"Happy New Year"

I know what you are thinking...what does "Happy New Year" have to do with August? Right? Well at our house we have been celebrating this very holiday all summer thanks to a very loud and active four year old that loves to jump into any situation, especially ones that you would rather him not, exclaiming that very phrase at the top of his lungs. And upon pondering the situation from his perspective, new room, new house, new friends, and new routines, etc. It is not hard to imagine that it must feel like what a four year old would imagine the new year to be. That pretty much sums up this blog. Everything new.
New house and new rooms...
Here are some pictures of the girls rooms...Amanda wanted a green owl room, and dad obliged. It turned out cute, but I still need to get some more things up on the wall. My mom helped sew the window seat, and she has since replaced the white chair with a pink lounger she found at a garage sale. It looks really cute, and she loves it. I was laughing though when I took the garbage out the other night and noticed the faint green glow coming from her room.
Maren picked out the bedding for her room and was so excited that it came with a canopy, she also insists on having her bed turned that direction so she can see the sunset out her window at night...smart girl!

I bribed both girls with a chore of learning to make their beds in the morning for two weeks (I know total slacker here for not having done that in the past) to earn both of their spreads. Luckily it payed off and they have continued to do a good job of taking care of their rooms.

Spencer and Jacob's room is still a work in progress, but it is turning out very fun. I plan to put up some sort of road tracks that flow with their names, and have them continued throughout the room.

They have a red wall opposite this one where we'll probably put some bunkbeds in here in the future, for now Jacob still likes the crib, and so do I! And I probably should have removed the diaper changing station before taking a picture as the window seat is really nice.

New friends...
When we first moved into our new neighborhood we knew one family (from our ward in Wisconsin). We have loved catching up with them, and despite the fact they have boys our girls ages, the kids have had a blast playing with each other. Recently, they have even found a place to have a neighborhood fort and have met more kids to join in the fun with. But it has been a much slower pace than what we where used to in Louisiana. At first the kids drove me crazy, but after a few weeks they got used to not having kids outside to play with all the time and starting playing with each other. I have loved this! And secretly I think they have as well. It has also made it so much easier to find time to write to friends and family far away and fit in errands without the kids giving me those death looks from peeling them away from their activity. And the family time has been priceless.
New routines...
Of course it is summer, so the routine has been very relaxed around here the last few months. Get out of bed when you wake up, spend the morning lounging in your pjs, and watching some PBS while mom works out and showers. We have all loved this and thanks to huge choice of swim lesson times (which we could finagle at the same time Amanda is at swim team) we have even fit in three sessions of swim lessons for Spencer and Maren this summer between all our vacationing and general laziness.

Maren jumping off the diving board for the first time...she later did it without the noodle. And is currently psyching herself up for the high dive.Spencer playing his favorite game of fishy in the net with his class.

The swim lessons really payed off. By the end of the third session, Maren was swimming both the crawl and back strokes 25 m and rocking on the diving board. Spencer became brave enough to put part of his head under the water...this from kicking and screaming to go class the whole first week of the first session. ( Not just because he was afraid of the water, but afraid of the teachers!) Hooray for progress! Jacob and I took one mommy and me class together then the next two sessions we spent playing in the splash pad, way more fun!

Amanda also managed to fit in a three week tennis course while on break from swim team. Sorry no pictures, I was across the parking lot at the pool with the younger kids.
Besides a few picnics at the park, most summer afternoons were spent hanging out at home and playing with the above mentioned friends. To break up the boredom we would do some reading and writing and "wii"ing. It has been fun to see the things have come up with to do with less structure. They built an awesome castle in our empty dining room, and when I helped them take that down last week to make room for our table they proceeded to build a rocket ship to blast off in.

Amanda planned a family home evening using blocks to build a temple (thanks for the similar idea O'Gwin family!) And here they are turning our horse into a fierce looking dragon. Jacob's reaction to this was so funny!

And last but not least, we have had numerous hotdog and marshmallow roasts in our backyard with our fire pit and this time Dave even set up the tent for a backyard camp out. I copped out and slept in our bed, as the 6 man tent really only fits 5 of us these days. Darn kids need to stop growing!

And with school starting this week all this will slow down, at least there is next summer to look forward to, and this mom is ready for a break...if you can call the school year that!