Days of Summer Part 2..........

So the first day of August we decided to do our 2nd annual camp out at grandma Mott's house. We get the kids together and have a little BBQ and s'mores. We played a fun new game Kristy found, Rainbow Tag. You get face paint crayons and place hide them all around the yard. Each person has to find each color of the rainbow and mark it on their arm. The catch is there is one person we call Pinky that wears a pink shirt. There job is to tag you and wipe on color off each time they catch you. The person to get all the colors of the rainbow on their arm without getting caught by pinky wins.  I was sure how this was going to go down with the ages in the bunch, butuIt was a success, the kids had so much fun with it. It gave them a chance to run around the yard get tired out and be ready to set up the tent.  It's always a fun time. We stayed late this year but didn't sleep over. I had to work the next day and so no sleeping out for us but the kids still had fun.

 RAINBOW TAG..........


 


 

 

 

 



We had silly times too. Playing in boxes and taking selfies. Having movie nights with the neighbors and being rewarded with play doh!  Such a fun way to pass the day!

Also took the kids to their 6 month dental checkups. They actually don't mind going to the dentist. Julia went first and was brave. She got x-rays, brushed and flossed. No cavities but we found out she has an extra tooth growing in behind her missing front tooth. (More on that later!) The picture is bad. She isn't scared or worried she is just trying to sit up and I caught her in an awkward pose.

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Christian also did fantastic. This time, thanks to big sister for setting a great example, Christian jumped right up into the chair and sat still. He got x-rays too. He even let the hygienist brush and floss his teeth. He was even giving her high 5's! Last time we went he barely opened his mouth. But in his case that is normal, just gets him in a routine and plus he had no cavities. I always tell him we have to get the cavity bugs out of his teeth and it seems to have worked! He is great at letting me brush his teeth :) Julia was being a great big sister. She was sitting right by him and holding his hand!

So onto Julia' extra tooth. So the dentist sent the x-ray he had to an oral surgeon and then we had to go make a visit to him the very next day bright and early. Julia had heard the dentist and I talking about this extra tooth and how if they needed to they would go in and cut her gums and then take it out for her and hopefully the permanent tooth would come down. So the night before I told her lets get some clothes ready so we don't have to worry about that so early in the morning. This was the following conversation:
Julia: So mom I need to get a brave shirt.
Me: Okay, let me find your 'princess' brave shirt.
Julia: No, no I need a shirt that says I'M brave, like you know.
Me: Well, what do you think you should wear.
Julia: I don't know.
Me: Well, how about a BYU shirt?
Julia: They aren't brave?!
Me: Well, they have to be tough, and they have to work hard.
Julia: Okay, which one should I wear?
Me: How about the one that says, 'Rise Up'?
Julia: What does that mean?
Me: Well, you have to Rise up to the challenge, be brave and be strong.
Julia: Okay I will wear that one!

So we wake up to get ready and she asked me what kinda of stuff will I be able to eat. I said what ever you want, not knowing what she meant. So she kinda gets mad and I said hold on a minute what do you mean and why are you so upset. She told me well I thought I would get to eat ice cream because they are going to, you know, cut open my, you know and take out the tooth. I hadn't realized she was worried about getting her tooth cut out that morning. I told her we were just going to go down to another dentist to have some more pictures taken. She then replied, "Worst day ever!" She was upset because she wasn't going to be eating ice cream and pudding all day.

Long story short. The extra tooth is close to the nerve of her permanent tooth. There is a space between the 2 teeth but the oral surgeon said if it were my daughter I would wait about 8-9 months to see if the permanent tooth gets more mature and longer and then we can go in and cut out the extra tooth. Until then she may not even have her permanent tooth come through the skin, or if it does come through it won't come all the way out! So we will see what happens in several months.

Here she is getting a 3D image taken. The x-rays and images were really cool to look at. She was really brave and all the ladies kept saying how cute she was! Such a big girl!

We had a new addition to our extended family this summer. The day before Julia's birthday her little baby cousin Grayson joined us! My sister was induced at 6pm and had the baby at 8:16pm. Talk about fast!! He sure is cute! While mom, dad, and new baby brother were in the hospital we got to have Peyton over for a little while! It was fun to have her visit. Julia loved taking care of her. She will be a great baby sitter one day! Welcome to the world Grayson!

The very next day was Julia's birthday! But I will leave that to its own separate post! Its been a great summer!

Days of Summer Part 1...........

We have stayed busy this summer that is for sure! We have had our fair share of fun and excitement. After our huge water fight at grandma's here is what else we did to fill up our final weeks!

We have eaten a lot of watermelon. It's every one's favorite except for Christian. I've gotten pretty good at picking out ripe, juicy, sweet ones! Julia can never wait to get her hands on a big juicy, red piece of deliciousness!

I have enjoyed some many cool sunsets this summer. With all the storm clouds around it makes for some pretty fantastic scenes! My phone camera just can't capture it perfectly enough! I also have enjoyed the rain and cooler weather. The big storms that have passed through have brought relief from the heat and some nice thunder and lightning. I got to see the SUPER moon a few weeks ago.

