Work, Work, Play

On Friday, last week, we finished getting all of the rock out for our landscaping. We have had all sorts of plants, bushes, and trees for years--but no rock. All of the weeds were really getting way annoying so it was decided it was high time to finish this little project up. Courtney had the day off so it seemed like the perfect opportunity.

It is a little funny that my picture ended up first on the post because I really didn't do much actual work. My job was simply to pull the 4 front bushes out and plant new ones. Hopefully these will do better than our other ones. After I completed that I sat back and watched all of the hard work take place while I tried to entertain Averi.
Thank heavens for Courtney's mom. She came over and helped most of the day. We never would have gotten finished without her. I sometimes feel like we give her the most awful jobs. I mean, really, how excited would you be to go help someone shovel and move rock in the 100 degree heat. But she came happily, and we really appreciated the help.

Here comes the play part. We had the trailer lifted but it wasn't quite getting all of the rock out. So the kids had to climb up to the top and then use their feet to try to kick the rock towards the bottom. They weren't to disappointed about helping-they loved it.

And Rylan was in hog heaven all day long. He seriously sat in this sand pile and rolled around almost the entire day. His day couldn't have gotten much better in his opinion.

We were able to catch a picture of Courtney on his last wheelbarrow load of rocks. He worked for two days getting this all done. I feel so lucky that he isn't afraid of hard work. Thanks, babe. It really makes the landscaping look "finished".

Family Night

For family night this week we decided we would go swimming. So we headed over to Grandma Jake's to swim. We had such a good time. Every year at the first of the summer I swear that I am going to take the kids swimming at least once a week. And every year at the end of the summer I look back and can't believe that we didn't make it very much. I decided that it is still plenty warm for a couple of weeks and would should take advantage of it. This was actually Averi's first time swimming. The other times that we did make it to a pool she was usually sleeping. I didn't remember floaties so Jaxon was requiring a bit of assistance but he is doing lots better.
Kambree is turning into our little fish. She can now swim across the pool. At first she was doing giant belly flops into the water so she would be further across before she started swimming. By the time we left the pool she had actually taught herself to dive.

Rylan thinks he knows how to swim. He doesn't. We really have to watch him because he will just jump in wherever he is and just hope someone is around to get him.

Courtney has really been working with Kambree and Jaxon the last few times we have gone swimming to get them closer to being real "swimmers".

Grandma Jake even came down to the pool with us to watch the kids. She might as well have worn a swimsuit and actually got in because I think the kids pretty much made sure she was soaked before we left.

After we swam, Courtney grilled us up some amazing burgers. Somehow I did not get any pictures of this part of the event. They sure were good though. It was just a very enjoyable night.

Jaxon Turns 5!

Here is Jaxon blowing the candles out on his cake. He chose a Wall-E cake. I think it is so funny because the decision was all about the little toys that were on the cake. Oh, well. He loved it.

For his party we went to a real fun place that has a bunch of blow up bounce houses and slides. He had such a good time.

This is him the morning of his birthday. He kept asking me if it was night yet because his party was after Courtney got off work.

I just can't believe how fast time flies. Jaxon turned 5 at the end of August. It seems like he is just so grown up now. He is a really big helper for me. He gets home from school earlier than Kam so he ends up helping me for a while. He also loves to ride his bike (with no training wheels) and scooter. He likes books and reading. We love being able to watch him learn and grow and feel so blessed that he is a part of our family.