fall fun

The girls could hardly wait to rake...ah, if only I could get that excited to work!!!!!! They had a great time jumping and playing in the leaves this weekend. I let them enjoy them 100% and didn't bag anything yet. Thomas enjoyed them for the most part too. The funniest part of the night was when Claire shouted up the stairs, "Turn on the water for a bath, mom!" I told her it was already on and Thomas was taking a bath. "Great!" she responded and proceeded to march upstairs with her clothes plum full of leaves! I asked her what she was doing and she told me she was going to take a "leaf bath!" Well, I'm all about fun, but did draw the line here. Nice try, though!

celebrating school

School... Ella is in 2nd grade already and Claire had her first day of kindergarten today! My girls are growing up! Last week, Claire had a kdg. tea party with some friends and Ella had her own version of a school tea party...rootbeer floats and a treasure hunt in the woods! Claire wanted real tea cups and a fancy table. It was a beautiful day, but all the girls wanted to do was play tea party (after the real tea party, they had their own version....there were many plastic cups and much water poured!) Ella's friends stayed inside only long enough to eat and then went on a treasure hunt in the woods. Oh...how wonderfully, different my girls are!

when I turn my back

Thomas is into EVERYTHING these days!!!! Here are some recent pics of various things that he's gotten into when I've turned my back! Can't put my hands on the picture of him sucking on a disc of tempera paint either...another mess!

Prince Wm. Sound

We enjoyed some amazing weather on Prince Wm. Sound this summer & had lots of fun despite not catching many fish. Ella did land her first silver salmon & was very proud and full of advice the rest of the day as she outfished the rest of us:)
















We got especially close to some whales too...making for great photo ops:) This last random shot is of Claire eating her first peanut in a shell. After 4 years of NOT eating peanuts, we learned she is no longer allergic to them!

8 months

Thomas is 8 months old today! He loves his bath. He crawled over tonight and pulled himself up in eager anticipation. He was awfully proud of himself too, as you can see from the smirk:)

little guy crawls!

Thomas is officially crawling! He crawled from the living room to the kitchen last night, chasing a book that Claire was pulling in front of him. Aaagh! As much as we've encouraged and looked forward to him crawling, it's a strange feeling for me....where has my little guy gone? He instantly seems older!

fun week!

Well, we enjoyed a fun week with Mom, Dad & Alex...A few highlights include hiking Matanuska Glacier, going on the boat, & the 4th of July parade. Dad turned 70 in May, so we celebrated his big day as well. Fun memories!