If these walls spoke...

Fall traditions

2013-10-15T14:58:00.001-05:00

The boys have discovered this new trick that I'm sure will be short-lived. Rugger is just big enough at the same time Rowen and Maeson are just small enough to carry around. Last year Rugger was too small, and next year the boys will be too big...

Fun morning keeping fall traditions.

Same song different verse.

2013-08-10T21:39:00.000-05:00

Teepee camping has turned into our summer jam. Big fans. We have gotten so ultra lucky with camping weather that we are thinking about tempting fate and going again this fall.

The dogs don't dig in our yard, but they dug giant holes all weekend. Dakota did the same thing last time we were out there camping. Do they hear things under the ground? Smell something? What is it with the digging?

Maeson and I set up the bedding the first night with the help of our sweet head lamps. Head lamps are a super smart invention. I hope whoever did that first is living large because they deserve it.

I have no words for the camping situation that is Reise. She only packed skirts to wear the entire time, and spent the whole trip digging up worms and catching frogs.

Tiny frogs that had to come home with us.

Something got into our food tub the first night and stole an entire package of hotdog buns, six hoagies, half a bag of marshmallows, and ate through a bag of Chex mix. This was a Rubbermaid tote with the lid attached and a cooler sitting on top. Seriously! Bears!????? Hahaha!!! The next night we caught a glimpse of a fat raccoon, we assume trying for score #2. Unsuccessful. Either he was full from the previous night's carb-a-load, or we secured the tote better. I just couldn't believe anything could move a full cooler, but maybe he was super hungry or had helpers or something.

We were nervous about taking New Dog camping less than two weeks out, but it turned out OK. She was definitely an absolute mess whenever anyone walked by. She did great on her leash, and she slept like a rock. We are learning as we go little things we can do to help her chill out.

Dakota is the perfect camping dog. Hopefully she will show Lucy a few tricks.

We had so much fun and relaxed a ton. The only horrible part about camping is the laundry fiasco it creates once we're home. There's just no way around it; the grimy bedding and the filthy clothes. It's a relatively small price to pay for a fun weekend with my favorites! ;)

-B

Boredom is rare.

2013-08-03T17:02:00.001-05:00

Sometimes the best days are nothing like you intended. With sketchy weather forecasted we drove to Grand Island with fingers crossed it would stay sunny and reach the predicted high of 79 so we could hit up Island Oasis.

Stopped at Coney Island because Mitch had to.

When we got done eating it was still cloudy and 69*. We decided to bum around and wait to see if it would clear up a little.

By this time we called the water park and they said they planned to close early. The kids thought it was kind of warming up. 71. Warm enough for a little wading in the kiddie park.

It was seriously such a relaxing, fun afternoon. I don't think anyone really cared that we didn't end up going down water slides all afternoon.

We drove by Mitch's childhood house and ran into his best friend's mom who still lives in the neighborhood. She told the kids she keeps up with them on Facebook and she can't imagine they're ever bored. Ha!

Boredom is rare. We can make fun wherever we go. Big love for weekends with my favorites.

Etc.

2013-07-24T04:00:00.000-05:00

Because, there's not really much going on around here...but so much going on at the same time. Etc. : additional odds and ends; extras.

City swim meet was such a bummer for us spectators! Warmups were at 2pm and we probably got there at 2:02. Parking was ridiculous, and seating inside the pool was even worse. We wound up watching from a window in the hallway. It turned out OK, but it was sure sad to not be IN the pool area. The announcers were saying our kids' names and event numbers and we couldn't hear anything. We (or maybe it was just I?) pounded on the glass to get the kids' attention after they swam. Sometimes they looked up, and sometimes we (I) just looked like idiots banging on the glass. Just wasn't the same. Anywayyyyyyyy....

Still fun. We cheered on our little hammerheads from the hallway in our freezer paper screen printed shirts ;)

Rugger swam butterfly for the first time at this all-city meet. So proud of that guy!

Ryleigh won her heat, but I can't even remember which event it was. Backstroke? I got a pic from the window ;) Lane 4 Place 1 Time 43:35. I didn't keep track of any of the kids' times all summer, so I have no idea how that falls for her. We were pretty excited tho!

Our pets are still not BFFs but the cat is getting a tiny bit better. If he accidentally ends up in the same room as the dog he just throws up some mild cattitude and gets out fast. Cattitude. Get it? See what I did there!?

I'm in love with that pooch.

We just love the Children's Museum. We've passed it over quite a bit this summer in favor of swimming, but we've managed to make it a few times.

Of course they're eating. Constant growth spurt?

Reise made a dollar entertaining Hugo and Alece in Tot Town for all of about 20 minutes.

Rugger's Uncle Brandon sent him a funny package last week. 3 boxes total and at least an entire roll of packing tape. It took him close to half an hour to get to his prize...new Cardinals shorts. He was beyond thrilled!

