3 Years Old

1

2

3

I can hardly belive that my baby is three. She is so full of personality and charm. She is a mischievious little thing that either wants to be completely left alone, or have every single ounce of my attention. Her giggle is so contagious it will make anyone smile {or laugh}. Although she likes to keep the peace with her siblings, she is not afraid to be contradictory.

She loves:
tink{erbell} {quite fitting, i think}
purses
lipstick
saying prayers
horses
chicken and rice
dolls
swinging and strolling
reading books
pretending
Yukon
her sister
peace
cheese {not ham}
sleeping in my bed

This year for her birthday she wanted a pink vacuum. After a recent visit to the toy aisle in WalMart she decided that she wanted a Little Einstiens computer also. She was always very clear on this, and did not deviate or waver. Once she knew what she wanted, she knew what she wanted. So, when she woke up on her birthday to see three presents wrapped on the living room table, she walked right up to them and the conversation went something like this:

Emma, pointing to each present, said, "this one is a vacuum, this one is a computer, and this one is clothes."

Mom,"You don't know that."

Emma,"Yes I do."

What a girl.

Tinkerbell Cake {of course}

Here is the birthday girl with her pink vacuum, Little Einstiens computer, and clothes (pjs).

The assortment of tinkerbell things is from Grandma & Grandpa. {THANKS}

Love You EmmaNae

PS: Need your input. Which picture do you like best of the Emmagirl? 1,2,or 3?

Do You Have Snow? We Do.

Need I say more?

Twilight and Other Things

I knew this would happen. I had heard from friend after friend that I needed to read these books. Although there is nothing about vampires that "calls" me to a book, I love to read. I hesitated, knowing that once I started a book, I would be pretty much checked-out until I was done. That's how I read books. None of this: read a chapter before bed every night. Let's try: read until midnight or one, until I realize that I will be absolutely useless unless I put the book down and go to sleep. And then I find myself working at double speed so that I can have an extra half hour somewhere to read the book. Two weeks is what it took to get through these four books. Sorry for my absence, but I really loved that reading time. If you want a good romance, these are your books. Gets a little odd during that last novel, but who doesn't love a happy ending filled with assurances of the possiblities of stretching to reach our potential.

But of course, that was not all.

Tomatoes, 2 bushels = 9 quarts of spaghetti sauce, 9 pints of salsa, 3 frozen lasagnas, 6 cups of fresh salsa, 13 servings of cheese BLT's, and then some.

Peaches, 1/2 bushel = 4 quarts of peaches, 1 divine peach cobbler, 12s of bowls of Just Bunches and Peaches

Never a solo job. Every job needs a helper or 3 or 4. Lest you think that I did nothing while they did all the work, I did stay very busy preparing jars for canning, and chopping other vegetables for the recipes. {thank you Dr. Frakes}

Good Spaghetti Sauce

1/2 bushel tomatoes, skin and grind

1 head garlic

3 onions

2 small jalapeno peppers

1/2 C oil

2 tsp oregano

1 1/2 C sugar

1/4 C salt

2 tsp basil

Boil 3 hours uncovered.

Add 2 Tbs parsley

24 oz tomato paste

You can see how much help the kiddos really are. Emma had to be holding my arm so that she could be helping me peel the peaches. {they were too hot for her to touch}

And then there was the weekend visit with the cousins. Nate, Terrick and Darren worked on building a retaining wall to replace our weed hill that goes from our lawn to the driveway. I'll have to take a picture of that. It looks pretty awesome, and will look even better with some bushes, flowers and trees. {spring project} And the kids had a ball playing, and just being cute. On Saturday morning, Clay and Sam started a Rock Stand to sell all the cool rocks that they find in the yard. After a discouraging morning of no takers, I suggested they add kool-aid to their offerings, and they had a couple of dollars {and lots of red mustaches} by the time the day was over.I took some pictures of this beautiful boy, and looked over to see this tinkerbell posing. I love to see the cousins taking care of each other. For more cute pictures about this fun weekend, go here or here.

• Decorating for the fall: on our new amazing rock fireplace. {what I love about my house}

• Cutting hair {trying to anyway} I cut bangs on Mia, but not a good picture yet.
  
• Football, football, football

Sam did a really good job playing this year. He played quarterback and threw for a couple touchdowns, or 1st downs at least. He also ran the ball quite a bit and scored a couple touchdowns that way. He scored two in the game last night. He also caught interceptions. Not to paint an unrealistic picture: he also threw an interception, fumbled the ball, and let most boys past him. But, he is only 9. He loves to play, and that's the important thing. You can see the intensity as he runs. It's pretty fun. He loves anything that requires him to be active.

Just As Cute

Darren, Lindsey, Hayley, Nate

Just Real Quick

I'm sitting here at my computer, looking for poems for Kelly, and I turn around and this is what I see. Holy Cow. When I read other people's blogs, it's easy to compare their beautiful children and orderly lives to the screaming children on my lap and the CHAOS (can't have anyone over syndrome) {thank you fly lady for the descriptive terminology} that surrounds me. SO, I just thought to publish for the world to see one of my obvious weaknesses that drives me crazy. I'm trying to get a handle on it....
PS what do you think about my orange room?

Labor Day Weekend in Yellowstone

I'm a little behind here, and pretty much about everywhere, but here's a sampling of our Labor Day weekend trip to Yellowstone, one of my favorite places on earth.

Mia watching a momma duck and her babies

How's this for a good shot of all the kids?

Sweet.

Cute baby elk.

The falls as the sun sets.

Not much for narrating today, just thought you'd like to know where we've been.

First and Last Day of Preschool

Amelia was pretty excited about starting preschool. I was not really hesitant because I know she does pretty well in social situations and I felt like she needed to get used to a little {away from mom} time before we launch her into all day kindergarten. (let's not go there yet) So, we register in the preschool next to Nate's office. First day of preschool and 12:30 would not come soon enough for her. She was ready to eat lunch at 10:00 when I told her we had to wait until after lunch. She picked out one of her new outfits (tea:) and insisted on curls in her hair. She walked right in and didn't even turn around to say good-bye. She was ready to play. Emma and I enjoyed a lunch in the park with dad, then kind of wondered what to do without our Mia. Finally, the 2 1/2 hour wait was over and I went to pick her up. When I went into the building, I just had a very uncomfortable feeling. I asked Amelia all about her day, and she had a wonderful lion that she made, and was thrilled to have been able to do puzzles. But I couldn't get over that feeling I had, and when I really thought about it, I had felt the same when we registered and I shrugged it off as nerves, etc. So, I took this one to my knees, and decided that I would find out more about the new teachers there this year, and then sit in on the class for a day or two. Amelia could finish up the month that I had paid for, and maybe I would feel more comfortable. That was when the impression came to me that it wasn't important to know {why} I felt so uncomfortable. What was important was to act on that feeling: no preschool there for Amelia. That was tough, and I really didn't want to disappoint her because she had had such a good time and there had been so much anticipation for preschool. The next morning I sat her down and explained that I felt like she shouldn't go to preschool there anymore and I asked her how she felt about that. She paused for a moment {thinking} and then a huge smile spread across her face and she said "GOOD." Enough said. No more preschool.