Hike No More

A couple of weeks ago, we went on another hike. It was hot. This one was short. I think the hiking may be done for the summer. I still managed to get a couple of good shots though.

Another, Cheaper Party

With 2 kids who have birthdays so close together (one in May, one in June), you may ask, "why don't you just have their parties at the same time?" That would make sense. I thought it would work out this year, but alas, they wanted different things.

We had a pool party for Elliott again this year. We had a pool party for her last year. I love it. It's cheap, it's easy, it's fun! Similar to last year, we did have a minute of panic when it looked like the sky was going to open up. It rumbled a bit and so we had cupcakes and opened gifts a little bit earlier than I had originally planned but that's ok. It all worked out. Then the thunder moved on and they got back in the pool. And all I had to do was make some cupcakes. If only all my kids had summer birthdays!




So now you know Elliott's real name starts with a "L". Shhhh...don't tell anyone!


You try getting a good shot of mostly 4 year olds.

Sweet Elliott

What can I say about Elliott. Elliott is my baby. My baby turned 4 today.

Elliott came after a very short amount of time trying for another baby and therefore was somewhat of a surprise. My Dr. kept saying that because she was my third and because I had been 3 cm dilated and 80% effaced for 4 freakin weeks that when I went into labor, I'd better get to the hospital in a hurry because she was going to go fast.

Whatever. My water broke around 4 PM and 16 HOURS later, we had our 8 lb. 2 oz bundle of joy and 3rd girl. So much for going fast.

Elliott join 2 very excited and "helpful" big sisters. Grace even celebrated today as not only Elliott's birthday but the day she became a big sister.

Elliott is a very sweet little girl. She loves to give kisses and hugs. She loves to crawl up next to you and snuggle. She's tall for her age so people often think she's older than she is. She's smart. She picks up on things that you think would go right over her head. She has learned things just from being around, things that I took lots of time to sit down and teach her older sisters. She has beautiful, long, flowing hair. She loves to sing. She likes me to sing to her. She loves to tell jokes. They don't really make any sense. We pretend to laugh and so then she tells another and another... She's the most funny when she's doesn't intend to be. She tries real hard to keep up with her big sisters. She sometimes talks like she is a 6 or 8 year old. She's a little bit country. She loves broccoli. She loves candy. She is sensitive and gets a little flustered when we try to brag on her. She may growl at you. She is very good at playing by herself. She can talk NON stop and sometimes she can just sit so quietly you have to check to make sure she is there. She loves her blankie. And yes, she still loves her thumb. She loves her sisters. She loves it when she gets to be the center of attention but is a little more humble about it that some. She loves to dance. She can be really silly. She is scared of thunder. She is our one late sleeper. She still loves to be held even though she weighs about 50 lbs. She's pretty laid back and can usually go with the flow. She's a 3rd child. She is a child of the covenant. She loves Jesus. And Jesus loves her.

She will most likely always be our youngest and therefore our baby.

Happy Birthday sweet Elliott! We love you!

Poems and Lemonade Stands

My girls were begging to have a lemonade stand. So, we had a lemonade stand. Kristin invited over a friend and so the 4 of them sat out in our front yard and hooted and hollered and cheered to get people to stop and buy some lemonade. They even made up a poem (I call it a cheer because it has a certain cadence to it but Kristin says it's a poem). It goes;

Lemonade *clap, clap, clap*
Crunchy ice * clap, clap, clap*
Sip it once, * clap, clap clap*
Sip it twice, * clap, clap, clap*
Lemonade, crunchy ice, sip it once, sip it twice
Turn around, touch the ground, kick the heat out of town,
FREEZE!

Maybe we have budding cheer leaders.

We stayed outside for 1 hour. I was hot. I was ready to kick the heat out of town and head to the pool. I tried to stay back from their stand a little since I figured people were more likely to stop if they saw 4 cute little girls selling lemonade than if they saw me. But I did stay outside since I knew people would see 4 cute little girls selling lemonade and you never know these days.

I think they had a good time. The hour went by pretty fast. They did get a handful of customers. They made about $6. That's not too bad until you have to split it 4 ways. Oh, well. It wasn't about the money anyway.

I was proud of them for just wanting to do this and for their poem and for how Kristin even chased down our next door neighbor who just happen to step outside for a minute to see if he wanted some lemonade.

Summertime...

Summertime! And the living is easy... (If I knew how to insert musical notes I would do it here). It's a song, an oldie.

Anyway, I do feel like the living is easy. I love summer vacation.
I love having my kids here.

I love taking little field trips.

I love that everyone is already getting tanned.

I love that I only have to set my alarm clock once a week. (for church)

I love that my kids are finally old enough that they don't feel the need to come and announce to me when they are awake in the morning (which sometimes can be in the 6's.)

I love that we have a neighborhood pool at our disposal. We go everyday.

I love that my kids love to play together. most of the time.

I love that they still want to play with me.

I love watermelon, corn on the cob, cucumber lemonade and grilling out.

I love watching the lightening bugs light up the evening yard.

I love that we have no real schedule to keep to.

I love that all my kids can swim (Elliott with floaties) so I can sit by the pool some and read.

I love summertime reading.

I love that we have plans to go to the beach.

..... I love many more things....

I guess I should say "I'm thankful for" instead of "I love" because God is the author of all of these things and so many, many more. Only God could think up something like fireflies.

God has truly blessed us.

Just Some Summer Time Pics

And the Answer is...

It's a microphone!



Someone who saw Grace wearing hers thought it might be a Hannah Montanna inspired microphone. Kristin and Grace said it's a reporter/news anchor microphone. They have created their own news network, complete with it's own call letters, KGEN Network (Kristin, Grace, Elliott News Network). I videoed them the other day while we were on a hike as they gave a report on our location and what we had done there. It was cute.

They made a bunch of different microphones, one for each of us. I love their creativity and imagination!

Things that make you go hummmm....

This is something my kids made. Can you guess what it is? -Paul and my parents are not allowed to guess as I'm pretty sure you know the answer.



(and no it's not a letter or number.)

Come back tomorrow and I'll tell you.