you had me at apple pie

I saw these made on the Today show and knew I just had to make them for the girls.  So earlier in the week, when we were healthier and actually going to school, I cooked up some apple pie fries and the girls ate every last slice.  Oh so good.

Pink Clouds

Ashlynn went outside early Friday morning (I'm sure to check on Jakers) and came in the house telling us that we had to go out and see all the pink clouds in the sky.

It was beautiful!

The Lord is God,

and he has made his light shine upon us.

Psalm 118:27

Way To Go

Abigail made her first goal today! 

Wahoo! 

We are {jump up and down, yell at the top of your lungs, clap like crazy} so proud of you!!

And then, she made another one!

Repeat all of the above!!

This deserved an ice cream sundae,

and dinner tonight on our 'you are special today' plate.

Pinkaliciously Five

Ash couldn't wait to be five.  She woke up the morning of her birthday at 3:30 and wanted to know if she went downstairs would she be 5?

Yep, you're finally 5!

That morning we baked her pink cupcakes.

We picked Grandmama up from the airport.

Grandmama took Ash to build-a-bear and out for lunch

Then we spent the afternoon getting ready for her pinkalicious party.

I had fun gathering everything pink.

Kelly loaned me the cute banner over the fireplace, I've enjoyed it being there all week.

I made a dot garland out of pink paper and clipped pictures of Ash to it.  I like looking at all those sweet pictures of her so much, that I can't bring myself to take it down.

I hung mason jars with pink sand in them and made pink tissue balls. 

(I still haven't take them down either.)

A pinkalicious party wouldn't be complete with out strawberry marshmallows, pink jelly beans and strawberry pink lemonade.

She was so excited for the party to get started.

The boys and even Heath & Melissa showed up in pink, isn't that so sweet!

I read the book, Pinkalicious.

We sang happy birthday and ate cupcakes and ice cream

Look at who got stuck serving the (extremely frozen) ice cream.

Thanks Heath!

The kids also ate a lot of pink candy.

Then it was time for presents.

At the end of the party, we sent home big, green jaw breakers with our friends to help counteract all the pink they consumed while at our pinkalicious party.

Thanks everyone for coming and/or calling and making Ashy's 5th birthday full of love!

Make a Wish

Today we're celebrating this cutie!

Happy 5th Birthday my love!

Before the Big Day

I thought I'd better get caught up on the {happenings} that have been going on around here.

Jason was gone last week for a few days, the girls missed him like crazy. Like CRAZY, CRAZY. I think Ash cried everyday for him. It was so sad but the reunion was adorable. It was cute to see them rush to hug him and then stay glued to him all evening. He also kept up with his tradition of bringing home a little something for the girls, this time it was zhu-zhu pets, Pinkie and Roxie.

On Saturday Abigail had her first soccer game, my dear friend Kelle stopped by to visit (oh how I miss seeing her 5 days a week) and we went and helped Kim celebrate her 30th birthday!

I've been busy collecting everything PINK for Ashy's birthday party tomorrow. I can't wait to put it all together.

At lunch today Ash told me she made a picture of Jason out her cheese. Is that hilarious or what!

Abigail's homework has officially started. She's reading 20 minutes a night, working on math packets and studying for spelling tests. She comes home many days and tells me she got a purple card, which is how the teacher spotlights the kids for doing well. I'm so proud of her, 2nd grade is off to a great start. It's nice to be back into the swing of school and I'm even enjoying the routine it brings.

Canning

With all my talk (which is really all it has been) of canning, Jason wanted to get in on that and can a few of his favorites.

So, Saturday we ran around town to get all the supplies necessary to can pickles and pickled beans.

I think our first pickling attempt was a success but I guess the real test will be in a few weeks when we actually try them.

Next, I really want to work on my list of canning to do's and I'm also going to try (now that I'm a pickling pro) to make a special someone one of their favorite foods in the world, pickled beats ... since it's a process and you have to let them pickle for weeks, it might turn into their Christmas present.

Memory Lane

Wanna take a walk with me?
I've been wanting to share some of the treasures I found up in my mom and dad's attic ... pieces of my childhood.


My sewing box.


A picture that hung on our wall when I was a kid. I think it's an important message for my girls to see everyday too.


SMURFS! Of course they are playing baseball, I never did but my brother sure did. I have many memories of going to his baseball games.


My pound puppy.


Can't remember what these are called. Did you collect them too?


Ash couldn't wait for me to set up my barbie play sets.



Don't they look so much cooler with a 70's action applied to the pic.


Not sure you can see but on the box it shows a couple Pepsi liters and BBQ tools, my mom has those too ... the girls play with them at my mom's house.


And of course I found boxes of notes and cards. I read so many of them this afternoon and found myself laughing out loud one minute and in tears the next.

There is more, my barbie bed, the brass baby doll bed, my cabbage patch kids, school work ... all of it comes with special memories of a great childhood, Thanks mom and dad.

A {Peachy} Labor Day

What a nice long weekend we had together. Jason had all 3 days off, I still can't believe it. We loved having him home and all the family time we had.

Saturday
*Jason took the girls to the Home Depot build. This is the 3rd one they've done. I should have brought my camera, next month.
*The whole family met out at my grandparents house to help them pack and clean out a few things. We brought home a few treasures from great grandma's house.
*Mom and Dad made a delicious steelhead dinner for us and we ended the night with a family game of baseball.

Sunday
*We went to church
*Home for lunch
*The girls and I did some shopping while Jason went into work for a little bit. (okay, he almost had the entire weekend off). I bought some cute things for Ashy's upcoming pinkalicious party.
*I made a delicious marina chicken dish over spaghetti squash for dinner.
*The girls went to bed early and J and I watched a movie.

Monday
*Melissa and I took the kids to an orchard in Emmett to pick peaches.
*I stopped by mom and dad's to gather all my stuff from their attic. Wow, they kept a lot of things, it was fun to go through and reminisce.
*BBQ with the neighbors and a BSU game to watch.

The only pictures I took all weekend were at the orchard. Enjoy!

A is for Ashlynn

Look at her. That's how excited she was. I'm glad we finally decided to just do it, to send her to preschool. She's happy to be going. Happy to have her own 'thing', her own school, her own friends, her own teacher and her own backpack. It's these little school days that we hope will prepare her for the big world of kindergarten that's coming all too soon. With her being the only one at home, her love of pajamas and her liking of 'running the show' ... we thought a little structure would be good. Plus all the other benefits that come along, like all the fun! That made saying good-bye to her a little bit easier today, but I still wanted to cry as I kissed her check and walked out. I held it in until J and I crossed the street, past the other parents, and then I lost it. My baby is growing up and it's way hard on this momma. Maybe preschool is more to help prepare me for what's ahead than it is for her.






I love ya, sugar! I'm glad you had a great first day!