How did she get so cute?

I LOVE it when Ginger talks about her "cheekies" and her "chinny chin chin". I can't get myself to correct her---because it makes me smile every time she says it. How did she get so cute?

Festival of Trees

This is the tree that Sara and I did for the Festival of Trees this year. We made 39 stained glass stars and used every one of them. I'm hoping I have the ambition to make some more for myself. I LOVE colored glass!

Disneyland

We had a great time at Disneyland, but one visit every five years is enough for me.

Leo is still obsessed with Indiana Jones . . . Legos, video games, movies, costumes, . . . but NOT the ride----he freaked out SO BAD that he got us kicked off.
Snow White was the last princess we saw-----Ginger saw so many princesses in two days that she didn't even care at this point. We left Disneyland four days ago and NOW she can't stop talking about it.

This Sums Up Everything

The kids had this idea for a picture. I think it clearly expresses how I feel every day of my life.
"Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom . . . MOM!!!" Life is busy!!!

I'm soooo glad . . . .

. . . that today was the first day of school!!! We've had a long summer, and it's going to be lovely to get back to structured days again. Hannah, Eddie, and Leo were excited too. Ginger, on the other hand, is going to be lonely.

Ginger's Tea Party Birthday

I had so much fun throwing this party. The two best parts of the day were, 1st When we were setting up and preparing food before the party and Ginger was examining everything and saying, "Oooo, it's so faaaannncy!" and 2nd Watching Ginger drink like seven cups of raspberry lemonade because she was so excited about playing tea party. It made all of the work soooo worth it!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Ginger Fantastic! I love you!!

What good manners these girls have as they wipe their faces with their napkins :)

Leo's Water Birthday Party

Leo is happy with a cake and presents---the details of his birthday party don't really matter to him. I had to remind him to play with his guests, because he kept standing by the gift table dreaming about what could be behind all of that colorful paper.

This was an easy party. We set up an inflatable water slide, dunk tank, and a moonwalk and sent the kids off to play. There was one little boy who came to the party, ran around and looked at everything and said, "isn't there anything else to do?" About fifteen minutes later he was yelling, "this is the best birthday party EVER!!!"

I had to add a picture of Leo's "kung fu" pose. He has made this pose every time he sees a camera for the past year. I wonder how long this phase will last.