Father's Day Weekend

Arbor Kids

Many of our neighbors are planting new, baby trees in their front yards. My oldest said the other day, "We need to get a new, growing tree."

I guess I wasn't quick enough getting to the nursery to fulfill his request.

He and his brother took the matter into their own hands.

I'm impressed. :)


PS: I had no part in this...they thought every part up and constructed it on their own.

Summer Joy

The title of this post may be confusing. You'll notice the children are wearing long-sleeved shirts, pants, and my oldest is even wearing snow boots.

So, whether it is actually summer yet, I suppose is a subject for debate.

But...it is warm enough to be outside.

And our grass is green.

And the fence is completely surrounding our back yard. (Thank you, Husband!)

And there is now sand in the sandbox. (Thank you, Husband and Lion/Spiderman.)

And we're happy. :)

An Apple a Day....

First Birthday

We celebrated our Baby Princess' birthday last weekend. The day started with a hike to the falls and a picnic back at the bottom.







Then, we went to Grandma's house to celebrate with dinner, cake, and presents.

It was fun to have Great-Grandma visiting that weekend too!











She had a nice, exhausting birthday! :)





Happy Birthday, Butterfly! You are such a beautiful blessing!

Bird Mobile and Diaper Cake

My sister is having a baby soon!

We had a shower for her a couple weeks ago.

I made this for her and the baby:


I got the idea when I was asked to sew a bird together as a contribution to another friend's "bird mobile". The pattern for the birds is here. I hand-sewed the birds (with some last-minute help from my aunt, my sister, and her friends), and my husband helped me assemble the mobile. He's so handy.



I made this centerpiece too. It's a diaper cake. It's not edible. :) It matches the colors my sister has chosen for the nursery.

Just wanted to share with you...Please, steal these ideas and use them. I stole them first...so it's ok!

The Best in the West

Last week, we had the pleasure of visiting some friends back home. "Back home" being...one of our previous homes. The one where my husband lived for many years before he met and married me. The one where I went to college and then taught for 3 years. The one where our oldest "baby" was born. It's a sentimental place for me...partly because of the history we have there, and partly because of our dear friends there.

They are ranchers, so the kids were able to get up close and personal with the kitties, chickens, rooster, dogs, horses, and cows. They loved it.

Conveniently, our friends have a set of cowboy hats containing about every size imaginable. So...we got these great shots of the kids.

Our Growing Girl

Milestones

Saturday is my baby's first birthday. I can't believe she's a year old already. And, at the same time, it seems like eons ago that I was in the hospital being induced, not knowing that our new baby would be our first daughter.


She's getting so big. The last two weeks have been a time of rapid development. It's sort of bittersweet. :)...But, mostly, it's sweet.

She started entertaining herself with the kitchen cupboards and drawers. She loves pulling out all the wash cloths, towels, measuring cups, and tupperware and using her imagination as she makes a huge mess on my floor! I love it. I'm so proud. :)

She LOVES being outside. She seems to be completely unaffected by cold, wind, or rain. She just breathes rapidly, kicks her little feet, and smiles whenever she gets to go outside.


She's not walking yet, which is fine with me. :) I feel like she'll remain a baby officially until she starts taking those first steps.



But, here's the thing: I always forget when a baby's supposed to start talking. But, my girl...she's doing a lot of REAL talking! It seems early. It's so cute!

(How can she have her toes like that??)

She says the following:
Hi
Mama
Dada
Yum Yum Yum
No No No
Uh Oh
Thank You (Day Doo)


I think she's getting cuter and cuter every day too! :)

What We Do in May

Does every family have a lot of birthdays in May? I'm a May baby, and I don't remember having to share my birthday with anyone when I was in school.

Half of our family was born in May. My birthday was earlier this month, and I'll blog about it at another time. But, for this post, I'd like to allow you to share in the celebration of our four-year-old's birthday.

For months, he's been saying "I be four on my firtday!".
Remember, he's a lion. :) He requested a lion cake. Other mom's would be more creative, I think...but....I think what I do works too. :)



And, we had ice cream of course!

And, we had a fun party! Big Brother was there (not the creepy, 1984 "Big Brother"...the real, literal, by blood Big Brother). And, Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt and Uncle came too!

It was great. I'll miss my 3-yr. old forever...but I love the 4-yr. old even more. :)