Money well spent

There it is, all 4 feet of it!!! (Sorry for that blinding flash spot)

Oh hey, look at that! The missionaries are over for dinner.

"Girls, stand by your dollhouse and show me your favorite thing in the dollhouse!!" Whew, I was hoping neither one was going to hold up the cute little purple toilet!!

Sometimes you just have to suck it up and buy the dollhouse. I didn't want to spend the money but to be honest, I knew that two little girls would LOVE it.....and (most importantly) play nicely, together for hours on end!!!!! It's true, they do!!! And then there are the two hours when Savannah is napping and Talisha has it all to herself! That girl can carry on 5 conversations at once, as she plays all the characters in her story. It's quite comical to be in a different room and listen to what she's actually saying!!!

Tough Boys

Great picture Tanner, now give me "tough"!
Um, ok. We can call that "tough". Looks pretty darn cute to me though.....

Levi, can you just stand there, no goofy poses?

Um, yeah, that's goofy. Try again.

Yep, still goofy. Keep trying.

Yeah, ok. No muscle shots. Just smile.

Levi, cracking himself up. Never got around to getting a "tough" pose. Didn't have the time....

Football season is upon us! Levi and Tanner are playing again this year. Levi is in his 4th year of playing and Tanner is in his 2nd. Both boys love the game and they are so fun to watch. I wanted to take a couple of pics of them in their uniforms. Tanner's pics were short and simple. "Tanner, let's take your picture. Good, now give me a tough look. Great, you're done." Now Levi's turn. "Levi, let's get a picture of you before you leave for practice. Just smile, nothing silly." After repeated efforts to take a "normal" picture, we decided to just call it done. After all, being goofy is pretty normal for Levi!!

"Such a Parent!!"

Making beds is a big deal at our house. Everyone makes their bed when they get out of it in the morning. Period. Not much to debate there, that's just the way it is. Trust me, we have plenty of other topics that get plenty of negotiation....but not beds.

The other morning I went in to check Levi and Tanner's beds. Levi's looked pretty good but Tanner's was not looking so great. So then they know, they have to re-make it with me so we can go over the finer points of "bed-making"! Tanner thought he was done at one point and I pointed out a particularly lumpy spot. He huffed a little and fixed it. But his over zealous attempt to fix that part, pulled another part all out of whack. I showed him what had happened to which he responded, "Mom, it's fine. Who really cares??" "I care", was my reply. And then I got the biggest compliment of the day. In a very exasperated voice, Tanner yells, "Mom, why do you have to be such a, such a .....Parent???" Ahhhh, music to my ears. He couldn't understand why that brought such a smile to my face. He was hoping to have thrown out the worst thing he could think of......."why do you have to be such a Parent?" That's my job Tanner, that's my job.

Do You Remember?

There is a country song by Alan Jackson that he wrote in the days after the attack. It's called, "Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning". To this day whenever I hear that song, it takes me back to that day, 7 years ago when our "world stopped turning" by terrorists attacks.

I remember how helpless I felt as I sank down onto the couch and watched the television screen unfold with each new horror. I remember gathering my children around me and sobbing. I remember not wanting them to go to school that day but just to stay by me on the couch. I remember for days, weeks and months afterward, watching the continued clean up efforts by so many everyday people.

How thankful I am to live in the Land of the Free, Home of the Brave. I'm so grateful to the men and women, past and present, who have dedicated their lives to protecting our freedom.

Lee Greenwood sings it best:

"And I gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today

'Cause there ain't no doubt, I love this land

God Bless the USA"

Sunday Girls

Big Girls: Samantha, Vanessa, Sabrina

Little girls: Talisha, Jasmine, Savannah

I was thinking the other day that I have not been very good at taking pictures lately, especially of baby Jasmine. With school starting last week and the week before that being spent getting ready for school, we haven't had the camera out at all! But Jasmine is growing so fast and I'm missing it. She's almost 7 lbs.!!!! Anyway, I thought today was a great day to get a picture of our sweet girls.

I will try to do better at getting more pics on here, now that school has started and I have soooo much (cough) free time!!!!

And Samantha's first day.....

Samantha on her way to school!!!

Samantha and Sabrina just left for school. Samantha is a Junior this year and thrilled beyond words to have Sabrina at Glencoe with her. They can hardly wait to eat lunch together, walk home together and be able to see each other during the day. So cute.

Back To School!!!!!!

Levi, Tanner, Vanessa and Thomas on their way to school!!
Sabrina off to her first day of High School!!!!

Wow, can it really be the end of summer???? Today was everyone's first day, except Samantha's. The high school has only freshman come today and then everyone else starts tomorrow. Lucky Sam got one more day to stay home with me.

They all were so excited to go to school this morning. Everyone had definite ideas of what their "first day" outfit would be. So funny to watch the boys pick out their outfits. Tanner, a 4th grader, was all about comfort. Levi, now in 6th, was all about "looking good"!!!! Thomas, in 2nd, didn't really care. Vanessa, in 1st, was totally about what was "cute". She had to ask her older sisters this morning, which shoes looked the cutest with her outfit. She didn't bother asking me.....what's that supposed to mean???? Well, to be honest, I ask the teenage girls if my outfit looks ok all the time, so she went to the right source!