Having a Little Fun!

Today we took a break and had a whole lot of fun! This is the closest thing we have to a beach. It is really very nice (and even better, since there is no day use fee, it was free)! The sand is just right, and even though there are no waves, just ripples, it was good enough for all of these boys and bathing beauties. Several friends got together and we had 22 kids ranging from 8 months to 11 years old! Did I mention we had fun?!?!!

I couldn't help myself and caught these moments of her Royal Highness!




The day is done! And she doesn't want to go home!

Build a Critter Workshop

So, today, we SERIOUSLY needed to break out of our usual routines of chaos and we opted for a rather unusual activity.

First, a disclaimer in behalf of the crew: "We aren't a bunch of sissy boys that snuggle with softies at bedtime."

Here are the kid rules:

Clean your bedroom.

Draw a critter and have fun drawing your critter.

NO critters from video games or TV/Movies this must ultimately be your creation.

Go easy on details.

Here are the Mom rules:

No pink.

Let the kids choose the colors even though you think you have better taste than they do.

Don't grumble when trying to turn the itty bitty chicken toes right side out.

These guys had so much fun seeing their designs go from paper to all dimensional!

From Left to Right: Duck, Chicken and Sabertooth Tiger

Here is a closer shot of the President's Hand Chicken. It was cracking me up the whole time I was working on it (except for those little pointy toes that are hiding in the grass)! She and the duck are done up in a stash of vintage fabrics that I've thrifted around the area here. Of course, nothing in this house is drama free now that her Royal Highness has been keeping up with all of the excitement. She kept on stealing the President's Chicken and squealing as she ran into her bedroom with it. (She has a mouthful of Candy)!

She didn't design her own critter, but I made a few of my own for her when Christine came to visit for the 4th of July! We made a few of these fun dollies together and stayed up until 1:00 am stitching details by hand and watching Jane Eyre (SO well done by masterpiece theatre).


Here is the Dolly that started it all. She is my prototype for a gift that I wanted to make for my brother Doug's little girl, Emmaliegh, on her first birthday. Her name is Lucy and she has been LOVED!

100th Post!

I first want to thank my family and friends for being good sports and reading my blog. I want to thank all of you for your sacrifice of time to leave your kind comments for us to read. And finally, I'd like to thank my family for biting their tongues and cooperating when the apple farmer's wife gets that 'Kodak Moment' kind of feeling and starts sticking her camera into their faces!

As my gift to you, my faithful followers, I have dug deep into the dusty files of my computer to find this oldie-but-goodie video clip of her Royal Highness in her first modeling job in the hospital hit entitled "How to Put a T-shirt on a Baby." I know how invaluable this skill is and I hope it helps you successfully reach your ultimate goals in life!

BOYS!

I Love all things

Cute:

Cuddly,

and nice! (this one even smells nice!)

I don't like things

Slimey

(the boy isn't slimey - just wet and muddy so I like him)

Creepy Crawlies,

(or dead things! ew, shivers!)

Or itchy things!
(leaves of three... I will conquer thee...)

So you can imagine the horror I experienced when I decided to fold the clothes in the President's drawer and found a Cicada molting next to his good work sticker!

Think about this one... Cicada's don't live indoors and they also don't molt (or shed their outer parts) indoors! The president found the molting and decided to SAVE it (for what? I don't know!!!) in his shirt drawer!

BOYS!

You might also imagine my disgust when the attorney picked this up and shoved it in my face saying, "Hey Mom! Check it out! Its a Cicada! He's sleeping!"

EWWW!! And how does he know if it is awake or asleep?

BOYS!

License, Registration and Proof of Insurance, Please.

Vroom! Vroom!!

"That was the best ride of my life! Uh, speaking of which...
they might need some help back there!"

"Sweet Ride! Power steering, 4 wheel drive on the fly! LUCKY!"

"Have you taken it off any sweet jumps, lately?"

Totally NOT Tube-ular

She won't be doing this when she is 16, right?!?

We had our visit with the ENT doctor on monday morning. Guess what!?! No ear infection. Which means no tubes. Dr. Ear Nose & Throat wasn't quite sure that there was an infection since a few days before she went home with one and had no antibiotics to treat it.

So, the official diagnosis is that she is suffering with Two Years of Age!

Dang it!

Girl's Camp Reunion

I am the YW Camp Director for our church branch and this evening we had our Girl's Camp Reunion. YAY! Our stake held girl's camp on a units level this year and as a branch we had a fantastic time! So tonight, after decorating picture frames to put our camp picture in, we watched our camp dvd which the girls laughed all of the way through. One of our Priesthood leaders for camp, Brother Hixson, Did an incredible job with putting the pictures and video clips together!

My camp assistant, Jessica, and I brainstormed these Thank You gifts for our hard working YCLs. We are calling them "Campfires in a Jar!"

Note: For any of you who are totally clueless like me, Starburst candies are very excitedly roasted over the camp fire and then eaten. The campers wasted no time teaching me the methodology and techniques for roasting Starburst. They were OK. I still like the good ol' Stay Puff Mallow on my wire hanger!

Red Skies and Cooing Turtle Doves

Did you know that if you watch a sunrise and notice that the sunrise is red, it means rain? Did you also know that if you happen to hear the doves cooing in a pattern that sounds like they are saying, "Two, four, six, eight." it means rain?

Tuesday morning I helped my Amish neighbor Ely get his cucumbers to the produce auction (72 boxes of beautiful cukes!) and he told me that it looked like rain. Since the apple farmer had checked the weather forcast and it was nothing but sun for the rest of the week, I found his statement very interesting. He gave me the reasoning above and you will never guess what happened. It rained that very afternoon!

4th of July Bash

My dear friend Christine and her three kids came to visit from Kansas. It was so much fun! We promised no projects but we couldn't help ourselves!! Pictures to follow later ;)


I'm so excited that Christine decided to spend her favorite holiday of the year with us! It was great fun! I'm just trying to figure out how the weekend ended without getting a picture of her and I together!

Here are some snippets from the fireworks we shot off with our friends the Blackburns and Frehners.

I dare you to try shooting a few of these off in your back yard in California!

(you know I'm just kidding, right?)

The kids loved it all! Plenty of oohs and aaahs!

Of course the evening started off with BBQ and homemade rootbeer, slushed apple cider (our very own special blend), garden fresh tomatoes and homemade pies and ice cream. We followed the meal with a friendly game of croquet before settling in with the matches and fireworks.

This is what the apple farmer looks like in fast motion!

Oooh! Sparkley!

My New Front Porch/Patio

Look at what we are doing!

Go Apple Farmer!

Crazy Brick Mobile Driver!

Lots of help!

Apple Farmer left the rest of the project to his wife. Here is where my little helper and I stopped! Just needing to finish up some of those edges!

Commentary From the Two Year Old

Her (pointing to her picture on my blog): Dats Gay-see (translation: I'm the Queen and don't forget it).

Me: What are you doing?

Her: Weaw-ing a coat. (Translation: Duuuh! What do you think I'm doing)?!?

Me: Hmmmm. Wearing a coat. Very interesting. It looks like you are not a happy little girl.

Her: Dats Hanky Gay-see (translation: I'm the cranky Queen! Not a little girl. I warned you not to forget it. Now you've really asked for it)!