My Favorite Things

I was feeling nostalgic tonight, so I started thinking of some of the things I used to play with when I was a little girl. I loved these Gingham dolls!

I remember having 4 boxes of these paper dolls. Each box contained one of the dolls, and the gingham on the box was the color of the doll's dress.

I remember playing with my Sunshine Family paper dolls in the 70's when we lived in San Francisco.

I also had this Holly Hobbie Easy Bake Oven. I vaguely remember putting my little sister, Emily's hand inside of this while it was hot. Maybe I didn't. That sounds so cruel.

I LOVED these! Each Sweet Treat opened up to fit the little doll inside.

I'm pretty sure I had a My Friend Jenny doll, too, because when I saw this picture my heart fluttered. Mom, did I have one?

Kids R Cool

I forgot to post these pictures from last Wednesday night. We were invited to our friends' church for their summer Kids R Cool program. We ate dinner there at the church. Gracie is sitting next to her little girlfriends, Emily and Molly. Their dad, Cory, who is sitting next to Molly, is in Phil's class.

After dinner, the kids went upstairs in groups (teams) of 6...

...to enjoy a fun song time and a puppet show.

We spent the rest of the evening outside with each of the 6 teams rotating through 6 different stations. Here's Jared racing a scooter.

The boys were on the same team, and they loved the parachute station!


Gracie also loved playing with the parachute, but it was much too windy for Lily. She preferred her daddy's lap, instead.

Here's my precious Caleb going down the water slide. Notice he's wearing long sleeves. This was an unusually cooler evening. I wasn't sure if the boys would want to go down the water slide, but they did.

Brrr!

A couple of random photos from our evening...

Lily wanted to help me make muffins for the morning in her swim suit and sunglasses.

Any guesses?

It's a fat free hot dog. Apparently they don't take as long to grill as do hot dogs with fat. They had only been on the grill a few minutes before we found the poor pathetic things looking like this. We cleaned them up as best as we could for the kids, but Phil actually ate this one.

Black and Whites

Ahh...The Life!

The kids talked us into letting them eat breakfast in front of the t.v. this morning so they could watch Bugtime Adventures and Auto B. Good. There's nothing like a Saturday morning in front of the t.v.!

My New Necklace!

Look what I got in the mail today from my friend, Wendy! Thanks, Wendy...I love it!

Anyone interested in these cute necklaces? Go to http://julieann.etsy.com

Anniversary Surprises

I was pleasantly surprised this morning when my friend, Brooke, showed up at my house with her 2 girls and a Pack 'n Play. She and Phil had arranged that she would come over to watch all of our kids (and hers) while he took me to lunch for our anniversary! We had lunch and coffee at a little French cafe in downtown Spokane. It was very relaxing to sit outside on the patio and sip lattes.

We took a nice long walk through Riverfront Park and then toured the new facility where Phil will attend school in the Fall.


These beautiful flowers were delivered while we were out. Thanks so much, Dad, Mom and Corinne!

nine years

Today we celebrate 9 years of marriage!

In Memory of Grandpa

These wildflower seeds were given to us at my Grandpa's memorial service this summer.

We decided to plant them in our garden this afternoon.

We miss you, Grandpa...

But we'll think about you every time we see these pretty wildflowers in our garden.

Birthday Fun

Thanks to all of my family and friends for the calls and birthday cards! Phil and the kids planned a little surprise party for me downstairs in the playroom while I was outside gardening.

The kids made sweet cards and we snacked on pretzels and M&M's and lemonade.

Birthday dinner at Chili's on Sunday night

So Thankful for My Children...

As I glanced over at the sidebar of my blog tonight, I noticed the descriptions for each of my children. I wrote these 17 months ago when Jared was 4, Caleb was 2 and the girls were only 1. It seems as though I would be able to describe my boys' personalities at the ages of 4 and 2. But my girls at age one? I would still use these same words to describe the four of them today...

Jared--Protective, inquisitive, independent

Caleb--Creative, Cuddly, Sensitive

Grace--Tidy, dramatic, funny

Lily--Sweet-natured, smiley, content

I marvel at how wonderfully God made each of my children, and how I can see--at such an early age--a glimpse of the special person He created each one of them to be. It was no surprise to Him that Jared would want to run after his sisters when they dart off and run away from us; that Caleb would enjoy painting and mixing colors; that Gracie would like to tell knock-knock jokes; that Lily would ask me for her naps.

"All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be."
~Psalm 139:16

Homemade Ice Cream

It sure hits the spot on a hot summer day!

Jared and Caleb went to a few yard sales with Phil this afternoon. I gave each of them $2 to spend on their big adventure. They came home very excited, because they were able to put their money together and buy an ice cream maker for $3!

And this isn't just any ice cream maker! We can make two flavors at once!

Tonight we decided to make candy bar ice cream with a chopped up Kit Kat bar, and cherry ice cream with the cherries we picked last weekend.

Pony Rides...

Jared was so excited when it was his turn to ride the pony! The young man leading the pony asked the kids to say, "Yee-Ha!" when they were ready to go. When it was Jared's turn, he sat up straight and yelled out, "Yee-Ha!"

When it was Gracie's turn, she smiled and softly said, "Yee-Ha!" while shrugging her shoulders from side to side.


Only Jared and Gracie wanted to ride the pony. I couldn't figure this one out. When it comes to animals, Jared and Gracie literally freak out! They panic when they see dogs and cats, and here they wanted to sit on a pony 10 times bigger than any dog and ride on it! Caleb is the one who loves animals, and he wanted nothing to do with the thing.

Petting Zoo...

Look how sweet and tender Caleb was with these animals!

Carnival Games...

The kids played carnival games for tickets, and then redeemed their tickets in the prize tent.

And what's a carnival without a good cake walk?

Good job, Caleb! Mommy was very thankful that he chose 4 cupcakes, and not a cake! Later in the evening, Jared won a mini cake.

Day is done. We had four very tired and sticky kiddos on our hands. Here they are carrying a few of their prizes and enjoying Caleb's cupcakes.