Muddy Buddies!

Lauren would climb up in the tree house, but wouldn't stand up.
So dang cute!
Just want to squeeze her.

This is what happens when your yard is not finished being landscaped,
it's hot outside,
the kids are bored and they start playing with water.

This is what kept the kids busy for a long time. Marissa and I just sat back and let the kids roll in the mud like a bunch of pigs on a hot day.

Carly found her spot and wouldn't move. She was so relaxed I was worried that she would fall asleep. It was hysterical. All the other kids were digging and playing, while she just laid there.
I was jealous.

One good thing.
The kids skin got exfoliated.

Gabe and Soren made channels and rivers all over the place.
Typical boys.

I hope these girls marry men with lots of money.
Mud baths get expensive when you grow up.

It was so much fun to sit back and watch the kids cover themselves in mud.
It was more fun to watch Marissa spray the kids off with the hose.

These kids will remember the summer that they got to dig holes and make mud baths. In a couple of weeks they will all start school, the cold weather will come and this will only be a memory.
Until next year.
Maybe next year Marissa and I will join them.

Izzie new haircut, kids and jumping?

I have the cutest little girl in the world.
I have been making her some clothes lately and just finished this outfit.

I fell in love with the fabric when I saw it. Not everyone likes it.
I don't care.
I love it.
Olivia loves it.

She is quite the little diva.
I made it so the big flower can be removed.

On to more interesting things.
Izzie was miserable this year in the heat. We would spend hours brushing her and still didn't help.
Finally Troy and I just shaved her. Izzie was not very happy with me.
I cut her a few times. Just a few!

By the time we got to her head I just couldn't go on. I was almost in tears because I had hurt her.

We were at the park and I thought it would be fun to take pictures of everyone jumping.
It turned out to be fun and funny.

Hilarious.

Rolling on the grass, laughing until your stomach hurts funny!

My wonderful husband just couldn't make it very far. If you will notice in the upcoming pictures that the children aren't very gifted with the ability to jump also.
Notice there are not pictures of me jumping.
That's because I can't.

Logan did pretty well.

Until I asked him to jump sideways.

Then this happened. He actually hurt himself.
Does that surprise anyone?

Olivia was trying so hard.

Soren was just down right hysterical!

Ella and Anna did pretty great.

Olivia was showing off her new outfit.

Here are my five wonderful kids who are absolutely driving me nuts this summer with their fighting.

I never fought with my siblings.
NEVER!

Right after I took these pictures all the dogs took off and the kids had to go chase them down.
Lot's of fighting and screaming ensued.
Bossing,
screaming,
yelling,
name calling.
I just sat back and watched it all.
I love my life!

Hello Harry.

Introducing the newest member of the Dunow bunch.
Harry.
I am so in love with him.

He's a cockatiel and is just a few months old. Harry was hand fed since he was born so he is very tame. It took him a few days to get used to us and now is doing great.

Harry loves to be out of his cage. That means that the dogs have to be outside while Harry does his roaming.
Fred hates this.
Imagine that.

Troy was holding him and Harry fell asleep. So cute. Our family is loving having him. It's amazing how fast we can bond with one of Gods creatures. Thank you to the lovely lady who gave us this special gift.

Summer Flowers

This morning we all woke early to get our yard work done before it became to unbearable. This is what Olivia was doing.
The flowers in my yard have started to bloom, so I tried to get a few photo's of them.

The butterfly bush is so full right now.

It's attracted a bit more than butterflies.

I have some beautiful colors with my hollyhocks this year. Some new colors have popped up.

Love, love, love this pale pink.

My sunflowers are taller than the fence.

I love to sit on the porch with the kids and watch for hummingbirds. They love these. It's been so much fun for us this year watching our garden grow.

Crazy Day.

Troy works for a really good company called INTEL. I am sure a few of you have heard of it. This year they held a family night at Cliffs amusement park. The kids were extremely excited about it.
Troy and I were not excited about it.
I had taken Troy into the ER that morning for back pain. They drugged him up, told him it was a muscle problem and sent him home. So off we went to cliffs with 5 kids in tow and Troy was a little on the "drugged side". Not my idea of a good time. I will NOT be showing you a picture of how I looked.

This was Olivia's first taste of big kid rides.
This is one of the greatest joys in life.
To see the smiles on your childrens faces when they go on rides.
I got goose bumps.

I got goose bumps for a whole other reason here. To watch your child go on a ride like this.
Not fun.
He was having a blast.
Why would anybody do this to themselves?

The kids made it back to the Hopper.

Olivia thought this was the worlds greatest thing.

Every time she went around in this, she would give her Father a high five. I kept telling her to keep her hands and feet inside the aircraft at all times.
She didn't listen to me.
She never does.

The girls waited about 45 minutes to go down this ride. Craaaaazzzzy!
The kids had a good time and fell asleep right away when we got home.
It was worth all the stressful fretting that I was doing just to see all the kids smiles and to hear them talk about all the neat rides that they got to go on.
Troy is doing better.
He is now coherent.

My Dad.

My Dad is amazing. He has been married to my Mother for over 50 years and has 9 children.
He is
Kind
Patient
Funny
Musical
Generous
Loving.
I think that I was pretty blessed to have the Father that I have. Thank you Dad for all that you have done for me. I love you! Your daughter Emily.