she's three!

our little princess turned three last week... where has the time gone?

we celebrated with a princess tea party with her friends and let me just tell you...i may have had more fun than the little girls! there is definitely a BIG difference with girl and boy birthday parties! aren't those pink and purple chairs just adorable? i borrowed them from a friend and they just MADE the table!

the girls were so cute! i am sure we'll be having a few more "tea parties"...

just for fun!

oh, how our lives have been changed since the arrival of this sweet girl into our home! she is ALL girl, even with 3 brothers... she is the sweetest thing... i love her early morning cuddles and kisses, i love the way she loves to shop with me, i love the way she is always looking out for her brothers and saving her treats to share with them, i love the way she loves everything pink and purple and princess, i love the way she loves her daddy, i love her bright blue eyes and shiny blonde hair, i love the way she cares for her little dolls, i love how she twirls and dances around the house in her petti-skirt... and that she has been talking about starting "dance class" for months now...(guess i better get her signed up!), i love how she sings at the top of her voice, i love how she loves nursery class (and am hoping the transition to sunbeams will be a happy one!), i love how she mimicks me when i am cleaning, cooking, writing in my journal, etc..., i love her little voice and the cute things she says... i could go on and on, but really i just love that she is our little girl and she has brought us so much happiness and so many smiles the past three years... and as much as i hate how fast she is growing up, i look forward to all the years ahead with her sweetness...

happy 3rd birthday savanna!

in the paper

wow! check this out!

my cute little sister sara, who makes adorable "little pretties" for little girls,

was on the front page of the
SEATTLE POST INTELLIGENCER!

it is an article about the new CPSIA law that was supposed to take effect on february 10th, but luckily it was postponed a year! if you don't know about this, sara has links about it here. basically this law will make it illegal for sara and many others to sell anything she has made for children on etsy, or even give it away for that matter! quite ridiculous! it also will greatly affect thrift, consignment, and second-hand stores that sell children's goods. don't get me wrong, i want my children's items to be safe, but this law does take that to a whole new and ridiculous level!

read the newspaper article here.

oh, and savanna LOVES her little pretties...she has adorable jewelry that sara has made.

and this doll quilt is so so cute.

savanna has had this for a while and plays with it all the time and loves to wrap her dolls in it. i am also lucky enough to have been given lots of cute skirts, shirts, dresses from sara that are adorable, handmade by her, and one-of-a-kind.

there really is something so special about handmade. i grew up with much of my wardrobe handmade by my mom. i never really learned to sew, but want to learn now. luckily, in the meantime, i have sisters who have that talent and i can call on them for that handmade touch... and believe me i do!

savvy''s little arm

i never thought my little girl would be the first broken bone in this family!

and she didn't even do anything exciting to break it!
today she was standing on the couch at a friends house...
(who will remain nameless on the advice of my attorney...just kidding!!)
she went to run across the couch, took two steps, and fell onto the soft cushioned couch!
guess she landed just right to buckle her little tiny bone! so so sad.


she handled it all pretty well and i'm pretty sure the lollipop afterwards was totally worth it.

we told the boys they better watch out... she has a serious defense weapon now!!

ps.. we've been having lots of fun.... some serious catch-up posts are coming...

sleeping in seattle...

savanna and i have been away from home for a few days
spending time with
this cute family...

and
enjoying this...



and this...

and this...



and this...



and these...

ha ha ha...



but really missing all those boys back at home...

july holidays

we're having fun celebrating this month...


the 24th of july
we spent pioneer day in our town celebrating. the kids were in the parade... they were supposed to dress up as someone who has given a lifetime of service. for some reason, they interpreted that as... dress up like something you want to be when you grow up. well, we settled on cameron dressing as a scientist / inventor and barrett as a pilot... cameron didn't think it was very funny when i told them they looked like "cade & susie"..ha ha. ethan dressed up as a doctor. i don't really know why elmo was part of the parade, but i do know that it made ethan's day to meet him!




after the parade we spent the afternoon at the city park for the games, treats, entertainment and fun...



i love this day here in this small town. it is a lot of fun and really old-school which makes it all the better!


later that day, we went over to bbq at my parents and babysit cute mariah. savvy and mariah are becoming quite the little buddies. we went over to the owlz game to watch the fireworks... we had a great view! mariah and savanna were SO cute and so opposite during the fireworks. savanna was jumping up and down, laughing and squealing while mariah was quietly covering her eyes just waiting for them to end... wish i had had my camera with me.





the 4th of july




the boys participated in a great flag ceremony early morning on the 4th.
my dad is in charge of this every year and it is quite the ceremony!
we spent the rest of the day at my parent's relaxing, eating, playing with cousins, setting off fireworks and then going to watch the big fireworks... fun stuff. oh ya - and we went up to the mall the meet glenn beck... we ran into our friends there and it was totally fun... i really like glenn beck... i think he is hilarious... i feel old now that i know the talk radio guys so well...

june

so we waited quite a while, but summer did come after all!
we had a busy month in june...

here are a few highlights....


the summer buzz... except for barrett.
he didn't want a buzz and is refusing to have any haircut.



we went to the children's art festival with friends... the company was great but the festival was not quite as fun as we expected...crowded and hot! ethan and savanna weren't feeling well that day and just wanted to lie under a tree, but the older kids had a good time. can you tell it was baseball season?? crazy boys...


we were so excited to get visits from lots of family early in the summer this year! john, tamara and their kids came to visit... sorry, i didn't take any pics... but we did have a great time with them. it meant a lot to barrett that they came to one of his baseball games.

then, a few days later...

papa d and bev came to visit for a few days! the kids just love their grandparents and love to be around them. we were even able to spend fathers day with both our dads this year at a little bbq at my parents house.



savanna spent the afternoon playing tetherball... ethan was given lessons in monkey bars by grandpa steve. i think all the fun wore everyone out!


and a few days after that...



the smalls came to stay a few days! ahhh- i really slacked on the picture taking!-
every summer we look forward to our time with the smalls since we know it is the only time all year we get to see them. we always have so much fun when they are here...
wish they lived closer.



beating the heat at the pool and with popsicles or watermelon in hand... does anything say summer louder??

oh and i can't forget my birthday... yes, i turned another year older. clint made the day extra special and suprised me with an ipod, and i found myself some genuine dr. pepper from dublin texas (thanks hansens! i found this stuff through you!...) which i had clint order for me...(really isn't it just easier to get your own presents sometimes?) and he took the boys to the flower shop and let them each pick out flowers for me to make a beautiful bouquet! that night we went to dinner without the kids... it was a great birthday...although i really can't believe how old we are getting... time flies faster all the time!





and pretty much the only other thing we have been doing is working on our landscaping...
pictures will be coming shortly!!