these are the days. part 1

My first "these are the days" post. Because really, they are. Seven cousins in one house. Two sisters (wives/ moms/ aunties). And two dads (husbands, uncles, brother-in-laws). We're having fun. Yes, sometimes things are a little difficult. But mostly it's fun, bonding, memory making going on around here. Like tonight when I proved once and for all that I am not the great cook my sister had thought I was. I gracefully stepped down from the pedestal she had me on. I was making popcorn and after starting to heat the oil, walked out of the room. Oops. Kinda forgot what I had started and waited too long to come back. When I did come back, I lifted the lid from the pot, and there was billowing smoke which soon burst into flames. I put the pot quickly into the sink but did not add water (at least I have some sense). The flames were at least a couple feet high by this point. I stood back while Michelle grabbed some Bisquick from the cupboard and put the fire to rest. Needless to say, this caused quite a commotion among the kids (sleeping brother-in-law upstairs never seemed to notice... smoke detector going off and all). No photos from this event. We were too busy putting out the fire to think about a blog post complete with pictures at the time. But here are some fun ones from the backyard on a much less stressful occasion.

These pictures were taken a couple of weeks ago. Last summer/fall my brother-in-law and the kids built an amazing tree house in their backyard. This thing is top of the line. There are working windows, hammocks, even electricity and a tv for watching movies. I've only been up there once because I never outgrew my fear of heights, and it is way up there. But the kids love it. Mercy even got to go up with her daddy one day. I love the clear corrugated roof. I can imagine a cozy rainy day lounging in the hammock reading, while listening to the rain over head.