Basketball Camp!

Jack was finally old enough to go to basketball camp this year. When I told him it was for 5-8 year olds he said, "I'm five!! Will's seven! We're both between 5 and 8! We both get to go!"
And yes, it was all it was cracked up to be. Best time ever.

Big news!

that I can't believe I haven't mentioned! Henry has recently entered one of my very favorite stages of babyhood....Cheerio eating! Hello pincer grasp, good-bye boredom. Confession time: we have been beyond terrible at teaching Henry how to do pretty much anything. He is a sweet content baby who is easily entertained by the other little people here so we've just been letting him slide by on his good looks. However, it did occur to me a while back that it was time to try out Cheerios and the very first one that we set on his walker tray he grabbed with his little pincer grasp and popped in his mouth--no fumbling around for this kid. And then he went on to eat as fast as we could get them out there, drooling like crazy. Ava was gone the night we tried it and she was totally bummed that she missed it but he was only too happy to show her himself:

boys.

Jack just finished his first year of school and at his age there aren't very many tangible rewards for his hard work. No honor roll medals or bright shiny ribbons for a job well done. And while we, of course, encourage hard work for the sake of hard work, sometimes you need a little something in your hand. So after Jack finished a year with all excels (all year) in the behavior columns of his report card (obedient, cheerful, respectful, and punctual) and after a whole year with nary a name on the board, we took him out for a giant scoop of ice cream (and even better, he got to bring a friend!) and fresh new bag of army guys. He's easy to please and so darn easy to love! Good work good-lookin!

13 years (13 years!)

It took me a long time to round up the pictures for that last post so I made a new anniversary tradition...take a picture of us!! Brilliant, yet simple, eh?

We like traditions here. Two of our anniversary favorites include watching our wedding video (which is tricky now that our only VCR is on the kids' super tiny tv...stupid technology) and trying to remember what we've done on our anniversary in years past. I love doing this, especially now that I have lost so much brain power (thanks to having four kids), it's like a day long puzzle that I stew over trying to remember when we did what. Some of our anniversaries are punctuated by events that happened at the same time (or by who I might have been pregnant with at the time!). Our ninth anniversary was right after Ed got his current job and his boss had flown to town to get him started--he didn't end up getting home till like eleven that night but we didn't care because he was so excited so we stayed up late eating junk food and talking about how great his new job was. That was different from our eighth anniversary, which we spent in Othello (this last place on the planet I would ever choose) because he was working at his old job which was somewhat miserable and required lots of stays in the kind of terrible hot places that grow potatoes. Our first anniversay we spent shopping in Spokane for the day (where Ed bought a pair of Oakleys that he still has!) and then we stayed at someone's house on the lake and we actually got homesick enough that we wanted to go home but we decided that if we were old enough to be celebrating our anniversary, we should probably start acting like it. Our tenth anniversary was supposed to be spent lounging on the beach in Maui but thanks to our airline going out of business just in time, we spent it in rainy Seattle instead. However, number three was also in Seattle but so beautiful and it was a surprise that I didn't tell Ed about till we were on the road (with the bags hiding in the trunk). For number five, we were bleary-eyed new parents and we left Ava for the first time to go out to dinner, where Ed gave me a new wedding ring. Number four, we had just found out we were having Ava and I'm pretty sure we were both thinking what have we gotten ourselves into! Numbers 7, 10, and 12 were also spent in various stages of pregnancies but those times we knew exactly what we'd gotten ourselves into. Now we've hit lucky number 13 and we're old and settled and we've had four sweet beautiful babies and we spend most of our time watching them grow up and we look at each other and think how incredibly overflowing our cups are.

And speaking of our sweet babes, the oldest made us this:
Specialized trail mix for our anniversary hors d'oeuvres. Overflowing, I tell you.

4745 days.

1998
1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

Henry's first taste of grass

and his first day in shorts!

The sun came out to play!

Saturday was HOT! Seriously, we jumped from 45 to 75 in one day. Ed had a golf tournament so I took the kids to the market and then for a picnic at Hordeman's Pond with their cousins and then to the Safety Fair for free bike helmets and a climb up the rock wall. Which was awesome! Jack was so brave--he just scrambled right up to the top and when he hit ground he said, "I bet dad will be proud of me!" Ava went way out of her comfort zone and made it up part way. And I didn't have the camera!

Sweet little buddies.

Goobers

What to do when it's June and your mom won't take you to the park cause it's still pouring rain?

Run laps around the house!

(he runs with the most fantastic smile on his face. All.the.time.)

especially if you can get your sister stand out there and cheer for you!

Coeur d'Alene 1/2 Marathon

We were back in Cda again Saturday night and we pre-race loaded up at our favorite restaurant. And by loaded up, it's possible we over-ate but the food there is so darn good. Then we stayed at my aunt's house, which honestly is so much better than the hotel we had planned to stay at. She is the most amazing hostess. Everything you might need or want is at the ready. Too bad we had to get up at the crack of dawn and run 13 miles instead of just chilling on the deck, huh?

Ed's smirky face because I have once again taken a picture in a restaurant...the horrors. I like how he half smiles because he's learned that if he goes with the straight smirk I'll just keep taking pictures.
All finished. woo hoo.
I talked Ed into running this one with me and the first half was great, we were right on time and feeling great and then by mile ten I felt terrible. We ended up finishing a couple minutes faster than this same run after having Jemma so that was okay for me but poor Ed ran 7:50 splits last time (compared to 9:50 splits this time) so it's possible I'll be on my own next time.
double Jack on the rocks at Red Robin...post race goodness.

Jack says

"Jemma, I wish I could marry you but you're just too young for me!"

The Wedding (and a whole lotta pictures)

Jack and I headed to Cda early for pictures and Ava packed him a little snack bag and a card for the trip and he waited till we hit the edge of town and said, "We're on the road! Read me Ava's Card!" Which said, "Good luck Jack, I'll be watching you. Love, Ava" And Jack said does "love, Ava" mean the same thing as "I love you?"

Look closely at these next shots, everyone else is just hanging out but Jack
never
takes his eyes
off the camera!

Me and the mister.

Waiting at the top of the stairs for his big trip down:

So happy it's over and dinnertime!:

Crackin' up with Paul and Connie and Grandpa.

Jack waited all day for the dancing and then he couldn't get Ava to go out there with him so he headed for Emma instead.

And then he danced with pretty much everyone he could!

Grandpa finally got Ava out there and then she didn't want to stop!

Good times.

All tuckered out and heading home.

And the kids have been playing "Sam and Miranda" ever since!

Sam's rehearsal

After the rehearsal Thursday night, we headed to my aunt's house for the party. Jack doesn't get to go out all that often and boy, did he have a good time!

Jack and three of the DeWinkle girls, enjoying the so amazing view.

Jack and the groom.

Best laid plans...

So my plan for taking this week off sort of flopped when I remembered our house is on the market and our realtor called and said they want to show it four times...on different days...3 times during nap, 1 during dinner. Seriously people. It's possible I was grumbling about this when Ava said, "you should tell them you have too many kids and if they want to see it they can look at the pictures on line." Amen sister.

And speaking of Ava, we are so very glad she is home. So glad: