First day of school

Home Life

First Day of School!
 Presley, 1st grade.
 Zoe, Kindergarten. 

Zoe's first day of school socks. High and Tight. Some days are harder than others to not stifle Zoe's fashion works. 

2nd day of school. 

I love my three girls!

Sam, put your big girl panties on!
She tried. 

Sam's Town

Sam, get off the table!

Now.

Cheer up!

Zoe's Creations

Zoe loves the trees in the back yard!

My girl.

Fashion's finest. 

Peanut Barrel

My peanut!

The glue that holds us together!

Home School/ Home Work

Homemade pencil containers. 

A+ Presley!

Zoe's container displays two things she is really into,  Peace signs and Zebra patterns. How does this happen?

Zoe's first homework sample. Project Make Me. I don't want to criticize  this self portrait, but Gallagher came to mind. 

Gallagher came to mind again.
Zoe, honey, if you are old enough to read these blog archives, I love you and truly believe in your artistic abilities. You were born an artist!

So focused.  See you are an artist!
We decided that Project Make Me might need some sprucing up. 

Now, This is my Zoe!

Perfection!
Lots of Zebra strips, I told you.

Home Cooking

We will be discussing corn on the cob.

 Sam LOVES corn on the cob.

Great snack, but doesn't always fit in my snack bowl, so...

Just throw it on the carpet and grab the ipad. Mom doesn't care. Why would she worry about the corn when she has this pile of laundry to worry about.

Okay, seriously, I just learned that corn on the cob only needs 2 minutes in boiling water. I have always cooked it for 8 minutes. 2 minutes work better. Thanks Aunt Susan for the lesson.

Home decorating

Booby trapped stairway designed by the kids.

Multi-purpose design that can also be used to hang naughty animals.

Sam's monster wall, because she is a monster...

A cute monster. Sam, get off the table!

Woody

Woody was up a tree.

Home flashback



Monster 1 and 2



Monster 2 and 3

One Shining Moment

Hi. I see that my last blog was in April. I recall, awhile back, reading a blog about blogging. One guiding principle was...Blog regularly (so you don't lose your audience). Are you lost? Be found.

Also, we moved. California was tough. Tough times there. Now, we live in Colorado. We will be moving into our new home next week. Then, maybe then, I'll do some more homey things like...home schooling, home cooking, home decorating...ya know, the things I should be blogging about. I also know that I should not end a sentence with a preposition. Another rule I don't follow.

So this blog is intended to catch ya up on a few rough times and a few good times. We've had a lot of both.

Lets get the rough times out of the way...

Woody has been hanging on by a thin thread too!

Presley's mascara application.

No, the hand to the cheek doesn't help.

Camera Theft. Look in the mirror for evidence.

That's enough of the rough times! Now, for our late spring and summer shining moments...Wait, speaking of shining moments, I just learned this year about college basketball's "One Shining Moment"...kind of a big deal after the Final Four. Note to self; if watching Final Four with actual basketball fans, DO NOT change the channel or go to bed until "One Shining Moment" is completed! Thought you should know. Wish I would have known that little rule. So, if you know the tune, go ahead and play it in your head while you look through these highlights...

My shining moment in Tehachapi's last spring snow.

Presley is proud!

An uncle's shining moment if I ever saw one.

"One Shining Moment" Come on...sing along.

First taste of the Missouri River.

Zoe is very shiny.

Name that movie ...

•  "Is there a different mailroom?"
• " No. This is the only one."
• " It's not very shiny."
  (hint: one of my favorite Xmas movies)

The man who educated me on "One Shining Moment"
He too had an uncle's shining moment by giving the girls an amazing day on the river

Oh ya!

Presley caught air. Olympic style. 

That is all for now. I really hope you are found. 

Does it Matter?

The cousins just left. Boooooooo. Let's blog.

Home Cooking...

Coffee Cake. Yum. I cooked it two minutes too long. Don't do that.
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/06/the-best-coffee-cake-ever/

Home Schooling...

The girls and the cousins played "store".  Presley learned that 50% means half (in this instance half of "eneything") Eneything is a special word that encompasses both anything and everything, leaving no room for confusion. The word really depicts the intensity of the sale.  I owe a special thanks to cousin Isabelle for the fine math lesson and the wonderful shopping experience. Presley learns more in one day from Isabelle than in months with me or any other teacher. Seriously.

Home Decorating...


Lets focus on landscaping this week.

What yard doesn't need an all seasons sledding hill? A little shovel like the one pictured will do just fine to dig out any annoying rocks. Just toss it to the side-like when done. Absolutely no need to put your equipment away after use.

All seasons sledding hills are very convenient for times when there is no snow or otherwise nothing else to do. Warning: make sure you pick up any small human beings standing at the bottom. If possible, instruct children to keep their bodies inside the sled. I'm not sure this ended well for Zoe. 

Another landscaping idea would be to make mud, get your patio really dirty, and dig a random hole. This will give your backyard a real "kids play here" look. That is important for keeping it real. We like to keep it real. 

Home Life...


Sam's Town...


Sam has found her voice. And by that, I mean she screams her bloody head off all the time. It is horrible. We had eight girls in the house and all of them together didn't have a chance being heard above Sam's obnoxious screams. I don't know what to do. What should I do? It is horrible. She needs signs. She needs words. She needs to stop screaming. It is horrible. 

Uncle Keith gave her a new Native name "Sam Screaming Weasel"

Screaming Weasel needed a nap.

My sister commented that Sam occasionally has an "I know something you don't" look on her face. I think I see what she is talking about here as Sam hovers above Ruby. Ruby has some unique facial expressions of her own. These two might be trouble someday.

Actually, she is getting down right gangster on us. Help.

Nevermind! She is my beautiful precious angel baby. That is final. 

Zoe's Creations...


Zoe had some awesome quotes this past week. Let me see if I can remember... I can't. I really regret not writing kids quotes down before I forget them. Here is the only quote I remember (because it was just an hour ago)...
Zoe, "I want to play store. I miss my cousins. Mom, how many weeks did the cousins come to our house?"
Me, "They were here one week"
Zoe, "Two weeks is better"
Whoops,  this part was supposed to be funny. It was just sad. Sorry. Moving on.

Mark fixed up my dad's old camera. He used black and white film. Beautiful.

Zoe had some special time with her aunt.

and her cousins and her favorite princess (clearly Presley's favorite too).

Peanut Barrel...

Another black and white. Thanks Mark. Presley can steal an iphone faster than, I don't know, faster than something really fast.

Sometimes Peanut Barrel does really amazing things. For example, Mark took her into a store at Disneyland to get her a treat. She picked out this creature. Then she says, "platypus" which is a word I didn't even know how to spell until twenty seconds ago. This was a reminder that Presley is only going to speak words that are meaningful to her. She won't say "duck" or "bird" on demand but she will say "platypus" because, well, platypuses are important to her.

Tight squeeze.

Hello Cinderella.

So happy.

Does it Matter?

This question is borrowed from my niece Ava. When her mother asks her questions, Ava responds with an answer, but then frequently follows up with a question of her own...Does it matter? We got a kick out it, so we are dedicating this segment of the blog to Ava's question, "does it matter?"

Does it matter that Samantha Screaming Weasel Perfect Angel Baby got into the rice and poured the whole bag on the pantry floor? Answer: No

Does it matter that women breastfeed in public?
 Answer: Nope

Does it matter if nobody thinks you are funny?
Answer:  Yeah, It would be sad.

Does it matter if Dads show affection towards their kids?
Answer: Most definitely.

Does it matter if you don't have front teeth?
Answer: Yes, eventually you'll need them.

Does it matter if you go to the beach on a chilly day and swim with your clothes on?
Answer: Maybe

Does it matter if you eat too much sugar?
Answer: Yes, too much sugar is toxic.

Does it matter if your four older sisters have brown hair and you have red?
Answer: Not at all.

Does it matter if grown men sit in strollers?
Answer: Maybe

Does it matter?
Answer: Please God help us understand what matters and what doesn't...That matters