Big Sister

(Warning: I am about to talk about how great this kid is. Yes, more mommy-bragging about our awesome kids. Sorry, I can't help it.)

For H's birthday weekend, we had a lot of fun things planned. We'd be going to the park, riding horses, playing games, eating cake–several times. Fun things for V to look forward to playing and chowing down on too. Not to mention plenty of opportunity for a sister to potentially get a little jealous.

The thing is, despite all that, she was more interested in making it a fun birthday for her sister.

Ahead of time she had made a sweet birthday card and constructed a special birthday crown for her sis. Without prompting, she wanted to go to the stable early to set up. She was intent on wanting to help with the games rather than playing them.

Even when pin the tail on the pony became pin the tail on V.

She helped the kids in the games and stood by to help H read the handwriting on her cards.

In making it a special weekend for her sissy, she showed how special she is and what makes her an awesome big sister.

Charitable Contributions

…and the recipient of today's lemonade stand earnings goes to the Humane Society!

*Update: Oops, that was worded badly. Rest assured we're not donating the kids to the Humane Society, just the quarters.

Happy! Birthday

Happy birthday big six-year-old!

Your first smile showed up on the day you were born. We thought it was a fluke (or gas) but the smiles kept coming. When you were very little, if you thought anyone in the room might be sad, you would climb up on their lap and say "happy!" You continue to bring smiles to everyone around you and happiness to everyone who is blessed to call you daughter, granddaughter, sister, niece, friend….

It was a big birthday weekend.

We had a birthday picnic in the park and an afternoon at Champoeg with Grandpa, Maga, Erik, Audra, and Henry.

We had our family birthday dinner on a cheetah table—

you asked for ribs of course.

We had cake and ice cream (swirl) with Grandma and Grandpa.

The next day,

we cowgirled up for a party at a stable with your best buddies and Nana and Tom…

…and your birthday wish—you all rode horses!

Happy birthday big girl.

Sewn with Love

Ta da!

H wanted to sew a heart pillow for our cat yesterday. She stitched it all by herself with only a little help from mom to tie the knots.

Signs, Signs, Everywhere There's Signs

V likes to make signs. Something as simple as "let's watch a movie tonight" and suddenly, there are directional signs in the hallway, tickets, a ticket booth, an entry welcome sign, etc.

Needless to say, we go through a lot of tape.

1800's Children's Jobs

A couple weeks ago, we spent the day at Champoeg where they were demonstrating some of the jobs that children would have done back in the 1800's. It was the perfect day trip for our little history buff.

They washed clothes… (recognize the cute prairie girl standing next to them?)

Combed and spun wool…

Carved soap…

H was pretty shy up to this point and needed convincing to try things out. UNTIL we came to this lady's table who was working on sewing projects. H's eyes lit up.

Both girls made little corn-filled pillows (like a bean bag). H was so excited, and wanted to do it herself–"no help please." She was focused and whip-stitching like a pro.

I think we're going to need a couple more sewing baskets at our house…

East Lake 2009

Hooray for another summer with East Lake memories!

We were so happy to get away and spend time with family and friends. We had much to be thankful for…

snow cones in hot summer sunshine…

happy kids and cozy rustic cabins…

family…

long-time friends…

long-time friends who bring dessert…

good grub in dutch ovens…

V's confident paddling around the lake…

H's bug whispering skills to catch butterflies…

good fishing and Maga on a pontoon for the first time…

kisses from Gus and Henry…

time spent together, relaxing days, peaceful sunsets, and good memories. Thanks Pop!

Sketches

When H has to wait for some reason, she often picks up a pencil and paper and sketches. I love finding these little masterpieces around the house.

Here, she was waiting for her sister to finish putting away laundry so they could play. Can you see in the drawing it's H & V holding hands behind our cat? Aaaawwww.

Here she was waiting for me to finish a phone call and sketched this on a long post-it note. This may be the first framed post-it note on our wall.

Wildlife Safari

Earlier this summer we hopped in the car and drove down to Wildlife Safari with Grandma & Grandpa. The girls were, of course, very excited. We were there first thing in the morning and the animals were very active.

The smaller giraffe is a baby, this was his first day out and about. He was getting used to cars driving through and after wandering around the car, took off running. (Oh my, giraffe's are not graceful runners.)

Beautiful zebras…

lazy rhino's were mostly sleeping in the shade.

H wanted the windows rolled up when we passed by this guy.

The lion was amazing. Pictures don't do them justice. He was sauntering around and roaring. You could feel how powerful these animals were just being near them. (Thus, the fence.)

The best part of the trip and truly a dream for H was this:

Yep, we were inside the cheetah's hangout. G&G arranged for the girls to have a "cheetah encounter" which allowed them to go in with the cheetah, talk to the handlers and have their picture taken with the cheetah. H hung onto my hand with both her hands but loved it. Taini, our new cheetah pal is so beautiful. They are very skittish animals so we weren't allowed to move much and the handlers were extremely cautious in reading her body language the entire time. Afterward we drove back through the loop again and happened to catch the handlers working with the cheetahs, training them to do things that make veterinary care easier. One of the handlers came and talked with us some more and we learned a lot about them. We all see why H loves them so, they are incredible animals.