We all scream for Ice Cream!!!

We still have left over ice cream from Elsie's birthday celebrations...

We have had some after dinner almost every night...we, as in the kids...not me!

Ice cream sure goes a long way when you just want it out of your house!!!

Oh well...at least they are happy kids...

pictures posted

Lagoon pictures posted here...

http://thematthewsfam.blogspot.com/2010/07/lagoon.html

Check them out...

I hope to catch up the days I missed before I get too far behind...

Best Friends...

Well, for today anyway...

These two girls did a pretty good job getting along today.

That makes me happy!

Even though everything in our backyard is soaked!!!

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Look at Elsie's shiny new glasses...well, just lenses.

Her others were scratched pretty bad...so we have been waiting and waiting for the new lenses to come in...

And we finally got them today, and boy they are shiny!!!

Fine Dining...

Cassi really wanted to set the table for dinner.

She was very excited to wrap the silverware in paper towels...and a paper towel place mat underneath our paper plates.

It definitely made the meal taste better!!!

Thanks Cass!!!

By the way...she is still doing great in guitar lessons.

She is now working on learning Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.

It is very cute to hear an actual song come out of that little guitar!

Great job Cassi!

Keep up the hard work.

Greyback Gulch

We are back...

Like I said, short, but sweet.

But we had a lot of fun...

And I have SO many pictures to share...

Hopefully I can get those posted soon.

I also need to post some picts from the beginning of July!

These girls have so much fun together...

The boy, he was sleeping...but if he wasn't, I bet he would be terrorizing at least ONE of these girls!!!

But I am happy to say that little Hallie is not one who is going to put up with his bullying...way to go Hal!!!

Future romance maybe...oh, one can hope, right?
We really had a great time...

If you don't count the big girls throwing up just before we left for home.

I hate to blame it on Drew...but it was Drew's fault!

Ha, ha...

(And Madi Bell was just being silly, but maybe I should slip a picture of Porter in there under her arm...just to complete the group.)

Finally!

We can't wait to finally get out with our camper!!!

It will be a short trip...but I think we are all ready for a little get-away!

Beading...

There was some quiet time today...

The girls did a little beading.

They had fun.

And I had fun with them.

Lots of laundry to go and fold...

Good night.

We are tired...

...very tired...

Today was a good and bad day all rolled up into one.

Church, with just the kids and I alone, is almost a joke...
They really aren't very bad...but it is hard to give them all the attention they need, in a reverent way.
Thank goodness I was asked to sub Elsie's class today...or maybe I wouldn't have gone.
But...it is always nice to be at church.

When we got in the car today, I felt a migraine coming on.

I never get those.

I was not excited about that.

I was worried...it must have been the bright sun, cause when we got in the church I felt much better.

Still a dull headache...but no migraine.

Like I said...we are kind of a joke at church, without Dad.

One kid wants this, the other wants that, and then the first one wants what the second one wants...and it goes on and on.

I know that the people who sit right behind us are laughing at me, and feeling sorry for me, all at the same time.
People try to entertain Porter or Elsie by smiling or playing peek-a-boo...and they love that.
I do love the people in my ward...they understand how hard it is to keep little ones reverent...at least I hope so.
All I get at church is smiles...all the time.
Pitty smiles, or happy smiles...I am not sure.
But I can always use a smile.
Things are always bound to go wrong to, when I am left alone with the kids.
Madi and Cassi were not getting along.
Porter was not being very nice either...
Elsie hit her tongue on her sippy cup and bit right through her tongue.
So as I take Elsie out, with her mouth bleeding, I am wondering how things are gonna go as I leave Madi, Cassi, and Porter on the bench alone.
I got the bleeding to stop, but she wants to suck her paper towel as I go back in the chapel.
And guess what?
They are all sitting there.
Being perfect.
I was so proud of my girls.
They know when it is time to step up and do what needs to be done.
Then after sitting a little bit, Porter wanted me to hold him, but Elsie wouldn't let me put her down.
So Madi Bell took Porter out in the hall and calmed him down.
She was only out there for a little bit when she brought back my happy little boy.
That Bell really is so much help.
The rest of the day wasn't too bad.
I even had enough lesson to fill the whole allotted time slot.
With Sunbeams..
I was pretty proud of myself.
At night, when the kids are in bed, I always wish I was nicer to them.
I wasn't mean today...
Just, you know, tired.