He's so weird. No idea.

Fun family night out for dinner and to see Despicable Me 2. Loved spending that time with my grandparents.

Someone got her first library card!

The kids completed the summer reading program last week, so we will now be busy redeeming their prizes. We've got the Zoo train to ride, frozen yogurt to eat, Children's museum passes... it's going to be a fun way to end the summer.

Free summer reading program ice cream in the van on the way to swim team.

Ice cream in the van is probably never a super great idea. Vinyl/plastic van with mostly big kids should have been pretty risk free. Rowen's cone was balanced perfectly on the console while he passed out everyone else's. Then I knocked it over. I picked it up faster than anything, but it was still pretty sad. Once we got that figured out (and by figured out I meant that I told him he could either eat it or have nothing because I'm so compassionate like that), Reise was a hysterical mess because her ice cream just dumped right off the side of the cone! I actually stopped the van because of the shriek-crying and since I was already back there relieved there wasn't blood or fire my gosssshhh, picked up the biggest chunk I could and tried to be sneaky about picking a piece of mulch out... A little later she said she had a little sand and one tiny shard of wood.

Alece wouldn't have been cool with being passed over on the ice cream. Pretty sure this was her first cone. I would say she'd give that experience an A+. I thought maybe she wasn't going to finish it, but then I realized she was just sitting there patiently waiting for someone to remove the paper from her cone. She polished it off like a pro.

Our chickens quit laying a few weeks ago. I'm blaming the heat.

See that tiny white face sticking out the bottom of the fence? Our neighbor's tiny dogs are so scary, Dakota won't go down the stairs to the yard to do her business in the morning. It's maddening.

Love my little fish.

Just laying around watching the bigs go off the board!

My friend Lynne alerted me to this cool Maker Camp on Google+. The kids had a blast making their own Lego rocket cars.

Love it when smart people think of me and share their good ideas. The videos are great, and we've had a lot of fun with it!

And that leads us to now. It's VBS week. I roll in each morning with 13 kids and try not to make eye contact with anyone who might have seen us in the parking lot. MOVING CIRCUS. Hahahaha!!!!

What a hoot. Love!

Top Afternoons.

2013-07-23T16:24:00.004-05:00

Top afternoon adventures start like this.

As well rounded as I try to make our lives, there are obviously things I just don't do. Own and operate a canoe for random afternoon fun? Probably never going to happen for me. Maintain large selection of fishing lures and bait? Again, unlikely. So happy that we have people who pour their brand of richness into our kids' everyday experiences.

I love my village.

Adventure dog!

These two. No adults. (tear!)

Disclaimer: The pond is no deeper than the shallow end of the swimming pool. All the kids can swim for survival. There were floatation devices on hand. Wesson the adventure dog knows how to do mouth-to-mouth. (That last part was a joke.)

Maeson: "look at this cool dried up piece of a dead fish!"

Rowen: *unimpressed*

Perfect day to test out all the new lures and hooks my cousin hooked him up with.

Summer kids. Love that they borrowed their sister's spray bottle fan for their fishing afternoon.

Such fun. Best days.

Baseball

2013-07-21T19:52:00.000-05:00

For the amount of time we've spent at the ball fields this summer, I can't believe I don't have more pictures. I guess it's like swim for me, we did it so much I forgot to take pics. Swimming and baseball are like my ultimate favorites. I know it makes no sense to have the fewest documentation of these events. Get in my head, it's a crazy place to be.

The little boys got Daddy for their coach this year. Rugger lucked out ;) I thought the pre-K kids were kind of a riot. The games were pretty hectic, but they definitely improved from where they started out. My contribution included remembering the boys' names, getting them in order to bat, teaching them to at least appear ready in the field, and as a bonus I taught them what "on deck" means. ;)

Most of them were pretty darn cute, and they loved their trophies at the end!

One more game and we're officially done for the summer! Bittersweet. I will love having that extra time back, but this mama does love a good ball game.

Best Days

2013-07-19T19:06:00.000-05:00

In a stroke of parenting genius last week I tricked my kids into falling asleep well before 8pm one night. It worked so well I did it again the next night. Early bedtimes are a win for everyone. Those kids are beyond summer'ed out. EXHAUSTED. Play all day, party all night, repeat, repeat, repeat.

A little kid-free evening yard work with my guy and our favorite pooch.

Early to bed, early to rise, and more time in the mornings to get stuff done. Another big win. With our extra time, I offered the kids paid jobs to earn money to buy treats at the pool. My philosophy on chores is simply everyone does them and no one gets paid. When they're adults, no one is going to pay them to put away their own laundry or clean their own bathroom. My kids have to help keep the house in order, because they live here. There are some tasks that I either consider my responsibility, or bigger jobs that don't need to be done daily, which I will pay the kids to do if they want to earn money.

