Do you think we can?

So my friend, Christina, is home from her travelings to South Africa. It's so good to have her home. Anyway, she was over this afternoon and noticed that my Maggie needed a haircut. Since she has a hair kit for her dog, she thought we should do it ourselves. Yeah right. I was a total skeptic. Maggie is a skittish dog and quick to bite if someone is annoying her. She is absolutely fantastic with the girls, but when it comes to cutting her hair...I'll admit I was nervous. We cut it out on the back deck. Here's Abby with the before picture. As you can see, Abby is excited to get started, but Maggie was already dreading what was going to happen.

I thought Christina was confident, but by this look...I was beginning to worry.

Here's the fur from the first round. Abby was great with the sweeping.

Well, it's done and she looks great! We can see her face and I'm sure she's feeling much cooler with more of her fur gone. I was totally impressed with Christina's abilities. Great job! Right now Maggie is sleeping and snoring and trying to recover from her trauma.

Friends and Laughter = a Great Time!

Last night we had our monthly SCAM meeting. There aren't that many people in this world who are in the same walk of life as me. But these girls are and it's so nice to be able to spend some time chatting, eating and laughing. The kids get along so well and that frees us up for some connecting time, much needed and much appreciated. Grace loved the small house. She would crawl in and out, in and out and smile the whole time.

There were two water tables and a pool. As you know, Abby loves water so she was one happy camper!

Here's Grace at the water table. I didn't plan on her swimming in the water so I didn't bring her swimming suit, but she had other plans. She was totally soaked with water in less than a minute! Hence she became the diaper girl.

Here they are! We were missing a few kids last night, but we managed to get these 7 to sit so we could grab a picture. Isn't God so great! He blessed us with the most incredible children!! I know I'm biased, but man, they are beautiful!

Grace and Nyah are only 6 weeks apart. I'm not sure what they're negotiating about here, but it was too cute to see them chatting together.

It's exactly what I've been looking for...

I know it doesn't look like much, but I've been looking for a cabinet like this one for sooo long! I finally found it at Pier One and then had to order it because there weren't any in stock. I got a call today and they had shipped it early. Isn't it lovely!! It's right by the front door and my plan is to use it to hold gloves, scarves, school supplies, keys, etc. Did I tell you it's exactly what I've been looking for? :)

In other news, we've been busy enjoying summer. We headed to a park on Sunday and it was such a beautiful afternoon. Grace loves to sit in the grass and giggle at Abby. She turned 11 months old today. I can't believe she'll be a year old next month. I feel like I lost my baby. Where did the time go?

Today was another hot day so we pulled the pool out. Abby absolutely loves the water. She was in it for several hours this afternoon playing with her neighbors. If I time it correctly, Abby will play in the pool and Grace will take a nap and I get to sit in the chair undisturbed for quite a few minutes.

My cabinet was delivered in a box and Abby quickly laid claim to it. She was so busy with her dolls and stuffed animals. She even got her markers and spent time drawing windows, tables, chairs, etc. I'm sure this box will be around for quite a while.

And I have to tell you about my deals!! Today I scored this backpack for FREE from Staples. It's a little big for Abby now, but I'm sure someone will use it. We also got quite a few deals at Target too. I love summer, it gives me more time to find the sweet deals.

Pattycake

We've been BIG into pattycake. Ever since she learned it, we've been playing it non-stop.

Mom and Me Day

Abby and I had a mommy and me day. We headed to the zoo, just the two of us. We left Grace with my wonderful mother, packed up the snacks and grabbed the sunglasses.
We had a great time! It was nice to be able to focus on Abby and to enjoy the animals together. They were all frisky and very playful today. She still claims that the flamingos are her favorite because they're pink of course!

The pygmy goats were a big hit. They were only 3 months old and just the right size for Abby. We were in that pen a loooong time.

Snacks and slurpees by the monkey exhibit was my favorite time. Just watching Abby while she was watching the animals. And drinking a red slurpee makes your lips turn red "like lipstick!"

