Professional cowboy

Here's some of the professional pictures from the portrait studio.

School carnival

It's amazing how excited kid's get for something like school carnivals. We gave the children a certain amount of tickets and they got to decide what to do with them. The first was of course the face painting (which came off as soon as we came home). The best photo ops of course came after my camera batteries decided to die (which I had just changed the day before). I missed some good pictures of the kids on a "tractor" ride as well as a pony ride, where Sam was amazingly still and let the girls hold him without even squirming. It wasn't much, but the children enjoyed themselves. I also have to mention that I felt like I should volunteer in some way, but not wanting to take time away from spending it with my children at the carnival, I signed up to clean up after. I realized how silly this was (being 7 months pregnant - moving tables etc) but was going to go anyway and try to be of some help, when Mark stepped in and took my spot. What a great act of service for me. Thanks Mark.

Sam's fun

A little R & R by Sam. I walked into the room and Sam had sprawled out on the little couch "reading" a book (notice it is upside down). I just thought it was cute. It's funny the things they pick up on. We also just got his pictures taken. We got some special ones for Daddy in his cowboy attire, so here is a preview, but the real pictures will be posted as soon as we get them back.

At the park

As part of the field trip we ended up at the park. Sam loves to go down the slides.

Nature Center

Dani's preschool went to the nature center. We didn't spend a lot of time looking at anything due to limited time, but they did see some stuffed animals, birds, and fish.

Super dad

I just thought I'd give Mark credit for being a super dad. I've been out all weekend with some kind of bug that Taylor brought home from school. We've only been in school for 3 weeks now and she's already brought home something twice to the rest of us. It seems to hit me harder than the rest - maybe due to the pregnancy. Anyway, Mark stepped in and didn't do an ounce of homework and kept our house in tact and actually got the kids to happily work which I haven't been able to do (although I think money was involved). I think we're both getting a slight case of senioritis. Mark seems to be around and doing a lot less homework lately, but I fear it will hit us near the end of the semester. That scares me a little due to the fact that will be when the baby comes. For now I'm enjoying it though. It's exciting to hear the job offers pouring in already, but somehow we need to focus on the here and now and get to that point. We're finally getting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but I'm sure there will always be another tunnel ahead of us.

Wal-mart

Mark went to Wal-mart tonight, which I vowed I wouldn't let him do anymore. He found those cowboy boots (in Sam's size) - and do you think he got them? Silly question. Sam also ended up with a huge blue bouncy ball - why else? Because I'm sure he pointed to it and daddy said sure. It's nice to have a dad who loves you and cares.

Bike Riding

I've asked the girls all summer if they would like me to take off their training wheels to no avail. With no prodding Taylor asked me yesterday to take hers off. I told her I would, but that I would not be putting them back on. She agreed and did fairly well as long as we continued to hold on. Of course Dani couldn't be showed up, so she wanted hers off too. Now the girls can't ride their bikes until they've mastered riding on their own. The little neighbor boy, Zane, was enjoying this process and wanted to be a part of it (having already mastered it himself). I was surprised that he could actually hold Dani up and that she even let him. From the video you can see that they had a good time with it. No bike riders yet, but the fact that they're interested is a start. Sam just hangs out pretending to mow the lawn.

Swan Falls

After our little hike to see the canyon, we drove down into it, which Dani was not excited about. She liked it once we were down there. We watched some people fish and walked across the dam. The children enjoyed it and promptly came home to call Papa to see if he would take them back to fish. We tried to have a nice little picnic, but the wind was enough for us to finish it up in the car. The car ride home wasn't that long, but the kids fell asleep anyway. Any day spent with dad is a fun day.

Bird's of Prey

Mark was gracious enough to spend part of his day off taking his family on an outing as opposed to doing homework. Our first stop was to see the Snake River and Bird's of Prey. The kids had all kinds of questions for dad, which he patiently answered as best he could. It was a nice day, but very windy. We're glad we had the foresight to bring jackets (especially with hoods).

Eating corn

Do all little kids love to eat corn on the cobb? I think there is some kind of fascination with them getting to hold it and bite it off. We thought Sam had it figured out, but he always reverted back to eating the end of the cobb. It couldn't have tasted that good.

Riding the bus

The kindergarteners didn't get to ride the bus for the first few days. Taylor had no apprehensions getting on and announced how fun it is because she doesn't have to wear a seat belt. We are lucky enough to have the bus stop right outside our back gate, so we don't have far to walk and if siblings are sleeping, I can still go wait outside the gate without having to worry about them. I'm happy that the kindergarteners all sit up front, but I'm sure that won't save them from all the lovely things that go on during the bus ride.