Naomi is 7

My oldest girl turned seven yesterday. I have noticed recently that it is the beginning of real conversations between us. It is refreshing! I am looking forward to fostering a different kind of mother daughter relationship between us. She is a super sweet girl. Her favorite activities are reading, writing and singing songs, and crafting. She wanted empty boxes for her birthday to make stuff! In her reading she likes a little suspense right now. Magic Tree House books are her favorite.
She had friends from school and church over yesterday for a dress your stuffy and paint nails and do hair party. All the girls loved dressing their favorite stuffed animal! No one wanted their hair brushed, ha! We curled it instead. Everyone got their nails painted freshly and had some ice cream cake and punch (with no HFCS, but that is another story) too.

Pillow Cases Anyone?

I recently just put into words my affinity or ...maybe... I can call it my HOBBY of collecting linens. When I think about it, it totally makes sense. What makes me feel calm and at peace? A freshly made bed or beautifully set table with divine feeling fabrics. Like cool crisp sheets...ooo that makes me want to crawl into bed now! Cleaning out my linen pantry last week I found I own over 40 pillowcases. There was no need to get rid of any of them, even the ripped in half one is so pretty that I am sure I can use its embroidered design for some project, ha! Got a Garnet Hill catalog in the mail and was ready to pitch it when I spotted these great horse sheets. I SO want to get them for Naomi. (also loving their Hydrangea, Dogwood, Rose Garden and Green Tea Scroll sheets for myself!) They are fun horses with girl colors. That is why I like them so much. We will see if I can find the funds for them somewhere:) She wants a horse and guitar room make over, but I really want it to stay pretty little girl like with flowers. That isn't going to happen so I am slowly converting my bedroom with all her old decorations. Sorry Nate, it is going to get girlier in our room! Here is a shot of all my mostly vintage pillow cases. If you are ever at an estate sale and linens are cheap pick me up a few beauties! This is just my stash of pillow cases and does not include my table linens, eek! Maybe another time.

Is it over yet?

Whoa! It has been quite a week! I say that because I have finally came back alive from near death, I'm sure of it, from the come and go stomach flu. For some reason it hit me the hardest, but everyone except Stella has had their turn here. Mine was come and go. Sick Saturday night, recovering Sunday, good Monday, then Tuesday afternoon went down hard. It was awful, like I couldn't even watch TV I was in so much pain! Spent Wednesday and Thursday morning trying not to move, then was feeling great for the afternoon. I got a little too hungry and ate anything in site (ie crappy donut) and came down hard again that evening. My dear hubby rescued me yesterday and came home to take care of me and Naomi, cause she was having a hard time too.

Creeping around today, trying to get back to some laundry and sweeping the floor! Turns out something molded inside our vacuum and when I turned it on it spewed vomit smelling junk all over its insides! Gross! Nate got on that and took it apart to clean it. We will see if we get a new one or it goes back together. (I think I am hoping for a new one, except I am so cheap I don't want to pay for one)

In the midst of this our neighbor, who moved, so she isn't our neighbor anymore really, called and asked us to check her house that hasn't sold yet. That sounded fun to me, so I got dressed to go. Nate said I looked like I might blow away in the wind! While unlocking her door, I thought I heard water, but no, it couldn't be. OH YES, it was!!! Water pouring from the ceiling through the vent below! Almost all carpets soaked. We had to call the city to find her water shut off under all the snow. Then I called her. Not good for her. On the bright side, maybe the cleanup will help the house sell! Lessons learned: Always have your heat on in freezing weather and don't put off calling your neighbor.

Well, the girls were great during the snow days with a mommy hardly worth anything. Here is some shots of their fun play.

Ava's 2!

My last baby turned two! She sure is growing up fast. Nate and I still have a hard time believing she couldn't even walk seven months ago. I guess she just takes her own sweet time. She is a spunky little girl now. Moving right into the sweetness and will power of the year of two. Her personality is very girly...playing with hair accessories daily, cuddling any baby, stuffed animal, or food - not just animal shaped, likes to see her hair and outfit in the mirror every morning, loves, loves, loves shoes, and dress up is a delight of her day! Right now she is playing in her bed. Should have been napping two hours ago, but my girls just don't like naps. Oh well, could be worse. She loves spontaneous hugging. Which is just so great! Sometimes it comes with a big sloppy kiss too! Oh, and loves shopping, as Grandma Julane discovered.



