this could take all day

Project 365 (+1) - April 2012

April. Whew. What a month. Being a busy full-time mom, with 3 little kiddos is quite the challenge. Let's just leave it at that for now and move on with some pictures. First, the family shot. Yup, you've seen this one already. But seriously, how sweet is my family? And how lovely are we in yellow?

Now onto the dailies...

Sunday afternoon nap. 

A little overachiever, trying to hold her own bottle already. (Or, she just lucked out. Take your pick.)

My phone was turning off on its own all the time without me knowing, so my sweet tech-loving husband ordered me a new phone and got it all set up for me. Here is the first picture from the new phone. (cell pic, duh)

I have a piano!!! I have a piano!!! I have a piano!!! (Did you know an anonymous friend paid to have it tuned for us? Every time I think of this, or sit down to play, my heart swells with thankfulness. I am so blessed.)

More blessings. My best friend really does know how to speak my love language. A little package in the mail, and she even opened the peeps so they'd be perfectly stale upon arrival.

Time to color some Easter eggs!

Super star egg hunters.

Two adorable sisers, one lovely celebration of a Risen Savior.

Dani spent the morning painting while Daisy was at school. So, of course, Daisy wanted a turn when she got home. Here is the "monster" she painted for her Papa.

Yup, this is how we roll to the park: dress, boots, random bow, coat, and wings. And she wanted to bring the bucket too. Good thing, because it became a trash bucket for all the random litter the girls love to pick up. (cell pic)

Heard laughing, got suspicious. Turns out the girls found a ribbon and decided to "decorate" their sister. Can you tell she's a little suspicious too?

Face paint. Makes kids really happy. And then really sad. Good thing the camera can capture it forever.

And this is how the mama and baby roll to the park. She and I both love the sling, and I love that adorable hat a Mops Mom crocheted for us. (cell pic)

I was away on a 4-H weekend and Darin woke up that morning with a hankering for adventure. So he posted on facebook that he was planning to take the girls to the beach, and asked if anyone wanted to join them. Turns out a friend from Shoreline had been planning a little ferry trip with her family for the day. So Darin & the girls drove out to Bainbridge and our friends met them at the beach for picnic and playing.

Isn't the internet so cool sometimes?

Still makes fists all the time, but has started to coo. Is there any sweeter sound than a baby cooing?

Looked what arrived today! 

Dandylion bouquets keep showing up all over the house.

Darin and the girls planted a few tulip bulbs for me, and I love watching them bloom this spring.

We finally dug this out of the garage since it contains the only sheet music I've saved over the years. Turns out there are a lot of special treasures in this trunk. I think we'll tuck it away and dig it out again to go through some rainy winter day.

I love after nap rosy cheeks. And I love this girl, and the way she gives me camera the sweetest smiles.

Such a fun day! Went to a "retreat" of sorts for Mops, and since we were done early in the afternoon, the day was amazing, and we were all without kiddos, we decided to go play mini golf. We all had a great time, and since I was the big winner (with two hole-in-ones!) I got to pick where we headed out to eat dinner. (cell pic)

Stumbled upon this scene on Sunday morning. Love capturing moments like this.

We had beautiful spring weather today! Even warm enough to get out the water table! The girls and I had a wonderful afternoon in the backyard.

Baby L has started to smile! I was trying to capture it with my camera, but she isn't quite as good at smiling for the big black box as she is for my face.

The girls love to have themselves traced on paper to color and decorate.

Since Daisy has a "summer" birthday, she was assigned birthday snacks in April. She requested chocolate cupcakes with strawberry frosting. I decided to make cupcakes from scratch, but gave myself some leniency and bought strawberry frosting in a can. The cupcakes were awesome, the frosting not so much. Turns out I should've made frosting too and just tinted it pink.

Oh well, the girls had a lovely time decorating with sprinkles.

This baby doll of Gran's has always cracked me up because it feels so huge when it comes to baby dolls. But I knew it was about the size of a normal baby. Turns out I was right! (cell pic)

Our last hurrah at Gran's house, the childhood home of Darin and his siblings, as she is moving and selling. We had a really nice day, and were able to capture some great family pictures outside one last time.

It was really hard for Darin to say goodbye, and really hard for Daisy too. I had no idea she'd have the kind of meltdown she did in the hours before our departure. Broke all of our hearts. We're all gonna miss this place.