By 11:30am in addition to our regular unpaid chores (bedrooms, bathroom, laundry, dishwasher, garbages, recycle, pets fed and watered, gosh the list actually goes on and on but I don't want anyone to turn me into CPS) we had our big white van swept and mopped out, the garage swept out, the cat litter box cleaned, rat cage cleaned, all the glass wiped down, yard picked up, chicken coop scooped, patios swept and hosed off, shoe closet organized, babies entertained... I tell you what!

I get a bunch of chores checked off my list, AND I don't have to pack snacks for the pool?!!!! WIN.

I love everything about watching kids earn and spend their own money. When you had to work for it, it's a lot harder to let it go. They each made very careful selections!

Some of them like to have change leftover, some like to spend every last penny. Some of them chose the harder/nastier jobs (chicken coop-SICK) and earned more money, and ended up with better selections. It's always a pretty sweet learning opportunity.

As a side note-poolside is probably one of my favorite places to be, ever. I will mourn the last swim day of summer!

Such fun, love these days!

Holiday Weekending

2013-07-12T19:59:00.003-05:00

I really enjoy planning. Making plans, having plans, carrying out plans, rearranging plans if necessary, but always having a plan. I have no idea how people just fly by the seat of their pants on a normal basis. Maybe it's having a hundred kids and a daycare and a husband with a job and a business to plan around. Hmmmmmm..... Maybe I'm not crazy. Maybe the plans are the only thing keeping me from losing my everluvin' mind!!!!!

Behold. Our almost completely unplanned holiday weekend. Making plans and reservations within a week of the event does not count as a plan. Having everything work out? That's just getting lucky.

Did you know you could rent a TeePee to camp in at Platte River State park? I didn't. For $20 a night it sure beats pitching a tent. Bring an air mattress if you're over the age of 10 unless you hate yourself and want bruised hips.

Louisville, Nebraska has a really great outfitter for tubing or canoeing and actually a lot more. We would really recommend them to anyone! They were super nice and their equipment was perfect for what we needed.

5+ hours of floating, getting stuck, walking, sandbarring, eating, and floating some more with perfect weather. Couldn't have been better.

This picture of Rowen was taken immediately after a jumping Carp had burst out of the water and scared the living bejeebers out of he and Maeson. Maeson was still screaming at this point from being slapped in the face by a fairly large fish, so I opted to take this shot of Rowen instead. Funniest part of the whole dang week.

When I was growing up we camped nearly every weekend in the summer. In tents. I have no idea how my mom did that. We didn't eat hot dogs and poptarts, either. I remember foil dinners and pancakes from the Coleman stove eaten on real dishes. Let's take a moment and consider the additional work that would have been. No paper products? No packaged food? How she got all of that packed up every week is absolutely beyond me. I'm pretty sure our house was always clean and I don't recall any laundry situations, either. She must have been magic.

We ate pop tarts and drank bottled water, and had the best time.

We rolled through Waverly on our way home just in time to catch the 4th of July parade. Best days.

We came home with 17lbs of candy, made a quick stop at Urgent Care and then the pharmacy, took naps, threw some food together, and then headed over to party with our besties.

The standing in the street with sticks of fire thing still makes me really nervous. Maybe a little less nervous every year.

It would have been smart to make the kids take naps the next day, after late camping nights and short 4th of July nights, but we like to live on the edge. Zoo instead.

Quick stop at Zesto before the 3rd annual Sallinger/Crounse 4th of July family water fight.

Ammo:

Cameras weren't safe on the battlefield. Everyone ended up soaked ;) I love living close to my sister and I hope our kids are always BFF's!

Such a fun week-turned-weekend with my favorites!

Swim!

2013-07-08T19:18:00.000-05:00

Swim team season. Loooooooooooove. Let the early Saturday mornings and Sharpie tattoos commence!

Ryleigh has improved a lot over the last year. We swam at the Y all winter, and she's a lot more confident in the water. She's still pretty slow but she's got a very nice stroke and she's pretty OK with not being super speedy.

Rugger is doing great for his first year, and he's a lot of fun to watch. His dad cannot stop himself from "cheering" very loudly from the sidelines (read: as close to the lane as he can possibly get). I will admit that Rugger does seem to kick it up a notch when he's being hollered at ;) I mean, CHEERED at in the most encouraging way! Merciful heavens.

Miss Reise was too nervous to sign up for the first meet. She and the other tiny kids did a lot of work in the shallow end the first few weeks, but didn't spend a lot of time in the lanes.

She didn't wear her swim suit or pack her goggles and was perfectly content to sit in her lawn chair munching on donuts. UNTIL.

