River of Time

This is probably my favorite event in our area. It's held once a year, and it's FREE! OK, they do have henchmen standing at a "Donations" bucket, so it's not really free... but still! It's the cheapest entertainment we'll have all year. Everyone at the event is so nice, it's very family friendly. And I get to hear people playing dulcimers. Awesome.


Casey goes for the root beer, I go for the kettle corn. We polished off 2 bags of this stuff. SO good.


Rachel was happy to pet the goats.


We felt the elk and bear furs.


Candy... marbles... it was hard to get Adam to move on.


Adam looked at the roasting meat and said, "There's grass all over it!" The man explained that it was thyme. :)


Panning for gold- Adam's favorite part, of course.


Rachel and Anna picking out scraps for their rag dolls


Here's Bethany and her new friend Lilly. So sweet!

August

Anna and Bethany had a combined birthday party. We had a great time with all the grandmas and grandpas, Laurie, Dean, Addison, and Liam. The weather was perfect and we played in the backyard all afternoon. It was great! I'm kinda sad that my mom had me in February. I'm considering celebrating my birth in the summer instead.


Here is Bethany in one of her birthday outfits. Thank you, Grandma Maude!!


I started some zinnias from seed the beginning of April. I am so glad I did, they have been very prolific. The girls like to make little bouquets out of them. :)


I planted 3 glad bulbs- this is the only one that came up. I love the peachy color!


There's a weird virus floating around here. Bethany had it first- fever for days, finally that broke and she was left with some red spots that didn't last long. As this week has progressed the kids have been hit one by one... Buddy was the last one to get it I think. He has an eye appointment in the morning, so I'm hoping for a miraculous recovery by tomorrow.

Anna is 3!

Anna had some crazy hair when she was a baby. I loved it!

Anna is our crazy one. She is pretty happy-go-lucky most of the time. She loves people, loves to sit on your lap and read, loves to sing. Here she is singing to Bethany during dinnertime...


Other things Anna loves-
* baked beans and refried beans
* mashed potatoes
* her baby sister
* sucking her 2 fingers while holding her pink blankie
* changing her clothes numerous times a day
* making a mess with her toys and books
* caring for her dolls throughout the day. It is precious. :)

Dislikes-
* picking up afore mentioned messes. She will end up crying she protests so much.
* most vegetables
* Tommy bothering her. He is good at that.
* having dirty feet
* shopping too long. She begs to go, and about half way through she wants to go home.

She thinks she should start school since she got a "lunch box" for her birthday. She loves to carry little items around all day and it's the perfect size. We are having Anna and Bethany's birthday party this Saturday, she is very excited about the grandmas and grandpas coming!

Happy First Birthday Little B.!

Thomas and Bethany (about 1 week old)

My baby is one. Where did that year go? I am terrible at journaling or blogging anything of factual importance, so I thought I'd better jot this stuff down while I'm thinking of it...

Bethany likes...
* me :)
* Ok, she likes the whole family, but she always holds her arms out for Rachel
* bananas and carrots and oatmeal
* to have nibbles of my cookie. She is so spoiled!
* Daddy's picky chin- she laughs and laughs!
* to point at the flowers. This makes me very happy.
* to ride in the stroller around the block
* to play in the neighbor's pool with daddy holding her

Bethany dislikes...
* Cocoa wheat. I love that stuff. I have to make her oatmeal instead.
* refried beans. I'm still wondering if she's really my child.
* to be mauled by Thomas.


Happy Birthday Bethany. We love you very much!

Summer afternoon

Two more days until she turns ONE! Now she wants to push the wagon around the yard instead of riding in it.

Rachel and Adam spent a week up north with Grandma and Grandpa V. recently, and Abby is so happy to have them back. Her and Adam get along splendidly. He is the brains behind the operation, and she gladly goes along with most things he comes up with. They removed the sand down to the dirt this afternoon and found ant tunnels with hundreds of eggs... fascinating.

T. still has an aversion to the camera. Only if he's holding Bethany will he behave for a picture.


Bethany has no idea how popular she is. They fight over who is going to push her.

Happy Wednesday!

My sweet little Anna. She'll be 3 in a couple weeks! I made this jumper for her. She loved it when she saw it this morning. Too bad she can't stand still long enough to get an unblurry picture of it. She is still my snuggly kid, wanting to be carried and read to. She still naps for about 2 1/2 hrs each afternoon. I would like to keep her this size for a few more years.

Thomas. He's the athletic one. His six year old body is like a finely tuned piece of grissle. Grizzle? No, that can't be right. Well, he's got some muscles, anyway. And someday, when he stops sucking his thumb, the girls will be calling. Adam will still be overturning rocks in the backyard looking for ant tunnels, but Tommy will be going on dates. I don't want to think about it. Forget I mentioned it.


Abby is 4 1/2. Sometimes Abby has a poor attitude. And sometimes I like to take pictures of Abby when she is sporting her grumpy face. And yes, I've been told a gazillion times that girls only get harder as they enter their teen years. But for now I'll enjoy this stage because it doesn't last long. Usually a few minutes go by and she is back to herself, pretending she's a bird and making a nest so she can hatch her eggs.

What did we do before B.B.?

Bethany loves to show off her 4 teeth... and some other things that should be covered with a onesie. I'm still sticking with "she's just big-boned..."

Bethany discovered the hole yesterday. And she wasn't coming out until she had that baseball.


Big Brother sometimes forgets that Bethany is only 11 months old and shouldn't be swinging alone. But she was doing her funny high pitched "singing", so I knew she was having a good time. I did stay right there... just incase he saw a bug and ran off.