Painting pumpkins and gourds

Tonight we painted pumpkins and gourds. I'll post pics soon of the finished products :)

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

My little Ivy girl loves to sing and dance!  She is very much a girly girl, which has been quite the surprise to me as I was always more of a tomboy (I'm sure I was more girly than I give myself credit for, but that's how I remember things).  Anyways, her pronunciation needs a little bit of work, but one song she absolutely LOVES is Twinkle twinkle little star! If she's upset about something, all I have to do is start singing this song and she'll calm right down.  It's really sweet. I'll have to get a recording of her singing and post it because it's just precious!

Now, if I can just get this girl to let me fix her hair (I should've started putting more in her hair when she was a little baby and perhaps she'd be a little more supportive...).

What we do

Dirt is our friend these days. I guess dirt + water so technically mud...

The Jarman's visit!!

My brave little sister came to visit us last week with her four kids un tow! She's amazing (I'm afraid to go almost anywhere with two kids and without Dirk... Plus, she has a sweet ride) and I give her big props for her bravery!

Needless to say, we had a really good time! Sara and three of her kids got foot zone treatments from my friend Susan (she does amazing work) and after that we did our best to be healthy! Lots of red raspberry leaf tea and green smoothies... Ahhh, I love my seester!! Eli and Ivy get along so well with their cousins that it makes life easy for me (I'm not required for so much entertainment). Levi, Sara's oldest, is so awesome. He can clean like no other seven year old I know!!

Here are a few pics from their visit:

Eli turns 4!!!

Eli turned four on Thursday, but we waited to celebrate until Friday so we could party it up with his cousins in good ol' St. Geezy!! It was a blast for about the 30 minutes that it lasted! ;). We hit the piñata, collected candy and then ate cupcakes. Eli opened a couple of presents in there too.

My fabulous mother and awesome sister Sara had chicken enchiladas ready when we got into town and then had the cupcakes all ready for us too. :). Sara's boy Levi is such a great cousin! He picked a tractor for Eli for his birthday and it was "the best part"! :D!

I love my big four year old! Eli is my helper. He's very kind and considerate, thoughtful and loving! I'm so glad he came to our family!