She ran into her swim coach who said if she got her swim suit on she could compete. Mitch flew home to get her suit. He accidentally grabbed Ryleigh's suit, so we had to hike it up with a hair tie in the back, but it worked ;)

I literally stood at the edge not 100% sure she could actually make it the entire length of the pool, but she totally did! She grins the entire time she's in the water. You can't help but grin right back at her!

Our team has some really fantastic coaches, and the kids have a lot of fun. I can't imagine being a great swimmer could ever hurt you in life, so I'm really happy they are all interested for now!

No, that's not an illusion. Rugger is about half an inch from being as tall as Ryleigh and he outweighs her by 3-4lbs. She's devastated, he couldn't care less, and Mitch is ecstatic. I'd call them twins just for fun, but I don't need to give Ryleigh another reason to roll her eyes at me!!! ;)

Originally, I didn't plan to have them at practice every single day. It's a lot of rushing to get lunch done and driving and loading and unloading and packing and unpacking... Last year Ryleigh made it there about 3 times a week and that was kind of the goal again. Somehow we settled into a routine of going every day, and it's been great. The little kids play in the pool's sand pit area for the hour that we are there, and everyone seems to enjoy the time.

After four meets, they've collected quite the assortment of ribbons between the three of them!

So fun. We've got several friends on the team, so meets for the parents are pretty much a get-together with snacks and chatting and standing up for about 45 seconds each hour to watch our kids swim. It's a hoot ;)

June Etc.

2013-06-30T20:12:00.000-05:00

Because, there's not really much going on around here...but so much going on at the same time. Etc. : additional odds and ends; extras.

A little Saturday morning fun at my sister's. Nothing better than cousins.

Not shown: Dakota having the time of her life in the pond, mud, and whoknowswhatelse. She required a bath.

The Lincoln Running Company put my handsome runner of a husband into the man version of the same Asics I have! Twinsies! We are training for the Green Lake half and taking the kids over Labor Day weekend. Anyone want to make a quick road trip? I'm booking the hotel this week ;)

The last Jazz in June.

The girls went with their BFF to Sports 'N' More VBS/cheer camp in the evenings for a week and had a blast. They don't even know how lucky they are to have such great friends.

The 2nd annual Camp Uncle Brandon was followed by a morning at Aunt Becky's. A bunch of really tired boys, the girls and I headed for the park to kill an hour while my sister went to the dentist. Love these kids!

Not much was said about C.U.B. but all three of our boys required a nap ;) I saw one picture of pizza, pop, and light-up swords and heard something about a 10-foot retaining wall that I chose to ignore!

I took the girls shopping with their birthday money, which is never my favorite thing. I've come to accept the fact that I don't really enjoy shopping as an activity. I very rarely do it. I go to Super Saver ONCE a week. I might go to Wal-Mart once a month. Target even less frequently, and I'm not kidding when I say that's about it. My wardrobe proves this.

Reise is just seriously too much for me to handle when it comes to shopping.

Exhibit A: "MOM. Please take a picture of these shoes and send it to Tiffy and ask her what she thinks." This was before she tried to stand up in them.

We walked out of the store with three dresses, a pair of wedge sandals, a notebook, stapler, extra staples, and a pack of mechanical pencils. I will give you one guess on who bought clothes and spent all her money, and who bought the school supplies and still has $53 to figure out what to do with.

I LOVE THEM!!! So happy to be their mom ;)

Becky

Father's Day Fun

2013-06-16T19:33:00.000-05:00

We do love our daddy for the fun and funny man that he is. A few days before Father's Day this year I asked Maeson, "what should we get dad for Father's Day?" and he immediately replied, "A GOLD PLATED TOILET, that's what he always says he wants!!!!" I laughed like a hyena and made everyone at the swimming pool turn to stare at me which is exactly what I love to have happen since I look so awesome in my bathing suit and all ;)

Maeson was completely correct. Mitch does always tell them that he wants a gold plated toilet. When the kids whine that they want something, he replies, "Well, I want a gold plated toilet, but we don't always get everything we want."

He will need to come up with a new phrase.

Yes, it was heavy and gross. We went to the Eco ReStore and I can't even talk about the toilet graveyard we found out there. Can't. Even.

Of course Mitch didn't leave for work until after 9pm that night. Ha! It was a late night working my little slaves to the bone in the garage ;)

We actually did crack the garage door after this pic for ventilation. Holy fumes!

I was so tickled with myself I could hardly stand it. It's so pretty!!

The kids got such a kick out of it, and Mitch had a giant laugh.

Happy Father's Day to the best dad, ever.

Strawberry Pickin'

2013-06-14T18:39:00.000-05:00

Such a fun morning!

Caught these two sampling...

28 POUNDS of strawberry picking later...

We froze a bunch for smoothies and made 2 quarts of jam which is quickly disappearing!

Becky

Celebrations.

2013-06-07T22:30:00.001-05:00

Rugger was baptized on Sunday, June 2nd and we rolled that event and the girls' birthday celebrations into one big, happy lunch party at our house afterward.

