Because big girls like to play dress up too. . .

When I happpened upon the box in the attic containing this. . . I kind of had to put it on.

And twirl around. And take a picture.

And share my silliness with all the other cinderella's out there.

And it was fun.

Do you think I'll still do this in another 10 years?

ZZZzzzzz. . . .

Chandler is often VERY tired in the afternoon. . . I made the mistake of letting the boys turn on a big kid movie that was uninteresting to him the other afternoon while I was getting ready for the cub scouts. Its hard for me to picture how he fell asleep like this, with his face shoved in between two cushions, feet dangling. . . but he did. And, we paid for it. After a 1 1/2 hour nap (I did move him somewhere a bit more comfy), I woke him up, a challenge that took about 30 minutes, a walk outside, and a cookie, and then he cried/screamed for 2 and a half more hours until we put him to bed. I guess that's why we don't nap him any more, and why he's always tired! Lesson learned. . . no more "boring" movies in the afternoon!!! Poor little tired babe. . .

passing notes

Ethan has discovered the joy of passing notes in church. We were a little surprised however that we are already having this conversation. . .

We also had a cell phone disappear for a day, where it was later discovered to have made the trip to school in Ethan's backpack. (rest assured this will not happen again) I can't believe he's in the third grade and somehow already feeling some sort of pressure to have a cell phone!

Sunday Splendor

Emilee will be modeling her new mama creation at church today. It turned out lovely!

Baby Love

When Emilee was born, we thought it was so funny how everyone would say, "Aren't boys and girls SO different? Isn't it amazing how they are just so girly from the start?" And Gordon and I would just chuckle because we didn't see a whole lot of difference. Boy baby, girl baby, it was a baby! The only difference was she was wearing pink ruffles. The differences started making themselves manifest when she hit about a year. She always went straight for the baby dolls when we were at friends houses (and we didn't have ANY). She had a little soft one she slept with actually, but not a baby doll.

While my mom was here, I bought her a "little mommy" newborn one day when I was out at Fred Meyer. How I wish I had turned on the video camera when I first handed it to her. She literally squealed and squeaked with joy from across the room, and then giggled for about ten minutes. This video was taken at the end of that ten minutes, but as you can see, she was still giddy. . .

And she's still giddy. She loves her baby doll and wants to take it everywhere. It comes in the car, the stroller (buckled under her buckle is her favorite way), she'd like to take it into the store but I try not to, to bed, and is toted around all day long. She is a girly girl indeed, and she loves her baby doll. It's fun to have another little female in the house! Boys and girls really are different from the start!

What's for dinner?

It's no big secret around here that my cooking is often under appreciated by the under 8 set. One of the things that drives me the most crazy is when the kids come to the table, announce that everything looks yucky, and then complain the rest of the meal about it. Well, we'd had just about enough the other night when Dad proclaimed that Ethan (often the worst offender) would come to the table blind folded the next day and taste everything without looking before he could pass judgement.

And guess what. . . it worked! If he tries it blindfolded, and realizes that things taste good, he's not so judgemental. Then when he takes off the blindfold he's willing to eat. It's a successful, if not weird creative parenting technique of the week. . .

Will the day ever come when my kids will sit down and devour something I've made that's not chocolate? Here's to dreaming. . .

Big or Small?

Ethan looked so big and so small all at this same time this past weekend, as he tackled the job of mowing the lawn for the first time. He did almost the whole thing by himself. Nice job!

the "back to school" post

This morning the kids headed off to 1st and 3rd grade, and I surprised myself by waxing a bit sentimental this morning. I love the first day of school, but it also means another year older, and the last day of summer, and we really had a great one! Here are the kids in their back to school duds. . .