To celebrate with Ava we spread it out. We went to family movie night at a local church that used to be a theater. Grandma Patty and Grandpa Jim got to come with us for that. As an extra bonus some of our friends were there too! Ava went on her first birthday shopping trip with Grandma Julane and had a really good time picking out kitty sheets and eating spaghetti. Grandpa Bob and Grandma Charolette sent a great surprise for her. A giant indoor/outdoor tent that we can all fit in. All the girls are loving that!

Merry Christmas Friends!

Merry Christmas Friends! Our Christmas has been full of fun Christmas activities. We hope yours has too! One of our favorite movies to watch this time of year is The Nativity. I love how it makes Christ coming to Earth so real for me and my girls. What a blessed gift God gave!
We have been busily baking for our friends and families. The girls always love to help bake and measure ingredients. Hopefully they are on their way to being great bakers!
We visited Santa at the Wichita Eagle open house. This was our second year going to this. The tour of the newspaper plant is really cool.
I decided to undertake the task of a gingerbread house not from a kit. Now I am glad to say I have done one and have some experience to build on for future years. My dear sister sent me a pattern. Whoa!
It was the biggest house ever! She didn't remember sending me a huge house pattern, but she did. So, I made only one third of it. Here is a picture of the house pattern she sent me. Totally made me laugh that she thought I should do that huge one for my first house! The girls had a blast making it. We had saved almost all our halloween candy to put on the house. That was great! Had a ton of candy to put on it, even threw some away afterward. Some of the highlights in the decor are: Naomi's ducks, Stella's soft couch on the front lawn (who doesn't need that!), light posts that taste like root beer according to Stella, the gingerbread girl, a few mailboxes, and last but not least people faces in the windows.
Our Christmas tree this year has stayed decorated all month. Ava likes to keep things were they belong, unlike when we had baby Stella, who thought all ornaments belonged in her bed! Together we all made a pipe cleaner candy cane garland for the tree. The crafty children decorated kind of tree is really growing on me! May your Christmas and New Year be blessed by the King!

Life update

Well I haven't blogged in a while, so I thought I would just update what is happening in our lives through pictures and a few sentences to go with them!

First up! I guess I never posted Halloween pics. Probably because this is the best one of all the girls. No one wanted a picture. Ha, isn't that just how kids are! This is my cowgirl, cat, and ladybug at our friend's Halloween birthday party. We had a great time trick-o-treating with old and new friends!









Ok. Here is one of me for all you long distance people :) I am about twenty pounds lighter and feeling like a new woman! This is thanks to my new lifestyle or diet whatever you want to call it. I think I might call it eating only a few foods God made and a NO man made foods. That sounds simple, huh? It has been a huge change! Mainly because I LOVE FOOD! But alas, my body does not love it. I think I am allergic to about every other thing, which in turn makes my body ache from inflammation from the ribs down. So, I will learn to make life about more important things or people! than food.

Here is my little baby Ava, looking not so little. Her hair is in a ponytail! I may need to freeze her in time:)

This is the first snow of the season! It was wet and I couldn't catch the flurries on the camera. But Stel in her flip flops trying to catch a flake is priceless!!






















We were so glad to get to start our holiday fun times while it was still sixty degrees! Riding on the carriages at Bradly Fair is always one of our favorite events. The girls love the horses. Then we went to my current favorite store Barnes and Noble. EEEEHHH:))









































Ava enjoying her milk. With her foot up. "My milk" are a few of the words she can sign AND say. It is a hoot to hear. She concentrates so hard, to make sure I know what she is saying.




















Here is only half the dolls we own having a party. Curtesy of Stella. Ava soon came over and emptied all their cups for them. On the floor, of course!

The rest of summer vacation

Here are a few more pictures of our days at the beach this summer. The sun came out a little and we played on the close to empty beaches as much as we could!

The girls thought that they were "surfing" when the first surf came in and covered their feet. It was so sweet.


We spent tons of time collecting shells...


...and building castles.


Ava liked the soft sand. Look you can see her chubby ankles..awww! The seaweed was all over because of the hurricane.


This was the last photo our camera took before it succumbed to the humidity and sand:( We were running around looking for bathrooms and had to see the shark!