Impromptu Visit...hint...notice the RED shoes

I got a phone call yesterday from Maggie. School starts for her on Friday and she's been feeling a little burned out...so she's coming to visit! The kids were super excited, of course, they love Auntie Maggie...she's a local celebrity around our house.

Ja, Ja, J is for Jump!

Over the weekend we...

Luke wanted me to take photos of him making scary faces, so I did. Unfortunately for me, this was the only scary face he'd had in mind. He wasn't satisfied with just one photo either, he wanted me to take 10. I think he's been watching to many zombie scoobie doo episodes!

If you have kids, or have been around kids then this next comment will be no surprise to you. Carley HAD to get in on the scary face action..."Me too! Me too!" I was excited to see what she'd do, but no dice. She wasn't about to be original....she wanted to be just like big brother! I couldn't get her to do anything else. Nope, no way, uh uh there was no persuading her.

I posted this on another site I have with a bunch of med school wives and thought I should post it up here too. Here's the current chore chart that we're using....and it's working! The kids love to see their faces on the fridge and they love moving them on Sunday's when we switch jobs.

You can see the chart is separated in to 2 sections. Jobs everyone has to do everyday...like brush teeth, make bed, etc. and then I used velcro to attach their faces onto individual jobs, that rotate weekly. I put Carley on the chart b/c I'm hoping this will be the last chore chart I make in a long time. She's a pretty good cleaner, but Trent and I help her with the hard jobs.

This was Luke's attempt at emptying the dishwasher last night.
He was giggling in the kitchen the entire time he was doing this.
Silly me didn't go check because no dishes were banging or dropping...I assumed
(you'd think I'd have learned by now) he was putting them away, PROPERLY!
He thought he was pretty funny, wise guy!

Family Night At The Beach

We met Trent down at the beach after work. Luke's been experimenting with our point and shoot, so we didn't see too much of him once we arrived. The girls love to play in the sand and on the toys, so it was very relaxing for me. I just hung out and played with my camera. I think it was a win win situation for everybody!

Emry Turns 5!

This year I wanted to throw Emry an all out fabulous birthday bash! She's never had a party like this and Luke's had a few, so it was time to catch up. I decided on a garden theme, which was inspired by our current home. The day went off without a hitch...thanks in part to my mom who was there to help me. Trent is thanking her too, because he got off scott free in the help department. Everything was so beautiful and the girls had a great time. I hope Emry felt special!

A year ago, during spring, I bought a bunch of hats & gloves. I wanted to somehow incorporate them into the invitation. I decided to send the gloves with each invite in a cute purse made from netting. I printed out the invitation and had Emry paint the flowers. Then I scanned it into the computer and printed them out. They turned out so cute!

Here's my mom...aka behind the scenes guru! Thanks for all your help Mom!
I couldn't have pulled it off without you!

Here's the decor

Upon arrival, the girls started decorating their hats with all the flowers my mom had made.

Then the beads came out and everyone made a necklace.

We also had dolls to color & decorate with glitter!

The games.
We played pin the "bee" on the flower (thanks for the idea Ali).

Close pin drop into a watering can.

The Menu:
fruit kabobs
pumpkin bread
cheese
pb&j's
quiche

freshly squeezed lemonade

mini lemon cakes with lemon curd filling and butter cream frosting

Emry giggled while everyone sang happy birthday!

Addy

Sadie

Grace

Ava

Camille

I didn't want to just send the girls home with a bag full of junk toys and candy. So I spent some time looking around and I totally scored at the dollar store with these awesome goodie bags!

Labor Day