My first Instagram Photo-of-the-Day thanks to Darin's fancy phone! I got my bumber sticker and I'm all ready to go.

Our microwave died. It was sad. Darin got us a new one. But Dani wandered into the kitchen after he pulled it out and gasped "Papa, where did the timer go?" (Can you tell what we use for a timeout timer around here?)

April down...onto May...

Project 365 (+1) - March 2012

This month has been quite the eventful one, seeing our family grow from four to five. Our family picture was taken on the very last day of the month, in our Saturday afternoon finest. Good thing Darin's dad stopped by for a visit and was able to snap this one for us!

Now on to the rest of the month.

The baby's room is ready for a baby. And the equipment is sitting here, ready to be spread all over the house.

We were able to provide respite care (where you give a foster family a day/night off) for some friends of ours. Here our Miss Daisy is happily feeding Baby E.

We had so much fun at Xander's reptile birthday party and I was pretty proud of my girls for being brave and petting some cool reptiles.

Dani found a good use for some of the baby equipment hanging around! Here she is playing on my kindle curled up on the boppy pillow.

I am so thankful for this baby to love, and my husband who is right in the thick of it with me.

The girls spend some time in the morning reading to Baby L. They are so good with her.

Daisy would hold this little bundle of sweetness all day long and I am so thankful for her help. She will give her a bottle while I'm finishing our morning prep and will run for a pacifier whenever she is fussy.

Dani wanted to help with the laundry but she can't quite reach the top of the washer. So she chucks the items in one by one. It's pretty awesome.

Our neighbors brought over some amazing chocolates, and as you can see, my husband really loves me. I felt really special.

 

We had a free Saturday afternoon so Darin and I decided to take the girls on dates. Daisy was my date, with Miss L tagging along. Apparently the little Miss decided she needed a bottle RIGHT NOW so halfway to our destination (the toy store!) we pulled over in a parking lot and Daisy hopped out of her seat and fed Miss L her bottle. Love my little helper. (cell pic)

She looks so small in this swing. 

This kid loves to sleep. I layed her on a playmat for a little awake time, but it didn't take her long to doze off. And that's Daisy's special snowman next to  her. Daisy and Dani both love to share their toys and animals with their sister.

Daisy playing school and teaching us our letters.

Since the day she weaned off breastmilk this kid has hated cow's milk, prefering water instead. And on this humble day in March she declared out of the blue "I yike milk now!" and requested some with her lunch.

Bathing a baby is pretty darn fascinating.

So thankful for a sunny afternoon and a visit from family.

Happy St Patrick's Day!

Uncle Madison and Aunt Dakota stopped by on their way home from a volleyball tournament in Port Angeles. We were lucky to have their company for dinner and stories, and they were happy to entertain all three girls.

 "Hey Mom, look what I can do!"

The Easter Bunny came to our house a little early to celebrate the first day of spring. Dani's basket on the left, then Leyla's, then Daisy's. And Daisy insisited on leaving a carrot for the bunny, so there are some remnants on the plate.

Here's a little article I wrote for the church newsletter where we attend Mops:

 

     We have some friends who's dad is a pilot for Alaska Airlines. Last year he was gone at Christmas, so they made special arrangements with Santa Claus to come to their house early. This was a win-win since it gave Santa one less house on Christmas Eve, and allowed the family to celebrate together early. So when I made the suggestion to our girls that I'd been in contact with the Easter Bunny and he wanted to bring a few gifts by to celebrate the first day of spring, the girls were totally on board.

     So last Monday night we dusted off the Easter baskets and set them out on the coffee table for the Easter Bunny to fill overnight. Daisy, my oldest, insisted that we also leave out a few carrots for Mr Bunny. They were thrilled the next morning to find books, a treat, and a small toy in each basket. I was able to include some books with the real Easter story and we've been enjoying reading them ever since. We also made a set of Resurrection Eggs last year at Mops, and open one egg each night leading up to Easter. This has been a sort of "holy week advent calendar" for us, and it is so great to tell the story over and over as we open the previous night's eggs first.

     Resurrection Sunday is an amazing and central part of our Christian story, and now when that day arrives, we won't have to share it with that darn bunny!

