Doll house

I made my girls a doll house!!!

 All the furniture is made from scrap wood.

 After building a piano in about 1/2 hour Amari looks at it and said "Oh that's cute, it needs a bench." These kids are never impressed, hahaha.

 I used those sticky tiles for the bathroom and kitchen to give it a modern look. The mirror is the only piece I bought, I found it at a yard sale for a dollar! Hopefully they enjoy it for years to come.

house pics

Our house has been a major fixer upper.

We have done a whole lot of work to our house over the past few years. Here are some pics of our main level transformation...

Before:                                               After:

Before:                                                                                After:  I made my island from pallet wood.

What was once the garage is now our dining room...

And here is the addition my dad and I put on.....

It is nice and open feeling now and I am happy to stay here a bit longer:)

Let Doe

I was not a very smart mom and forgot to get Amari her 5 year old check up. So this past week she had her school physical, an appointment at children's to look at her tonsils, all 4 kids had dentist appointments, and Pantera informed me her glasses weren't working well so she had another eye exam. I hate weeks like that so many appointments trying to wrangle 5 kids and keep them quietish for an hour or so at a time. Luckily they are really great kids and handled it all pretty well.
We have also been busy with friends, one little girl who was over informed me "TV is my life!" and Zeke replied "Skylanders, my family, and God is my life." When the other kids were complaining about the dinner I was making Zeke came in to help me feel better by saying "Everything you make is unterrible." Thanks bud! He is so excited to go back to school, I can't believe he starts first grade!!! He didn't get the teacher he was expecting, he wanted Pantera's  first grade teacher because "She likes me because she smiles every time she sees me." Zeke I think you make everyone smile bud!

Pantera got a parakeet to take care of. She named him Blue because he is well, blue. She spends quite a bit of time with him and he loves to listen to Taylor Swift with her. She has picked out her first day of school outfit like 20 million times over and has been getting all crafty with her folders and school supplies. She is all about DIY, I have no idea where she got that from;) She spent a lot of time with her friend Jadyn this summer. I am happy she has found a good friend from school.

Katurah is afraid of everything still. She would not even sit in the chair at the dentist office. She as I posted before is terrified of hair bands or as she calls them "Big rubber bands." She woke up last week after quite the dream and told me about her hero Dad. In her dream "There was a HUGE rubberband and it was so scary! But Daddy punched it to the clouds!" She still refuses to even attempt to go potty. I was asking her the other day when she thought she might be potty trained and she informed me "When I am 20." GREAT!

Speaking of potty training, Amari uses this as the term for all training. "I am going to potty train the dog to do gymnastics!" She got a pack of chapstick for school because you know kindergarteners need some chapstick. There were three in the pack and she took them all out, and said "This one is my school, chapstick, this one is my playing chapstick, and this one is my eatin' breakfast chapstick." She still thinks everyone's middle name is Nicole like hers. When Pantera was telling me about how she was nervous that her teacher doesn't know her Amari suggested "Just go up to him and say 'Hi, I'm Pantera Nicole Hammond'" Pantera's middle name is Monroe.

Seneca loves to ask why. She is also obsessed with her Papa. She thought she saw him at the store the other day and seeing as he lives across the country I had to tell her that it was not Papa she looked disappointed and asked "Why?" She makes sure to remind everyone to "Bleh Papa" whenever we pray and will not stop saying that until you have properly blessed her papa. I asked her if she was thinking about Jesus during sacrament meeting at church last week and she told me "no." She is slowly turning into Elsa from frozen. Not only does she sing a mean "Let it Go" but she wears socks on her hands so she doesn't freeze people. It took me a while to figure out why she kept putting on the socks and pulling them off so dramatically, she is "Let doe!"

Trap team official guide

Jess had the week off of work, it was so much fun!!! On Monday we went to the zoo. It was very hot and humid and we were all balls of sweat. There is an area in the monkey exhibit that has glass all the way to the floor. One gorilla was sitting right against the glass and the kids got right up next to it. I guess this gorilla makes a game of freaking people out (and can you blame him?) and when Seneca put her face close to the glass he hit the glass several times. She was crying and I think she might hate gorillas now.

 Zeke finally got the book he has been waiting months for, drumrolls folks..........Skylanders Trap team official guide! He has not put it down since it came in the mail and read all the way through the zoo. I'm not sure if he even noticed they had animals.

 On Tuesday we went to see the minion movie. I didn't love it, but Zeke cracked up through the entire thing. He was the only one in the theater laughing.

 On Wednesday we went to a creek and told the kids they can put there feet in water. You can imagine how that went, all of the kids were soaked from head to toe.

 On Thursday, we hired a babysitter so Jess and I could go to an amusement park. That was my favorite day of the week, I don't get nearly enough alone time with that guy. When I do get to hang out with him it is such a wonderful reminder of why I love him so much. We had a blast, he teased me into going on some pretty crazy rides, thanks Jessiboy!

Friday we took the kids to an indoor play park, they climbed and jumped and played like crazy. Saturday we went swimming and had a bbq with some friends. A busy and wonderful week with the family.

 I am still trying to get a decent family picture, this morning was a bust.

 Although this one is pretty awesome...

I wanted to take the kids to an amusement park as well, but Miss Katurah is so afraid of EVERYTHING! She is scared of heights, speed, loud sounds, and big hair bands. Yes that is right she is terrified of hair ties, she will try to climb you while she is crying if she sees one on the ground. I have no idea where this came from but we are dealing the best we can.

Amari still claims Jess as her "smoochie boy." Unfortunately I don't know how much longer they are going to be together. She informed him that "If you pinch my heinie, I will break up with you." This is serious stuff. She even threatened to get back together with Diamond. She was begging Jess for something and said "If you give me that, I will wipe my butt forever!" Luckily he caved, so she doesn't smell like a pile of poo.

Seneca has been back to her mama's girl ways again. She was in bed between Jess and I, Jess looked at her and sweetly said "Seneca I love you so much." To that she turned her back to him and held me as tight as she could. Poor Jess.

We are in the final weeks before school starts:( I don't want my kids to go back. Pantera is both excited and not. She has picked out her back to school outfit like 100 times. I hope this year is better then last.