With presents.

And cake.

On Ryleigh's actual birthday, all she wanted to do was make cupcakes. Easy enough! She had the day off from doing chores, picked all her favorite meals, and we went to Jazz in June in the evening with some of our buddies.

Reise was happy to find out that it was National Donut Day on her actual birthday! We had fun making homemade donuts and sharing with the daycare kids ;) We took some friends with us to the spray ground and hit up the library at the birthday girl's request. It was a fun day.

There aren't adequate words to do justice the pride we feel when we see these kids of ours growing yet another year older, and making big decisions. Big love.

Becky

Jazz in June

2013-06-05T22:43:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite parts of summer is meeting our friends and sitting around at Jazz in June on Tuesday nights.

Rugger is such a clown. I just snapped away as he tried to look cool tipping back in his tiny kid chair, and then proceeded to collapse the chair and fall all the way down. I took more of him attempting to untangle himself and get up while saving his bagel, but they really aren't flattering and even though they were doggone hilarious, I thought I would save him a little tiny bit of dignity. Hahahahahaha!! He slays me. He's honestly been copping such an attitude lately, I had just said, "I feel like he's gotten just a tiny bit big for his britches" and then I realize in moments like this that no, he's just 8. I've still got this. Maybe he does need a bigger chair ;)

Notice the bagel never touches the ground.

Saved it.

Nights like these make me feel like everything is right in the world!

Becky

Get Away.

2013-05-28T22:09:00.000-05:00

We made a super duper quick trip to Kansas City to watch the Cardinals play on Memorial Day. The kids do really well on the road, and they loved the game.

Such a crappy photo because I just wanted to snap it quick before they noticed me. Just having some banana phone convos. So serious. Look at Reise! They really are a riot.

We were literally about as far up as you could go. That's what you get when you plan these things less than a week in advance. Pretty sure the kids didn't care ;) Pretty sure we could have made them sit in the car and listen to the game on the radio and they would have been happy as long as they had cotton candy and funnel cakes coming at them on the regular ;) Not that we would do that. Orrrrrrr, maybe we would.

Fun little road trip!

Becky

Phone Photo Friday

2013-05-24T10:27:00.000-05:00

Of course I only have phone pics for the last week or so. Whatever! At least there are pics ;)

Finally started and finished my pallet furniture project. It really didn't take much time or effort, and I think they look pretty darn cute on the deck and basement patio! The weatherproof fabric, foam and plywood to cover one seat cost about $35, and the pallet was free. Not dirt cheap, but probably worth the money for the amount of seating it created. I used outdoor paint, and assembled everything with a staple gun.

Sent this picture to "the guys" who were missing him at BW3's after they all helped moved a friend's piano. He came home afterward to help me instead, and look how happy he was about it!! For the record, I told him to stay out. I guess he just missed me, what can I say? Hahahaha! Handsome and handy. Love him.

I had to have a discussion with the kids about the difference between picking weeds at the pond and picking flowers out of people's yards that live near the pond. Whoopsie Daisy! Pretty tho ;)

The kids are into using goblets and champagne glasses for water right now.

Rugger and Truman are hoping to see their Lego creations featured in the next Lego Club magazine. Fingers crossed.

Last week was warm enough for water stuff outside nearly every day. It's going to take me a few weeks to adjust and start ignoring the mess this creates inside. The floors are constantly wet, there is forever a pile of wet clothes in the main floor bathroom, and the deck is always covered in towels at various stages of drying.

Such is summer. Bring it on.

Our dog is nearly perfect. Really, for a rescued 4yr old (basically a middle aged Dane), we got SUPER "lucky" with her. She has bonded to us and is really well behaved the VAST majority of the time. Besides stealing mass quantities of food, she really has had no major behavior issues.

Once in a while she gets mad that we're outside and she's in.

The JDRF garage sale was a success. Huge thanks to our friends the Paulsen family for hosting it. Their neighborhood sales brought by a lot of traffic, and it was a great location. We had a LOT of stuff to sell, thanks to awesome donations. In the end we made $985 to donate to JDRF, which sure isn't shabby.

This pictures doesn't do it justice. So. Much. Stuff.

We skipped naps and swung over to watch our buddies sing a duet at their school talent show this week. So FUN.

My little audience members were very respectful!

Sonic Happy Hour after sitting so perfectly for aforementioned talent show. I'm sure the car hops think it's weird that I ordered 8 green apple slushies. Peer pressure!

We ran into some rad weather on our way home from Grand Island last weekend. This storm passed through town while we were there. We left for home and ran into it again, passed through it driving, and beat it to Lincoln. Then, just as we were tucking the kids into bed, it came through Lincoln! Same storm 3x.

My brother thinks I do nothing all day except Instagram pictures of the dog. Maybe that's partially accurate.

