Swinging

It was kind of a crummy, rainy morning so we had to stay inside.  We went through some magazines and I had them tell me when they saw a picture of something they liked, then we tore it out and glued it on a piece of paper.  Harper's paper was filled with many pictures of dogs, a couple green toys, a necklace and food.  Ava found kitty pictures, the same necklace as Harper, lipstick, toys, flowers, the sun and food. 
We walked over to the big swing and they visited with Parker and Buttons for a few minutes, then they wanted to see Uncle Alan.  He was in his shop and showed them the big magnets on his file cabinets and a light, too, they busily played right there at the file cabinet until it was time to go.
After their bath, Ava had me comb her Barbie's wet hair,  Barbie had bathed with them, so I put it in a low ponytail.  Immediately, Ava said "that's like Rielee's hair" and said she wanted her hair fixed that way, too.

Snowball fight

These two are so funny.   Harper loves anything green and Ava loves pink.  From their cereal bowls to their undies, they always choose
those colors.  Yesterday they painted picture frames to give Lexi for her 14th birthday today, and of course Harper's was green and Ava's was pink.  Harper did wear pink sandals today though, she told me her white ones really hurt her feet so she had to.
Another thing they are fixated on is the whole " Mommy & baby" thing,  and it pertains to anything that is big and small.   When you give them baby carrots they want a big one for the" Mommy" and a smaller one for the "Baby", (and they get really excited if you find a tiny baby one).  Today Harper climbed up in the tree fort to go down the "Mommy" slide, of course we still have the toddler slide so that is the "Baby".  Papa was laughing because the Mommy/Baby deal even made it into the bathroom-when they go potty, they wad up a length of "Mommy" size toilet paper and then they take one square and wad it up-then kiss it, "ohh, Baby one!" 

Memorial Day

Since Parker spent the rest of the weekend with us, we took him along to the cemeteries today.  At Pioneer Cemetery he was very interested in the different graves and who the people were and how they were related to him. He wanted to know what happened to his Great-Grandma and Grandpa, did they die of old age or were they sick, so we talked about that.   I showed him Aunt Hilya's name and Mom's name and explained how Emmy's name is both of their middle names, and how his Dad's middle name came from my Dad.   He had a lot of questions about the family and also about cemeteries in general.  I told him I thought he had a lot of his Great-Grandpa Piercy's traits, as he was a logger and loved being outside like Parker does.  At Mt. Brynion cemetery, Papa talked to his Dad about Parker, which was both sweet and funny at the same time.  Parker noticed that Papa's Mom passed away when he (Parker) was 1 year old and asked if she had ever met him.  
The rest of the day we spent working in the yard and playing basketball. 

3rd in State Softball

Front row: 4 best friends/Juniors Maddie, Macee, Tierney, Kenzi and Maddie's sis Nicole

A very happy Macee with Parker and Riels

After losing their second game yesterday to Lakeside, they girls came back and beat Hoquiam, Lynden Christian, Cascade and Onalaska to take 3rd in State. 

The girls had a great tournament, the highlight being today, when Macee, Tierney and Maddie all hit homeruns in a 7-0 win over Lynden Christian.  It was extra-special for Macee, since her 90 yr. old great-Grandma was there to see it.  Macee gave her the ball and her Grandma asked her to sign it for her.  What a sweet moment in a very memorable day.

Pretty toes

After I got home from having a pedicure, the girls wanted their toes done, too.   They sat perfectly still for me.  At bedtime, Harper said she didn't want to put on her sleeper because she couldn't see her "pretty toes".   While I was gone, they got to go over to Rielee's and play.  I heard that they had graham crackers and dipped them in milk and then Rielee dressed them up as Princesses.  Later we went for a walk with Rielee and the girls cried and cried when she had to go home.

Another broken limb

 Unfortunately, Lexi broke her arm on Saturday.  She was with her Dad and riding on a Quad with Luke and crashed into some trees.  Luke jumped off before so he was okay.   It was broken in two places so the cast is above her elbow, she will wear this one for 3 weeks and then hopefully she will be healed enough to wear a brace. 

Riding with Jillian and Bridget

Harper tried riding the trike and did well on it.

 Aunt Cathy called this morning and invited the girls down to play with Jillian and Bridget.  They had the Jeep and Quad out in the driveway when we got there, so Ava and Harper got to try out their driving skills.  They have none, so it was quite a wild and crazy time keeping them going in a circle without running into anything or each other, or Bridget, who is also learning to ride, or their Grandma.  They figured out how to start and stop, sort of, but the steering part, not so much.  Harper seemed to like riding the Quad best, she felt like she was really zooming on it.  They paid attention when Jillian filled the Jeep with pretend "gas" and had to stop and do the same thing a couple of times. 

