Knee High by The 4th of July

Our popping corn is plugging right along, and if the forecast is correct the next stretch of sun will really help things along!

Happy 4th!

Garden Plant Markers

I recieved a few beautiful boquets this Mother's Day and those flowers make our home so cheery, I felt very loved. But one boquet in particuflar has been immediately useful outside! These sweet home made garden markers from my friend Jenn went strait out to the garden and have spruced things out there! Thank You, Dear Friend!

Happy Valentines Day

E made a few cards this year for her friends at school; so sweet, right?

Downtown Christmastime

This afternoon when N woke up from this nap we shuffled the kids into the van, drove downtown to find a parking spot and did our yearly Christmas outing. It was just us, and we had a really nice few hours. N even wore underwear the entire time without an accident! We didn't do everything I had on our list; we forgot about the giant gingerbread houses until we were already back in our seat on the monorail, we skipped ice skating on purpose because neither D nor I wanted to wait on the sidelines with a 2-year-old rubber ball bouncing off the walls. But the miniature train was pure magic for N, the aforementioned monorail offered a lovely view, and the carousel is a must. This year we also stopped in for a scheduled snow flurry inside a mall (not much to write home about, but now we've done it). All in all it was a really nice time with my family.

Tree, 2, 1, GO!

We were in and out of the tree lot in less than 5 minutes this year. It had to be a team effort with everyone hustling this year; we had to get Daddy back on a plane for the second half of tour (he kindly flew home to celebrate Thanksgiving with us). E picked it out, D carried it to the cashier, and N followed everyone to the car with the twine to strap it to the top of our van.

11:05:18am :: 6 1/2 foot Nobel Fir tree located

11:05:53am :: tree carried to counter

11:06:38am :: fresh cut on bottom with chainsaw

11:09:03am :: tie to top of car

11:21:04am :: home

Swanson's

 We hit Swanson's for the Reindeer Festival every year with Asher, Mini, and Eileen. Now with most of the brood synced up with school hours we braved the crowds this weekend to snap a few quick pic's before heading back to their house for some cookie decorating.

It's The Great Pumpkin!

Happy Halloween everyone! Our family really went all out this year, and we had sooo much fun! There were a lot of really late nights and long hours poured into the papier-mâché heads, but didn't they turn out great? And isn't our little Woodstock the cutest?

Carve It Up!

Somewhere between trips to the store, heating up the hot glue gun and sitting at my sewing machine for costume making we managed to get our pumpkins to the table for some slice and dice fun. E was set on using a skull template that came with our carving kit, but in the end decided she wanted to just go free style and she did the entire jack-o-lantern herself, knife-work and all! N just wanted something happy, but he was determined to use these little pink tongs from his play kitchen to clean it out. E sketched something on our blackboard that he willingly approved. I tweaked it a bit, so the missing teeth coordinated with E's little jack-o-lantern smile she's been sporting this month.

The chickens and Molly also got to celebrate with grated pumpkin in their bowls! We thought we'd be carving up our very own home grown pumpkins this year, but try as we might not one pumpkin grew from our vine! Tons of flowers (all male apparently) no fruit...next year, I guess.

What May or May Not Have Happened

 

 I got a call on Friday morning saying E and N had been selected from a drawing (which, ahem, may or may not have been so random) of raffle tickets (which, ahem, we may or may not have padded the purchase of) to pick out a pumpkin over at our Rubberneck Farms. What I do know is, that this afternoon we went for a walk so the children could get their beautiful pumpkins. And it was a relatively strenuous walk back home for me with 2 pumpkins and N in the jogger, Molly on leash and E gliding along (not so gracefully) in her new roller skates. Thank you Mike & Melissa!

The 4 on the 4th

red, white and blue

This was one of my favorite days so far this summer. I got to hang around the house most of the day and then take a short drive and celebrate with food and friends. How cute are these kids together? Both sets get along so well. Of course I completely forget to take any shots of me with my friends, but you get the idea; good friends & good times.

Jesse, N, Kaela, and E

the boys watching fireworks

buddies

giggly girls

marshmallows!

s'mores mouth

sparklers

*Thanks Jason for helping me capture the evening with pic's!

Easter with the Many's

It's been ages since we had seen our dear friends. Family life is busy. I was glad to see that despite the long separation that our families got along just as well, I missed them. They provided an egg hunt and a wonderful brunch for us to enjoy. N was especially excited to experience the crazy tradition of scrambling (ha!) for the treat filled plastic eggs. Thank you so much for your hospitality and generosity.

Happy Easter!

Cinnamon Hearts

We went to my sister's house to make up a few of our (now) traditional special heart cinnamon ornaments. Everyone helped, and the house smelled so nice. Happy Valentines!