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I just LOVE surprises!!!

First of all...I am cheating...

The pictures I post, ALWAYS come from that same day.

But todays pictures were taken yesterday.

Madi shot them for me.

We had our own little photo shoot.

She thought she was pretty cool being behind the camera!!!

So we surprised Dad.

He has been wanting me to cut my hair for a while.

He likes it short.

I wanted it long.

But really, it was always in a ponytail!!!

So I didn't post about it yesterday..cause it was a surprise!!!

Brent got home of shift this morning.

I was so excited last night for him to see it.

And he loves it...

Surprise!!!

(Sorry Cami...I hope your not mad...but I HAD to get it done before I shaved it all off myself!!!)

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I LOVE when you can find the perfect comfy spot!!!

I noticed Elsie curled up inside Madi's legs and thought it was so cute.

Look at how sweet Madi is to Elsie.

Love it.

Isn't it the greatest when you find the perfect spot to fit in.

I know my perfect spot.

In Brent's arms.

I know, I am cheesy...

I agree.

But really, he and I fit just right.

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I LOVE skirts on Elsie!

I got a skirt for Elsie on clearance from Target.

We have been working on ways to help Elsie dress herself.

What better way to start than with skirts!

Anyway...looking at the skirt I got for her, I thought...'I could SOOO make some for her!"

Then today...I was working on *something*.... :)

And I had these handkerchiefs that I didn't need...

SO...

I made a skirt!

Isn't it cute!!!

She loves it...

I think the next few skirts I will make a little longer for her...

and of course Madi and Cassi want their own...

But doesn't she look so cute!

And here is a cute shot of Porter, eating his biter biscuits!
Don't you just LOVE how messy they are!!!

By the way...the girls spent the ENTIRE day in their Playhouse.

(Minus the couple hours we went swimming with the Youngs...)

They decided to paint the inside yellow...which I think will be so cute and bright!!!

We will find some cute material for curtains...

Hang some pictures...

Make some shelves...

A table...

Oh great...

Just one more room in the house for me NOT to finish!!!

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We LOVE our new playhouse!!!

Not finished yet...but so close!!!

Isn't it great???

I can't even tell you how excited the girls are!!!

Here is what it is looking like now.

We plan to make a sandbox and table underneath.

Railings for the porch.

Of course the swings need to hang on something.

It is gonna be great.

Don't you LOVE the barnwood siding????

Isn't it SOOO us!!!

Love it!!!

Then we are gonna use the colors we have on our house to add accents...(cause we have the paint already)

Isn't it so great?!?!?!?

I have a feeling they will be eating...sleeping and spending A LOT of time here!!!

Brent made the steps so Elsie could climb up herself.

She feels like such a big girl when she gets to do what the other girls are doing!!!

Just thought this was funny.

The air compressor was inside the clubhouse.

Was there until he had the roof up and everything.

And LUCKILY it just barely squeezed through the door.

It could have turned out bad...

I am glad it didn't!

While we were working...Cassi and Madi made their own garden...

In their old sandbox.

They picked weeds from what was supposed to be my garden this year (I never planted it...woops!)

And they planted the weeds in the sandbox, in very lovely rows.

Maybe I should have them plant my garden next year.

Then it might actually get done!!!

Anyway...another great day

Now I know the girls will be well occupied tomorrow!!!

Dad, your the greatest!!!

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We LOVE Home-made Ice-cream...after a long days work!!!

So Porter didn't do any work...but he sure enjoyed the ice-cream!!!

Isn't he a cutie!!!

Anyway...so we had a busy day.

But a fun one.

While Brent was away at a dentist appt. (which by the way...his teeth look AMAZING!)

We decided to mow the lawn for him.

And guess what?

Madi mowed the whole backyard by herself.

I helped in a few spots and helped to unload the bag...but for the most part, she did it!

What a pro!

Then the girls and I took a trip to the Bookmobile.

We are very excited about it.

Every Tuesday it comes between 12:00 and 2:00 and sits at Hero's park.

How great is that???

Anyway...

Then we all made a run to Lowes'.

We always get look sat Lowes when the whole gang rolls in...

Could be that our kids (Cassi) are bouncing off the 2x4's!

That girl has some energy.

Anyway, we got a bunch of stuff for Dad to make his 'much begged for, much promised' playhouse for the kids.

We all sat out there and helped Dad out as much as we could.

The girls were going in and out of the house with Popsicles, drinks, snacks...

You name it.

Cassi came out at one point and told me she made herself a Popsicle.