After church I felt physically and emotionally exhausted.

But there is still dinner...still dirty kids...still kids who need to be watched over.

And you know what...
I love it.
Tonight when it was getting close to bed time...the kiddos needed some winding down...
So I sat in my new yellow chair...(check out Elsie's opening presents pictures...that is my new 'old' chair.)
And we read books.
When we started, they were all restless...
But I kept going.
Porter laid his head down on my chest.
I was a little surprised...I didn't dare turn the page in case he moved...but he stayed.
So sweet.
Each of the girls lay on the floor, each of them grabbing blankets and pillows.
And slowly, things calmed down.
We were enjoying it.
It was calming and restful.
I do enjoy Motherhood.
You know what...if I had a super easy day at church, and super easy day at home alone with the kids...I may not have taken the time to sit and read to them, trying to calm things down.
And then I would have missed that opportunity to have my little girlies around my feet, and my baby boy in my lap.
Because quiet moments like that do not happen often.
So I am thankful for my rough day this morning...
And I am thankful for the nice calm way they all fell asleep as I read to them.
I sure love my kids.
But I do miss their Daddy....

Veggies!

I got some squash out of the garden today...well...that is the only thing left in the garden that didn't get ripped out for the new trees...

But I am very excited.

There is something very satisfying about growing your own food.

Here is my first born...with my first squash...
And this is how she feels about squash!
Stinker.
It would be more rewarding to grow a garden if my family would eat out of it!

Okay...I wish Madi and Brent would...because the others will, usually.

The party...

We had a little BBQ tonight with our best of friends...the Young's and Terry's.

We had some cake and ice cream.

I made Elsie a horse cake...that did not come out as planned...it was fine until the head fell off...

But, you know what...she LOVED it!

And that is why I did it...I knew she would love it.

I love nights like these when we can just sit and hang-out and enjoy the company of such great families.

We really are lucky.

Slip and slide...

We did a lot of this today...

The kids spent the entire day with the Terry girls...at one house or the other...

There is nothing better than great friends!

Especially when they teach you amazing tricks like this...

I swear Aydo has rubber knees!

But, of course, Cassi had to give it a try...

It worked...but she didn't do it nearly as much as Ayden did...

Crazy girls!

Alex and Elsie spent some quiet time coloring.

Elsie got a birthday package in the mail today from Grandma Ene...

She got some very exciting things in there...

With new crayons and coloring books...and some other really great stuff that she is very excited about!

Including the purple Tinkerbell outfit she is wearing...

Thanks Grandma...we love you!

Blackhawk Training.

The other day, Brent and his crew got to go do some training with the Idaho National Guard.

They are being taught the ins and outs of Blackhawk operations.

This will allow the Boise guys to be deployed throughout the Region.

The Boise Tech Rescue makes up Task Force 2 and they will start flying as a Task Force all over the place.

Pretty exciting.

He had a lot of fun that day...

We kept looking in the sky to see if we could find him...but he was too far away.

But I did make him take the little camera so he could get some shots from the helicopter.

He got some pretty cool shots...

Happy 100th to Grandma Beardall...

If my dear sweet Grandma Beardall were still alive...she would be turning 100 years old today.

This lady was such an amazing woman...and such an amazing example to SO MANY people!

I am so thankful to have her in my life.

I kinda think she was put on this earth...just for me.

I felt such a connection with her...but I also have a feeling there are so many others out there who felt the same way.

But really...she did so much for me and my life and the way I live my life...and want to live my life.

She was so kind.

So hard-working...really hard-working...

She had a beautiful smile...and an even better laugh.

Like I said...she touched so many lives.

I am so Thankful I had her in my life...and I feel like she is still here with me...

