Caught up!

Just thought I would point out that I am completely caught up in posting pictures! I figured out that the trick is to not take as many pictures! Just kidding...it just happened that July has been a pretty uneventful month, so there weren't very many to show off! Hope to stay caught up from here on out! :)

Wet

Last week when Greg was on call I took Joel outside and had him ride his scooter in the driveway...as he passed me I sprayed him with the hose! He loved it and it turned into a big game for about an hour - he was pretty wet and tired at the end, which was the goal!

Joel is pretending to be mad here...he was really having a blast, and loved it that I let him get soaking wet with his clothes on!

Maren's Moving!

Maren started crawling in the middle of June, and now she is pulling herself up on things and even starting to climb a little bit. This all seems to be happening so fast...I can't believe she will be 9 months next week!

Project Monster

Joel is very creative and loves to do any kind of project...it is a challenge for me to come up with things for him to do every day, so usually it is some kind of painting or gluing thing. If anyone has any ideas for easy projects PLEASE let me know!

Greg and Joel did this monster mask together...they also did a great mosaic type thing out of scraps of paper.
Grrrrrrrr........Here Joel is painting a pot...they did it purple and then painted it with crackle paint, then did green...it didn't crackle, but the fun for Joel is in the doing, so it didn't matter what it looked like!
I bought Joel a pair of kid scissors at the beginning of June and he spent hours cutting paper from a scrap box that I had. For several days he would come up to me and say "should I do some cutting?" Now he likes to cut a little bit and then gule the pieces onto paper...or just leave them on the floor... :
This is the mess he made the first day of cutting! It was worth it because it kept him occupied for a couple of hours!

Wrapping Up June

Here are the last few random pictures from June.

I took the kids to La Grande to visit my friend Rachel and her family. It was a long drive, and a short, crazy visit, but it was so good to see Rachel and catch up in person! Hopefully we will be able to see more of them now that we live about 3 hours apart! (These are her three kids with Joel; Brett & Brittney - 7, and Brooke - 3.)

Riding to the lake on a hot evening for a little dip in the water.

My dad and Connie came to visit at the end of June...despite the REALLY hot weather we managed to go garage sale-ing, for a walk on the greenbelt, eat out for dinner at Macaroni Grill (yum!!), play with trains, and visit this old steam engine down by the zoo (a visit with my dad wouldn't be complete without seeing some trains!).

They also brought birthday presents for Joel - these gardening gloves from my mom!

This is another train and remote for the train set that they got him for Christmas...dad and Joel had fun setting up an elaborate train track all over our living room!

Maren got some REALLY cute clothes, but was more interested in the bag!

I found this disc-man at a garage sale for $1.50 and it is Joel's new favorite toy (and mine!). He now has quiet time instead of nap (since he was staying up so late at night) and he loves to listen to music (usually Veggie Tales) and chill out! Sometimes he falls asleep, but usually just listens for about an hour and a half! My best purchase ever!!

Nealon Family Reunion

For the first time in two years, the whole Nealon family got together in one place! We spent the weekend in Reno at Dave & Joan's house...mostly just hanging out, being entertained by the kids, and eating lots of great food! I have over 500 pictures of the weekend (mostly taken by Matt), but I just chose a couple to post!

Here is the whole family...there were 12 adults and 9 kids in all! We didn't all stay at the house, but were all there pretty much all day...it was a full house!
Cousins Isabella and Maren - less than a month apart in age.
Joel and Sophia hit it off right away and spent much of the weekend chasing each other around!

Maren LOVED uncle Jeff...I could hand her off to him any time and she would be happy. He was very sweet with her, and they spent lots of quality time together.

On Saturday we spent the afternoon at the river eating lunch and just hanging out. Some of the brave ones floated down the river in tubes...the rest of us had fun staying warm on the shores!

All of the kids (except Maren) piled on an air bed...thoroughly tired of having their picture taken!

It was a fun time to be together, and we hope to do it again next year!

Happy Birthday - Happy Father's Day!

Joel's Birthday fell on Father's Day this year, so it was a very special day in our house. I made home-made cinnamon rolls for Greg and we went to church. The rest of the day was pretty much devoted to celebrating Joel's three years!

He had a pancake breakfast on his special birthday dishes...it wouldn't be complete without a crown and an audience of stuffed animals! :)
Joel wanted to wear his crown to church...why not!?! After church we went to Toys R US and he picked out this bike (thanks Grandpa Nealon!). Happy Father's Day to the best dad ever...these two kids are so lucky to have you for a dad!After dinner we went to the park and played with Joel's new squirt guns and frisbee.

It was a fun family day.

Summer Time

Here are some pictures from the first part of June...

There were a couple of days in the high 90's, so we beat the heat in our HUGE pool! :)

The water was so cold that they only got their feet wet, but they had fun doing it!

Playing on the bed...Maren still laughs whenever Joel is around, no matter what he is doing!

Maren is so happy and content - especially now that she can sit on her own and play with her toys.
My mom bought this outfit - so cute...and her smile is pretty cute, too!Maren has started sticking out her tongue a lot - mostly when she is smiling or laughing!
Snuggling on the couch on a cool morning.
Maren's first time on a swing!

We found this bike trailer on Craigslist for a great price! We couldn't pass it up and we all love going for bike rides now!

Photo Shoot

These were taken at the beginning of June, when Maren was just starting to be able to sit on her own...I decided to post all of them because I couldn't decide which one I liked best!

Wrapping up May

Here are a couple of random pictures from May that were just too cute to leave out. Enjoy!
This is my cousin Carolyn...she and her husband Amit live here in Boise and were a HUGE help when we were looking for a place to live. Thank you SO much!!Mommy & babiesSleepy girl
Joel "painting" the wall
Mmmmmmm
Daddy's girl
Green eyes?
Posing