 

 

All the daffodils outside Daisy's school are starting to bloom! (cell pic)

Daisy spotted this snack when I was scrolling through my Pinterest kids board the other day and insisted we make it for her next class snack day. So this afternoon the girls were busy painting clothespins.

Darin took the girls to the park when he got home from work and I sent the camera with him. I love seeing what he comes home with, and this one is absolutely perfect in my opinion.

A sunny afternoon = time for a bike ride. Daisy isn't so thrilled about learning to ride her two (four) wheeler so we have to strongly encourage her to make it to the stop sign and back. Dani is pretty happy about the whole Papa steers and pushes arrangment though.

My friend Natalie and I had planned to take our older daughters to a local production of the Sleeping Beauty Ballet but Natalie woke up this morning with a horrible stomach flu (so bad that later this evening I would take her to the ER for some fluids). So I ventured to the ballet with the girls by myself and it was a lovely afternoon. They were so well behaved and enjoyed watching the dancing tremendously. Here they are at intermission gobbling up a few cookies and some delicious red punch. (cell pic)

Early morning, feeding the babies.

Last fall we moved our weekly library visits to the downtown Bremerton branch since it is the branch with Tuesday storytimes (our only free morning during the week). Last month after storytime we ventured a few blocks away to a nearby office to pick up some baby blankets a friend had sent to work with her husband for us. The girls loved all the cool statues about town and every week since they ask to go see them. This time it wasn't raining and we didn't have anywhere to be so I said yes. Here they are with the "umbrella girl". (cell pic)

About every third naptime this girls asks to sleep on the floor. Not sure what the appeal is, but as long as she still naps I'm happy. 

I cannot seem to stop taking pictures of this cutie pie when she is sleeping!

A little display for Easter.

More signs of spring! Tulips and Hyacinth are blooming in my front yard. 

Project 365 (+1) - February 2012

 

Here's to February! A short one, but a good one.

 

Miss Daisy woke up with a fever and tummy ache, so it was a down day at home for her. It was a big bummer, though, since it was Pajam day at school and she was so looking forward to picking out just the right pajamas to wear and eating pancakes for snack time. Watching Pete's Dragon on the DVD playing in bed sure helped her spirits.

Years ago I was having a bad day and stopped by my friend Sasha's house for a chat before going home. This sweet lady not only gave me a hug and a good visit, but sent me on my way with a homemade lasagne for dinner. A few years later I was pregnant and craving that lasagne and she was kind enough to email me the recipe. Turns out it makes enough lasagna for an army and I just didn't have it in me to make it at the time. But this week I decided it was time to bring dinner to the neighbors with a newborn (turned out to be a good week too, since her husband headed back to work this week) and a friend with a large family was having surgery. So I spent naptime watching Pride & Prejudice and cooking up an enormous batch of lasagnes. I made 7 8x8 sized pans and still had sauce leftover, so I decided to make one more in an 11x13 pan and take it over to some other friends. And now I have more lasagnas in my freezer to be a blessing on another day.

We dropped the girls off at Gran's house for our weekend away and we got this picture in a text. I think they were having fun!

Darin and I planned an impromptu weekend away in LaConner. We were gonna be at Gran's on Sunday for superbowl, so we talked her (and a couple awesome aunts) into watching the girls for the weekend so we could get away on a little "babymoon". With all the foster stuff done and awaiting approval from the state, this may just be our last chance to get away for a while.

My parents suggested we use our membership to stay at the Thousand Trails in LaConner in a quaint cabin. We enjoyed walks on the beach, exploring LaConner, eating out and eating in, watching movies, and generally enjoying the lack of a schedule. A perfect weekend away. Just what we needed.

 

 Superbowl party at Gran's house! (And my mini-me with her camera.)

 

 Looking out the window after nap. It was pure sweetness and I had to run for my camera.

 

Another post-nap shot. I loved how her pigtails looked after nap and had to snap a picture.

I had three sleeping girls in my house this afternoon as we were babysitting the sweetest newborn. I enjoyed working on my Bible study while my house was nice and quiet.

Working on Daisy's class Valentines. Thanks to Pinterest for the idea, we made homemade heart crayons, using these bag toppers since we couldn't get ours to stick to paper ones. We also had a whole bunch of broken crayons around this house, so I made a big batch of crayons to sell at the Mops "bakesale" valentines fundraiser.