Today is the last day of daycare transition from school-year kids to summer kids. There's usually a week in the spring and another week in the fall when my summer kids are here already but my school-year kids haven't left yet. It could possibly look a bit overwhelming to anyone passing by, ha! It's a great way to semi-start a new routine since it's a little chaotic anyway.

By the start of next week it will feel like a breeze in comparison. Looking forward to afternoons poolside, sprinklers, Popsicles on the deck, and lots of fishing after a long weekend with my favorites ;)

-Becky

Zoo

2013-05-15T14:38:00.001-05:00

Ryleigh will have grey hair from worry before she hits high school. Bless her. She's got way too many brothers and a fearless sister to fret over 24/7. My gosh I love it. I just love the whole thing.

Sometimes a fun morning at the zoo with my favorites goes a long way in reminding my that I love staying home, I love homeschool, and daycare is a great option for me. The days with crying babies and dirty diapers and whining about math and fighting over chores and on and on and on can get long, y'all. Then, we meet up with some buddies, feed a few goats, eat a packed lunch, and come home to a clean kitchen and naptime, and all feels right in the world. I do love it.

Maeson had kindergarten orientation last night, which makes me feel a tiny bit of panic at the thought of him missing fun stuff with us next year. He loved going off to see his new classroom all by himself with a bunch of other tiny itty bitty teeny weeny 5 yr olds. I know he will be an excellent student and have a blast in school. Still. Sad. Summer is going to fly by and August 13 will have me boo hoo'ing before I know it.

Speaking of school, the homeschooled Sallingers are "done" for the year. Praise the good Lord. Reise and Rugger need a lot of reading practice over the summer, and they'll all do daily math practice just to keep things fresh. I am personally thrilled to have a break from managing that mayhem for a while. Summer is going to be a great time to just take a minute away from being in it constantly, so I can reevaluate everyone's material before fall. Then I will add Rowen to the mix which will probably make my brain explode again ;) We shall see!

For now, it's summertime and the livin's easy!
-Becky

Etc.

2013-05-14T15:14:00.001-05:00

Because, there's not really much going on around here...but so much going on at the same time. Etc. : additional odds and ends; extras.

So, I turned the A/C on in the house today. I broke my "wait 'til June 1st" rule, and I just wanted to be honest about it. I decided it was in everyone's best interest for me to be cool and calm today, and that's that. (Like you care!) It's been way too long since I pulled out my camera. Months. I finally dumped my phone pics and filled in the blog here and there with posts of stuff I really didn't want to leave out. Everything else I dumped into this Etc. post ;) I will try to keep up from here on out! Might even dust off the Canon.

(Here are links to the posts I added in: Mother's Day Marathoning Boys' Birthdays Easter)

*********

Rugger recently pulled a tooth that had been loose for over a year. Literally. I have no idea how it hung on that long. He had been to the dentist TWICE since it was discovered to be loose initially. So weird. Anyway, after all that, I accidentally poured it down the drain. In my defense it was sitting in a random cup full of water on the kitchen counter. I had no idea. Thankfully, the Tooth Fairy is super understanding.

And, speaking of teeth. Pretty sure we didn't document Reise's first loss on thee blog. Rugger gave it the final yank after she punched herself in the mouth to get it good and loose. I can't make these things up. Ask Reise for a reenactment.

A random neighbor I had never met before knocked on the door one afternoon last week and asked if we would like a gallon sized Ziploc full of pepperonis. Um, yes please.

That's not weird, is it? They're delicious.

Crumb snatcher. The dog is getting really bold with her eating stuff off the counters and tables. She loves butter in mass quantities and digests Saran Wrap with no problem. The volume of food she can scarf down in seconds is pretty astounding.

Every dog has it's tricks.

Rugger saved his money for months and finally bought his electric motorcycle. The thing is pretty sweet. Now that he's made that big purchase, the next item on his list is a new remote control helicopter. He's about $3 short. Actually closer to $4 after he bought his mom a Snickers for Mother's Day with his own money. So sweet! :) Love that he's so determined and has figured out a little money management!

We lost a hen about a month ago. The kids found her one morning, stiff with feet straight up in the air, and they were pretty "farm kid" about the whole thing. It was sad, but these things happen, and it was just a chicken. It's still weird to see the pair out in the yard now, pecking around without their 3rd wheel. The other white hen (Esther) started acting really weird...sitting around, not coming out of the coop, not laying eggs. We thought she was sick, did some googling, poked at her a bit, and after a week realized she was probably just depressed that her friend was gone! It sounds weird, but evidently chickens do that! Sure enough, after another few days she started coming out of the coop, pecking around, acting normal again. She still hasn't laid an egg since. Hopefully she'll be back to her old self soon. We learn new things every day over here.