The zoo workers had a tide pool petting time. Here's Abby with a seastar. It's the only one she would touch. She didn't want to get close to anything else even with my hand right there next to her.

My little froggy!

Oh! And the big news on Grace is the new teeth!! In the last day and a half she has popped her first two teeth! One on the bottom, and one on the top. Way to go baby!

Imagination At Work

What?!?!? You mean you don't have a lake in the middle of your living room? What's wrong with you? We go swimming in ours all the time.

I think this is a face only a mother could love. I was laughing out loud while taking this picture. What a goofball!!

New Furniture!

My new furniture finally arrived! After having an old loveseat and couch from my aunt and uncle (who were replacing it with new furniture) for almost a decade, and recovering that set so that it would last longer, I finally bought a new set. And I love them! Here's Abby on the loveseat and there's a matching couch. They are so comfortable. And when I lay down on the couch to nap, I have extra room by my feet. Ahh...

When you come to visit, I just might let you sit on it, if you're nice that is....

This is why...

I love my girls!

What a vacation!

Whew! We got home from CranHill Ranch yesterday and we had a G-R-E-A-T time! I've been going there for a week every year since I was born, and I can't wait to pass this tradition onto my girls.
We went with our family friends, the Z's. We've been camping with them for about 25 years. That's just crazy...I mean, can you love another family this much even though they're not related to you in any way shape or form? YES! And we LOVE the Z's!!
We built sandcastles, swam in the lake, rode horses, climbed the high ropes, pet bunnies, ate too much candy from the barnstore, made crafts at the Craft Hut, lit sparklers and ate smores. It was crazy hot all week. I was originally planning on staying in the tent with the girls, but that never happened. It was too hot!! We ended up in the trailer with mom and dad and the air conditioner. It was a great decision.
Enjoy the pictures!Steven and the girls. They are in love with him!! He was so great to both of them all week! From playing crazy eights with Abby to peek a boo with Grace, he was awesome!

On Tuesday we headed to the family fun night with songs and smores with our Jessie! Abby loved the song motions, but honestly I think she loved the smores more. Papa helped her with the marshmallows, but no one was allowed to help with the eating. :)

CranHill has a great petting zoo. Abby loved the bunnies. She was scared to hold them at first, but eventually they ended up in her lap. There were also horses, cows, sheep, a donkey, and an alpaca.

This is just an all around great picture of my favorite girls!!

Here's Abby with her nightly ice cream. Don't you love the pink cowgirl boots? After she had her bath she had to wear her boots so her feet wouldn't get dirty. She's also wearing her favorite new nightgown with Princess Tiana.

Grace, why aren't you staying on the towel? Grandma Barb set it up so nicely for you!

Riding the ponies were the best! She got to ride Ophelia (her favorite).

Jessie, Nicky, Steven and Hannah tackled the high ropes course and the zip line.

Grandma Barb is soooo much fun!! She makes me laugh all the time!

Since it was so hot we headed to the beach several days. Abby could seriously live in the water and the sand. She never wanted to head back to the trailer.

It was a great week!

Apples and Family Fun

Today the apples we use for making applesauce were ready! We've been waiting for this and we were worried that it was going to happen while we were on vacation, but it happened now! Yeah! My sister and her family met us there bright and early this morning. We picked 80 pounds of apples and 4 pints of raspberries and we were home by 10:30. The girls had a great time. Now it's onto the applesauce making. After picking apples and raspberries you're hungry for lunch. Here are the girls on the back porch with hot dogs and laughter.

Aren't they adorable!!! Four raspberry picking gorgeous women!

Can you believe we actually got 80 pounds of apples? Yeah, crazy! But we LOVE this applesauce!! Yummm!

Later we headed to the beach for dinner and to celebrate my sister's birthday.

Aw, come on mom, let me eat some sand, p-l-e-a-s-e!