SEVEN!

Seven.
Corinne is still the sweet and tenderhearted girl she has always been.
I'm thankful for her!

Corinne's day was lunch with friends, a piano recital, and dinner with family. She claimed this the best birthday yet.

5 Years old!

 Audie turned 5 a week ago. Her birthday festivities drew out quite a long while. And, she took advantage of her birthday too... She may have used it a tad to get what she wanted. I have no idea who she would take after by doing that!...

The weekend before her birthday, we had a "Messy Party". We haven't had birthday parties for the girls other than family and close friends. This was the first time besides their one year old parties that we had an actual "party". We invited all of her friends and they were all gracious to come a be a part!

Our Messy Party theme included everything about getting messy! We filled pools with water beads, mud, flour, slime, had LOTS of Silly String, whipped cream, shaving cream, finger painting, and a slip and slide. The kids LOVED it...especially the boys. Not so sure the boys' moms loved me for hosting this kind of party, but it definitely was a hit, and the kids had fun.

mud fights....

I think Selah got caught in the crossfire of a flour fight.

Some of the participants...

 It was a really great time.
THANK YOU to my friend Lauren who took all of these pictures at the party. THANK YOU!

The end of the week consisted of a trip to Kansas City. We visited with Matt's family for a couple of days, and then spent two days as a family on the Plaza. We intended for the last half to be a family vacation since we never did one earlier this summer. While it was nice to have down time, it didn't really feel like a vacation. Kansas City is just too familiar to the both of us to feel like we were "away". Still, the girls has lots of fun, and we made some new family memories.

While we were there I took both of the girls' birthday pictures.
Below are pictures of one of the most spunkiest girls you will ever meet! Audie continually has the gift to make us laugh, and the gift to laugh at herself. She is fiery and feisty, and I love this girl to death! 

What's been goin' on.

Life has been a tad stressful the last couple of weeks. I feel terribly behind, and though I'm not as far behind as my mind thinks I am, mentally, I am tired.

Amanda left for college last weekend. Boo! We will sure miss her. (we already do!) Really proud of her though, and can't wait to see what's next for her. We are glad Ali is doing college here!

We have been doing school for a week now. And...it hasn't gone very well. It isn't easy homeschooling two kids at the same time. It isn't easy keeping a two year old entertained while trying to teach the older girls. And, since we are doing school online, it's new for all of us, learning how to navigate the system. I feel like I have spent more time following links and downloading textbooks rather than actually teaching. It seems near impossible to go back and forth between each kid. It probably sounds like I am complaining, which I don't want it to come across that way, because I am very thankful I get to homeschool and have my kids at home. But these are the facts. It hasn't been easy. Corinne has been frustrated too. I told her that it will take time to get used to, after having a whole summer to do whatever we want...then jumping into school. It just isn't that much fun. Hopefully, soon enough, we will get the hang of things and it will become easier.

Also, this week the girls have been under the weather. Corinne had a fever earlier this week, and seems to be struggling with allergies. Audie has had a fever for 4 days, but no other symptoms. She isn't her spunky self, but she isn't terribly ill, either.

Audie's birthday party is this weekend, followed by her birthday a couple days later. We are looking forward to it...pictures to come!

Oh, and remember the"win" I posted last week about my cool light fixture on the front porch? Disregard. The light comes down low, and the storm door doesn't clear it and open all the way. We won't be hauling any furniture in and out of that door now, as the door only opens about three and a half feet.
Fail.

This and That

Not much going on around here in these parts. Summer really has flown by- but it has only been the last week that we haven't had much to do. The girls and I haven't done a lot of activities away from the house as Selah has a mind of her own these days, and it's easier to keep her at home until she realizes who's boss. (That is me... in case you were wondering. *wink*)

Corinne reads. A lot. I am proud of that. She's really into the Little House on the Prairie book series.

 She asked if she could take Selah outside one afternoon while I was folding some laundry. When I went to check on them, my heart melted and had to take a picture. 

Audie learned how to ride her bike without training wheels a couple weeks ago. 

Some friends of ours just had a baby! They named her Harper Grace. Corinne was pretty happy that "they named her after her middle name". I always forget how little babies are when they are newborns. Harper was just over 6 pounds...way small! We enjoyed the visit.

