Thoughts for the day

I find it funny how yesterday I was thinking, "Maybe I could handle a fourth kid. It couldn't be too much worse than the craziness that three brings me, so maybe we could add one more and it would be a BOY this time..."
Then I didn't get any sleep last night thanks to Gracie, Livia and of course, STELLA.
I get the message Heavenly Father, I get it.

Kite flying

Yesterday was windy day. I mean windy.

When the girls asked to go to the park, I told them that it was too windy out.
Then my smart little Gracie remembered that she and Livia had received kites from their Uncle Shawn and Aunt Megan for Gracie's birthday.
I couldn't argue.

So we flew the kites yesterday!
Along with Aunt Ryanne, Javin, Orissa, Aunt Megan, Shaylee, and Liam!

The kites and kids did pretty good! We only had a kite runaway from us once, but Aunt Ryanne saved the day!
Then we hit up the park, but it was just too windy.
The kids got to run around for a bit and burn some energy.
Apparently, Stella had already burned all her energy.

4th of July

Warning:

This is going to be a picture happy post. Because I am in a picture happy mood.

We went to the annual 4th of July Weller Family Reunion held at my Great Grandma Weller's house outside Coeur D'Alene. It is bbeeeeeeeeautiful out there. I was really looking forward to going up there and letting the kids run around in the hot sun!
Wait.
Hot sun?
Not so much.
This is how we spent the day:

Bundled up and trying to keep warm. Stella snuggled up with my uncle Joe, who, after 5 boys, never had any girls. Instead he gets his baby girls fix from my girls! They just love their uncle Joe!

I had gotten the girls all patriotic outfits, but they had to stay covered up and warn instead.
It was chilly!
Livia is the free spirit, who I can never get a good picture of. This is what happens when she says "Cheese!"
Oh well.
Cute top, eh? (That's the Canadian in me)
Gracie kept warm with my Grandma Peggy. I love this picture!
Stella's cute dress!

We spent a lot of time inside, and all of a sudden, I felt compelled to take this picture:
It's my Great Grandmother's living room.
Don't you just love it? From the green shag carpet, to the 80's plants, it's so homey and grandmotherly to me. I love it there!
I wish I would have taken a picture of the mug that was behind me on a plant stand. I can't remember what it said, but I remember thinking: That's my grandmother alright!

Stella loved playing in that shag carpet. I think she thought it was grass....

Outside, the girls still ran around and played with my cousins. I am one of the older grandkids.
I love this bench swing.
Sisterly love
I knew this was coming. Some of my cousins had started playing hackey sack and Livia and Gracie tried to join in. Didn't work out so well.
Stella performing a trick
She loves it!
Some picture of my Great Grandmother's property.
I like how Chad is pretending he doesn't see me taking pictures in both these pictures. LOL
Friends and relatives chatting on the back porch
This one made my think of my sisters in law, Carrie and Ryanne. They have awesome high tech camera's that would have done this picture more justice.
I just liked how it looked!
Oh yes. And this is the toilet. The inside bathroom was out of commission, so this is where the girls went potty. If you were a boy, you got to use the bushes.
My grandmother lives with her son and his wife, because at 95 years of age, she is unable to take care of the house by herself. Plus it is safer for her in case she fell or something, so the toilet in the house hadn't been used for quite awhile.
We decided to take a short walk over to the pond.
Gracie hopped on Papa's shoulders.
And Livia hopped on mine!
This seemed much bigger to me when I was younger. There used to be catfish in there, so I would always have dreams that the catfish would start biting my toes.
That must be why I have this fear of buying my kids a pet fish.
Gracie and I
Wondering about this picture?
Well I saw this happening:
Love how my cousin doesn't even care? He jumped in the boat and started playing around, as I am freaking out and telling the girls to stay by me.
Papa chased them away.
Gracie and Nana
Later, we headed home, but not after we bought some little fireworks in Coeur D'Alene.
They are outlawed in Spokane, so we had to break the law.
Shhhhhhh....
It was all in the name of pleasing the children.

Then we headed to find a place to watch the fireworks at Riverfront Park. We didn't end up going to the park, but we found a good place to watch them from. This is the first year we let the girls stay up to watch the fireworks!
I don't think they were too impressed.

Gracie and uncle Chad
Gracie was so scared of the noise.....even though there was hardly any noise because we were like 5 miles from the fireworks!
We had a great 4th and enjoyed all our time with our crazy family!