The girls really had a great time.  Harper kept asking "fun, Ava, fun?" as she drove around, Ava answered "yeah!".

Sandbox lesson

The girls needed a little instruction in sand molding and Papa was happy to get in there and teach them the basics.

 Dig down to the wet sand, then pack it down with your fist...

and TA-DA, a castle!  They got pretty good at it by the time the lesson was over.

Harper has some very expressive eyebrows.

District softball

 District softball started today for the Rockets at Ft. Borst in Centralia, the first game was against Hoquiam at noon.  They won it but it took 9 innings.  Ava and Harper kept busy, they found this bucket and were playing it like a drum, then they would bow and say "thank you, thank you" and their hats would fall off.  So funny.   They played a lot of catch with Rielee, Auna and Parker, too.

Ava and Rielee

 The second game wasn't until 4:00 so we drove around for awhile between games, hoping they might fall asleep, but that didn't happen.

The Rockets lost to Montesano, and now have to beat Ridgefield on Saturday to make it to State.

Little softball spectators

Rielee,Harper, Ava, Bridget and Jillian had a great time playing together while sister and cousins Macee and Tierney played  R.A.Long, winning 9-5.  As she was coming into the dugout between innings, Tierney looked over and said "it looks like a daycare over there".

Macee on third base after she hit a triple

Prom pix



WIll and date

 Wow, these aren't my pictures but I love seeing how awesome these kids look dressed in something besides a jersey and shorts!  The girls were in Corvallis playing in a volleyball tournament so they got dressed there and then met their dates at a restaurant in Portland. Tierney's Dad Dan drove them and will drive them back after the prom since they have to play again in the morning.


Macee, Tierney, Maddie

Luke's baseball

We went to Vancouver today and watched Luke play baseball.  He hit a triple and had several other good hits, he was up to bat so many times I lost count. 

 He played at second base and did a great job there, too, and his team won the game easily.

 

Ava wasn't feeling very well with allergies bothering her.  Harper was in a good mood, but is looking a little warm and worn out in this picture taken near the end of the game. 

Friday-painting/Jame's baseball

 This morning I had the girls paint picture frames to give their Mom for Mother's Day.  Talk about serious business, they really got into it.  No surprises in the paint color choices, Harper wanted blue and green and Ava picked pink and purple. 

 They used the remainder of the paint on a picture, using every last drop in their cups.  After their bath we went outside and they posed for pictures to put in the frames.  Then later after the frames were dry, we put the pictures in and they wrapped them up, wow, Harper loves long, long pieces of scotch tape.  Next were the cards, that was cute.  I gave them pens and told them to write something for Mom, they very seriously started "writing" little squiggles and I asked if wanted help and I tried to show Ava how to write "Mom" and she said "No, I writing ABC's!" and she just kept writing  squiggly lines!   I let them spell out "Mom" and put their names inside the card with letter stickers instead.  They were really proud of themselves.

We went to watch James' baseball game in Toutle tonight.  They were ahead 4-1 but in the 5th inning fell behind 9-4.  Lost by 2.  James played well in right field and at 1st base.

Popular Uncle Alan

Ava and Harper are so fond of Uncle Alan, he is one of their favorite playmates.   This morning they wanted him to come outside and watch them play on the slide, and then they chose him over me to push them on the swings.  He pushes them really high. 

Rielee's softball game

 On our walk this morning we went to check out the chickens and look at the calves, 2 now since the other cow had hers Sunday.  Harper noticed some little green balls in the gravel by Gabe and Des' garage and started picking them up.  They were BBs from Parker's airsoft gun.  Ava started looking too, and she started picking up the other colors until she couldn't find anymore, then Harper let her have some green ones since there were lots of those.  At first they filled their pockets but then Ava found a watering can to put hers in, and so did Harper.  It was the best entertainment for them and kept them busy for a long time.

Rielee had a game tonight against a Kelso team.  She is on an 8U team and they use a pitching machine.  She got a hit every time at bat and was the pitcher once and at 1st base also.  She really seems to enjoy it, especially the little chants and songs they sing in the dugout.

Buckled babies/Macee has healed

I asked Ava to smile and this is what I got

 The time we spend playing with Ava and Harper in the car can get pretty wild these days.  They just love it though, jumping from front seat to back, buckling in their babies, turning the lights on and off and all the other knobs, too.   They were anxious today because Grandma Barb was coming to get them and they told me they wanted to go to her house because there are "big frogs" there.