When I got back from the school, it was time to dress Emilee, and I decided she could wear some back to school clothes too. They helped to keep me cheery today. . .I spent the morning reading stories to the little ones and playing little people farm together. It was so fun and felt a little strange. The house was so quiet, and at the same time, it was so good to get down and play with my little people, uninterrupted. Between story time and farming, we baked the traditional back to school cake. And just because I've always wanted to try it, I covered it in fondant, which was a fun experiment!
It looks like maybe all that "amazing wedding cakes" and "cake off" watching has paid off, at least a little bit. . . I used marshmallow fondant which was very easy to make, and tastes pretty good as well. . . I'm hoping to roll it a little thinner next time. One of those "practice makes perfect" things I imagine.
After a quick trip to target and trader joe's, where I remembered how EASY it is to run errands with only two children in tow (seriously, it is a whole different animal!), we came home to meet the bus and the boys jumping off.
I think Aidan is doing his very best to look unhappy here, but he was very cheerful, really.
Welcome back to school boys! I can't believe how big you're getting! And I can't wait to devour that cake tonight!

Shoe Love

There is definitely "normal" shoe love. Over sweet little things like these. . . I mean, who could not love this?

But what I am talking about today is a different kind of shoe love. I have been looking at this stack of shoe boxes in my room for the past 3 weeks.
They are all full of shoes. Brand new shoes that are the right sizes for my little childrens growing feet. And every morning, I look at the pile and think, "today I should make the switch." That is, get rid of the old, too small, ratty, worn out, holey shoes that were just last year sitting in this same stack in my room, but now reside in the shoe closet downstairs. But I keep putting it off.
Because that means getting rid of all of these shoes. They really aren't suitable for goodwill. They are toasted. Worn out by a year on the playground, traveling to and from school, vacation, camping, and other general backyard shenanigans. But that's why I love them. Especially the little ones. I can't look at those royal blue shoes and not think about how many times I've chased Chandler around the back of the chair, tackled him and wrestled his shoes on him. I think that might be why it's so hard to put them in the trash bin. So I didn't, they went in the goodwill bin. Maybe someone somewhere will want them. . . saved temporarily from life at the landfill.

This is a box of shoes I keep that is labeled "shoes with life left." They make a nice step stool for Em but I really love this box because it prolongs trip to the goodwill box.

And then there's the box of shoes labeled "sentimental." Those are keepers for sure. . . Baby shoes, first stompers, etc.
Isn't that weird? I'm so not sentimental about clothes. I can hardly wait to fill the goodwill bin with old clothes, I get so tired of the same thing over and over. But shoes. . . I could fill the garage! Is anyone else out there as compulsive about these little leather wonders as I am? Surely I am not alone in my insanity. . . or perhaps you have a different compulsion?

Going up!

Over this past weekend (while I was picking and grinding tomatoes), Gordon went on a grand adventure to the top of Mt. Adams. It was a difficult hike that started at 3:30 a.m. and ended somewhere around 3 p.m. with two exhausted hikers. He and his cousin Jeff made it all the way up and had some fun stories to tell when they got home. If you'd like to read about the full adventure, please head on over to Jeff's blog where he's posted many pictures and a detailed report of the hike. Thanks for the pictures Jeff!

Good Job Guys!

Sa Sa Sa Salsa!

This past weekend we made our favorite Salsa, a recipe we learned during our time in NY. The kids helped me pick a whole bushel of tomatoes on Saturday, then pick up the remaining produce, and by Saturday night we were grinding and processing away. . .

The peppers and chilies were pretty hot this year, and I even found it necessary to put on a mask while grinding them, or else they sent me into choking fits!

Aidan ground the onions and green bell peppers for me and found a different way of coping. He was such a great helper!
1 bushel, waiting for the grind. . .

It was a fun Saturday! We're set with salsa for a year or two! And, because I know you're going to ask. . . her is the recipe so you can try it yourself! Best salsa you've ever tasted! Just right sweet and spicy!

1 Bushel (aprox. 50 lbs) Tomatoes (I like roma)

10 green bell pepeprs

8 Jalapenos

12 yellow chilies

10 red chilies

2 habenero peppers

10 stalks of celery

12 cloves of garlic

1 cup UNiodized salt

2 cups Sugar

2 cups white vinegar

Grind it all up, and simmer it until it's the desired consistency. This can take from 2 to 6 hours. Then, process it into bottles! Yum yum! This much fills a 22 quart pot, plus I had to simmer some of the tomatoes down in my 10 quart until it was reduced enough that I could combine them. Hope you try it!