Bailey Family

 First, David graduated High School- so we went to that...  And we had to make a quick trip to the beach while we were down there... When we got back, our calendar fun started - with craft day for the girls (while Seth was at cub scout day camp)... Our weekend was a trip to visit my brother and his family - who live at least 4 hours away  and "never get visits" - we went to a park while visiting and Rob initiated challenges for the kids to try and compete. Our visit got cut a little short thanks to Beth's crazy headache :( but it was still fun to visit and see their new house and watch Thomas crawl. The next week began with experiments (simple experiments - a list of ideas obtained from a school handout that used around the house stuff - we choose about 8-10 off the list that we had stuff for)  The big hit of the summer so far has been star gazing/sleepover night, which included some water fun while waiting on the stars to ap...

Every summer I try to do something to make it different and more fun from the rest of the year (as if a break from school doesn't do that already). Skip the next few paragraphs if you just want to see the idea. Last summer we had one-on-one days of the week (each kid got to skip rest time on 'their day' to have one-on-one time with me...I did a lot of sewing of doll clothes and ammo belts.)  We'll fit in the one-on-one time somehow, but I need daily rest time this summer too! So, this year, I got poster boards (dollar tree) and cut up colored paper (free from my stash) and have made an activity for every day of the week (and some Saturdays).  I used paper/tape rather than just draw directly on the poster board so that I can rearrange as needed...and I have already. I also decided to 'hand draw' the pictures because I thought it would be cute - and to save ink...and to produce laughter from my brother and children at my artistry. :) None of the act...

I AM going to do the April Spotlight (it's Natalie), but it's on Will's video camera and I don't know how to get it from there to here...so he'll do it for me later. :)  These are just a few of the over 700 pictures I've taken in the last month trying to improve my photography skills! (I'm still having issues with focus when I have a shallow depth of field - for all those photo-savvy people out there who know what that means, so disregard the little blur in some- I'm working on that.) Here are the "just pictures": I didn't actually take this one (Mom did with her phone) - Alee needed to clean her face/hands with a wet wipe, so she "held" her pacifier with her toes in the meantime! (go ahead, throw up)

Finally, Friday! (grocery shopping mostly done and ready for the break...hmm, why is there always a chair pushed up to the counter - HEY, those donuts are for tomorrow! The weekend was General conference - no pictures needed.. Sunday (after General Conference) - April Fool's Day Dinner Dinner - cupcakes with pink icing....wait, What?  (OK, it's really meatloaf with pink tinted mashed potatoes on top) Dessert - grilled cheese....huh? (OK, OK, it's really angel food cake, toasted under the broiler, then sandwiched with tinted whipped cream. They thought it was hilarious - thanks, Family Fun for the idea. :) (Monday, well, I had to do some shopping - not their favorite day of spring break...) Tuesday - Seth and I made 'crystals' (rock candy) - which we finally got to try out today - (Kaitlyn already ate all off her stick) Wednesday - zoo Look at that annoyed face - sisters always getting in HIS picture   The funny face-board we found in the garden the...