 Harper looks kind of mischevious

Macee #4

Macee's doctor released her to play softball again this week, she was so happy to get back in the game.  Tonight the Rockets beat Toledo 7-2 and 13-3, they had their first loss  to Woodland yesterday. 

Auna's party, sandbox

 Sunday we all went to Auna's birthday party.  Laury made her a cute volleyball cake and we played a trivia game about Auna and things that happened the year she was born.   Macee won it and Luke also got a prize for getting the fewest number right. 

 Finally, it was dry enough today to clean and open the sandbox.   It was a very popular place to be.

Ava, Harper and Rielee spent the night with us.  Being a school night, Rielee had to be in bed at 8 p.m., so after dinner they took a long bath, read some books and all went to bed without protest.  They were tuckered out after a busy day of playing and everyone was asleep by 8:30.

An evening with Rielee

Rielee stayed with us for a couple of hours this evening, and she was really ready to play.  It reminded us both of when she was little and she kept us so busy entertaining her.

She wanted to have a tea party and that was comical.  Papa said we had to have a toast, so first it was "cheers", then he explained to her what "bottoms up" meant, and then we asked her to make the next toast and she comes up with "To the Navy"...huh?  She couldn't explain where that came from.  She went through 3 teapots of water and we had to stop her there.  I got in hot water for eating a blue M & M instead of a yellow one to match my cup. 

She is wearing make-up in the picture above because we did make-overs, 2 of them,  plus she gave me a purple manicure with a sparkly topcoat. 







Taylor found the kids a cute little croquet set at a garage sale today and since it was raining out we had to play in the house.  5 games of croquet was enough for us but Rielee would have played it all evening. 

We also played beach ball volleyball,  lots of that, and "how many hits without touching the floor" ball, our high score was 59.   She's a lively little girl, our Rielee.

Rielee was over for breakfast this morning and then she and the girls got on Starfall until it was time for school.  After she left, Ava took over the mouse and they played by themselves, listening to nursery rhymes (there are 48 on there) until Papa got back and it was time for a bath.  

Rielee had early release and as soon as it stopped raining she wanted to go over to the fence and try to see the neighbor's new calf.  We couldn't see it so we ended up at the play fort instead.  Harper grabbed the blue swing and was having a good time but then Ava asked for a turn so she could try tummy swinging, too.  Harper reluctantly gave it up but she wasn't very happy about it.

At 9:45 p..m. tonight I heard a very loud pounding on the backdoor that scared the heck out of me, but when I looked outside I  saw Parker's bike, he was hiding from me and he had James out there with him, yeah!  I knew James was spending the night with his Papa and was waiting for him to come visit us.   Of course they could only stay a few minutes, Parker had to be home by 10.  They couldn't

even sit still for a picture, there was too much wrestling going on, and then I had to fend off James taking bad pictures of me to add to his collection...some things never change!  Parker tried to tell me that we were all going to  play basketball tomorrow, but I told him to forget that idea,  I'm still sore from the charge I took from Parker the last time we played.

Bridget

Cathy brought Bridget up to play with the girls this morning.  They all played so well together.  Ava and Harper shared nicely and Ava even let Bridget use her sippy cup, but then I noticed that the one I had offered Bridget in the first place had a Princess on it and that is probably why Ava wanted it.  Ava and Harper showed off their dance moves to Cathy and Alan, who was visiting also, that was pretty comical.   Harper went potty by herself all day, most of the time without being told,  she only had one little accident and the only other incident was a huge pile of toilet paper that she rolled off onto the floor.  

Tummy swinging

Harper perfecting her "tummy swing".  She was having a great time outside after she got over the bugs bugging her.  Poor Ava  picked a flower with a bee on it and that was it for her, she went back inside with Papa.  He brought her back out but she just stayed on his lap after that..

I knew Ava was awake after naptime and called her to come and eat.  She didn't respond so I went to get her and found her still on her bed, reading her "favorite" book. 

Closet helpers/Auna's birthday

Papa started working on a closet in the girl's bedroom this morning.  Since their room was previously considered a bonus room it didn't have one..  I went down to give him a hand getting that first board bolted to the ceiling and then brought the girls home with me so he could get some serious work done.  They kept wanting to help him, which mostly meant climbing on the ladder. 

Happy Birthday to Auna, she turned 12 today.  We went over tonight and had birthday apple pie and watched her open presents from her family and pets.