Making Memories

We were in recovery mode today.  Yesterday we partied hard with our friends.  This statement takes on a whole new, yet still quite accurate meaning when you consider that "we" is in reference to four adults with our six children under five getting together for a fun evening of grilling, trampolining, swinging (on the swing set), running, sandbox-ing, exploring, chasing, and s'mores eating, with grown up conversation in between.  The three "little kids" (under 2) went to bed after s'mores and the three "big" kids (3 and 4) got in jammies and stayed up to watch Snow White while the adults visited around the fire pit.  My husband and my friend's husband had spent what seemed like an hour getting that fire started.  They didn't use a lighter or any matches.  Just some old-fashioned cave-man fire-starting stuff.  I was literally on my way to get the lighter (because it was way past time for s'mores!!) when I saw smoke finally rising from our fire pit.  The manly men prevailed, and it was good.

We had a wonderful time with friends.  The kids all got sufficiently sweaty and dirty and scraped up to consider it a true summertime playing extravaganza.  They explored our "woods" (treed area around the perimeter of our yard) and jumped themselves silly on our new trampoline.  My husband, hero of the evening, played a new game with them, which involved getting on his hands and feet under the trampoline and chasing the kids by pushing his butt up into the trampoline from the underside while running around bear-crawl style.  I wish I had seen this and gotten a photo.  I heard the laughter and screaming of the kids, but I was putting Sis to bed while this was going on.  So I, like you, have only a (very hilarious) mental image of these antics to go by.  Oh how I love that man. 

Needless to say, we were all feeling a little worn out today.  Incredibly, the girls only slept in a little bit past their usual wake up times, so they were pretty tired and crabby today.  We got lots of good down time in though.  Nothing like being pooped to bring a family together for some serious bonding.  The girls made breakfast with their Daddy.  

They love helping him cook eggs.  They work the pepper mill and really get into pinching and sprinkling the salt from my salt pig.

We read lots of books and just relaxed.

This afternoon we went outside for more backyard fun.  I love watching the big girls run and play in the yard.  They go on "adventures" and make up scenarios involving monsters and giants and castles and rescue missions.  We got them sufficiently tuckered out again this evening.  

This is the stuff of memories.  

Braving the Pool

I took the girls to the pool this afternoon for the first time this summer.  It's pretty hot here, so I figured it would be a good way to get some outside time after naps (or non-nap in the case of Miss).  My husband had a meeting, so I braved the pool on my own.  Through having the girls in the water at my sister-in-law's in the past few weeks, we have learned that Lass is fearless when it comes to the water, so I was a bit nervous.  I figured we'd be okay though since the pool has zero-entry and I put a floatie on her.  At first it was super easy, and I wondered what I had even been nervous about.  Sis sat in her car

seat in the shade and Miss and Lass splashed around harmlessly in less that one foot of water, pretty much right by my feet.  Then a friend, who is about two months older than Miss showed up.  It was great for the girls to be able to play with her, but her arrival disrupted our little peaceful, safe, easy playing.  She and Miss immediately headed for deeper water ("deeper" in this case meaning one to two feet) and of course Lass went right along with them.  They were playing "horsey" on some of those pool noodles.  That, in addition to the slightly deeper water, was enough to throw Lass off her balance a bit, and twice I went running though the water and hauled her up after she lost her footing and went face first into the water.  With the noodle under her she couldn't quite get her feet back under herself.  After the second time, I had to call it quits for Lass for today.  I think I'm going to get a more substantial life jacket and maybe we'll try it again in a few days.  That girl freaks me out.  She's my little dare devil.  

I really would love to have some photos of our pool time to post, since it was mostly lots of fun and the girls were, naturally, oh so cute splashing around.  But between hawk-watching Miss and Lass, trying to keep the sun off Sis (she was perfectly shaded in her car seat, but then got fussy, so I put her in the Ergo), and making life-saving dives for my middle child, the camera never made it out of my bag.  So instead, I'll share with you a few of the photos from last week at the farm.

Of course my husband did tons of fishing and the girls were very excited to see some of the larger fish he caught.  No filleting this time, though.

Foos-ball-room for the princesses to dance in.

We had a very big and somewhat scary storm the last night we were at the Farm.  It blew up right around snack time, so we took our stuff to the basement for a picnic.  The girls seemed unfazed in spite of all the thunder and lightning, the 40-50 MPH winds, sideways-falling rain and hail. 

Of course we celebrated Father's Day morning at the Farm before heading home.  During the week prior to our trip, I had the girls make Father's Day paintings.  They painted canvases for their Daddy.

Then Miss did paintings on paper for my Grandpa, my Dad, and my Father-in-law (Lass lost interest after her canvas was done).  At the end as she was finishing up the painting for my Father-in-law, her Papa, she decided it would be funny to stick her face in the still-wet paint.

She seems to be our little budding artist.  She really loves to paint anything.  She got really into painting some gourds with my Mother-in-law when we were at the farm.  She seems to understand the power of art to make people smile too.  When she created her painting for my Grandpa she said, "I think this will make Great-grandpa happy."  Yes, I think so too.

