Freedom

Today was one of those days that just flowed perfectly. Waking up this morning to the house being so orderly was very freeing. It made our morning much easier. After lunch we met my mom and little sisters at the river and went for a nice walk. In the end we walked 4 miles. Of course the baby was in the wagon but everyone else walked. Afterwards, because the girls were such good sports about the whole thing, my mom bought everyone an ice cream cone.

This evening I took the Chiggie shopping with her birthday money. She was very selective and picked out some cool new toys. It was fun just the two of us. It was kind of hard for the other girls when we got home, but I got some donuts and that eased their suffering a bit. Soon enough it will be their turn. Tea's birthday is just around the corner....

Accomplished

That's how I'm feeling tonight. I cleaned all day. Literally from the time we got up until the girls went to bed. The house is all clean at once from top to bottom. It's rare that I can accomplish that so when I do it always feels pretty good. While I cleaned the girls did a pretty good job entertaining themselves. Chiggie got a video camera for her birthday and they made movies all day. I am constantly amazed at their creativity. I'll have to share one of their creations sometime it's pretty good stuff. For now I'm off to bed. I'm hoping to get some rest and then ride out this burst of cleaning energy. Maybe tomorrow I'll tackle the yard. Maybe....

Party Time

Today was Chiggie's actual party and it was a lot of fun. Despite the forecast being terrible the weather was great. Not too hot but no thunder of lightning either.Everyone she invited came for a total of 19 people. She got some really cool gifts and enjoyed playing with some of her friends that she hasn't seen since the last day of school.
Before the party we spent over an hour filling up several hundred water bombs. They were sturdy and didn't break until the kids threw them. They got soaking wet and loved every minute of it.

It was a really fun day and now we're all exhausted. Hopefully tomorrow will allow for a little r and r.

Sliding

Simple Joys

Feeding the ducks just never gets old.

Cool Days, Pool Days

Camie and Chiggie showing just how much they love to swim.
Pool snacks are the best!

Getting a picture of all 4 girls together is almost impossible these days.


Boo needed the goggles to search for some of their toys that had floated to the bottom of the pool.

Midge and her took turns searching.

Tea's lips are absolutely blue in this picture. She moved up to the big pool this year. The baby pool is just so, well, babyish..

Here Chiggie is blazing down the slide, goggles in hand.

Boo loves pouring water from this bucket over, and over, and over....

My sisters came along for the Birthday fun. Here Camie is climbing out after a fantastic jump off the diving board.

Marlee is a pretty good swimmer herself. She's a blast to have along as she loves to play with the little girls.


Look at that air. Go Chiggie!

The Birthday girl posing. This is what 8 looks like folks. She had a wonderful day swimming and playing with friends. She picked scalloped potatoes and ham for dinner and brownies for dessert. A girl after my own heart. I am so happy that she has been a part of our lives for 8 years now and I can't wait to see what the future holds for her.

Glimpse

Just a little glimpse into our day today: Boo and the King just chillin'. She keeps rubbing his head and asking about his hair.

This is Tea's sneaky look. She was getting ready to pounce on me, but I busted her.

Midge snoozin'. She's going through that awkward phase where she doesn't take a nap everyday anymore, but occasionally she just konks out on us. Unfortunately when she naps she stays up way too late at night. It's a vicious cycle.