Our Ducky Girl is 4 Years Old

All Larke would say she wanted was a ducky. She wanted also a ducky cake. The cake did not turn out as cute as I wanted, but she still loved it. Her favorite gifts were the sleeping bag, (which she has slept with every night since) totally awesome beads I got at Target and 6 little Hello Kitty figures and of course the Littlest Pet Shop ducky I found. I think she really enjoyed her day. We went to the Children's Museum in the morning and had a calm afternoon. I think the hardest part for her was waiting to open presents. She has been sharing her presents very nicely which has made it much more pleasant. I can't believe she is already 4. Larke still loves to snuggle. She loves sitting on laps, she always has. She obviously still loves her ducky. She talks more and more all the time, but she just doesn't seem to as interested in talking as my other kids have been. I love her so much. She is such a delight most of the time. She definitely has her moments of tantrums and being mean to her siblings, but for the most part she makes our days great.

Lasik

I got Lasik done on the 17th. It is very nice to wake up and see the world. These pictures were taken the day after the surgery. It all went really well and now I am just dealing with the dryness that they cautioned about before hand. I'm grateful it went well, I was nervous, but it all turned out great.

Bread Creations

When I was little I remember my Mom letting my sister Sharon and I make shapes out of the left over dough when she would make bread. I loved that I had my own bread that I made. I always thought that it was so special. She also had these tiny bread loaf pans that I would use sometimes too. I need to get me some of those. Anyway, we made bread on Sunday and I finally did this activity with my kids. I have been meaning to do it for years, but I would always think of it too late. We had a lot of fun making these. Gideon made a Ben 10 omnitrix and a jet. Eden made a puppy and a heart. I made Larke a ducky and I made a flower for myself. That is the problem with doing things that remind me of being a kid, I have a hard time just letting my kids do it. Thanks Mom for letting me do this as a kid!

Shedding

So this is the progression of our new shed. Matt and I have been planning on doing a shed in our yard for a long time. Well we finally did it. Matt's parents came out for Labor Day weekend and helped us put it all together. Since Matt's parents built the house that Matt grew up in and love doing other home projects, they have a lot more experience than we do. We are so grateful that they came to help us out. We got so much more done with 4. I got to learn alot of things like framing, how to put in a window, how to build a loft, how to use a nail gun, a miter saw, how to build a truss for a roof and how to do a foundation. I really enjoyed working with Joy. The most fun for me was probably the nail gun and putting together the trusses for the roof. I did smash two of my fingers with a big Bertha (the best hammer) and got numberless splinters. The kids were awesome. They were ignored for 4 days. By day 4 Rush would not have it anymore, but they were so good. Gideon really enjoyed trying out the small nail gun. The girls and Rushmore loved walking on the floor and the walls as we were putting them together. Every time Rushmore could he found his way up on the floor. There were 2 scary moments when the wall with the window was blown over and when one of the main trusses fell off the top. Thankfully nobody was hurt either time. Mike came up with a much better way to do the roof by doing the loft first. So much easier! We got the last wall up which made the sides much more sturdy.

Since most of these pictures I have finished the painting of the walls and most of the roof is on and Matt has finished about half of the shingling. This has been a great learning experience for me. Thanks again to Mike and Joy for making this all possible. Next time we'll have a more relaxing vacation!

1st Day of School

Eden finally had her 1st day of Kindergarden. Listening to her talk about it and you'd think she was waiting "forever". She had been asking all summer if it was time for her to start school yet. She has a few weeks under her belt already and she is still excited to go everyday. She is getting so big and I have to admit that I got a little choked up that first day. I am so excited for her to learn.

Gideon is now an experienced school goer since he is in 2nd Grade. He has done so well in school so far. I am so proud of him. He is cheerful and enthusiastic in almost everything he does. He does awesome in reading and math. This year we are really going to work on spelling and writing. I know he'll do awesome. I love picking up Gideon from school because he is always so glad to see me and so excited to tell me about his day. He has a little competition with Eden to talk right when they get in the car but they are getting better at taking turns.