I can't believe that July is half over. Part of me is ready for school to start up again...you know me- I like routine. And our summer has been anything but routine. I have enjoyed also the laid back days though, too. We didn't get our summer vacation in, and I dont know if we will. We have drug our feet in making a decision on where and when to go, and almost now it is too late to make plane ticket purchases. We still may do something in the fall, or Matt and I take a trip without the girls.

Audie says...

While playing Monopoly tonight, Audie said:

"You know why I got so many properties? 

Cause I'm a go-getter."

::Selah::

::Audie::

At Breakfast

Audie left a note in our fruit bowl....

"Something tasty to eat"

And Selah eating her breakfast bowl of cereal

And her beloved "boose box". (Juice box)

Gone Fishin'

About a week ago, we took the girls fishing at a lake in a nearby housing edition. Matt has taken the girls fishing a couple times, but never any bites. He wanted so badly for the girls to experience catching a fish, and they both caught one! They were both pretty proud!

Audie's Quilt and Smiles

How did I ever think that I wouldn't like quilting?!
Lesson to learn: Don't ever not try anything. I thought that I would never have the patience to quilt, but after doing my first one last summer (ish), quilting has become one of my favorite hobbies. It hasn't been the easiest, I have wasted my fair share of fabric, but I am happy with the results of the few quilts I have made.

I have wanted to make a plaid quilt since I started quilting...After trying and failing once, a friend of my found a book that explained the importance of color selection to get plaids to work. She gave me the book for my birthday, and it helped so much! I am definitely going to make another one of these quilts for myself- in none other than GRAY tones! That will probably be my next quilt.

This quilt will go on Audie's bed. I hope she will love it for years to come!

I have to say I love it (LOVE IT!) when the girls ask me to take their picture. Audie wanted to do a photo shoot last night with her new hat. She asked me to straighten her hair and then she went to put on chapstick for the pictures. (Maybe I should be worried?) While I don't mind the girls liking to look their best, I do want to emphasize the beauty of being natural and like the way God made them- and I hope they learn that early and hold onto it.

Smiles, funny faces, and swings

Audie has been asking me to take pictures of her. So, last night we did just that. It didn't last very long, but I'll take what I can get. I love it when the girls volunteer themselves to be in front of the camera.

After just a few shots, she got silly, and did these two faces before she got up and ran away. Crazy kid.

I laid down under Corinne swinging last night and took these pics. Cool.

Lately

We have finished school for the year, and summer has begun. I have to say, it feels pretty good to not have a "schedule". Days have been lazy, and it has been great.We have been playing outside a lot, and talking about a summer vacation. I love summertime!

Our fam and some friends went out for dinner on my birthday. It was a great evening. Here's Matt and I that night outside of the restaurant.

A mommy robin built a nest in the wreath on our porch. At first I wasn't thrilled about it...but actually it has been kind of fun watching the little birds grow. The first two birds actually hatched on my birthday! Here they are just a couple of days old...

 and now the 4 of them barely fit in the nest! I'm sure they will be flying away soon.

Corinne is a kid with a personality. Organization is one of them. The other day she put together a "to-do" list and hung it on her wall. Super cute.

The girls play with Playmobil toys almost daily. Audie has found it a convenient excuse to not pick it up because "we are going to play with it later today". Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesnt. :)
I had Playmobil toys growing up. I loved them. They are so cute, and the toys have great detail. Though the sets are a wee bit pricey, they are great!

Corinne is really good about practicing her piano songs. I usually don't even have to tell her to do it. She has done great with piano! I hope it is something she will want to stick with.

Last week a pretty nasty storm rolled in. The hail left us with needing a new roof, new guttering, and a new window that broke out. Leaves blew like crazy...after the storm there were leaves plastered to the fronts and sides of all the houses on our block (and neighborhood). It did have it's beauty...

Selah has kept us on our toes...she is fully in her two-year old stage. Throwing fits, hitting her sisters, and giving her angry eyebrow scowl is much of what she does these days. And as a result, time out and swats are her gift in return. A disobedient child definitely humbles you and your need for wisdom in child rearing! Still, Selah is sweet and loving and so much fun.
Story: When the girls take baths, we squirt the soap from the bottle into their hands. It always forms some type of shape, and the girls like to see what the squirt turned out like and name the shape. For instance, a moon, or the letter "C", etc. The other night, Matt squirted some soap into Selah's hand and she asked, "What is it?" Matt told her it looked like Goofy (you know, from Mickey Mouse?) and Selah said, "Gorsh!" in the best impression of Goofy she could do. It was great. I love my kids.