                                                                               
A super moon is a new or full moon which occurs with the moon at or near (within 90% of) its closest approach to Earth in a given orbit. Pretty cool to see the over sized moon on a nice clear night.                                                                                                                      

 Julia put on her bonnet grandma Cromwell made a few years back and said she put it on for Pioneer day. Layne and I both had to work on the state holiday but we did get out some sparklers to celebrate. It was Christian's first time holding one by himself. He was scared at first but that didn't last long. Away he went running and waving them around. Happy 24th!

We celebrated 2 birthdays in July. Kate turned 9 and she had a Hollywood/The movies themed party. All the girls got dressed up in fancy dresses and got hammered by the paparazzi on the red carpet. It was a fun party! Kristy always does a great job with her kids birthday's!

A few days later my sister Amy celebrated her birthday. We all went to lunch at Brick Oven and then we hit the splash pad in Provo. It was an impromptu trip so none of the kids had swim suits but that didn't stop them. Off came the boys shirts and the shoes and they loved it. Christian ended up in just his underwear at one point because his pants kept falling off. As we were leaving the splash pad, Christian was walking by me and said the following. "Mom, that was so much fun I couldn't breath!" I guess the splash pad was a hit! Then it was time for cake and presents! It was a fun day. I'm glad we were able to spend time with my sister.

Annual Water Fight.........

It's that time of year again when we find ourselves trying to entertain the kids and want it simple, easy and of course free! This year we set up two kiddy pools and then bought about 15 dollar tree water guns. We use to have water balloons but some kids seem to get hurt, so we just stuck with the water guns. We told everyone the rules and let them know not to shoot at grandma because she was taking pictures, once she put the camera down we all soaked her good. It was the perfect day to have a water gun fight, it was about 101 degrees out, so as soon as we got done we laid out on our towels and were dry out within about 15 mins of sun bathing.  It was a good time had by all and a fun tradition we have started, that I think will keep going for years to come. The pictures say it all. Enjoy we sure did !


                            

 BEFORE

                                                                                       
   
                                                                                                                              

                                                                                                                                 AFTER

Out on a Walk........

Julia and I went for a walk around our neighborhood one night. We always like to see what animals we can find on our walks. Some dogs but mostly cats is what we come across. This particular night we saw a cat just like the one my dad had named Fluffy. It was the spitting image of the old cat but just a younger version. And a few months before spotting 'Fluffy' I saw another cat at Petsmart and told my dad he had to go see it. It too, looked just like Fluffy but again a younger version. He contemplated very hard and was about to leave with a new pet but thought twice about it. Timing wasn't right! But its a little weird seeing two cats that looked exactly like our old cat Fluffy. Same markings on the head and mostly white with a touch of calico! We miss you too old friend :)

Picture of the Week...........

So creative! These 2 can really crack me up!

The 4th of July Weekend.........

We started the day off right with putting out our flag. The kids are great helpers! Took a few more pictures by the front door,( our favorite spot!) They were ready for a great day!

Love this picture........ Best Friends!

We thought it would be great to get back to some tradition. So we decided to go to the Bee's Baseball/ Fireworks game! It was soooo hot, but at least we had some shade before long. My whole family was able to go except Kristy's kids who were visiting in Alabama. We sure did miss them. We ate a lot of yummy food, tried to stay hydrated, wrangled and roped Christian a few dozen times, sang 'Take me out to the ballgame,' lots of potty breaks due to the hydration, and watched a good ball game and enjoyed the awesome fireworks to top of the evening!  While riding to the hotel in our car Christian commented on the fireworks saying they were beautiful! Yes they were buddy! I love to see fireworks on the 4th.....its just not the same without them!

 Family, Friends, and Fun at the ball park! Happy 4th of July!

 Big sisters are the best!

 Trying to get a good picture of us is not easy as you can see! I wonder where my kids get it from!!

                      

 Little Miss Peyton having fun!

 After the game we rode to our hotel room and stayed the night so we wouldn't have to drive all the way home and then back up to Smithfield. We were on our way to visit Jeff and Kelly and the kids! The hotel was an experience as it always is. We had Kameron join us and we all shared one room. You sure do get to know someone fast when in a situation like that! We had a good time and some laughs!

Saturday we got to Jeff and Kelly's house! We all had a BLAST! The kids played and played till they basically just dropped....that's normal with any Cromwell gathering! We played miniature golf, went to Pink's for shaved ice, played soccer, watched many dance performances, had our hair done, had a weekend filled with Napoleon Dynamite quotes and lots of good laughs and fun. We also got to celebrate Uncle Rich and Ella's birthdays while visiting! It was a great weekend.

The Car Wash

This kid loves the car wash. Every time I fill up on gas he begs to go through the car wash. Whenever he sees the car wash he starts to chant, "car wash, car wash!" So I finally caved and took him through the car wash when I knew it was going to rain for a few days, and besides the van really needed it! Pure joys in life!!