Jack got braces...

Okay, so Maxine and Juliet have always had straight teeth but Jack's were never very straight.  So at the last dentist appointment, we were strongly encouraged to get some braces on his front teeth.  One of his permanent upper front teeth had grown in behind his bottom tooth and was forcing the bottom tooth outward.  So we took a trip to the orthodontist and he threw some brackets on the top teeth a.s.a.p.

He was pretty good for the procedure except when they made a mold of his teeth.  During the mold part, he was gagging and tearing up.  But he made it out okay and now has brackets on the top 2 teeth.  The orthodontist said the bottom teeth will naturally realign as the upper teeth are pulled into place. 

It's only been a few days but I can't believe how much his teeth have changed already!  The orthodontist recommends the braces stay on for a year.  Maybe he'll get them off early.

First Day of School...

The day before school started, I ate the last of my summer peach crop.  :(  There was a good crop and we ate a ton.  We ate peaches with breakfast, a side for lunch and dinner, and anytime anyone wanted a snack.  We gave away a fair amount too because I just wasn't in the mood to do any ambitious canning.

And then we had the first day of school!  I had a shower and popped out of my room at 7:30 a.m.  All 3 kids were outside my door, dressed, hair done, backpacks and shoes on!  I said, "Let's get some breakfast."  They informed me that they had already made and eaten their breakfast.  I guess they don't even need me anymore.  Such big kids!  I have a 5th, 2nd, and 1st grader.  All 3 are going to be gone all day.  It might be the only thing that keeps me sane once baby #5 gets here.

The same day as school starting, paint started on the basement.  We're having Merril's friend, Brent, help us.

Merril was the "door holder" while Brent sprayed.  

They came out gorgeous!  My only fear is that I'm going to look at my grungy doors upstairs and want to repaint them.

Walls are next!

I can feel the end of summer...

A couple of nights have been pleasantly cool instead of crazy hot and I can feel Autumn creeping in.  But until then, here are a couple pictures of the end of summer.

Mikayla loves to be on anything with wheels.  Lately, she wants to ride scooters.  But she needs a helper.   :) 

We also went to the fair.  Merril took the older 2 to the demolition derby and I don't have any pictures of that.  Julie and I went to ride some rides and then left early with Mikayla.

It was good times but when we got home, I had to sit on the couch and rest my belly.  Then I drove back and picked up Merril and the other kids when the derby was over.

Summer Running Club...

I put the kids in a running club once a week during the summer.  This Tuesday was their last day and they got shirts.  The kids were divided into 1-2 grade girls, 1-2 grade boys, 3-4 grade girls, etc.  They had races twice during the summer and we discovered that Juliet and Jack are pretty fast.

On the last race, Jack placed 1st in his division of 1-2 grade boys and Juliet placed 2nd in her division of 1-2 grade girls.  Maxine was upset that she didn't place at all in the 5-6 grade girls but I assured her that she had plenty of ribbons.  She has plenty of talents, running fast might not be one of them.

She did smile with the other kids though.

Jack likes his shirt that says, "Faster than this guy" and wanted to stand next to me to emphasize the point.

Yep, I'm not that fast lately.

Lazy summer swim days...

On the 24th of July, we went swimming at the pool.  Mikayla had a ton of fun just going in and out of the water.

We spent the whole afternoon and had a great time!

And my belly is getting bigger.

On a side note, Merril and I have been working on the baseboards and door casings in the basement.  They're coming right along!

Campbell Family at Veyo Pool

The Campbell Family Reunion was over the 4th of July weekend and we finished up swimming at the Veyo pool.  

The pool has a yummy snack bar where they'll cook up burgers, fries, hot dogs and pronto pups (homemade corn dogs)!  Jack and Beau were loving their lunch.

Julie thought the water was spectacular!

And Maxine could swim all day.

Somehow I escaped without a single picture being taken of my pregnant belly in a swimsuit.  Hmm, odd.  ;)

4th of July Parade...

Here we are, ready to catch some candy at the 4th of July Parade!

Mikayla was so interested in what was coming down the street.  She kept leaning over and saying, "Oooo!"

We scored pretty awesome this year!  We got a T-shirt, a frisbee, and free pass to the swimming pool, some otter pops and some candy.

Merril and I even gagged down a salt water taffy!

Maxine's Summer Musical...