I came home from a Mops event to find this waiting for me. What a sweet husband I have! 

 We love this recipe for homemade pizza rolls but it takes quite a bit of wrapping work to get them all made. But then our freezer is stocked for a while and we have easy and delicious meals on hand. 

We had a couple of girls over for sleepover since their parents had an adult-only party to attend. It was a fun night, until it was time to sleep, and then...well...I'd rather just forget about it. Here's the crew on Sunday morning as we check them into their classes at church. (cell pic)

I have been trying to get out for a morning "wog" (walk/jog, I'm not quite ready to call it a run yet) before Darin leaves for work and this day the girls were up and ready to play while he was in the shower. So I hooked them up with an episode of Yo Gabba Gabba on my Kindle and this is the way they were sitting when I returned from outside. Guess they figured out how to best sit so they both could see!

Valentine's Day and our annual fondue night. Here is chef Darin preparing the chocolate. It was a great night.

I didn't get a picture this day and mentioned it to Darin on my way out to choir practice. The guy picked up the camera for me and got this image of Dani (in pajamas) playing with her toaster. Evening pictures are the hardest and the color on this one could not be salvaged. Good thing black and white works!

Dani filled up her potty chart (officially concluding our potty training adventure, Yippee!!!) and got a trip to BluBerry frozen yogurt shop. Here she is with her two spoons as she couldn't decide on what color she wanted! 

 Twinkle the Tooth Fairy came to Daisy's school today and her teacher invited Dani to the presentation as well. When Twinkle needed some helpers Dani raised her hand  but refused to go up when chosen. So Daisy went up instead...and then Dani figured she would help too. Here they are helping to decide if certain snacks are good or bad for your teeth.  

 Darin and I spent the afternoon organizing the garage, so when the girls got up from their nap they wanted to join us and draw with sidewalk chalk.

 Our family of 4 ventured out to dinner at a new restaurant with our friends and their family of 8. I don't know what we were thinking, but the kids did amazingly well with the 45 minute wait and dinner was delicious. 

A friend in the Seattle area offered us her glider rocker for our nursery, so we planned a fun day of adventures to coincide with picking it up. We played at the mall, had lunch with Gran, and spent the afternoon with some friends and their sweet baby (who was not into being held by anyone but Mom or Dad all day...boo). We had a really great family day, and Miss Daisy enjoyed the holiday (President's Day) that we don't really celebrate.

The girls were already making good use of the glider, reading to a baby doll!

 

 

We started a lenten journey today to drink only water. This is gonna be a huge challenge for us as we aren't much of water drinkers, preferring coffee (Darin), tea (me), pop (both), and wine (me).  But this will be good for our physical and spiritual health, so here's to the challenge!

Thanks again to Pinterest, I saw this easy project and I love this corner in my bathroom now. (Votive holder on top of a mason jar.)

I saved all our Christmas cards (added a few family pictures) and repurposed this bin to hold them (along with Dani's lotion) on the girls' dresser. Each evening we all pick a different card and pray for the family. So if you sent us a Christmas card and have any specific prayer requests, please let us know. (Daisy generally prays for health, and Dani for people to "get home safely".) And if you didn't send us a card...incentive for next year?

Daisy was enjoying playing doctor but didn't have any dress up clothes to go along with her roll. So off to Goodwill we went to pick up a couple large white dress shirts to turn into lab coats!

 Last month on a whim we played glow stick hide & seek as a family. The girls loved it so much that we played it again during their sleepover, and Dani has been asking nightly for another round. Unfortunately our supply of glow sticks is running low, so I had to think creatively and invented animal hide and seek. Dani picks out 5 or 6 small stuffed animals and we take turns hiding them and then finding them around our house. Here she is, happy to have found an animal Daisy hid in her kitchen oven.

 It's here! Let the waiting begin...

 A random afternoon snowfall had the girls begging to go outside. I'm so thankful for our fenced yard so I can bundle them up, send them out, and happily watch through our big dining room window!

Sometimes my husband has the most random of cravings, and often when he does he makes it his mission to find a recipe to fulfill it. Last week it was soft pretzels. They were so yummy! On this day after dropping Daisy off at school Dani and I ran an errand at the mall and enjoyed a pretzel to share. Daisy was so jealous that Darin decided he would make pretzels with them that evening. Super dad? I sure think so. 

