So many little moments that I love...

 Emily cherishes a ring I loved as a child.

Katie prays by folding her hands and mumbling something

followed by "Ah-men."

Emily still loves Johnny Cash.

She insists she will marry him.

He has a truck.

He will pick her up and go to Costco.

Both girls love to yell at the dog.

Poor dog.

The dog ignores them.

Katie insists on hold Emily's hand while driving.

Sweet.

Then one shrieks.

Then both shriek.

"Ummm...girls, no yelling at home" I say absentmindedly.

"Okay, we are in the car" Emily observes and continues to chirp like a bird.

Dad says, "she found her first loop hole."

I say, "Everybody needs to be quiet for a few moments."

This mama needs a few moments of quiet.

Home Depot

Emily has made these adorable boats and crates.  

She is awesome with a hammer.  

Thanks Home Depot.

And what better to follow a morning outing to Home Depot than

riding with your sister on the back of your awesome bike.

Happy Father's Day

Do you see the girls' hand prints?  

Upside down...  

Thumb sticking out...

There you go. 
I added a little detail to our Father's Day gifts 

but the girls did the hard part.

Happy Father's Day!!!

Swim lessons

 

A sweet moment after swim lessons.

I hated swim lessons. 

I wanted to vomit the moment my mom told me to put my swim suit on.

The very moment. My throat tightened, my stomach lurched.

And it only got worse as we drove to the local Christian University.

They were the meanest Christians I ever met.

I hated the school and I have been highly suspicious of Christians ever since.

Whoa, this isn't about me.

So E is taking swim lessons.

At a posh residence with a salt water pool.

A few mamas privately hired a local life guard.

Sounds swanky but really we are just trying not to traumatize our kids.

Going under water is hard.  It comes naturally for some but not for us.

E is struggling but over coming.

She improves a lot each lesson.  

The only girl, she practices her kicks with out trying to splash the others.

So she may go all summer and not really swim.  Who cares.

Today she was brave. 

Good job kid.

I'm shocked!

What do you mean 

it's not normal 

to walk around with an Albert Einstein do

while wearing a face mask as a hat?!?

A late spring.

The harvest is bountiful.

 And colorful.  Notice 3 colors of potatoes.

 And huge.

And tasty.

Watermelons, 

yellow squash, 

green squash, 

basil, 

rosemary, 

3 types of onions, 

garlic, 

plums, and more

are on their way.

Where does a cowgirl carry her phone when she only wears dresses with out pockets?

 In her boots of course!

 Genetically speaking these kids appear to have come from the same set of genetic donors.

That is not the case. 

However when I'm out with my tall, beautiful, blonde friend, and our kids,

it appears that she has four little darlings 

and well, I'm just the help.

 I love how industrious my girls are.  

The word bored is not in their vocabulary.

Completely present in every moment.

Experiencing life constantly.

I always thought my kids would watch cartoons.

Someday we will get around to it. For now, we have better things to do.

  A Batman cake for me this year!  Thanks Grace!