Nice weather has slowly returned. Really looking forward to regular late nights downtown again!

I'm in a decorating phase lately; these things are usually short-lived ;) I finally painted and hung a window I have had for months. I need to find something to go over or around it, and I want to find some topiary flower balls for the teal pots on the mantle. Next up, patio furniture! I love our deck and patios, and I want to use them more this summer. I may actually log into Pinterest for this project...

DJ Steele is churning out the weddings already, which is pretty early for wedding season it seems. The kids know wedding season means meetings in the Haymarket and Ivanna Cone for them! Turns out, I find a way to incorporate ice cream into meetings, even if they happen via phone after the kids have long been tucked in for the night ;)

Rowen. "What?"

Dakota deserves an award for most patient dog ever.

I know this may seem ridiculous, but this year's Valentine's Day gift from the love of my life has given me more happiness over the last 3 months than is probably healthy. I absolutely love having my nails painted. I feel like I'm a fairly low-maintenance gal, and for goodness' sake if I want to keep my nails shellac'ed all year 'round then I should probably just go ahead and make that happen. Then, I get all practical and realize I don't have the time to spend an hour at the nail salon every two weeks, and I really hate to spend the money! Turns out...you can do it at home. All you need is a UV lamp (link to the exact model I have, and I have no complaints about it!) and gel or shellac polish (Target, Walmart, Beauty Supply...). I'm telling you what, I have never been happier about the convenience to do it myself on the weekends while I'm watching Netflix and DJ Steele is working. The initial cost is about what you'd pay for two salon manicures. Totally worth it.

You're welcome.

May Day! It was cold and rainy, and we did it anyway. (Memory makin' and all that.)

Rugger started playing flag football this "spring". I don't know any of the rules. I honestly would give a 50/50 guess if you asked me if he was playing offense or defense. Not kidding. I am just so uninterested in football as a sport, I can't even spare a few brain cells to try and figure that one out. Don't even try to talk to me about downs. I understand touchDOWNS and I think I have the extra point figured out. Anywhooooo....

You know how crazy I am about my kid, right? So if he wants to play football, I will go to all the games and take cues from those around me as to when I need to cheer really loud.

If he has the ball and appears to be running in the correct direction, I cheer really loud. If he's running after the other guy who has the ball, I will yell, "Get 'em!!" That's about as far as I can safely go without looking like a fool.

Rugger has been so lucky to have three sets of grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, and friends show up to cheer him on. I've really slacked with the pictures lately, and I'm kicking myself for my lack of photo evidence that our family is amazing. I stole this one from the kids' adopted little sister's mom ;)

Well, it's nearly 100 degrees outside so I sent my bigs out with water guns and told them not to fall into the pond. At least one of them really requires more supervision than that, so I'm off ;)

-Becky

Mother's Day

2013-05-12T23:42:00.000-05:00

Ryleigh and I volunteered at the JDRF gala Saturday night, and when we got home at 11:15pm there were a dozen roses on the kitchen counter. So nice. So normal! (Love that it's normal.) Sent a thank you text to my main squeeze, and nearly an hour later found another dozen roses in the bedroom. Big sweet love right there. It IS Mother's Day weekend after all.

We somehow accidentally booked DJ Steele a wedding on Sunday. Mother's Day. In Omaha. I say "we" because I'm the one who checked the date, sent out the contract, recorded all the info, sent out a confirmation... (Basically, I should say "I" booked DJ Steele a wedding...) Anywhoooooo, since we're into making lemonade over here...

Fun day with my favorites in the Old Market in between DJ set-up and actual start time. Swung over and saw my mom for an hour on the way, so it worked out really well. (Lemonade!)

Called my brother on the interstate on the way home and he said, "Did you bring your waxed paper?" Funny you should ask! We did not, however there was plenty to go around. Turns out the waxed paper was way too much for Rowen to handle. Poor kid. Flew off the end so fast and hit the ground so hard all the spectators did one of those, "oooh" in unison things. Dang!

Much better with the big brother. Whew!

Ryleigh, usually fairly reserved, definitely enjoyed herself on the slides ;)

Old-school phone booth at Spaghetti Works.

Super relaxing day, honestly. I was dreading driving back to Lincoln by myself but the house was pretty well picked up and the kids were so tired bedtime was a cinch. Not a shabby way to spend a Mother's Day if I do say so. Love them. Missed my Maesonater, but he sent me a text and I'll make up for lost time over the next 3 weeks (and 3 weekends in a row!) and then it's summer schedule time!!!

-Becky

Marathoning

2013-05-05T23:14:00.000-05:00

So, marathon week.

Running buddies for my last weekend run.

Did a little DIY screen printing to make the kids festive shirts. Traced the design onto freezer paper, cut, ironed onto shirt glossy side down, painted, peeled, dried, done. Super slick!!