The activity that's been consuming the first month of summer has been Maxine's summer play rehearsals.  She auditioned for a musical play called, "Dear Edwina", and got the part of Edwina's best friend, Becky.  Becky is a cheerleader.  Practices were M-F for around 3 hours a day.

Every time Maxine got dressed up for the play, I couldn't believe how cute she looked as a cheerleader!  I wouldn't mind if she decided to do that in high school.

Maxine learned her lines well and sang well.  She did a great job but was bummed she didn't get a microphone.  I told her, "It's because you're loud and people can hear you without a microphone."  She did great but I'll be glad to have less schedule around here.

On a side note, I was telling the kids about tv dinners and it sparked a trip to the grocery store.  Merril was out of town so I didn't make a big dinner.  Maxine remarked that school lunch was better and that tv dinners were pretty bad.  I couldn't agree more.  This picture is before they ate, so they still look excited to chow down.  ;)

First picture of our baby!

We had an ultrasound today and our baby is healthy and is measuring a week ahead of my due date.  All the fingers and toes are as they should be.

The kids begged us to find out if it was a boy or a girl and we're thrilled to say that we're having a BOY!!  The final kid count for our family will be 3 girls and 2 boys.  I'm very excited and Merril wants to name him after his Dad, Mark.  Julie has even started calling the baby Marky Mark.  :)

The craziest thing about this pregnancy has been the lack of heartburn!  With the previous 4 kids, I stashed Tums in every conceivable place in my house and car to keep them on hand.  Heartburn was a constant companion for me.  It's so weird but very pleasant!  

Juliet's 6th birthday...

Juliet turned 6 and was very excited about it!  She wanted balloons and a pinata to be included in the friend party and that was about it.  She was very excited about blowing out candles.

Very excited.

 Extremely excited!!

Bordering on madness!!!

It was good times!

Mikayla's walking!!

Mikayla has started walking!!  She looks like a baby orangutan with her arms in the air.  She's catching on quick too.  I'm sure she'll be running soon!

Also, Merril was working on a leaky compressed natural gas fitting and it popped off and the wrench flew into his face. 

It might have needed stitches but he really didn't like stitches the last time he got them and so we just let it heal on its own.  He got a nice black eye and some swelling as well!  ;)

A little trip to California...

We started of summer with a trip to California!  Merril went down for work and we tagged along.  We spent the first day at Knott's Berry Farm.  I've never been and I thought it was clean and fun.  I went on the carousel the whole day and that was it.  Being pregnant and amusement parks don't exactly go together.

This was the big ride that Merril took the kids on.  Jack and Julie were SUPER excited!

Mikayla was less excited and fell asleep instead.

Mikayla was pretty good all day and rode in her stroller nicely.

The other kids were good and we hardly had a meltdown all day.

We got there are 11 a.m. and stayed until the park closed.

The next day we went to the beach.  It was the warmest beach weather for months but I'm always amazed at how cool it is there.  At least I brought a jacket.

 Merril taught Maxine to surf a little.  She never stood up but practiced a lot.

It was a fun little vacation for us and I'm glad we went before I got too pregnant.  :)

The tile has begun!

Yeah, after days of grinding, Francisco started laying the tile!  Eeee!  I'm so excited for the work to roll along!  I feel  like it's taken years to get to this point of finally working on the basement again!

End of school madness...

Wow!  School is almost over and the kids have had a bunch of assemblies and things to attend.  Maxine won an award for the CRT test in Science, scoring 98%.  She rocked Math and Language Arts and got 100% on both CRT tests in those categories.  Why she didn't get medals for those, I'll never know.  I've tried to have teachers explain how the awards are figured and I can never seem to get a straight answer.  She did great and we're proud of her.

Jack competed in his class spelling bee and did so well that he advanced to the whole 1st grade spelling bee, along with 15 other kids.  He went round after round, 12 or 13 I think, but edged out everyone in the end.  He bagged 1st place and was given a trophy, 3 kid meal certificates, crayons, markers, and colored pencils and a cool garbage can.  Wow, he did a great job!

Juliet had fun during her Kindergarten graduation program.  They sang some cute songs and she smiled her cute smile.

She received her diploma and I think she'll do better in first grade.  She's often said that she's bored in Kindergarten but her reading has improved a lot this year.

I can't believe that school is about out!  We are looking forward to some summer fun!