Project 365 (+1) - January 2012

For this year, I'm taking a cue from my friend Sasha and gonna do my daily photos at the end of the month. Actually, I'm keeping this post in "draft" form all month long and adding to it as we go. That way the stories should be fresh.

Here's to hoping this keeps me caught up!

In addition to my photo-a-day goals, my new goal for 2011 is a family photo for each month. As I've dreamed of what to do with my pictures I've been inspired by this blog to have a "title" page with our family photo each month. I can't wait to see how our family grows and changes together over the year.

Daily Pictures:

 

That's Darin's big sister Charisse on the right, holding Dani. It was so fun to see her, Tim (on the left) and the kids (Landon and Savannah) on their trip to Washington over Christmas break. These lovely folks live in Wisconsin and the last time we saw them Daisy was like 16 months old. It was fun to dig out a map of the US and show the girls how far away Wisconsin really is. Maybe it's time to take a vacation to the Midwest again?

Yesterday morning, the first words out of Miss Dani as she looked up at her Papa were "Gran's house?" Yep, these two girls love their Gran and love love love going to her house. We are so thankful for this very special relationship they have.

Library day! This time at the "little library" in downtown Silverdale. I looked up from the book I was reading to Daisy to find Dani enjoying her own book down the aisle. (cell pic)

 

Darin is building the girls a loft bed (based on this inspiration from pinterest) where they'll sleep toe-to-toe, and have a place to play underneath. The girls are already in love with it, and invited me up on the raw, unpainted, unmattressed bed tonight to have a tea party/picnic. And yes, I'm in my pajamas because it is another week of feeeling under-the-weather for me.

 

 There are a few things to note about this picture: the fleece vest I always wear around the house these days, as I get cold pretty easily, Daisy's baby quilt she's sitting on, and the "High Five" magazine the girls received for Christmas. We love to sit and read it together, especially enjoying those seek-and-find pages! The girls are really good at finding those hidden objects.

 Most days when we come home from taking Daisy to school Dani does not want to take her coat off. Makes me laugh, but whatever. She also loves to draw with markers, but is a bit irresponsible with them, so she can only do it at a table with an adult. She usually starts with a spot on her paper, draws some lines (without lifting up her pen) and connects back up to the place she started. This day she added some eyes and a nose inside her "circle" to make silly monsters, then told me a story about what they were doing. I love our mornings together!

 

 Good morning girls! Cuddle time.

  

 When we got home from church and lunch we were all admiring the lovely weather, so made an impromptu decision to skip naps and go for a walk along Clear Creek trail. The girls were so excited to go and change into play clothes that Daisy ran down the hall and into her room, tripping over her feet and coming down hard on the corner of the toybox. I knew without looking at it that it was gonna be bad, hollared for Darin, who promptly got a towel and we put some pressure on it. After a quick peek, we decided it was gonna need some stitches so our afternoon plans changed once again. Darin stayed at home and put Dani down for a nap, while Daisy and I went off to Urgent Care. She was really scared but we prayed together and talked a lot about being brave and about how God can help us be brave. I was thankful for the stories I had on my kindle that we read together as we waited, and was also thankful for our really kind and competent nurse and doctor. Daisy wasn't so happy when the doctor took the needle to the wound to numb it up, but once that was done sat still under her "tent" for 7 stitches. Afterwards we went out to McDonalds for ice cream, and she kept telling me she was having such a fun date. Funny kid, next time let's do a date without the stitches, k? (cell pic)

 

 Daisy was asked to be "Star of the Week" at school this week. (She is the first one of her class, so was pretty confused when I told her about it. But as I explained she told me she thinks she got to be Star of the Week because she practiced so hard for her Christmas program.) As Star of the Week she got to bring a poster all about her. She wanted to include a picture of herself as a baby, and one of our family. She also included her favorite food (mac & cheese), her favorite animal (unicorn?), her favorite activity (swinging), her favorite song (ABCs), her favorite toy (her play kitchen), her favorite show (Yo Gabba) and her favorite place to visit (Gran's house). She also drew a picture of herself with her bandaid covering her stitches. I helped by printing out the pictures, Daisy cut them out, and Darin helped her color and glue. Dani was sad because she didn't get to make a poster.

