Five in the Hive

Well I guess I am falling behind with blogging. I am having a hard time managing my time lately-there never seems to be enough! This month we have done lots of arts and crafts in an attempt to divert Olivia's attention from the fact that every other child in her church class started school this year. She barely missed the deadline and was not happy about that.

Katelyn is now fully Potty Trained and we are all very proud of her. During the process of potty training I noticed some funny things that I will share more so for her than anyone else. She always said she could hear the pee pee coming. And she would cup her ear as if to listen for it and then run to the bathroom. Each time she poohs she attributes some type of animal to each one. My favorite was "Look Mom a family of snails". And there were others a froggy, turtle, snakes. And then she would say, every time, bye by pooh pooh see you tomorrow. I know you are all thinking why is she talking about pooh. But this is a great milestone in life. To be able to go to the toilet yourself and take care of business. And I just want to remember how silly my sweet little Kate is and how proud she is of her new accomplishment.

We had the opportunity to take a trip to Las Vegas. Jon's childhood friend invited us to meet them in Vegas. We stayed in their timeshare with them. I am so sad I didn't get any pics of them together :( The girls really loved playing with Mia.
We did lots of swimming

and checked out the Dolphins at the Mirage.

The girls and Jack really enjoyed feeding the hordes of pigeons their breakfast. Who knew pigeons ate bacon?

This is how Jackson slept best the first night-unfortunately for me!

We also went to the Fair this month. Olivia really liked checking out the little chicks. She even got to see one that was just hatched. Kate really liked the little bunnies. Jackson thought the sheep were pretty funny when the jumped on the fence. The pigs also caught his attention. Overall all the animals were great!! When aren't they! The girls also enjoyed climbing up into the firetruck and talking with the firemen.

Olivia being a little "sheepish"

Sweet Sisters

I'm baaack! I was grounded from blogging. Jon found some article that said blogspot was the number one place to get a virus. So I wasn't aloud to blog until we got a new virus scanner (whatever it is called). Then I was enjoying not blogging and just reading for a while. So now I have to play catch up. So here is our last month. I know there are a lot of pictures. I will try to keep the commentary short!

This last month Olivia and Kate's friend Alexia invited them to go to Ms. Ashley's. It is a dress up girly girl place. They had so much fun. They dressed up in hula skirts and flip flops, got their nails done, make-up put on, did a fashion show and ate pizza. It was really fun to see the excitement in Olivia's face. Kate wasn't to sure about what was going on. But she enjoyed touching everything in the store and rearranging all the stuff on the shelves.

Olivia and Alexia getting nails painted.

Olivia was so excited she couldn't stop smiling! She thought this was royal treatment.

Katie was happy to sit on the couch and watch some Bratz show--well at least for a minute.

Rice and Beans

We had a craft day one day. We made glitter bottles, oil bottles and bubble bottles (with water bottles). The they played with rice and beans. It is amazing that something so simple can be the most fun . They played for an hour or more. And wanted to play again after dinner.

They enjoyed separating the beans and rice, squishing it through their hands, and dumping them out to start over. This really was fun and not too bad to clean up!!

I just like this shot because both their hands are in the bowl. And it reminded me of how quiet and nicely they played together this day :)

Kate has had here share of mischievousness this last month. This day I found that she had dumped all the little rubber bands in the hallway. It was fun to clean up!! This picture is after about half were picked up. And a few days before I caught her giving herself a cold bath in the sink! The counter and floor was completely soaked. She was having a wonderful time.

Jackson learned to climb an 8 foot ladder! Go Jack. We had the ladder inside because Jon was checking out our insulation after we got an outrageous electricity bill. Come to find out there was very little insulation on the east side of the house, which explained why the girl's room was so HOT! The insulation company came blew a bunch of insulation in and there has been a noticeable difference in the temperature. But please feel free to donate to the Keep the Hess's Cool. LOL! (no really, it is hot in this place)

Katelyn was very interested in the process of cement repair. Cement repair? Didn't you just have cement done you ask? Well, yes we did! And just a note. When it is a good deal--there is a reason--probably not the best quality. I guess you get what you pay for.

Jackson had to watch from inside after being too much help!

I just loved these pictures though.

Dewar's Ice cream

We had a tour of Dewar's and learned how they make their famous taffy and we all had to wear these fun hair nets. They girls thought they were pretty funny.Then we got to see how they make ice cream and even got to sample it. YUM!KatieOliviaAlexia
Jack--He was such a sport. He stayed in this backpack the whole time and didn't even squawk.
Kelly and Jonathan. Isn't he the cutest!
I am so glad to have such a good friend. Kelly is so sweet and thoughtful. She is such an uplifting and positive person in my life. Love ya Kell
After we ate ice cream and pizza. We all had a great time.

Jon made some yummy chocolate treat and as you can see Jackson really loved it too! And he is also very patriotic even at a young age. Oh, say can you see....
I love this little guy so much. He is so happy and full of adventure.

Backyard fun in the water

The kids love to play in the water. These are just some fun water shots.

Olivia playing in the mud-which also a favorite thing to do! I think this day she was trying to plant a tree branch from the tree trimming I had done earlier. She is always wanting to plant things.

Getting water for her little plant!

Hair-Do's

Knot Bows

Three twisted knots

Striking a pose

Twisted doggy ears--Kate named this one

I love her hair in ringlets

This is a top that I made with the help of my friend Stephanie. She is so crafty. Kelly and I had so much fun making these with Stephanie. I don't think we could have figured out all the measurements without her help. Thanks Steph.