Starving Chalk Artists

The girls spent the day drawing with chalk on the sidewalk. They made a happy face (Katherine added a patch to his eye, just like she has to wear) and a rainbow!

Making Cookies with Daddy

With rain falling, Daddy decided to keep the girls busy by making cookies! They got to help pour ingredients into the bowl and put the dough on the cookie sheets. Needless to say, after half of the dough started disappearing into their mouths, Daddy had to take over. Here they are before they started sneaking bites, putting their cookie dough on the sheet. How fun!

A Park A Princess Can Appreciate

Daddy took the girls to a great castle themed park, and they loved it! Sarah got a bit preoccupied with playing and had a little accident, but thank goodness for the diaper bag -- with a dry pair of shorts, she was off and running again. What fun!

A Hat for Gramps

The girls decided Gramps needed to accessorize a bit more...so they took care of it for him!

Because One Birthday Party Is Never Enough!

The girls are with Daddy the next couple weeks, which means Sarah gets to celebrate her birthday again with Daddy, Gramps, and Anita! Here she is with her choice of birthday cake - it was made of cupcakes grouped and iced like a rainbow. With that amount of icing, the girls loved it and had it all over their face!! :)

Just Some Pretty Girls :)

Katherine and Ellen enjoy being in front of the camera. :) Can you tell??

Because The Pool Wasn't Enough...

After nap time, the girls headed back outside for more water fun! They played in the pool and at the water table for a little while before heading back inside for a game of Candy Land and a dessert of Banana Creme Pie and leftover birthday cake! What a great birthday weekend -- thank you Nana, Aunt Deb, Anne, and Ellen for making this such a special birthday for Sarah!! :) We love you!

Pool Party!

We packed up our pool supplies this morning and headed to the golf course for a morning of pool fun to celebrate Sarah's birthday! The girls swam for almost 2 hours until we decided it was time to pack up and get some lunch.

What's A Birthday Without Presents?

Sarah received a lot of really fun gifts on her birthday. Katherine was not the best sport, as she didn't quite understand the presents weren't for her too. Fortunately, Sarah let her big sister help open the presents AND help play with them too (Ellen and Anne helped play with them too)! So THANK YOU to everyone!!

Happy Birthday To Sarah...Happy Birthday To You!

Sarah loved her castle cake (and enjoyed blowing out the candles even more!). All the girls even dressed up in princess attire for the birthday party. So fun!

Birthday Dinner and Dance!

We went to Spring Valley for dinner for Sarah's birthday celebration while Nana, Aunt Deb, Ellen, and Anne were visiting. There is a great dance floor there, so we picked out some songs on the jukebox and the girls had fun dancing!

A Cake for Princess Sarah

We are going to celebrate Sarah's birthday a day early because Mom and Deb are coming down with Ellen and Anne Marie. I tried to make a castle cake, and it turned out okay....not as good as it would have been has Mom made it, but it will work for Sarah! I joked I could put a turret in a cupcake and she would have been excited about that. I have a feeling she'll look past the slant of the cake and the minimal decorating. :)

From the Mouth of Little Red and Goldilocks...

We stayed in a hotel over the weekend during the anniversary celebration. The night we checked in, a tall black man was working at the counter. Katherine, as always, made it a point to greet him and introduce herself. The next morning as we left to go back to Breese, there was a white man working instead. She walked through the lobby, "Good morning! Nice - you change colors too!" Without missing a beat, he replied, "Yes I did, thanks for noticing." I'm STILL laughing about that one!



The same night we checked into the hotel, we were waiting in the lobby and an older lady walked through. She had a very hunched back and was using a cane to help her walk. Fortunately, she was wearing a long dress that covered most of her body, but it was still something Katherine or Sarah had never seen before. I was silently praying Katherine wouldn't say anything to offend the woman. Next thing I know, I hear Katherine exclaim, "Oh my goodness!" Cringing, waiting for her to say something to the lady about the way she was walking, I heard her continue, "That is the most beautiful dress I've ever seen!" She lady just smiled and said "Thank you!" while I was filled with pride and humbled - my daughter saw beauty where I had seen only handicap.



Since it was the 4th of July, the popping and booms from fireworks were all over the place. We had referred to them as "firecrackers" to Sarah when explaining what they were. Well, I guess she misunderstood, because next thing I knew, she said to me, "Mama, I don't like the firecookies. They scare me." She says cookies, I say crackers... close enough, right??



Back to the desk clerk at the hotel... the second day we came down (the same day we checked out), a woman was working the desk. Katherine said to me, "Wow, she changed again!" :) That girl doesn't miss a beat!

Swimming Sister-Style

It's neat to watch the girls in their swimming lessons. Even though they are doing different things, they still keep watch on the other one. Katherine and Sarah did a great job on the first day of lessons! I'm so proud of them both.

Swimming 101 - Goldilocks's Way

Sarah was much more nervous about her swimming lessons than her older sister. She spent much of the time holding on to Joseph's arms (poor guy!) than she did anything else. He finally got her onto the diving board at the end, and the next day she was happy as a clam in the water. :) Silly girl.

Swimming 101 - Red's Way

Katherine was a little apprehensive about swimming lessons, but as soon as she got in the water with Elizabeth, her apprehension was gone! She did a great job swimming on the board, fetching the rubber duck, and even going off the diving board (with a little help from Joseph of course!).

The Many Faces of Goldilocks

Sarah's eyes are so expressive -- she can change from contemplative, to ornery, to cute as a button in a matter of seconds. :) I was able to get a few shots of exactly that, and one with Aunt Julie as well!

A Castle Fit For a Princess (or two)

Grandma picked up a GREAT toy castle at a yard sale for $3. The girls absolutely love playing with it - there are sound effects and it says lines from movies and it lights up...everything you could ever ask for in an enchanted castle! As soon as she brought it into the room, they dove right into playing, stocked with princesses and all!

Ribbon Dancers

Aunt Julie brought some ribbon dancers for the girls, and they spent a good amount of time playing with them. They are just as fun as I remember! Sarah had a hard time at first because she kept stepping on the ribbon part, but once she realized it works better standing still (for her at least!) she was fine.