Oh what do you do in the summer time?

Sadie had a lot of fun with her book club this summer. They learned about WW2 and when it was our turn to host book club, I taught the girls how to embroider stars. Then we put the quilt together and gave it to a WW2 Veteran. The girls sang a patriotic program even doing some cute actions to the songs.

Of course Jamalex gets a turn with Dave's trick. He sure liked it! He is army crawling all over the place now. Time to get the gate back up!

I got a free night at a local hotel, so I took the girls on a fun girls' night. The girls wanted to paint their nails like a piano, so our first stop was to get some black and white nail polish. Then we headed to McD for an ice-cream cone. We got settled in our room, then went off to the pool and hot tub and had soooooooooo much fun. Then we played Harry Potter Clue, ate lots of treats and watched a really fun singing game show til 12:30 a.m.! We snuggled close and fell asleep while talking because we were sooo tired. The girls spent an hour at the continental breakfast. They got everything they possibly could and took their sweet time eating. I loved my time with them and none of us wanted it to end...except probably Dave who was at home manning the 3 little ones.

We each got to pick a sweet and salty treat. Yum!

We are loving our huge berries! This was what we picked one morning.

And these are the huge berries up close so you can see how big they are!

We saw Bambi in our backyard. Everyone came running (when mama called that Bambi was here) and hurried to the window to watch. We had just finished Saturday night baths - hence all of the wet hair (or fro, in Lizzy's case).

Nate said "Can I hold the little deer?"

"Can we bring him inside?"

I just love the white spots.

Happy 4th of July

It's always a chore to get everyone smiling and looking at the same place. You can tell that the younger ones are more entertained by the enterainer (me).

Can you tell that Nate was dancing in this picture? There wasn't music or anything. He just started doing some moves and Dave happened to have the camera closeby.

We had a fun party Saturday night. We had about 80 people here, and closer to 90 if you include babies.

The real reason for the party...firetractors. That's what Nate calls them, anyway. This was just part of the loot. Another neighbor came later and brought quite the stash of firetractors. It was a big show. The boys went on for 2+ hours shooting stuff off. These were the real deal ones...the huge explosions way up high. All of the guys looked like little boys Christmas morning...soooooooo much fun for them.

Nate was most concerned that the stars were scared.

The day before, Dave took the kids to buy the fireworks. It was a hot day so they stopped for an ice-cream cone. When they got home, they were still eating so they stayted outside. When I came out, this is the happy camper that I found.

Early Birthday Boy

Nate got an early birthday present in the mail from Karla. He was sooooooooooo excited to open it. We were even outside watering flowers when the package man came and brought the package to NATE! He couldn't wait to open it. That night I asked Karla when he was allowed to open it...now or wait til August 10? She gave the big go-ahead to open it! We waited all day for Dave to get home.
Nate sitting in front of his box...getting ready to open. He just woke up from his nap - hence the sweaty head.

2 real guns and a leather holster. What more could a boy want? Dave was excited about the quality...that they wouldn't break after a day of playing with them. Nate was shooting the bad guys in this picture.

Dave had to drill an extra hole for the belt to fit (this is the picture before the extra hole was drilled).

Nate wore this all day. Dave has been teaching him how to get his guns out fast, like the cowboys. He LOVES his guns. Thanks Karla!

5+2

Happy Birthday Sadie!
5+2 sounds better to us than 7, so that's what we call her sometimes. That started last year with 5+1 when 6 sounded soooooooooooo old. Sadie has waited a long time to turn 7. 365 days. She was so excited to be 7. Just today I heard her say "I can't believe I'm finally 7!"

Sadie had a recital/birthday party combo night. It started with her friends and their families coming to hear Sadie perform her Suzuki graduation recital. Her wonderful teacher drove all the way from Jefferson City to come for the big night! Sadie had so much fun and loved performing. After the recital, parents went home, and we took the girls swimming and then back for cake/presents and called it a night. It was an easy party and they had so much fun.

The darling cupcake holder was a b-day gift. They are the cutest little things. You bake the cupcake right in the bear and they turned out so cute.

Mrs. Houser brought her keyboard and they played a few duets at the recital. I have been trying to put some video of the recital on but it's not working so far.

We will miss our teacher when we have to move. I have never met a teacher with so much passion for what she does. She loves the children like they are her own. She teaches with so much enthusiasm and zest for music. The girls think the world of her. So do I. She has taught me so much.

Sadie got roller blades for her birthday. She loves them. Lots of times I will see the girls riding around the house...each with one roller blade on.