My sister-in-law has been doing this for a long time now, using her cricut machine to make detailed designs. I would say if you're hand cutting-keep it simple ;)

Mayor's Run on Saturday! Such fun memories for me, since we did this every year when I was in elementary school.

Rugger...like a gazelle!

Reise and Maeson are naturals. We maybe need to get them into a track club or something.

Rowen struggled but made it the entire mile! Ryleigh just said no. Gotta love that she knows her strengths.

So cold! Seriously, just about miserable with the wind that morning. We had the kids all run in the same heat and we were in and out ;)

Half marathon on Sunday!

Most of my bests here. Love them so much.

I swear Rugger dead seriously asked if I won the marathon. I said, "Almost!" Hahahahaha!!!!!!! My gosh. I'm going to keep training for another half in September. I was pretty disappointed with my time, and I think I can do better. I don't want to wait another year to try it again ;) Anyone up for a road trip over Labor Day weekend should join us in Green Lake, WI. I will make you a 13.1 t-shirt!

Sweet little crew, totally deserved Chipotle for lunch after all the hard work they did following me around town. :)

Big love and thanks to my handsome husband for hauling these kids around and meeting me several times on the route to cheer me on. Loved seeing their little faces, and Mitch seriously saved my life bringing me my jacket. I would have frozen to death if he hadn't. Slow runners like me just don't generate enough body heat for 44 degrees and cloudy.

-Becky

Family Tree Wall

2013-04-23T15:17:00.002-05:00

Fewer things make me happier than productivity. I'm not sure what that says about me, but I'm probably OK with it whatever it is. I love killing two birds...multitasking...and all variations of those things.

I've wanted to get a "family tree" picture wall up for months. I think I started taking pictures of our family last October to put on the wall. Finally this weekend we ran around gathering the supplies, googling DIY sites, and busted these canvases and shelves out like it was nobody's business.

So happy!!

The picture canvas project wasn't hard, but a little tedious. Basically I printed 8X10 pictures onto tissue paper, then mod podged onto the canvas. It takes a little finesse, and my first attempts weren't awesome but they're on the wall anyway ;) Once it dries it really looks pretty cool, you can't tell anything is sitting on the canvas at all.

These shelves are Ikea knockoffs that my handsome and handy husband knocked out rather quickly on Sunday. He really doesn't enjoy these types of projects so when he does them happily it literally makes me swoon. I think they turned out great, and they were dirt cheap.

Family: if you don't see yourself up there it's because I don't have your picture! Email me a goodie of your fam for my new wall!!! :)

I decided to hang them with the kids instead of waiting for my handyman to come home from work to help me. Among other things, the bigs learned out to find a stud in the wall by tapping and listening for the sound to seem more solid than hollow. It's an art that I will make sure they have mastered before they leave my nest ;) They were a fantastic pair of helpers.

Reise made herself useful by running a baby nursery out of the way of the power tools. She kills me.

Just another fairly successful day at the ol' Sallinger Academy over here ;)

Becky

FIVE

2013-04-10T21:51:00.000-05:00

Unreal. These boys will be starting Kindergarten in the fall. Big ol' five year olds!!!

They celebrated with family and their buddies at the Joyo Theater. What a hoot. I'm creeped out by ripped up upholstery and questionable flooring in an old movie theater, but it was fun.

So fun! Love that these boys get to grow up around such incredible families. Our crew is the best.

Big love to my big boys.
xoxo,
Mommy

Easter

2013-03-31T22:36:00.000-05:00

Hosanna!! Love Palm Sunday. Love big church and big traditions and memories for my kids to keep forever. Church has been so weird lately-staff changes, me not working there-things seem uncertain at best. Sundays like this help me see a bigger picture. (Speaking of pictures, I am evidently in a scatterbrained phase and can't remember to bring my camera anywhere. This is why we have months worth of iPhone pics with weird lighting. Sorry, green-faced Rugger.)

We did a little egg paper mache for some fun the week between Palm Sunday and Easter. They turned out pretty cute. The kids painted them and bedazzled them, and we hung them in the entryway to be festive ;)

Dyed eggs...

Frosted cookies...broke my 11+ year old electric mixer beaters. Major small appliance fail on a holiday weekend!

Everyone got a little nuts with the frosting bags at the end. What can I say?

The Easter Bunny left quite a stash, along with a note that said the candy must be shared, and there must be zero crying. No crying on Easter!!! Note to E. Ster Bunny: Goonies is way too scary for this crewsie. It's going to sit at the bottom of the DVD drawer for a good 5 years.

Egg hunts at both the Grandma's ;)

Best days.

-Becky

Lazy.

2013-03-23T10:24:00.001-05:00

Saturday Singalong

2013-03-18T21:02:00.003-05:00

Just a little Taylor Swift singalong in the van on a dreary Saturday.

{I could not love them more.}

-Becky