Last days of Summer 2015

Well, the summer is coming to an end for all my kids.    

But until then, we've been cutting, cutting, cutting. 

 With all the fruit we've been getting from Birch's, we ended up getting a dehydrator.  We eat as many as we cut, so it takes a bit longer to prep than I thought.  And I haven't worked out all the details that might change the length of time the fruit is drying... but it is so yummy! 
 We are all loving it.

Katy is preparing for Senior pictures with Aunt Priscila. We tried on MANY dresses this week and found a few lovely ones.  She has a friend coming over to help practice make-up and hair today and tomorrow.  So excited!

Mom is excited if I think about it in baby steps.  Look, Senior pictures.  Look, new class schedule. Look, you need all my financial information for scholarship paperwork.  

But if I think about how she won't be here next year.... sadness.

Jacob is having a wonderful month.   Swimming, friends, sleepovers, cousins and food.  What more could a boy ask for!  That's him on the rope swing.  

My new phone/camera - is a lower quality than my previous phone.  That's ok.  It's a choice I made, and for the most part, I am enjoying not being on my "phone" all the time.  But I miss the camera from the Nexxus.  Guess I'll have to start carrying around a real camera, now. 

 Whoa... that feels so old school.

Emily and Becca, both have their own devices - not for calling or texting yet, because they are always with us!  But they have email, google hangout, Pinterest, and Spotify. 

It keeps them real "busy".  

Let me know if you need their contact info.

Amanda is off to camp this week.  It is the first time she's been gone 5 nights.  She's been to this camp before (twice) but as a jr. camper and it was only for 2 nights.  She was SUPER nervous this past week and kept worrying about it.  Sometimes, alternating between tears and laughter.

So Darren talked with her about Philippians 4:6-7

Which means one day we were driving home and she says, "I'm really nervous about camp."  Then proceeds to bow her head, put her hands together and say, "Jesus, give me peace." 

 I LOVE that Amanda!   

Once I dropped her off, she still needed hugs, but she found her friends and she was off.  She did stop to turn around and wave to me.  My heart be still.

Claire has turned into a great swimmer this year!  Her favorite is the mermaid (dolphin) - but she's getting better at freestyle and back stroke, too. Claire also decided to get a pixie cut as well, she wanted to match the sisters.  She looks a little like Fantine. 
 It's just hair.  It will grow back.

This is how I feel, too.  Every time someone asked for a pixie cut....

Darren has started a new client, who lives on the East coast.  So his mornings will be starting 2 hours earlier, which just about coincides with the new school year.  No one wants to get up early.  

We want to soak in the last few days of summer!!!!

We got to visit with a friend yesterday that just moved out of the city, onto their own little farm.  We sat in the hammocks and talked in the shade.  All the kids want to move to a farm now.  We are pretty sure the ratio of work:hammock is something like 3:1 or 5:1 maybe even 10:1.  

They don't believe me.

Hope you enjoying your last days of summer, too. 

"Are you a boy or a girl?"

Today, Claire and I were at Winco, where you bag your own groceries.  As I was busy throwing a basket full of yummies on the little conveyor belt, Claire was contemplating the gender of our cashier.

"Are you a boy or a girl?"

Oh no, did she just say that out loud.

"I said are you a boy or a girl?"

Maybe I can head this off at the pass... "Claire, she's a girl.  See her pony tail and her pretty earrings."

I can see her thinking while I am busy tossing the last of the produce on the belt. "Am I a boy or a girl?"

"You are a girl, sweetie."

"Are you a boy or a girl?"

"I am a girl, too."  I am glad she is asking about me and her, maybe it will seem like she is unsure of gender identity in general.  She's just a little kid, asking a basic question.  Except, she knows the difference between boys and girls... and has for some time.

Then the lady says "I can see her talking to me, but I can't really hear her."

Oh no.  Am I supposed to say the exact thing I was hoping we could just let drop. Maybe I could just make a politically correct summarization?

I tell the nice lady that Claire's asking if we are girls or boys.  "Oh, I'm a grandma."   Good answer, as I am quickly changing gears to repack the shopping cart I just emptied.

Normally, I enjoy this part.  I've always loved Tetris and feel like I can actually use it when I fill paper bags with boxes of cereal, crackers, cake mix and jello. I am even up to the challenge of tuna fish, tortillas and frozen pizza bites.  And it's a race against the person in the other lane... even if they bought less stuff.

As I start to fill my first bag, Claire says "Then why does she have a mustache?"

I wanted to stop right there and laugh out loud!  I understood the whole conversation a little better, now. And I wanted to laugh.  I was tired and Claire was being observant, making "connections" in her little brain.

I chose the easy answer - "Shush, I'll tell you in the van."  But she never brought it back up.

As I was telling Darren about our trip this evening, she piped up and said, "Well, she did have a mustache."

Maybe she did... I must have missed it.

Claire's Independence

Now that ClaireBelles is walking, her new found independence is exciting! In the beginning we would could how many steps she was taking at a time... 3, 6, 10. But then we quit counting. Now she can walk the length of the house without falling down. And normally carrying a toy or two (or small can of tomato paste she swiped from the cupboard).




She also likes to climb, just has to make sure that belly button is still there first.


And Claire can drive. For her 1st birthday, she got a pink car from Grandma and Poopa :)



Happy Independence Day, ClaireBelles!