  

 Daisy's teacher has been encouraging the parents to give our kids scissors and things to cut. So tonight I handed Daisy a couple of magazines I was done with and taught her the fun of making collages. She loved tearing out pages, cutting out pictures, and glueing them down. Of course, Dani wanted to join in the fun, so we cut out pictures for her to glue as well.

  

Did you know I got a Kindle Fire for my birthday? It was an awesome surprise and now that the girls know I've downloaded some preschool apps, I feel like I have to fight them for my turn! Dani particularly loves this puzzle app.

 When my parents were here for Christmas in 2010, Daisy became Grandpa's princess. I'm not sure how it happened, but it was pretty clear. And now my dad reminds her every time they talk about just who's princess she is. Today she got this shirt in the mail and was so excited about it that she had to wear it to bed that night. (Dani got a cute shirt too.) I also overheard her telling our friends the next night about her new shirt so I'm pretty sure she likes it.

 

 Best girl's night ever, according to Daisy.

 

 We loved meeting baby Ethan.

 

 I find strange things around my house all the time.

 Daisy got a haircut. It looks so cute.

 

This is what happens when she finds the comb and water bottle.

 

  This little girl prayed for snow for days, and she finally got some!

 

Building a snow fort/cave.

 

  Finally the snow was packable enough to make a snowman. Darin helped the girls build their "frosty" while I took off for a 4-H weekend.

 

And here are two of those awesome 4-H teens I get to work with. They were working on a video skit for the Know Your Government Conference...and of course, what is funnier then kids in drag? I have no idea how they talked Allen into the role of the maid, but it was marvelous.

 

I left Clarkston around noon, with a car full of teens and sack lunches packed. But a quick suggestion that we save those lunches for  dinner and have lunch at Zips in Colfax was met with happy approval. The burger was yummy, but the fries. Oh my. Definitely rival my favorite fries ever (found at any neighborhood Herfey's location). Maybe it's the sauce?

It was a good thing we fueled up though as the drive home was LONG and the pass was ugly. But our little Subaru was good to us, and with taking it slow and steady we all made it home. 

 

In preparation for our foster baby we moved Dani out of the high chair and to her very own spot at the table. We had hesitated on this move for a while because she just won't stay seated at a regular chair. But the booster seems to have solved that problem, and I love having our whole family at the table together. For now, the high chair is in the girls' room being used to feed all their babies and animals.

 A blurry picture because I refused to turn on the light and risk waking her up! But this sweet thing was napping on the floor next to her bed. When I asked her why she told me she was playing slumber party.

 

  I tried to get a picture of her cute hair to send to the grandparents, but this was the best I could do, crooked smile and all.

 

More fun with the kindle! I love that I found her curled up in my bed.

Coloring on the floor with the big coloring books they got for Christmas.

I am so thankful to get to sing on the worship team at church. I love music, I love Jesus, I love the people I'm meeting through this ministry, and I love my church. (Oh, I also love that Darin got himself and three girls to church on time this morning, as well as lugged the camera into service in order to give me a picture of the day.)

My skin had a strange allergic reaction (or perhaps acted strangely to a virus, as my doctor suggested) by making me crazy itchy and giving me this weird rash on my palms. Just keeping it real folks.

I made a new batch of playdough, and added sparkles this time. Led to a few hours of fun at our kitchen table.

And that was January 2012!

November 21, 22, 23, 24, 25

Weekday lunch. Trying to make things a little fun.

I left some socks outside the girls' room while they were sleeping, so I could put them away in the morning. This is what I found in the morning. I love it when my girls are creative!

Dani was playing with toilet paper tubes. Made me laugh so hard when she put them on her arms. I thought she looked like Kristen Wiig's character on the Lawrence Welk sketches.

On Thanksgiving Dani was really excited about the jumping off the ledge game. She recruited everyone to join her too. (This was my first time capturing a picture from a video I shot, and I think it's pretty ok.)

Crafting it up with Gran.

November 11, 12, 13, 14, 15

We have this japanese maple in the front yard. Darin loves it. I don't. I think it blocks too much light from my front window. But right now, this red color is pretty stunning. 