I was curious...but figured what harm could she do.

Well, later when I was looking for the Crystal Light she had made to make her Popsicle...I found her Popsicle in the fridge...but no juice.

Well, Apparently she used the whole Crystal light container to make her one 8 oz. Popsicle.

Crazy kid.
We will see how it tastes tomorrow, I guess.

Then we BBQ'ed, of course...

Played in the sprinklers...

Took a bath...

Then got our bowl full of Home-made ice-cream!!!

It was seriously yummy!!!

I am sure we will have another busy day tomorrow.

I can't wait.

Here are the bare bones...just wait...it will be AWESOME!!!

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We LOVE the sun between rain storms!!!

What crazy weather!!!

All we want to do is go swimming...and it keeps raining on us!!!

Anyway...at least we got some sun today and got the kids to go outside for a little bit.

And at least the rain made everything smell good!!

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We LOVE our Sunday calls to Grandma Ene!!!

I can't even tell you how many years Grandma and Grandpa have been getting calls from their Idaho kids on Sundays.

I guess it has been since we moved to Idaho.

The kids don't let us EVER forget!

They love to talk with Grandma and Grandpa.

They, (Madi and Cassi) always fight over who gets to call this time!!!

Silly kids!

Elsie loves to talk with Grandma and tell her about going to nursery and playing with friends.

It is always nice to talk with Grandma and Grandpa...it makes it seem like they aren't so far!!!

Here is Cassi...posing her after bath hair-do!

Our big chunky boy...and his big chunky thighs!!!

LOVE 'EM!!!

Sweet little Elsie Rose!!!

I dare you not to smile when you look at her!!!

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We LOVE a good movie and popcorn!!!

We had other plans for the night that didn't work out.

We made peanut butter cookies (Dads fav.) to take to Dad at the fire station...

but he has been doing some testing and training and stuff all day, we didn't get a chance to take them to him.

That's okay...that just means he gets to have them tomorrow...all to himself!!!

So instead...

we popped some popcorn and watched 'Happy Feet'...

we also got to have some friends over...Alex and Ayden.

So we had a fun night anyway...

we will visit Dad at the station soon...

Maybe next time we will make cinnamon rolls.

They love those!!!

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I LOVE the small window of time before my kids realize they need to be mean to each other!!!

My oldest two have realized that.

That they are supposed to be mean to each other!

Elsie hasn't realized that yet, and she is still so sweet and loving to her little brother!!!

I love it.

Maybe I will luck out...and they will stay nice to each other...

But I would really luck out if my oldest two would decide to be nice to each other!!!

Now that would be great!!!

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ALSO...

Look what Cassi learned to do while we were camping!!!

She can ride a two-wheeler! She caught on really quick too... we haven't been able to keep her off since! Good job Cass!!!

More camping pictures!!!

LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of picts...

enjoy

Brent's own little mini-me!

Madi practicing her shell-balancing skills!

Cass, pre-dirty.
Madi and her best friend Kara

Feeling the cold water!

Me and the man.

Heather took a great picture of us with the background...but...

Do you ever have a shirt that you wear a lot that you think looks good on you...

until you see yourself in a picture wearing it.

I will be putting this shirt away for a little while.

Anyway...still had to include a shot of me...just so I will know I was there.

So I had to crop it in a bit...

Elsie...mauling little Hallie!

Elsie and probably one of her most favorite persons in the world, Aubree!!!

Or how Elsie says it 'AWBEE'

Isn't this why you have kids in the first place...to do your dirty dishes!!!

Elsie loves to help out!!!

I learned on this trip that Elsie has enough hair for a pony tail...isn't it the cutest???

We heard that there was a place that had alligators...

So we took a little trip to see them.

They were huge!

Buh-buh, looking at the alligators...

Madi...a little unsure of the alligators, I guess!

The big Alligator

Cass spent a lot of her time throwing stuff in the water and waiting for it to come out the other side of the bridge.

Madi and Kara again.

The we went into Hagerman and visited the fossil museum they had there.

The kids thought it was pretty cool

They had a spot outside where they could dig up their own fossils...they thought that was great...

My sweet sweet little boy!!!

This was Madis 'seaweed bowl'.

She said if it had a commercial it would say,

'eat the outside, toss the inside'
Not so funny when you read it...but when she said it, it was pretty funny!!!

Cassi, all dirty...surprise? No!

And lets not forget Tanger...

Here he is...terrified that he is gonna be thrown in the water...AGAIN!!! Poor dog!