bad timing

We got our first snow, Savannah lost her first tooth... and my camera...dead. Hope Meg's kid camera can save the day. A new camera was definitely not in the holiday budget. Ugh...

meggie may turns 5

Megan celebrated turning 5 with a birthday that was all things purple and pretty. She is my girlie girl. We usually celebrate her birthday by taking her to an amusement park, but this year it was unusually cold. The break from tradition didn't dampen her spirits and she still got to try out the monkey bars in her new dress and shoes.

Some favorites of Megan's at 5:
Her favorite colors: pink, purple, and blue
Her favorite story: The Twelve Dancing Princesses
Her favorite thing to do: go to her Kindermusik class
Her favorite food: Dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets from Costco
Her favorite drink: pink lemonade
She picks out her own clothes, styles her own hair, blows bubbles with her bubble gum, and has figured out how to snap! If she is not playing dress-up, planning a tea party, or playing dollies, you will find her at her desk creating a work of art.

The color purple, flowers, butterflies, fairies, anything that is pretty and sparkles. That's our Meggie...and her birthday delivered.

We love you and your contagious smile!

the garnet mine

The local K-12 has put together some wonderful field trips. On this day we went down to a garnet mine where the kids could dig, sift, and then head down sluice area. So we packed a picnic and headed out for a day of dirt.

Megan and Ava loved digging and getting dirty. It was a very family-friendly area so the kids could play, run, and explore.

Savannah down at the sluice box. She had a good eye for the deep purple/red stone...and she got to keep everything she found!

We have also been to an old gold mine, where we were 500 feet in and 900 feet under a mountain. It has been such a wonderful way to introduce the girls to the local history and geography.

some miscellaneous thoughts...

This makes me melt!

This is what you get when you have girls... Meggie May planting her stuffed animals all around Brett's work equipment and trailers...

Every morning Ava sits on this chair and looks out the window when Brett leaves for work.

first day of school

Most of you know that we are homeschooling Savannah. We are schooling through the K-12 program. They had a big get together at a local State Park to kick off the school year. We had a picnic, games, and jumping castle. It was a beautiful setting and a fun day to meet new people.

dollies on deck

We have a covered deck on the 2nd floor of the house. The girls love playing out there in the summer. If they are not outside in the yard, the deck is where you'll find them. Of course the name of the game is "dollies". A fun visit from Grandma Nona and Papa Don left us with 3 new dollies and lots of new play possibilities.

summer traditions cont...

As with most people during the summer we live outside. We enjoy paddle boat rides, hanging our laundry out on the line ( I save at least $25 month!), and cooking outside. This year we decided to try our hand at gardening. We had grown flowers and strawberries before, but wanted to get a little more serious, so Brett made 4 box gardens. They did pretty good. We grew strawberries, tomatoes, peppers, onions, spinach, romaine, peas, zucchini, corn and carrots. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the garden but I did get a picture of our carrots that I didn't thin enough. They were pretty mangled and deformed, but fun to eat none the less!

summer traditions...

...or forgive me while I try to cram the last 4 months into a couple of posts...

I don't know why, but I have been struggling with whether to do this blog or not!

So here I go...trying this again...

Across the road our neighbors have this wonderful, sandy beach. We usually spend a good afternoon there and then go back for an evening swim to cool off before bed.

O.K. you sillies...

This is the part where the play gets elevated and someone is bound to get hurt by, or mad at, the other person!

Soaking up the last bit of sun.

One more jump off the dock.

"For all His creations for which I'm a part, I thank Him reverently."