Milestones

We have crossed two milestones this summer, at least these two that I can think of right now.  First, Annmarie (age 5) has learned how to swim.  She is still new at it and sometimes tries to do more with it than she is capable of, but she has gotten pretty good.  At first, when we were trying to get  her just to try, she was so scared and cried, but now, she is like a little fish.

The second...our oldest is driving!  Well, he has his permit anyway, not his license yet, and so far it's just in parking lots, but it's happening.  I'm very nervous about all of this.

17 YEARS!

Happy anniversary to us!  We have been married for seventeen years.  In seventeen years, we've lived in five states (California, Idaho, Arizona, Utah, and Texas), moved ten times, owned seven vehicles, owned three houses, had seven children, and have had two dogs.

Here's to making it to 18!

Nathan's Antics

Oh, Nathan, funny little boy!  Nathan has this habit of getting into the markers and drawing on himself. It could be worse.  He could be drawing on walls and other furniture, but when it's red marker all over his face, it doesn't look very good when we go out.  Hmmm..

He also likes to climb on us while we're doing anything.  He is definitely two years old!

Learner's Permit

I did not take the obligatory photo in front of the DPS when Westley got his learner's permit today, but he did get it.  So we stopped at In-N-Out for a snack and he showed off the permit and I got a photo there.  He also got contacts!  Did I already  mention that?  He looks so much older now--no braces, no glasses, and now driving.  Yikes!

Kids in the Kitchen

The first summer we lived here, I decided to teach my kids how to cook while they were out of school.  I set up a rotation system where they each had a day each week and that day rotated (since Fridays were always pizza days).  They picked all the meals for their assigned day and let me know the week before when I would grocery shop what they needed.  Then I taught them how to cook the food.  I loved the system so much that we have repeated it every summer since.  And the kids like it too.  It has really helped me be able to tell them, "Go start the meat for the spaghetti" or "come make a tossed salad" when we're on a busy weeknight and I need some help.  Plus, it's preparing them for life on their own. 

So, of course this summer, I'm doing it again.  I gave them a week off after school got out and then we started.  Travis made rolls on his own and Annmarie learned how to make mini pizzas made from hamburger buns.  I love that they choose the menu (making the menu is one of my big stressors) and I love that they pick things they like so there is less complaining about the food.  It's hard to duplicate this system during the school year because of scheduling with the older kids and their activities (and the fact that the high school kids don't even get home until 5 pm), but it's perfect for the summers!

Little Gymnasts

Jonah has been climbing and pulling himself up on stuff for a few months now.  He is really strong and agile, so we thought gymnastics might be something up his alley.  Since we are putting Jonah in, I decided to let Annmarie try it out too.  She is five now, which is a good age for starting gymnastics, she's little, she's bouncy, and she has a lot of energy.  This might be just the thing for her, a good outlet for all that craziness! 

Willy

Well, we did something really spontaneous and got a new dog.  Someone on the Wylie Facebook page mentioned he had a bunch of puppies that he needed to get off his hands.  So we went and looked at them and chose this one.  He was the cutest of the bunch.  Seemed a little shy and scared.  The mom was a blue heeler.  The man didn't know who the dad was.  He was the only puppy of the bunch who didn't really look like a blue heeler.

Anyway, the man was already calling him Willy, so we decided to just keep the name (although, I think it would have been kind of fun to have come up with a few names and voted).  So far, he's not too bad.  He doesn't like to walk on a leash and cowers a lot.  We wonder if the man maybe treated him badly.  Or maybe he's just sad that he doesn't have his momma right nearby anymore.  But he was born in January, so he's already five months old and weaned.  He'll get used to us.  All the kids are like puppy friends, right?