Get your game on

We play games at least 5 times a day. Every day... Haylie and James LOVE to play games. The following list includes just a few of the games we regularly play around here: Sorry, Guess Who, Outburst Junior, Parcheesi, Mastermind, UNO, Yahtzee, Connect 4, Sequence Jr. and Scrabble Jr. The best part is, I picked up about 13 of these games at the goodwill store for $25. One evening we were heading to Target to get a couple games for Haylie, and on the way I asked Micah to stop at the goodwill so I could run in and see if they had any first - I came out with a lot more than he expected but the total was as much as one of those games would have cost at Target - most of them were in nice if not brand new condition - it was amazing!

Through game playing, we have learned several things about James and Haylie's personalities. Haylie is very competitive but she is a very good loser, it doesn't phase her when the other person wins or you SORRY her 3 times in a row and send all her people back to start. James on the other hand makes it known at the beginning of the game, that he's not really interested in playing if he's not going to win. Then if you SORRY him, he goes into full meltdown!

We also learned that James has an incredible capacity for remembering names and faces. We picked this up from other places like Sunday School (whereas Haylie can never remember the names of kids in her class - James knows them all), but Guess Who has made it very evident how good at this James is. James quickly learned the names and faces of all the characters in the Guess Who game and can even recite them like flash cards - I have a video of it but it won't seem to upload so you'll just have to believe me.

I love playing games with the kids and am continually grateful for the opportunity to do so!

Summer Reading

The kids and I are a little obsessed with the library. In fact, we've been going about once a week for the past couple months. It is so fun to go and check out new stories and adventures each week, read them together and learn about them all week along and head back for more the following week. All summer long the library has story times on Tuesdays which we plan on attending. We've already gone to a couple and the kids really enjoy it. This one was a couple weeks ago and was led by a team from the Zoo - they even brought a pony.

Here is another of Haylie a while ago. The library has a summer reading program with prizes and little free gifts - Haylie is all over it! She is very goal-oriented, checking off her reading boxes and ready to head back in for her next prize!!

Iphone Randomness

I just learned how to import all my iphone photos into my computer (rather than emailing them individually) so I thought I would do a post of some of the miscellaneous pictures I found but never posted anywhere... it was kind of fun looking through the 400 pictures on my phone!!

At the cabin:

Look ma what I can do:

I can't see you, you can't see me:

Kids day silliness:

Tahoe:

Tired boy:

snuggling (photographer Haylie):

Life in 3D:

Lunch date:

Mrs. napkin head:

Princess Haylie:

Remember these from elementary school?:

Cozied up after bath:

Cute soccer girl:

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Wheee:

Our other child:

Rock star:

Dinner with girlfriends:

Rainy day:

Shoes I might have worn to the wedding if they weren't $150 :)

Smashburger shakes:

New tricks:

Mom, take a picture of me up here:

18th birthday present?

I don't think so! :)

Auntie Bekah's Wedding

We have been counting down the days until Auntie Bekah and Uncle James' wedding. Haylie was the flower girl and James was the ring bearer. It was a big day for them too and they were excited to find out what it would be like. The wedding was beautiful - held at the home of a family friend, the grounds were filled with gorgeous rose bushes everywhere and the weather was perfect!!

I didn't take too many pictures of the day because I wanted to enjoy the festivities and be one of the guests instead of the photographer. The following is one of my most favorite new pictures though. James was so sweet - I didn't even ask him to do that!

The dress search for me could have been exhausting but luckily I found this one pretty fast:

Tangled

Caught James playing Rapunzel... let down your hair: