relaxing at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. 

Miles and Ally quickly figuring out just how much seagulls like bread.

Miles getting a reading lesson from Evan.

Cousins watching TV
Iris and Eleanor

Party in Uncle Adam's hot tub! 

I couldn't decide if I preferred the posed shot or the action shot so I included both!

Eleanor showing Miles how to dig for worms in the compost pile.

Iris sealing the fate of the worms from the compost pile!

Dad, Adam and I heading out for my once per year water skiing session. 

Three boys in a boat!

Miles getting ready to tear it up on Loon Lake!

Daredevils!

 Happy day!

Jeff got his arm workout in that day!  We spent hours in the pool.  Miles swims like a champ these days.  Iris thinks she knows how to swim and wants nothing more than her face underwater, but she needs a bit more work! 

Bonding while back floating

Aww!

Good times!

Bedtime story with Will, Iris, Miles and Thomas

Motorcycles freak me out, but if there is one person I trust to give Miles a safe ride it's my Dad.  They did a few exciting laps around the neighborhood.  I'm not sure which one of them was more excited!

Where to take 3 little boys to kill some time?  Bass Pro!

 And last, but not least, this super funny but sort of disturbing shot of Miles in some sort of ice cream trance!