June Videos (Last videos of Suncrest house)

 

Window Washer

Nathan likes to wash windows around the house. He does a good job!

Storms

June is our big month for thunder and lightning storms. We've been having a lot lately! We love to watch the lightning and listen to the thunder.

Getting Strong

Since we're moving, Nathan has decided that he wants to help Dad and Uncle Brian move and pack. He decided that in order to do this, he needs to get strong. So he told me to get out my workout videos that have weights in them.
It is the cutest thing. He'll do his very best to do what he can. Apparently, he's been listening to me talking about lifting weights as he says that tomorrow is his "rest day so his muscles can rest and grow." He thinks he'll be ready by Monday for the big move.
He's in his underwear because he thinks the girls on the video are in their underwear. Of course.

We're moving to the Tri-Cities

The big news here is that Jeremy has accepted a job offer as a police officer in the Tri-Cities. We're not sure if it's ok to put the specific city on the internet. Departments sometimes have policies that limit what you can write online.

We move next Monday (July 2nd). It's going to be a super busy couple of weeks. Jeremy begins work on July 9th.

We managed to find a nice house to rent in West Pasco. While searching for houses to rent, we found it's really hard to find a nice house to rent! We didn't want to get an apartment if we didn't have to, and we got lucky finding this place.

More good news is that we don't have to sell our house right now. Some friends of ours are going to rent it from us. This is very good as we bought the house in 2006 so it is worth much less than what we paid for it. I guess we'll worry about selling when our friends no longer want to rent.

Jeremy is very much looking forward to his new job! He'll be working 10 hour, 40 minute days 5 days a week. Then, he'll get 4 days off in a row. One weekend a month will actually be 5 days off in a row. We know he'll be busy with work!

The kids and I are looking forward to exploring what there is to offer in the Tri-Cities! It looks like there are a lot of great parks and river activities. It might be too late to sign them up for swimming lessons, but that would be good. I've also been checking into preschools for Nathan for the fall. I've found a few that look promising so hopefully they'll have space for him!

The next 4 days are going to be full of packing, moving, and address changes. Should be crazy!

It was a dirty race

My race this last weekend was a bit muddy. I could have showered after the race, but the line was like 45 minutes long. So I looked like this when I got home. Most of the mud had dried and flaked off, but I hosed myself down outside before I ventured inside the house!

Here are some funny photos that were taken during the race. (Don't worry Dad. The knee brace was just in case I had any problems. My knee did not hurt a bit and wearing the brace was a waste of time.)



http://www.flo-foto.com/photos.php?RaceId=34&BibNumber=9362

Grown Up things Elizabeth says

It's amazing what Elizabeth pays attention to and I don't even realize it. Here are some funny examples.

1. I had out a jar of sweet pickles. Elizabeth pointed to the word "sweet" and said, "Look Mom. Two E's! Just like for Elizabeth."

2. "You should never build your house upon the sand. It will go splat." (Nathan loves to sing Bible songs so she's heard a few of the songs.)

3. "My giraffe needs to go to the doctor. He has Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease." (This is a vicious virus the kids and I had last December. She still remembers.)

Geocaching

Jeremy has always enjoyed geocaching. For those who do not know what geocaching is, here is a quick explanation.

Geocaching is a treasure hunt using GPS to find set coordinates. You then search for a tiny box in the vicinity. When you find it, you sign a log book to prove you were there and sometimes they have little toys in the box that you can exchange. The box can vary in size so some boxes have no room for toys and others have room for several items.

Nathan has recently become very interested in geocaching as he likes to find the treasure and the little toys. He'll bring along a little toy of his own to put in the box so he can get a new toy.

Recently, Nathan and Jeremy found something called a "Travel bug." These are special items that have missions. This little penguin's mission is to travel as far north as possible. He started in Utah and is trying to get to Alaska. Nathan and Jeremy found him at the latest geocache and will place him at one slightly further north for the next people to find.

Lunch

Stumps make great tables.

Sad news for the Union soldier hat

You know what happens if you wear a Union soldier hat 24 hours a day for 6 months? (Yes, Nathan slept in it every night).

It eventually falls apart.

Yes, it was a sad day here. The bill finally tore right off of Nathan's hat. It was good timing. That hat was wool and Nathan was really starting to sweat wearing that hat around outside now that it's getting warm.

Jeremy managed to convince him that it's time to start wearing a ball cap. Ball caps are made of cotton which makes them easier to wash AND they are cooler in the summer.

