Things that make me SMILE today!

A 4th of July party sounds like fun! I wish I had enough friends and money to do one like this!







I want chalkboards all over my house! They are so fun and happy:) I love those chairs too.

“To be a righteous woman is a glorious thing in any age. To be a righteous woman during the winding up scenes on this earth, before the second coming of our Savior is an especially noble calling. The righteous woman’s strength and influence today can be tenfold what it might be in more tranquil times. She has been placed here to help, to enrich,to protect, and to guard the home – which is society’s basic and most noble institution. Other institutions in society may falter and even fail, but the righteous woman can help to save the home, which maybe the last and only sanctuary some mortals know in the midst of storm and strife. – Spencer W. Kimball


These words from a beloved Prophet of my church give me strength during this time in the world. The older I get the more I realize how important it is to be at home with my children and to be a strong example to them. I am striving to have Faith and the be a "righteous woman".

Hot Day=Pool Day

It was going to be another hot day on Wednesday so we decided to spend the afternoon at the local swim center. There were a lot of people with the same idea as us but we had fun despite the crowds. The girls love the pool and Gracie was brave enough to jump in this time. Abby swam in the deep end with mommy and Bryanna went of the HIGH DIVE 5 times. YIKES!

Bryanna after one of her famous pool flips!

Mommy and Abby taking a break from the water

Craft Tuesday #3 and Restaraunt

On this Craft Tuesday I gave the girls a canvas and let them be creative! I love how they are each different and individual to the girls. After they were done they hung them up on their walls and they were very proud of their beautiful artwork.
Later that day we played "restaraunt" in the living room which was a big treat! The girls were so excited when I decided to be the waitress and took their orders. They made their own menus and Gracie added the flowers as their centerpiece. I love these moments..I don't want them to grow up. BTW-Gracie never takes her bathing suit off!

Maggie's latest victim

Since this dog came into our lives we have lost a few things in our household: flip flops, barbie hand, scrapbook stickers, a cup, a waterbottle, some play food, etc., and the latest victim-little barbie girl! The girls were pretty upset because now they only have 2 barbie kids instead of 3! I won't pretend that it's not totally irritating and that I feel like a prisoner in my own home sometimes. Maybe there will be a day when I will be ok with this dog but right now I am grieving the loss of yet another one of our belongings. R.I.P Barbie Girl

It's all about Dad day!

Derek has been a Dad for over 9 years now and he is an awesome one! The girls love their daddy. They are always excited when he comes home from work and Abby especially likes when the "tickle monster" comes out! Derek is a loving dad, hardworking, fun and such a good example to our girls. We love him so much!

I am thankful for my own Dad and for the great example he is to me. He is a strong, honest and hardworking man and I love him very much.

Movie in the Park

It was a fun night at Movie in the Park in Gardnerville. We had been looking forward to this all week! We had some good friends with us, The Christensen's and Shattuck's and lots of good snacks. The weather was decent and the stars were out. We watched How to Train Your Dragon and the kids enjoyed it. Derek was kind enough to get on the ground and take a picture, notice his goofy face!

Here is a picture of everyone, well almost everyone.
I love doing things like this. I really love to spend time with our little family and friends too! This is what makes me happy:)

Treat Thursday #2

As part of our Summer List we are doing a Treat Thursday. This week it was Flip-Flop cookies from FamilyFun.com! They were fairly easy and fun to put together. Abby's are on the left, then Gracie's, Mommy and Bryanna. She had already ate one of hers before I took the picture;) For our first Treat Thursday we just made chocolate chip cookies and I didn't get a picture.

Maggie

I thought I would post an updated picture of how big Maggie is getting. She even posed for this picture! I still sometimes cannot believe that I have a dog in my house. Here's the proof! She is 3 months old now, not sure how much she weighs yet. She is getting better about sleeping in and she knows how to sit and "get out"! I'm sure there are more adventures to come.

Craft Tuesday #2

Our second Craft Tuesday was on Flag Day so in honor of the flag we did this Patriotic craft from FamilyFun.com. We added our own "bling" and put some glitter on! We are going to use these as decoration for the 4th of July too.

Training Wheels or Not?

Abby is trying to learn to ride her bike without training wheels and she is very apprehensive about this. Her sisters want if for her more than she does I think. We've tried it on the grass and on the street but so far it's just practice! We'll keep trying though.

That DOG!

