What a fun "stay-cation"!

A reporter did a story on the news last year about more and more families taking "stay"-cations rather than "va"-cations because of the economy and lack of extra money to spend... We have decided that we prefer stay-cations because we love where we live so much! So for this Memorial Day weekend we had ourselves another stay-cation and did all of the fun things we could think of without leaving town! The weekend started off great when Donald decided to hold his very own bottle for the first time :) WOO-HOO! (I don't remember it taking this long with my older two children so it was a GREAT milestone!)

We all got to ride a lot but Tristen was the most excited because he is learning to ride all by himself! His daddy is a great coach!

I even got a turn to shut out the world and ride which I appreciate more and more these days! (children can be sort of demanding....)

Kort got to start his first season of T-ball and he thinks it is the greatest thing in the world! He hits the ball clear to the grass every time! (even the 7yr olds on his team can't do that :)

Tristen got a "big kid bike" and loves trying to keep up with his brother! (the green rope'n gloves he's wearing make him go faster..... atleast that's what he told me.)

We even got to have our first "fire pit" of the summer in our backyard and roast marshmellows! We had the funnest weekend ever and almost didn't even leave our property. Stay-cations Rock!!! We feel so blessed to get to live where we do (now that it's summer!)

Donald Duck?

First of all, I can't believe my baby is getting so big- he is 6 months old now and cuter than EVER! -but we seem to have one little problem... When I was pregnant, Tristen told us that he wanted to name the baby "donald duck". We thought it was cute and just laughed it off. Well apparently he was serious because that is what he calls Ross ALL of the time (he refuses to say Ross - and if by chance he slips, he will correct himself right away). The terrible thing is that now the rest of us are finding ourselves calling him donald duck and so now that is what Ross responds to!
So........... we introduce Donald Duck Hilton!

Happy 5th Birthday Kortlen!!!

It's hard to believe that just five years ago we didn't have any children! My, how our lives have changed :) Kort turned the big "5" on May 6th and we all had such a fun day!

I asked him what "fun things" he wanted to do for his birthday and one of the activities he thought of was an egg hunt! So I filled them all with pennies, nickles and dimes (we STILL have candy we're eating from Easter) and Kort and Tristen had a blast finding them all and inserting all of the money into their money banks.

He wanted a Star Wars cake (surprised?) so I ordered one from the local grocery store (I just didn't have it in me this time) and he was super happy with it. However, that night we still had some left over and he said, "mom, I don't want you to throw it away okay?" I said I wouldn't and that he could eat more of it tomorrow. He said, "I don't really like how it tastes, I just like how it looks." So I let him "look" at it for two days -THEN we threw it away!

All Kort wanted for his birthday was a head-lamp (like his dad's) so he could go outside with dad in the dark to feed the horses. And he wanted his own binoculars so he can spot and hunt birds with his bow and arrow. (I wouldn't let him do it if I thought he could actually kill one, but PLEASE don't tell him that!) He spends so much time outside hiding behind the sandbox lid just waiting for birds to come in...

FIVE THINGS I LOVE ABOUT KORTLEN
1- He can make me smile ANY TIME and ANY WHERE

2- He is my biggest helper and actually "enjoys" cleaning up

3- He really believes that his dad is a Jedi with special powers

4- He often hugs my leg and tells me I'm a "really good mom"

5- He waited until he turned five to wipe a booger on his brother

I LOVE YOU KORT, YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE:)

Do I look like a horse?

So tonight after dinner I was walking a little funny....

Mark said, "honey, what's wrong?"

I said, "I'm just a little sore from the treadmill yesterday. I got the big idea to jog for a while (which I NEVER do). The kids thought it was the funniest thing and laughed at me the whole time. I was so out of breath that I couldn't even tell them to knock it off...

Mark said to Kort, "What was so funny about mom on the treadmill?"

Kort said, "She was TROTTING!"

HOME AGAIN!!!

We are home again and sad to say that it will probably be a while before we will be back in Sunny George... We had such a good time visiting family and getting to "play" in the sweet sunshine!!!
Kort and Tristen had a blast playing at Tyson's house and discovered the super fun "rip-stick"?!! Now Kort wants one for his birthday but there is one problem- we don't have cement at our house, just gravel (remember, we live in the "country"). Kort told me that we could just walk to the Highschool everyday so he could borrow their cement! (not going to happen but great job being creative, son!)

Grandpa gave the boys their very own super hero goggles- you wouldn't believe how many fights I have broken up that have started out as " just pretending". Thanks grandpa :)

Little Ross just loves his grandma more than life and always would "prefer" her over me... (I loved EVERY second of it!) Aren't they cute?

I was SO excited to FINALLY find some "boy" aprons and chef hats for my kids. They love to help me cook and bake and have always wanted one to wear while we are in the kitchen... Thank you Walmart! (they were even on clearance:)

They were getting ready to help grandma make "craps" (crepe's) for breakfast!