Nathan is now wearing his NYPD hat that Gram got for him in New York. I'm sure it will be appearing in photos for the next 6 months until it falls apart.

Mopping

Nathan continues to be a big helper. The other day, he mopped the whole floor for me! He especially liked to scrub out the "naughty" sticky spots.


He hasn't quite mastered keeping his feet on dry floor. He had a few slips.


He loved squeezing out the old water and getting new water. It's fun!

Kicked out of Eden.

Yesterday, Nathan and Elizabeth were playing with hoses in the yard and just got soaked so they stripped off their clothes and ran around naked for a while. They got filthy. I hope not too many neighbors saw.

Elizabeth did not want to come inside when I told her it was bathtime. She went and hid behind a shrub and cried. Apparently it's fine to get wet and naked outside, but it's not ok to take a bath. Ah, the thought process of a 2 year old.

In this photo, she reminded me of Adam and Even hiding behind the shrubs.

All you need is a box of nails and an old stump

Another great (and easy and cheap) activity is to practice with a hammer and nails. We use an old stump. Nathan can do this forever! Elizabeth can't actually use the nails. She just has a little hammer she hits on the stump.

Reading

Like most little kids, Nathan and Elizabeth are really into reading and books. Nathan's at the point where he's got a lot of books memorized so he "reads" them all the time. Well, since he is doing this, guess who else wants to do the same thing? They read all the time.
In this picture, they were reading books in Annie and Clarabelle (Thomas the Tank Engine's coaches). Boxes make great coaches!
Our house always has books strewn all over. I can't keep up with the mess of books in this house. I suppose it's a good thing though. Who can complain about their kids reading too many books?
This past week, we were denied checking out any more books from the library as we already had our limit of 40. We brought back about 20 so we were allowed to check out more. The librarians don't complain (out loud anyway...). They say we're great library patrons.
But honestly we read a lot because it's just so easy to do. Plus, it's free. I hope the kids will always love reading. I'm sure at some point they won't love reading as much, but for now, they are great readers!

June Videos

 

Auntie Laura

These kids love their Auntie Laura so much! She loves to come play as often as possible. We do not know what we are going to do without her when we move 7 hours away! She has already been checking on flights/trains that will get her over to visit us as often as she can.


Building block towers in the window. Nathan loves to build "cities" in the windows so when people drive by, they think they are driving in the big city.


"Auntie Laura time!" This is when the kids get grabbed and hugged whether they like it or not.

Sandals

Auntie Laura was nice enough to buy the kids their summer sandals this year. Look how cute they are! They love their new sandals. Yup, I know they are wearing sandals with socks and pants. It's still just too cold out to wear shorts and no socks!

Moldy Fruit

Nathan found some old watercolors today. He got really excited to paint. Here's what he said.

"I'm going to paint fruit! Red will be a strawberry. Orange will be an orange of course. Yellow will be a banana. Green will be a grape. Blue will be a blueberry. Purple will be eggplant. Brown will be moldy fruit. And black will be really, REALLY moldy fruit."

A 238,000 mile run

Jeremy was headed out for a run tonight. I asked him how far he was going to run.
Elizabeth said, "To the moon!"

Preschool Picnic

We had so much fun at the end of the year preschool picnic yesterday! The weather cooperated and we had a fun time playing at the park. Everyone brought lots of yummy food. The kids played on the toys and in the water. All the kids went home with a big bucket full of fun summer time toys!


We sat around and ate pretzels.


All the kids had a ton of fun playing in the sand. Elizabeth and Nathan were just having a blast. Yes, Elizabeth is in her undies. She wore pants to the beach and they were soaked and sandy. I forgot to bring shorts along, so now she is out in public in her undies. Several other kids were also in their undies (or just naked).


These kids love their watermelon!


Isn't she adorable?


Trying to get a family photo is impossible. We got 3/4. Of course, 1/3 has ketchup and watermelon all over her face and is not wearing any pants.


The pinata was fun! Here's Nathan getting on the blindfold.


He took some big swings. It was not possible to get the pinata down with that foam bat so we had to break it apart. I was so proud of Nathan! He went around grabbing all the candy he knew was safe for him. He didn't grab one thing that wasn't "Nathan safe." He's learning!


Elizabeth wanted to take part in the pinata bashing as well.

June Videos

 

Swinging

We're going to miss our super awesome swings. Nathan loves to do spinning underdogs and going super high. Elizabeth will only sit on the swing if she's in someone's lap. She's a bit scared otherwise.