Where to begin?

Here's the kids playing kitchen on Monday, August 2nd. Cambria wanted to being the high chair in the play room & have Ryder sit down so she could feed him. I said sure, thinking he wouldn't last very long in it.

Cambria cooked him lots of yummy food and he sat there quietly, just playing along.

He sat in there for about 15 minutes before he was through.

Later that same day Ryder was throwing a fit because I wouldn't open the fridge for him. This kid could seriously eat all day long if I let him. It won't be more than 30 minutes after a meal and he'll start begging for food. If I thought he was really hungry I would feed him, but I think he's just bored and thinks that's what he needs to do. He's gotten pretty good at throwing tantrums.

I pulled him out of the kitchen and he walked into the living room, found a laundry basket & started screaming into it. I started laughing.

Tuesday last week we went over to Mom-Mom's house to do a little swimming.

Ryder did a little talking on the phone.

Cambria was coloring with chalk & dipping her chalk in the pool and then writing with it wet. She made a big spot and I told her to step in it and then walk away. She did & she was excited to see all her foot prints.

Big gulp?

I guess that's just what they do.

Water gun fight...not a fair battle.

Ryder is obsessed with shoes & if they come off he'll bring them to you and have you put them back on.

I saw this bee that was really small, compared to the normal sized bee.

But then I saw this wee little guy, about the size of an ant.

I watched my niece and nephew Monday morning & then again Wednesday morning. Wednesday I took them to my ward play group at the park. Someone brought a bag of trains and this little guy was in heaven. He loves his "choo-choo's!"

Wednesday afternoon I started watching 2 little girls from my ward. I have them from about 5-6 hours, twice a week. So not a ton, but enough to help us out a little. One is just a few months older than Cami and the other is a few months older than Ryder. So the girls have a blast and they are super easy!

Thursday afternoon the door bell rang and we received a package from Grandma, addressed to Cambria & Ryder.

Cambria was eager to open it. The first thing she pulled out was a book and she took it right over to Ryder and said "Here Ryder, here's a book from Grandma." He started to smile.

And Cambria got this GORGEOUS, handmade dress from Grandma! I let her try it on and she didn't want to take it off...she cried when I made her. I told her it was for church on Sunday and we didn't want to get it dirty. The next morning she woke up and asked if she was going to church. I was a little confused at first, she's never been that excited to go to church. But then she said, "I want to wear my new dress."

And she found a card in the bottom that she opened and then I read to her.

Thank you Grandma for the sweet surprise! The kids loved their gifts & I promise to put pics up of Cambria in her dress when she gets to wear it.

Ryder liked the box too.

Makes a great wagon for his monkey!

Friday morning Cambria wanted to practice her name. I usually make little dots and she'll connect the dots, but this time I decided to make bubble letters and have her stay inside the lines. Not too bad for her first time. We're still working on our letters. She doesn't know how to write any by me just telling her one to write. She can draw a circle, square & triangle but no letters yet.

Friday afternoon when Phil got home from work we headed up to Pine View to camp overnight with some of Phil's family. I realized I forgot my camera when we were half way there. We had a lot of fun. The kids really enjoy camping. We got to go 3 times this summer. Our ward camp out is tomorrow, but after going for the last 2 weekends for only one night, we are tired of packing up for only 1 night...it's hard.

Monday while watching the girls we made Fruit Loop necklaces. I'm not going to post photos of the girls I watch, but here are just a few of Cambria's.

Ryder just laid on the table and ate the leftover fruit loops.

My happy little guy!

I have a few more photos to post from the last few days, but they are still on my camera. We have been a little stuffy with running noses and super busy. I have watched my niece and nephew every morning this week and will have them all next week as well. I'm happy to help my SIL out and the kids are great! Just been super tired the last week. Amy's going to take our kids Saturday for a few hours so we can have some time to ourselves. We don't have any money to do anything super exciting, but we can go swimming, take a nap, watch a movie at our place or something. I'm looking forward to that.