Oh, I can't even tell you how much I love you, Grandma.

Presents day...

So today was the day that Elsie got to open the rest of her presents.

We wanted to wait for Dad to get home from work, so he could be a part of it...

Elsie is so expressive when she opens presents...I am gonna go through them all and make a montage of them...cause all her little faces just make me smile!

I made her a little book from pictures I had taken of Strip.

Pictures of all her different parts...back, legs, tail, neck...and Elsie just LOVES it!!!

I was worried she would be a little horse over-loaded...

But nope...she was in horse heaven!!!

She got nine horses total for her birthday....

She is a happy little girl!

Then, last but not least, she got her stable!

I think maybe she was a little unsure what it really was until we put her horses in it...

She just LOVES it...

And I think it is gonna get used A LOT!!!

See...she LOVES it!

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and just because I think it is so darn cute...

Here are some more picts of the stable we made for Elsie.

The full shot...

It was Brent's idea to make Elsie her very own 'brand'.
I think it is very clever what we came up with.
Notice the L and the C.
First of all...when we sign Elsie...we usually do a "L" and a "C".
Okay...cool...
Then the L overlapping the C makes an E...for Elsie...of course...
All very cool.
Now the last cool little tidbit...when Elsie was a baby, She looked like a cricket.
Big eyes and the way she held her mouth...she was like a little cricket...and that is what we called her...
Little Cricket...
L.C.
Ha ha ha...how cool is that!

This is the horse that I could find that looked the most similar to Strip...Elsie loves her.

The roof even lifts up for easier access to the inside...

Now isn't that just the cutest little thing???

Party at the station.

We had a pretty fun day.

We went and got her glasses fixed this morning and ran a few other errands.

We came home and Porter napped while we all kinda chilled...and put laundry away.

Elsie got to have cheese covered Mac and Cheese for dinner...her favorite!

Then Alex and Ayden stopped by to give her a gift...it is a horse shirt, and so darling...I am sure she will be wearing it A LOT!

Then we headed to Walmart to get Ice-cream for the Fire station...

We FINALLY got to the station, and the party started!

She was kinda funny about the candle.

She was pretty freaked out by the fire....

But also excited to blow it out.

She kept inhaling the air in and barley letting any out...

Almost hyperventilating....

It was finally blown out with some help from Dad.

She had fun digging into the cake and ice cream.

Then we went out and played in the fire truck.

I just love this shot.

I just know this boy is gonna be a fireman like his Daddy!!!

Daddy took us around the block with lights and sirens...very exciting for all of us...

Okay...not all of us.
Little bug didn't want to get inside the BIG truck.
So we waited behind while the others went for a ride.
(I know...such a sad picture...but also so ADORABLE, right?)


They came back, and she must have gotten a little less freaked out when she realized that everyone came back okay...so she sat in the truck and showed her 'Strip' around.

Mommy and the Birthday girl.

Daddy and the Birthday girl.

Sweet Madi Bell.

She has really been working very hard on being a big helper the last two days.

It has been so great.

Thanks, Bell.

The big girls, on top of the big truck....

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Elsie Rose...Happy Birthday sweet little one.

You are so amazing, so tender, so sweet, so perfect.

Thanks for being you and making all of us around you better.

Happy Birthday Elsie Rose!!!

Today is our sweet baby girls 4th birthday!

I can't believe she is 4 already!

Here is my sweet angel on her birthday...

(Minus her broken glasses, which we are getting in the car to go fix right now...)

Isn't she just perfect?

And here are some pictures our our sweet girl through the years.

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Day 1

week 1

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Year 1

Year 1

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Year 2

Year 2

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Year 3

Year 3

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It is not secret that we think the world of this amazing little girl.

She has things a bit harder than other kids her age...

But that doesn't make her smile fade one bit.

She is such an example to our little family.

If only the world could be more like little Elsie...things would be so great!

She brings so much happiness.

People love Elsie for her smile.

But there is so much more to her.
My baby girl is my hero.

We love you little one!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

(I will be posting more birthday fun...I am sure...)