Getting So Big!!

Baby sister is now pulling herself up to standing against everything.

She is also feeding herself with a grown-up spoon : )

Backyard Camping

Daddy, Big Brother, and Big Sister did some backyard camping a couple of weekends ago. Baby Sister and Mommy spent the night indoors. Baby Sister was fighting a bad cough so we skipped this fun family event. We did join them for dinner and breakfast around the campfire.

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We are in the process of digging out an area for a brick patio and fire pit, but in the meantime, a hole in the ground with rocks around it works just fine for a nice fire.

Grillin' hotdogs! We also made some fun dessert packets in foil. Tortillas with various fillings such as: marshallmallow, strawberry, and chocolate chips; bananas, chocolate chips, and marshmallows; blueberries, marshmallows, and chocolate; were a few of the ones we tried.

Bacon and eggs on the fire in the a.m.

Back to School!!

Brother and Big Sister sitting outside the "schoolhouse" on their first day back. We started back on August 27th! This is Big Sister's first year to participate with us during our school time. We have some great preschool activities ready and a wonderful Fruit of the Spirit curriculum that a friend of mine and I pulled together using various resources online and a little of our own creativity.

Outside the schoolroom, aka, the basement door : )

Big Brother did a bit of decorating for our first day back.

Big Brother is really enjoying having Big Sister participate during our school time. Here he is explaining how his math manipulatives work. She was enjoying building with them when they were not in use.

Made some funfetti cupcakes and dinosaurs to create our "2nd" grade snack.

Fun At Great Grandma's House

We always enjoy our times playing at Great Grandma's farm. These are a few pictures from a few weeks ago when Aunt Leah and Andy were back from AZ. Love these action shots that Andy was able to capture.

Big Sister throwing leaves at Aunt Leah.

Always love the golf cart rides.

Everyone knows that Big Sister has a ton of naturally curly hair...

Or does she...

Homemade ice cream!!! Yummy! Grandpa makes the best!

Family Pictures 2012

We had the opportunity to spend the day at Ledges State Park recently with Aunt Leah and Andy! We had so much fun having a picnic and building dams in the water. We were also very blessed to have Andy (and Leah) take our family pictures. They turned out so great! These are just some of my favorites.

We had the opportunity to spend the day at Ledges State Park recently with Aunt Leah and Andy! We had so much fun having a picnic and building dams in the water. We were also very blessed to have Andy (and Leah) take our family pictures. They turned out so great!

Baby Sister - growing up

Love that Big Sister can sit with Baby Sister and roll a ball back and forth.

First time eating "real" food...now she is enjoying avocados, sweet potatoes, bananas, peas and oatmeal.

This was Baby Sister just about a month ago - raising up on arms but at this point still rolling herself around versus crawling.

Doing great job sitting up and can literally fold herself in half. Was take a moment to check out the other baby looking at her in the mirror.

Officially on the move just a few weeks ago. Now she is unstoppable!

Some of the Fun Ways We Stayed Cool This Summer

Yes, that is mud...and lots of it. The kids decided to create a mud pit to play in and covered themselves in it. Unfortunately, I did not get any pictures of Daddy taking the hose to them when he got home.

Spending time indoors also kept us cool this summer. We spent some time at the Science Center and the kids had the opportunity to be on the weather at noon.

This is baby sister's wide eyes for getting her picture taken. Always ready for the bright flash.

Launching rockets.

Fun in the bubbles.

We always enjoy boating, but honestly many days it was just too hot for it. We decided to brave the heat on July 4th and take the boat out and try to stay cool in the canopy and spent a little bit of time in the water, unfortunately, the water was not very clean so we didn't stay in too long.

Little bit of fishing.

We found a great little cove with a sandy area just the right size for us to dock at and play for a bit. The water at the main beach was no clean at all so this was a great alternative.

After a long, sweaty day at the lake. CRAZY hair!!

The kids enjoyed spending some time with their cousins on the slip and slide.

Ice blocks with toys frozen inside were a great outdoor activity. The kids used spray bottles, rocks, and small hammers to chip away the ice in an effort to free their toys.