A Walk In The Park

A couple weeks ago the kids and I took a walk in one of my favorite parks. I love taking pictures of the kids at this park.  It was a picture perfect evening and we got it in just in time before the weather turned.

Pictures are worth a thousand words! 

Homecoming Parade

The girl's new school is a K-12 Christian School.  They have adjusted well and are loving it.  This is the 1st year that the high school has varsity football so therefore it is the first year for a homecoming football game. The girls were so excited about marching in the homecoming parade.  They were pretty sad on Friday morning when they woke up to rain and were worried the parade would not go on.  The weather cleared up and it was a beautiful afternoon.

Each class had a theme of a board game.  Here come the 3 Kindergarten classes!

Emma's class was Candy Land so they had color squares around their neck! 

There is Emma waving at the crowd!

Here comes the 1st graders "Fishing For A Win!"

Alexa was swinging that pom pom and yelling "Go Chargers!"

Do you have the Guess Who game?  My kids love the game.  I thought the 4th graders were pretty cute with their disguises.  Shane thought they were so funny! 

Here are the janitors ... how creative is that! 

The cheerleaders and football players were handing out candy! They also were throwing candy from the floats.  Shane thought the parade was so much fun since he ended up with pockets fully loaded with candy.  I wish I would have gotten a picture of his bulging pockets.

He really liked the horses too and really wanted to ride the big one! 

Here comes the school mascot! Those poor girls following the horse, now that is team spirit :)! 

After school there was a school wide Fun Festival.  There were tons of carnival games, dunk tanks, cake walks, face painting and more.

Shane was pretty excited to win the ring toss and get a 20 oz bottle of pop.  That is pretty exciting for a boy who doesn't get pop too often!  We had a fun afternoon with all the festivities! 

Carnival Fun

A couple weekends ago Shane's preschool had a carnival.  

It is also the Learning Center that I run the Dyslexia program at so we spent the morning making some monkey cupcakes for the cake walk.  The kids had fun making them and then were ready to head to the carnival for some fun! 

Alexa won the first cake at the cake walk and this was her pick.  Shane won the next but we talked him into leaving it for another family.   We didn't think we really needed two cakes. 

The cotton candy machine was definitely a hit.  

Daddy hanging out with the cotton candy while the kids moved on to some mini golf and basketball. 

The girls stopped by the face painting station.

They all loved the big jumper.

We finished our carnival time with a visit from Cinderella who is really Shane's preschool teacher.  She read the story Cinderedna to the kids.  

Shane loves his teacher.  He loves it when she dresses up and tells stories.  It was fun for Shane to have his sisters spend a couple hours at his preschool for some Carnival Fun!

Storing Up For Winter

This year we bought a small plot of a gal's garden. Every week I met her in the Kohl's parking lot for my weekly delivery.  I loved getting my basket every week and seeing what new surprises were inside.  The kids thought it was pretty fun too although I'm not sure they liked trying all the new vegetables.  Let me just tell you this was the way to garden.  Someone else does all the word but we get to eat all the yummy produce.  

When the tomatoes came in abundance Shane I went to work.  Shane sure does not mind his time with out this sitters and loves to help me in the kitchen.  Almost every day when the girls have school he asks me what we should make for them for an after school snack.  He was super excited to cook a couple afternoons with me as we made some yummy food to store for the winter.  

We chopped up some carrots, celery and onion ...

and then added some tomatoes.  

We cooked it all down, ran it through the blender and then the colander and ended up with some yummy tomato soup.  It will be perfect with sandwiches this winter.  We also made some vegetable soup with a tomato base with the rest of our yummy vegetables. 

We have processed over a bushel and a half of tomatoes into pizza sauce, pasta sauce and salsa. These were some of the tomatoes we roasted for tomato sauce.  They were so yummy.   

I think Shane probably cranked a bushel of tomatoes through our tomato press.  He wasn't going to stop until he got the job done.  

I am officially done looking at tomatoes for awhile.  I am sure we will enjoy the fruits of our labor this winter and I have to say it was fun to do this with my little guy! He even is into wanting to make his own lunch now.  He just might end up being the chef in the family. 

How Did You Learn How To Be A Mommy?

I love all the questions that little ones ask that just make you smile.  I so wish I would have started this blog when Alexa was born or been more diligent about writing down more things the kids have said over the years.  So now that I see the years fleeting I may just have to post weekly about cute things that have been said in our house for the week.

This week Alexa looked at me and said, "Mommy, you are such a good mommy! Did you have to go to school and to a class to learn how to be a good mommy?"  Oh Alexa if only there was a class or magic book for new moms! I'm so thankful for my own mom and others that have had an influence in my mommy journey.  I am also thankful that I have the Lord to daily lean on and know that he has a plan for each of my little blessings lives! 

My Sweet Girls

My sweet girls are growing up so fast.  I love this picture because it so clearly shows how different God made each one of them.  One is dark complected with brown eyes and dark hair.  The other is fair complected with blue eyes and blond hair.  Their personalities are so different as well. Alexa is serious, determined, nurturer, Type A, quiet, gentle .... Emma is expressive, loves life, fun-loving, goes with the flow ..... They both have different gifts and interests and both learn in different ways.  I think the beauty of their differences is what binds them together as sisters.  They have bond that I saw from the time Emma was born and just continues to grow.  Alexa has been Emma's mother hen from Day 1.  They share a room and I love to listen at the door to their conversations and their giggles.  I love watching them build each other strengths and encourage each other in their weaknesses.  I love listening to them pray for each other and watching their genuine concern for each other.  I love seeing them excited to be at school together and watching out for each other on the playground.  I know that in the years to come their relationship may not look this neat and tidy.  They may drive each other crazy but I pray the bond they have as sisters will carry them during those years.  I pray that they will continue to grow in their relationship with each other. 

My Sister ..... My Friend

Six Little Ladies and a Gentleman

On Labor Day we spent our last weekend of the summer at the lake for a couple days.  My mom and dad had gotten the girls white dresses in Mexico this spring and Shane a little button down.  We now have seven little ones 7 and under so our photo shoots get a little harder each year especially when the kids are dying to play together rather than take pictures.  Here are a couple of my favorites.

In color and black and white.

Sweet Bailey is getting so big and is such a happy baby!

Who could resist this little man's smile especially with that dimple?

Our two little blonde's look like they are having way too much fun here.  The bigger girls call them the twins.

Everyone sitting on the dock!

I love every one's reaction on this picture.  Papa is trying to splash them with some water to try to get everyone to smile.  Instead of smiles we got squeals and legs raising!  

Putting those toes in the lake!

The two brown eyed, brown haired girls.  They are two peas in a pod!

And then there is our little man trying to find that perfect rock to throw.