This afternoon at the picture show. . .

I hope you have your popocorn - lots of pictures today. The first two are out of chronological order, but who cares, right?

Last night for the 4th of July, we went to Shannon's house for dinner and fireworks. Shannon made yummy pot roast and veggies, we had banana splits for desert. We watched fireworks and did sparklers. Her little boy, Brendan who is about 3 weeks younger than Lola wasn't too thrilled with the noises. Lola, however, was totally unfased. I guess that's the difference between the first child and the 4th! Lola is used to a constant cacophony of noise and motion.

Anyway, after that, Shannon showed my girls how to do flips! Here's some photos I snapped with my phone while they were in motion!

She flies through the air with the greatest of ease - it's CHLOE!

Piper was very graceful and elegant in the air.

The funniest thing of the evening was Lola. She watched the girls a few times and crawled over to me. I "flipped" her a couple of times and then she'd crawl to me and as soon as I put my feet up, she'd arch her back to flip over! I'll have to get it on video, it's truly amazing. The girl is SMART!

So, rewind to Thursday evening. There was a concert at the Stake Center for the 4th of July with the Choir and Orchestra - who are both AMAZINGLY good. Their Christmas concert blew me away. However, as I learned not too long ago, it's futile for me to bring Ryde and Lola pretty much anywhere together by myself. My desire to go to the concert did not outweigh the knowledge that I would be chasing Ryder through the halls at the stake center with Lola on my hip. So, I did not go. But, I made the best of it with the kids. We went swimming and then - we had CUPCAKES!

Ok, so they were store bought, but who wants to turn on the oven when it's 110 outside!

Next we colored pictures! Chloe and Piper picked coloring pages off the internet, but Cody wanted to draw something terrible, so he drew free form.

My Chloe is turning in to quite the artist.

Cody poses with his original piece, "Terrible Things" dedicated to his dad! I just love this kid! He makes me laugh every day!

And of course, Piper's dainty and delicate Sleeping Beauty.

And we couldn't forget Lola -who, as she is labeled here, is FANTASTIC!

Today, there was much swimming in the morning, then LUNCH time! I pulled out the camera because I thought it was cute that they all had matching cups and bowls - aren't they so great? My mother in law picked them up at IKEA. I have never been there, but I love their catalogs. Anwway, they all started POSING!

Aunt McKayla with her sun burned cheeks shows us how to eat Spaghetti O's

Piper goes for Glam to match her pink bowl and cup.

All the kids cheese it up. I especially love Cody's strong man character.

Thumbs up for a great meal accented with neon orange. Perfect for Cody's bright personality.

Chloe get's serious. She's in a green mood.

Ryder got shy! My Ryder, shy? Too cute!

After I took this photo of Piper, I asked what she was doing. She said she was being Gizelle (from Enchanted!) How funny - it's all in the finger.

And last but not least, LOLA! I finally got a good photo of her fangs! I LOVE her smile.

Well, I have to admit I've been pretty down lately about a lot of things. But as I deal with it, the one thing I can always feel good about are my kids. They are just so amazing to me. The love I feel for them is absolutely overwhelming, and they always know how to brighten my day, even in just a little way. And it's hard to explain, but I know that Cody is such a special spirit. When I'm around him, I just feel a little closer to heaven. So I'm happy to have him here for another week!

Well, off to primp for my real date tonight! Dinner and a show!!!!! Just me and the husband. It's been like 2 1/2 months (since we went to Disneyland) that we've had dinner alone together. Anyway, I'm looking forward to it.