Darin took the girls and met up with Papa Ty & Mama Stace at Latin's Cider mill. This is one of our favorite fall traditions and I was sad to miss it but enjoyed my 4-H weekend in Cathlamet.

One sneaky girl decided to nap in her sister's bed today. Oh well, at least she's sleeping!

Getting my ponytail all ready to donate.

She asks to paint every day.

November 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Happy Birthday to me! Darin made me my birthday crepes a day late, and the sweet guy got me special candles.

Time to vote!

Christen/Sapo is here to babysit for us each evening as we take our foster parent classes. The girls love her. I do too. 

We brought home a big box of apples from Eastern Washington, so it was timet to get to work making crisp. One for the oven and one for the freezer. Yummy.

First red cup of the year!

November 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Someone in this house is sick :(.

Daisy invented a game today. She drew a "board" and colored in some squares on it. Then she cut out tokens and drew an x on each one. We took turns putting the tokens on the colored squares. The one with the last token was the loser. Pretty simple game and I was pretty proud as she created it all by herself.

While I was sick and Darin was home with the girls, he pulled out his lego collection. They all had a great time together and I know Darin looks forward to many more lego building days with his girls.

Puppet show on laundry day. (I fold my laundry on the couch. I used to do it in my bedroom, but I like the couch and coffee table much better these days. Where do you fold laundry?)

While I spent the day with my sisters, Darin took the girls to a friend's house where in their backyard creek salmon were spawning. He reported it was pretty cool and the girls enjoyed trying to spot the fish.

 

October 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31

We partook in a busy bag swap at Mops. Our contribution was a bag of beads and cups for sorting. We also included chenille sticks for "stringing" beads too. Daisy helped me sort out the beads one afternoon and was a great helper.

Trying on the wings for our 2011 Halloween costumes.

Darin found a snail while taking out the trash, and brought him in for a bathtime visit.

A little downtime with netflix on Darin's phone.

Haircut!

Two adorable butterflies.

end-of-year inspiration

When I saw this post last week on creating simple photo books for your children I was sold. You know me, I love pictures! And you know what, my kids love pictures too. I have a photo slideshow on my computer screensaver, and the girls will sit in front of it for hours watching the pictures scroll by and asking questions along the way.

They need to get their hands on some of their pictures. We need more albums around here!

So I've been scrambling the last few days to get all caught up on my photo-a-day project, get my pictures organized, and pick my favorites from the year so that Daisy and Dani can have their very own year-end albums. (And along with that will come lots of new blog posts, gotta get caught up here too!)

A New Year's Eve tradition is born in the Gemmer house!

Since I've got 'em all organized, how bout a few of my favorites from 2011? I'll try to narrow it down a bit...

And now I'm off to wipe away a tear. This little project of mine got me a bit more emotional than I prepared for. It is hard watching these sweet babies of mine growing up.

 

October 21, 22, 23, 24, 25

Happy Birthday Darin! Jen made an amazing homemade peanut butter chocolate cake. Darin sure felt spoiled. Especially 'cuz I just made him brownies from a mix! (Note also the milk in a wine glass. Those Kaufman's sure are classy people!)

Lunch with family was a highlight from our visit to Lewiston.

Another highlight: playing in the leaves.

Driving home we stopped by Palouse Falls.

Dani giving her baby a piggy back ride. (cell phone pic)

October 16, 17, 18, 19, 20

The side of my fridge. I love seeing what people put on their fridges! Kind of a secret glimpse into their lives.

Here's the rundown: upcoming Sunday School lessons, grocery and trader joe's lists, meal plan, magnets, me with Jen and Amy in college and on our flirty-thirty trip, missionary card for our friends (who just came home for good), save-the-date card for a summer wedding, old pic of my nephew caleb, and our buy-two-get-one-free card for oil changes, fly swatter. 

The front of the fridge is for kid stuff. The side is mine, and I try to fill it with useful stuff, and stuff that makes me smile as I glance over while doing dishes or cleaning up.

Preschool class visit to the pumpkin patch.

Darin had a work retreat on the Oregon Coast. Rough life.

Making brownies for Papa's birthday. The girls are ready with their party hats on! Too bad neither of them ate their dinner and didn't get to partake in the brownies that night when Darin returned from his retreat. (At least they got to lick the spoons!)

