Merry Christmas

Summer Faves

When we moved, I needed something for the walls in our office, so I found three pretty cute subjects and a lovely field and now I have these three portraits hanging were I can see them all the time. I probably should have shared these earlier, but they were taken during the summer when I was on a break from the blog. Anyway, we've had a lot of dark and dreary days lately (we haven't even gotten into winter and I'm already complaining about the weather : ) and looking at these pictures reminds me of summer. My only regret is that I don't have a matching one of Sarah. Hopefully I can get something similar of her in the spring when things are green again and she's sitting.

The View

This is our backyard. At least this is what it looked like a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately, we've had plenty of rain and wind since then so it's looking a little "broken." We have a lot of windows along the back of the house and my view of the trees is one of my favorite things about this home. The woods are also one of the kids' favorite things about this house. They've spent many hours playing in the woods exploring and building clubs with their friends. As the leaves continue to turn brown and fall, I'm seeing more of the houses behind us, not so pretty. Maybe I could just blow this picture up and hang it in the windows ; )

Leaves Are Falling

Emma and I spent a beautiful fall morning just walking and playing in the leaves last week. I'm so glad we didn't miss this opportunity because we then had rain for 3 days straight and it really brought the leaves down. A funny little story . . . We were in the car the other day and Emma kept talking about broken trees. I looked around for trees that had fallen and couldn't understand what she was talking about. She continued to ask why the trees were broken and I finally realized she thought the trees without leaves were broken. So, we talked about fall and why the leaves come off the trees and how they'll be back in the spring. I understand how Emma feels. I have a serious love for the trees in the East and I'm not looking forward to a winter of "broken" trees.

Sorry about the overload of photos, but I just couldn't resist : )

Blessed

This sweet little one was blessed by her wonderful daddy on the first of November. She was sleeping happily when I handed her to Jake, but she woke right up and was wide awake for the entire blessing. Thankfully she was peaceful and didn't make a sound : ) Jake's brother, Brad, and his mom were both visiting and we were very thankful to have a little family here for this special day. Sarah was given a beautiful blessing filled with wonderful promises. I hope as her mother I can love and nurture her in such a way that we will see the fulfillment of these promises in her life.

This dress actually belongs to Sarah's Grandma Ginny. She bought it 10 years ago with the hopes that all her granddaughters would be able to wear it and so far all of them have.

Happy Halloween

Okay, so I realize I'm a week late getting these posted, but better late than never ; ) This is the first year we've actually done our trick or treating in our own neighborhood. In the past we've lived in areas where there weren't very many kids. So, I stayed home with Sarah to pass out candy and Jake took the kids. We were lucky enough to have Jake's mom and brother here for the weekend so they got to go along. The kids of course had a great time, and here we are a week later and we still have about 20 pieces of candy left. I'm looking forward to it being gone : )

Trick or Treat

Definitely a treat!!

Halloween Decor

Just a peek at a few fun things around our house this time of year. We even found a bit of natural decor around our front porch. I guess after Halloween someone needs to do some cobweb removal : ) The last picture is a mushroom in our front yard.

Fall Treat

I made these the other night for our Family Home Evening treat. Jake wasn't so sure about the pumpkin ice cream, but it's actually pretty good. Especially when it's sandwiched between soft ginger snap cookies : ) You can find the recipe for the cookies here.

Crafty Pumpkins

I wanted some of these last year when I first saw them, but never got around to making any. So, when I saw them come up again on a couple of blogs this fall, I decided to get crafty. You can see how to make them here and here or you can buy them here.

My Sis

My lovely sister Danna and her sweet baby Addy came out to help when Sarah was born. It was so fun and so helpful to have them here. The kids fell in love with Addy and she and Emma were quite the little friends. Danna and I had lots of fun hanging out and doing a few fun projects. I left for college when Danna was 5 and we moved to the East when she was 12 so I haven't spent as much time with her as I have with my other sister, Stephanie. I enjoyed being with her and seeing what a wonderful mother she is to Addy. Although after two weeks of helping with my four kiddlets, she may not want anymore of her own ; ) It was sure hard to see them go, maybe someday we'll live close to one another.

Sick

That's what we've been around here lately. It started with Hannah last Friday, she went back to school on Wednesday. Ben started Monday night and still won't be going to school tomorrow. I don't remember when Emma started, but her illness hasn't been as bad as the others. Thankfully, Sarah, Jake and I are still healthy (if I haven't spoken too soon.) Above are all the medications that have been taken in our home over the last week. Hopefully, you and yours are fairing better through this flu season.

Daddy's Hands

Finally getting around to sharing a few of the many images I've taken of Sarah. I've been enjoying her too much to be at the computer editing or blogging, that and I'm a little tired : ) I love how tiny she looks in her daddy's hands.

We'll be missing these helpful, loving hands this weekend. Jake went to Idaho for his grandma's funeral. I'm so glad we were able to visit with her when we were in Idaho this past summer. Hannah played her a couple of songs on the piano and the kids were really sweet to her. She's been a wonderful grandma to Jake. Growing up, whenever Jake, or any of the other grand kids saw her around town, at church or at the school were she worked, they always had to say "Hi grandma, love you grandma." She has been in poor health for awhile and we are grateful she has been released from this life, but she will be missed.

Three

It's hard to believe my former littlest is three : ( Seeing Sarah in some of Emma's tiny newborn clothes reminds me how big and grown up she's become (although I keep reminding her she's still a little girl, not a big girl yet.) Daily she tells me we are sweethearts and oh how I love my little sweetheart!

A few favorites...
Purple
Barbie princess movies
Playing kitchen
Strawberry Shortcake
Baby dolls & real babies too
Playing dress-ups
Swinging at the park
Swimming
Riding her trike
Shopping with mommy : )
Riding in the truck with Daddy

Several weeks ago, someone got Emma talking about her birthday and we told her it was October 10th. She started telling everyone "my birthday's coming up on October 10th." Well then someone asked her what she wanted for her birthday. She thought for a minute and said "candy." So then she started to say "my birthday's coming up on October 10th, I'm going to get candy." Well of course at some point someone had to ask her what kind of candy she wanted, and after a moments thought, she responded "chocolate candy." So for a few weeks now she has loved telling everyone "my birthday's coming up on October 10th, I'm going to get chocolate candy." The photos above are proof that she got her chocolate candy and lots of other candy too!

You've got to love the joy and delight of a three year old opening her presents!

Miss Sarah