Fashion Shows and Fishing

The title of this post really sums up the variety of things the girls have to do when we go to the farm.  The last post showed a good selection of their activities, as well.  It just seems never-ending.  One day early in the week I came out of our room after feeding and changing Sis to find this:

 You can't see much of them here, but she paraded around in these big gold flats calling them her "dancing shoes."

The girls and their "Baba" (my mother-in-law) had gotten into the dress up basket and they were in heaven.  Miss switched between several different outfits, but Lass found the one she liked and didn't vary from it. They were both princesses ready to go to the ball.  We all got dressed up and danced and twirled.  They selected my outfit.

Yes, we all got dressed up.

Sis gave her opinions on our outfits and dancing techniques.

She is very chatty these days.

I think it was Tuesday that the girls discovered the dress up clothes, and from that point on, each morning when they woke up the first thing Lass did was ask for "dress up!" and "pincy!" (princess).  She spent much of the rest of our time there in that pink leotard.  In fact she often had a mini fit when I took it off her to change her diaper of get her dressed.  The one thing she was always willing to take it off for though was to go and play outside.  We had lots of fun exploring the Farm on the Ranger.

We took a long ride one day and ended up on a dirt road where there were two very old houses that had mostly collapsed.  I pointed them out to Miss and she was fascinated by them.  She kept talking about the houses that had fallen down and how someone should have taken better care of them and maybe we should go and fix them.

 Stopping for a snack in the shade.  

Of course after our ride it was time to go fishing.  Miss had been talking about fishing with her Daddy for weeks before this trip.  She caught some bluegills, which she called "blue jays" when I asked her what kind she had caught.  

Lass loved to sit by the pond and throw rocks in the water while her sister was fishing.

We had a jammy day one day when it was cold and rainy out.  The weather was great for fishing so my husband and two nephews went out on the boat and ended up bringing home dinner.  Lots of walleye.  The girls were quite intrigued by the process of filleting the fish.

Notice Lass's outfit.

The girls' cousin showed him the walleye's teeth.

My girls always seem to grow and learn so much after a week of travel, either to the farm or visiting my family, or wherever we go.  Lass's vocabulary seems to triple and Miss's use of subtleties of language improves noticeably.  She even learns things like, "I'm going to kick you in the weenie!" from her older boy cousins, which of course prompts a conversation about what a weenie is and why we don't say that or do that.  But that could be another whole post, I suppose.

I love to watch my girls blossom at the farm.

An Anniversary Post

I had a date night with my hubby tonight for our anniversary, which was yesterday, but he has been working nights this week and just finished up this morning.  So, date night tonight.  It was fabulous.  First night out since Sis's arrival BTW, and all went perfectly (I will never again underestimate the beauty of having a baby who will drink from a bottle).  Four years of wedded bliss with my BFF, my soul mate, the man of my dreams...  It's late and I have had a glass of wine, so I don't really have it in me to do an original anniversary post tonight.  But I like the one from last year.  It sums up my feelings for my hubby nicely, so here you go.  Good night!

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Three years ago today, I married the man of my dreams. I know. Saying "the man of my dreams" is totally cliche. However, I think the reason many phrases become cliche is that they are so true. My husband really is the man of my dreams. Before I met him, if I thought of the kind of person I wanted to, or dreamed of, spending my life with, I would have described him. Handsome. Intelligent. Funny. Considerate. Hard-working. Sans piercings... You name it. If I once wished for a quality in a potential mate, he has it. And then some.

Another way I could describe my husband is to say that he is my soul mate. All right. Another cliche. But it's true! The man could have been created especially for me. He gets me. We're a great team. He completes me. Oops! There's another one :)

Okay, how about this? My hubby is my best friend. My BFF. Cliche? Maybe. But also true. I would rather spend time with him than anyone else. I love to spend time chatting with him about all sorts of things. I also just love to be in the same room with him even if we're not talking. He could be working on his computer and I might be reading, and I will always choose to read my book in the same room as him just to be near him.

He is the person I look forward to waking up with every morning. He is my partner in all things. He makes me laugh. He does the dishes while I put the girls to bed. He encourages me to pursue my interests, like book clubs and cooking classes. He lets me know in many ways how much he appreciates me. He does fun things with me like our "Chopped" at home adventure. We share the same values. He loves me and respects me and takes care of me. He is a wonderful dad to our girls.

Here's to three years of wedded bliss, harmonious matrimony, living real life every day with the man of my dreams. My soul mate. My best friend. My husband is all these things. Truly. Cliche or not. He floats my boat. Lights my fire. Trips my trigger. Yep. I love him.

A Little Daddy Time

I have written many times about how much my older girls love their time with their Daddy.  When he comes home from work, they shriek and run to him.  As soon as dinner is over they're begging him to play "monster" with them or read to them or dance with them.  They are definitely Daddy's girls.  

Baby Sis is following right in their footsteps.

Every night she has a little special time with her Daddy and seems to enjoy it thoroughly.

Daddy's Girl.