Fun at Home

We don't have to leave home to have fun. Everything a little out of the regular routine seems fun for little kids. My favorite involves creations in the kitchen. Grandma Smith sent us a Philly pretzel packet and the kids had fun making and eating those. The kids were pretty amused by my giant loaf of artisan bread. Briana thinks it is more fun to sleep on the floor (in the hallway if she can get away with it) rather than in her own bed and she loves to make her "scary face" for a watching audience.

Saturday Morning Fishing

Cordell and Preston fishing again...this time near our house on the Umpqua. They saw lots of big Salmon jumping all around them, but no catches. Look had fun finding the dead fish and climbing the banks.

Sylvia Turned 6!

This girl has grown up so much in the past year. She has gone from a clinging mommy's girl to an excited to be going to Kindergarten girl. We can't believe how tall she is and the fun creative personality she has developed! She is very excited about being six and makes sure everyone she talks to (even the grocery store workers) knows that she is one year older. I'm afraid to say that Sylvia has some of her mothers personality in her for getting easily distracted and taking a long time to finish a task, but once she does decide to finish, she is a good help around the house. Sylvia has gotten to be a great big sister, involving Ethan and Briana in her games and play. They usually play so well together, so I love to just listen to their make believe games, often wondering where the next day will take them. Sylvia is our best eater, willing to try most things, especially fruits and vegetables. Although she also has a big sweet tooth and tends to eat her cookie before anything else in her lunch. We sure love this girl and can't believe how the years are flying by!

Two favorite things for our birthday kids are helium baloons and candy cards. They look forward to those every year. I love how such simple traditions bring great joy. I made her a felt bin so she could create stories with all of her fabric cutting skills.

Sylvia got to bring "pinkalicious" cupcakes to her class, and asked for brownies for her birthday dessert at home. We didn't do any fancy shapes or anything, but she was happy! For her birthday dinner she chose baked mac and cheese with green beans on the side. A favorite dinner for all the kids.

I love how this picture captures the joy she felt on her birthday! So far she has lost 2 teeth and her smile couldn't be any happier!

Campfire at Friends

We have some friends that are building a home on 80 acres of beautiful property, and we were lucky enough to get invited to do a campfire with them. We had a lot of fun which included dinner, fishing and tractor rides. We feel so blessed to live in such a beautiful area!