Daisy wanted to know how much money she had in her piggy bank. Her she is trying to "sort" it, while Dani wanted to dump it all back in. That night after Dani went to bed, Darin helped Daisy sort it and count it properly. That girl is pretty rich with over $60 in her piggy bank!

 

October 11, 12, 13, 14, 15

Daisy was home from school for a few days with a touch of the flu. This floor puzzle gave us a great quiet activity we could do when she was feeling up for it.

Trip to Trader Joe's. Man, these girls know the free stuff at every store and can't leave TJ's without stickers. Dani likes to put them on herself and declare that she has owies. (cell pic)

Last week we rode the plane after Bible Study, this week we played outside. It was such a nice day. (cell pic)

I haven't scrapbooked in over a year, but this week I got inspired. Here's one of the pages I made. I'm hoping this creative streak sticks around a while.

Darin took the girls to home depot on an errand and it turns out there was a free workshop. They each got to paint a pumpkin! (cell pic)

October 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Outside Dani's classroom at Bible Study Fellowship is this little plane. 25 cents a ride. On rainy or cold days after class the girls get a ride before going home, on sunny days we play outside. (cell pic)

Trying out a new recipe with breakfast for dinner. They were a little dense and a little dry. NEEDED whip cream. Rough life.

We got family pictures taken!!!

Sunday afternoon fort building.

Daisy's projects are getting better and better. She asked me for a paper plate and made this cat all by herself. Including the ears, and finding some yarn to make whiskers. (cell pic)

September 26, 27, 28, 29, 30

A little chocolate milk to brighten up a dull afternoon.

Puddle Jumping!

Flowers from my family. Especially nice since I was feeling a bit under the weather.

Yipee! Bible Study Fellowship has begun again.

Thanksgiving dinner. I took my friend Julie's advice and purchased a random non-thanksgiving turkey to cook up. Then later when we made plans with Tyler & Stacey we decided to go all-out on Thanksgiving: mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, cranberries, bread, stuffing and gravy. It was marvelous and we all wondered why we only eat this once a year. This is one good meal!

September 21, 22, 23, 24, 25

Getting rid of the fireplace in our living room. I love it so much now! So much more open.

Cleaning the carrots she dug up, in preparation for preschool snack day.

I was taking a picture of something else and Dani asked me to take a picture of her. Usually she sticks her fingers in the corners of her mouth and sticks out her tongue for a "silly face". This time she actually smiled for me. And then promptly demanded that she see it.

Children's performer at the library space in the mall. (Daisy in the blue and white dress.) We had a lovely time with friends.

Baby shower for Miss Anne! We are so excited for her and Justin. And it was so fun to have a little girl join me at the party.

September 16, 17, 18, 19, 20

Lunch with a friend at the kitchen table. That's cuz Mama and her friends were at the dining room table!

All ready for a wedding.

Meeting puppy Isha. Look how cute both of them are!

Harvesting the carrots from our garden. A little excited?

Pizza for dinner!

September 11, 12, 13, 14, 15

Our last hurrah of summer.

My sweet Daisy on her first day of preschool.

Coloring "beads" out of noodles as something fun for Dani and I to play while Daisy was at school. However, both girls loved using the noodles to play candy store rather than string.

Visting the dahlias at the post office.

Blackberry (and raspberry!) picking at Grandpa and Nana's house.

September 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Park playdate with friends. They definitely look like they're up to some mischief.

I looked out the window and noticed the setting sun was giving out some magical light in the backyard. So I went out to try and play with capturing it.

Foot ferry adventure with my girls.

Darin trenching up the yard to fix a drainage issue and install some pipe for sprinklers.

We were invited to a Labor Day "crab boil" and brought along the dessert we made on the 4th of July. Daisy wanted to help me, and I was happy to let her.

August 21, 22, 23, 24, 25

Fun at the Kindie Rock concert.

Darin made this for me out of an old window we found at an antique store. Everyone I show it to just loves it. Time to start collecting windows and making some more to sell!

Fro-Yo date with Daisy. We went to the mall to pick out her first-day-of-school-dress and then for a treat. It was lovely and I was so thankful she picked out a sweet little-girl dress instead of the many other options there were.

Day at the fair!

She fills up the pool in style.