Per Your Request

I took this funny pic of Sophia and left it out of my last slide show, but it has been requested, so here she is! What a ham!


As you have seen on the blog, I grew some tomatoes this year - this is my latest use of the fruits of my labor :-)

Cousin Time

Madeline and Sophia got to have some fun cousin time this week when Sophia came to Grandpa and Grandma's house for a visit. It was cute watching Madeline be the big girl taking care of Sophia, and Sophia is at such a cute age. It's hard to get a picture of Sophia right now - she's crawls like a flash! I put a picture of her crawling away in the slide show because that is generally the angle that you see of her these days.....

State Fair

We spent the day at the State Fair, which we do every year...it's probably like our 15th trip there, and Madeline's 6th of course :-) We missed a couple of things that were there in years past like a trick bicycle show and racing pigs, but were pleased that many things remain exactly the same. Madeline loved the dog that was billed as "the world's biggest dog."



Madeline's big grin with red Icee on her face :-)





We enjoyed the bluegrass tent!




We watched an alligator show - it was pretty neat...



The bunnies never fail to amuse.



I wished I could do the giant bouncer too!



Catching fish was fun, too!



Jesse James the motorcycle guy was there.



And we topped it all off with ice cream... and then the fair was complete :-)

My Home is My Castle

I stole this picture from our friend Tony's Blog - it is the Château du Haut-Koenigsburg in the Alsace region of France. It's a beautiful picture, and since we spent the week-end organizing documents in our house, I thought it a good illustration. I should have taken a picture of the four (yes I said four) trash bags of shredded papers that we produced while we were destroying documents such a telephone bills from 1996, but I was ashamed of myself! Now those of you who are organization freaks out there (you and I know who you are) can rest easy knowing that there is far less excess paper being stored in our house, and the things that are stored are located in labeled files in date order in a hidden filing cabinet instead of piled up on top of desks!

I had to also copy this picture from Tony's blog, because I think it's pretty!

First Day of First Grade

Once again it is the first day of school. Again I experienced my yearly feelings of how fast the time is going, just like all of the other Moms in the world. She certainly is a big girl! Although she has expressed some feelings of nervousness the past few days, she was certainly a big brave girl today! I was very proud of her :-) Apparently I was more nervous than she was because last night I had the classic dream of showing up for your final exam and finding out that you missed the class the whole semester.....

The Last Day of Summer

Today was the last day of summer here in our house, because Madeline goes back to school tomorrow. Steven and I took the day off, and spent a fun day hanging out at the forest, having a picnic, playing in the playground, walking around a lilly pad pond, riding bikes, running into friends, catching a frog and watching geese. It was a wonderful day, and a great way to cap off a fabulous summer :-) I thank God for such a wonderful place to go, and for the precious time we spent together as a family.

Saturday Afternoon Bowling

It was so hot this afternoon that we had to find something cool and inside to do. So, we decided to go bowling. It was a whole lot of fun. Madeline in particular had a fabulous time! They had these gutter guards that popped up when it was Madeline's turn, which was pretty neat. Where were those when we were kids? My bowling skills leave much to be desired... Madeline on the other hand was great! Check out these game scores....

Madeline won this game...



And this one....



And then this one!



No wonder she liked bowling so much.....

Around My Place... by Madeline

Outside My Window... it's a hot day and my friends have their tent up, the clouds are pretty, Sandy the neighbors dog is walking, and there is a bird

I am thinking... tomorrow will be a great day

I am thankful for... my new Toucan Webkin, my Mommy and Daddy, and a messy house!

From the kitchen... chicken nuggets for dinner, water to drink, yummy cookie for dessert

I am wearing... my night gown

I am creating... pictures of webkins, tie dye shirts tomorrow

I am reading... Junie B Jones, The Lemon Sisters

I am hoping... everyone has a great day!

I am hearing... the Annie Soundtrack, laughing, my fan, Daddy's TV

Around the house...I have a nice city of Pet Shops, my pet hamster cage, my books are on the table, and my Webkins are on the couch with the pillows

One of my favorite things... is playing petshops, my hamster, and playing with my friends

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week... making tie dye shirts with my friends tomorrow, hanging out with Mommy on Monday, playing with my petshops and Webkins, watching Annie again (the movie this time), and school starts this week

Have a great day! Bye!