This isn't the best picture but I just had to document what THE DOG is doing. Maggie can't stand it when the girls are in the front yard/street playing and she's inside and so she jumps on the couch (which is not ok) and then she proceeded to walk the window sill!! Seriously!
There are moments now and then that I see her and she is almost asleep and she look so cute and I could pick her up and hold her like a baby, but then.....she gets up and nips at me or tries to lick me or chews up another one of our shoes and then I realize what I've felt since the beginning...GET THIS DOG OUT OF MY HOUSE! It all comes down to the word SACRIFICE. I'm sacrificing my feelings for the good of my husband and children because they all love her. I do my duty and I take care of her and feed her but I can definitely say that we have not formed a bond yet. She LOVES Derek, of course and that's good because she will listen to him.. She will one day be his hunting buddy so that's a good thing I guess. I'll get back to you on that!

Summer Haircuts, Summer Reading, Summer Fun!

Part of our Summer Chores is to read for 20-30 minutes a day. One reason we do it is so they don't suffer from the "summer slide" and lose all they have learned at school and also we do it because we sign up for the Summer Reading Program at our local library. The girls actually like to read and we do it all together (even Mommy reads her book) so it makes a nice quiet 2o minutes at our house.

Summer Haircuts! The girls were so excited to cut their hair short like mommy's for the summer. Thanks to our good friend and hairdresser Alison, they all look super cute! This is the day after so it doesn't have the nice "after salon" look. It will be nice to not have to brush through the long tanged hair after swimming too!

Showing off their trampoline skills.
I'm so glad we got a trampoline 4 years ago (it used to have a net and bumper). It has been a great resource for getting the wiggles out!

Summer List and Crafty Tuesday

We have been doing a "Summer List" for a few years now. I got the idea from my favorite blog WHATEVER.
It's fun to make the list each year and to think of new, fun things to do. Some of the things on the list are things we do every year and then we try to think of new ones too.

Our first Craft Tuesday, which was also taken from WHATEVER. The girls really enjoyed this painting craft and I did too. They look really cool when they are all done! I have been searching online for more creative projects. More Craft Tuesdays to come!
I love to keep the girls busy and trying new things. It's personally fulfilling and I think the girls really enjoy it! It also helps with my sanity during the summer days.

Last Day of School

First Day of School-August 2010


Last Day of School-June 2011

Abby will be a 1st grader!

Gracie goes on to 2nd grade

Bryanna crosses over to the 4th grade and goes to lunch with the "big" kids!

Last walk up to the bus stop for this school year
(notice the wet streets and rain coats..ya, it's raining and cold on June 6th)

We had a succesful and fun school year. Our girls really love school and we were so lucky to have 3 great teachers. Bryanna and Gracie will have the same teachers next year and Abby will have a new teacher in 1st grade.
Here's to a fun and drama free summer!

Fishing Derby

Our first annual Fishing Derby in Carson Valley. It is has been going on for 22 years.
It is a free event that you register for and I didn't know exactly what to expect.
It was sooo much fun! The girls each caught their 2 fish limit within 20 min. or so and they were so happy. Derek was only able to help Abby so Gracie and Bryanna were on their own but thankfully there were AWESOME volunteers helping. We had the fish cut and cleaned there and we might cook them tonight:/ I'm not a big fan of fish and I don't like cooking it so it's all in Derek's hands.

Abby in her first spot. She wasn't getting any bites so Derek moved her upstream and she caught a fish within 5 minutes.

Gracie with her second catch of the day!

Pretty fingernails always look better when you're holding a fish.

Gracie's fish were the biggest!

Daddy taught Abby how to hold the fish the "right" way. I love that she had to wear a skirt for this special occasion;)

Yay for the Fishing Derby! It was a great experience and I'm glad Derek could be there with us. It's always better when there is 5 of us!

Softball, Softball, Softball

Bryanna played girls softball this year for the first time. She had played t-ball in kindergarten but never mentioned wanting to play again and I didn't ask about it (mostly because baseball is my least favorite sport). This year two of her friends were playing and she expressed interest, so we went for it. What I love about Bryanna is that she can have a good time doing just about anything, even though she was the least experienced she had fun and wants to do it again!
Their team name was Orange Cuties and they have won 2 games and tied once!! Every game except one has been cold because have had the craziest spring here in Nevada, good thing we ordered awesome orange sweatshirts:)
Way to go Cuties! Way to go!

Abby Graduated....from Kindergarten!

Here come the graduates! They played the graduation procession song. I always get a little emotional!

It's crazy to think that they will graduate high school in 2023!

Abby played the maracas for their Pinata song. She shook them the whole time but didn't sing at all. I guess she's not a multi-tasker yet.

Happy Girl!

Thankfully Daddy was able to come too. He had to miss a meeting but family is most important right? Abby was happy to see him there.

Abby and her BFF. I won't put her name on here for privacy but their names rhyme and her teacher always called them the Rhyming Friends!! They are really cute together.

Today was a special day. We are so happy for Abby and she has learned and grown so much this year. We hope that she will continue to enjoy school in the years ahead. We love her soooo much!