Hair today, gone tommorrow

Well, Samuel did get his pig tails cut off. He looks much older and his head isn't quite so round looking. Poor little guy has been sick almost consistently for the past two months now. As you can see from the picture he is not quite himself yet.

To continue with the trend, Abigail decided she wanted to cut her hair to her shoulders. Like Lucy in Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. (Her latest craze) She briefly considered changing her name. I tried to discourage her - 'we won't be able to tell you and Grammy's dog apart!'

Being a girl of action she has finally completed her flower garden in the middle of the front yard. There was a dead patch (it didn't even have dead grass in it) and she wanted to beautify it. She created the border weeks ago, but we finally got flowers in it.

And lastly on our list of exciting happenings... the have had their first experience of the 'ice cream truck'. I have to give you a brief history.
Living in Tacoma, we hear/see the ice cream truck a lot. Not wanting to give a reason for any whining or begging, I was very adamant about always calling it the 'music truck'. "Yeah! There goes the music truck!" Well sometime around when Abigail was 4 1/2 she turned to me and exclaimed "mom, did you know they have ice cream in those trucks?"  REALLY?!? Well, this summer I told them if we ever were out when the ice cream truck went by, and it was a good time, and we had money, we could get ice cream. It has taken us 2 months to catch the ice cream truck. Truly. His usual time to come by it 8pm. Nice huh? But, if we happen to be in the yard and hear him approaching, the kids would book it to the front yard in time to see him speed past. But finally, yesterday, though it was raining, we happened to be near enough to the front yard and Abigail flagged him down. It was only 4:30 too! Sweet victory.

I Need Your Opinion

Because my most loyal readers are related to my husband...what is you opinion of Chris with facial hair?

This one doesn't really look like him...I think it is because of the shower curtain. 

 

And boy! Elijah has the same really big eyes as his daddy! (with a bit more dirt and raspberry juice)

In Desperate Need of a Haircut

Help! Look what they've done to my hair! 

I can't help it that it all grows on the sides!

I am kinda cute though!

 

Why are they laughing at me?

Editors note: Samuel is 8 months old and has already received 2 haircuts!

Beach Trip!

Well, our weather finally resembled summer. We had two days with temps in the 90's. So what else could we do but go to the beach? These are pictures from our second day there. (yes, I went two days in a row. Two days of lots of sunscreen, lots of sand, and lots of no napping. I am still recovering.) We took my brother and sister with us this time. It was nice having some bigger helpers.

Elijah loved playing in the water...

...of a mud puddle. Not so keen on the ocean.

One of my favorite things about this beach is the huge flat sandy beach. (when the tide is out) You can walk out in the water for a hundred yards and still only be in to your knees! Great for the kids!

Abigail loved 'swimming' on her hands.

 

Time for digging! My brother unintentionally caught 4 clams!

The highlight was of course...the Pug. Abigail was so excited to finally see a real live Otis. This was a very large Otis. And her name was Ginger. She liked pretzels.

'Tis The Season For...

Making mud pies

Poppies!

Learning new tricks!

I'm not sure what Samuel thinks about being 

carried by someone less than half his weight...

H

He started crawling July 4 - he is already pulling up on things!!

Picnics outside!

Salad a la carte!

Being Silly!

What happens when my sister get's the camera.

Food and Fireworks!

Happy Independence Day!

We spent the evening at Steve and Trish's enjoying family, friends, yummy food, and REALLY good brisket! (which was equally as yummy for breakfast the next day...and lunch...)

Prepared for the fireworks!

It was getting late...we are a bit sleep deprived.

Samuel showed no fear of the fireworks or their noise, however, they were very distracting and he couldn't sleep. Also as a side note, he started crawling earlier that day!

Elijah snuggling with Auntie Hannah

I celebrated this exciting holiday with a double batch of strawberry freezer jam!

Yippee! Look Who's Three!

Well, last weekend Elijah turned 3! Oh my how the time flies. We celebrated with a party full of people.
Yeah for bouncy things to help burn off the sugar!

Praise the Lord it was sunny, but also a bit windy. This is where we are trying to talk Elijah into pretending to blow out the candles. Umm...yeah. He didn't' go for it.

Yeah for rainbow cake that I copied from my niece's birthday.

The girls crowd in...but he keeps his focus.

The gifts were definitely boy...tractors, dump trucks, trains... he loved it!

He has asked pretty much every day since then..."am I still three?"