Free Range on Fairview

This summer we took our "big family vacation" in several different places near Seattle. First stop was Wild Waves in Federal Way, WA. I had been to the water/theme park many times as a teenager but this was the first time I had been with my kids. It was funny to me that I spent my time looking for nursing spots in the shade and the most kid friendly places to get a snack rather than looking for cute guys or being goofy with friends. The kids had so much fun splashing around in the wave pool. Dylan went on his first water slide without a life jacket (or swimming jacket as Lincoln calls them) and has improved his swimming ability greatly this summer. Lincoln went on his first kiddie roller coaster with Daddy and had a great time. Warner veged out and had a great time considering it was about 94 degrees the day we decided to go, probably the hottest day all summer for the area!  The boys after their first ride of the day.  Warner kicking his big brothers.  I thin

If you ever have left over spaghetti fixings, you can make a spaghetti pie and the kids will love it even more. Recipes I looked up online usually have you mix in eggs and parmesan with the left over noodles, but I overlooked that step when I was throwing this together. Layer cooked spaghetti noodles, about 1/2 cup spaghetti sauce, grated mozzarella and the turkey pepperoni or any other toppings you have on hand. A quick and fun dinner all in one.

My boys are all growing up too fast these days! Dylan is becoming a big kid, telling me he knows times (multiplication, although I think he only knows one or two), why one lady bug was on top of another lady bug (I can't use those words Mom, except another word for it is mating hee hee), and he even made his own top ramen the other day. Lincoln is turning into a little boy with no more pacifier, able to hit a ball with a bat if you throw it and even count to five. He is fearless. The other day he was jumping on the bed in the spare bedroom, jumped with his face into the wall and kept jumping. It was only until Dylan announced that there was blood on the white comforter did Lincoln even notice he had given himself a bloody nose. You gotta be tough to be a Sadler boy. He didn't even cry!  I also taught Lincoln how to use scissors the other day during our little summer school session. He did great trying to get his stubby chubby fingers in the holes and loved cutting the

Isn't that clever? I was spelling school, where you learn, but used a slang version, where you get to be lazy. The best of both worlds. Anyway this summer has gone by far too quickly. Dylan will be starting school in less than a week. Second grade. oh.my.gosh. Where did the time go? He was just a tiny little sprout when we moved to Ellensburg, and now he is going to start 2nd grade. That means I am the mom of a second grader, ahHH! Except I have two other little ones to keep me young right? Right. So after the whole fancey restaurant incident, the bar was raised on summer fun so next we tried to play school. I made a desk in the bonus room using two cubby shelves and a random board I found in the shed. I'm not sure where it came from or what Shane had planned for it, but it is almost exactly perfect so I took the liberty of using it. It is not very deep for an actual desk, but perfect for little hands for now. So for this play school I made all sorts of fun water crafts, e

With all this goofing off we've been doing lately, I just had to share some random pictures of the boys. Firemen in training, very early training. Lincoln LOVES to eat corn this way. Stop the snappin and let me get eating mom! Dylan and buddy making marshmallow art. Kimosabe 

Back at the beginning of the summer we actually did fun things around the house rather than running around busy, busy like I feel like I have been doing lately. Dylan was getting bored so I suggested he play restaurant, thinking it would last a few minutes and he would move on to the next thing. Little did I know that we would all play restaurant for the next 8 hours. Dylan came up with the name, "The Fancey Restaurant". He came up with all marketing material including the menu, open and closed sign and table decor. He also was head server and chef. Lincoln and I (and Warner too) enjoyed being served lunch, snack, and dinner and even got to see an alligator wrestling show at the end.  He made the decor all on his own.  He loves an excuse to dress up nice. Our "fancey" menu Taking orders Chef Dylan My favorite picture of Linc "Open" Our order slips

So I took 3 month pictures, but it was late in the day and after dinner so no one is wearing clothes and the lighting is terrible, but you guessed it. Warner turned three months nevertheless. Lincoln wanted to be part of the ordeal so I included him and let him play with the blocks this time. Warner just keeps growing and getting cuter and chubbier and laughier. He is taking naps in his own bed, keeping tabs on his brothers and generally enjoying life. I'm pretty sure he started teething at 2 months but other than that he is an easy going little guy.  He likes to know what is going on around him.  He has the cutest yawns.  He likes to gnaw on anything and everything.  Ready to be done. He's all smiles! He like playing with toys! He likes to play hide and seek with his brothers! Check out those thigh rolls!

According to Dylan, I make the World's Best Oatmeal so I thought I would share it. Lincoln simply calls it "oats" and boy we love having our oats around here. It's pretty quick to make, filling and cheap too. Oatmeal is also known to help with milk supply for nursing moms so I made this often when Warner first came home. I buy my quick cook oats in the bulk foods section for $.89/lb. Plus this recipe reheats well for even quicker breakfast the next morning. World's Best Oatmeal  serves 4 or so 2 c. quick-cook oatmeal (not instant) 3 1/2 c. milk 1/2 t. cinnamon 1/8 t. salt 1 t. vanilla extract 2 T. flax seed (optional) 1/2 c. applesauce or other fruit Mix it all together in a sauce pan and cook on medium/medium-high for a few minutes until thickens. Top with brown sugar and a little butter if desired. Add extra milk if you like it thinner. I made homemade apricot applesauce a while back and the boys don't like the thicker texture by its self, but

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