Goin' to Town with Grandpa

A Photo Montage by Sierra Elise - Age 5

One of the best, new cabin traditions is the "big kid" trip to town with Grandpa. My brave Dad loads the girls in his trusty, half-ton Chevy pick-up (a.k.a. THE BEAST) and takes them to the booming town of Crouch for some candy. On the way they usually stop to visit the animals at the Rick's house. I let Sierra take my camera along for this last trip since parents are not invited. I have always been very curious about what goes on. Here are a few of the many, many, many pictures that she took:

Well, okay - I took this one before they took off. And they are in the 4Runner this time because the roads were a bit slick.

A view of the driver from the back seat.

A neighbor's snowman through steamy, blurry windows.

A stop on the bridge to see the ice forming on the river.

Rick's miniature horse and mule.

What you don't hear in these pictures is the John Denver CD blaring in the background. And, I guess that Sierra's hands were too busy to take any pictures of the girls eating their candy, but they each came back with chocolate around their lips and absolutely NO appetite for dinner.

Red Knees

You know what that means, right?! YUP! Valerie Joy is crawling all around and has been for almost 2 weeks now. Time to put all the Polly Pocket paraphernalia away!!! This girl puts everything in her mouth. She loves being able to get around on her own and has even pulled herself to a standing position a couple of times. She's growing up way too fast!

Tub time with her favorite ducky.

"Helping" Mommy with the laundry.

The fireplace was a novelty that she had to explore over and over and over.

Ai! Ai! Ai!

A Weekend with Annie

We had the great privilege of spending Thanksgiving weekend with Miss Annie-Cakes while her Mommy and Daddy were in the hospital with Riley. What a hoot! She had so much fun with her big cousins that she didn't have time to miss her own family too much. The girls played very well together. It is such a blessing to have cousins to grow up with.

Three silly girls on the Papa-Bear chair.

Just woke up and it's time to play!!!

Story time with Grandpa.
(By the way, if you're looking for a good Bible story book THIS is a great one. Highly recommended!)

Grandma made a very cool snowman that the girls affectionately called "Spikey."

"Val, Val....I hold you!"

Savannah is a very smart little cookie and she kept us laughing all weekend with her vocabulary. Most of her words are very clear, but our favorites were "Pee-Tot" (teapot) and "Hai-Moon" (ice-cream).

Kindergarten Feast

It was great fun to be able to join Sierra's class for their Thanksgiving feast last week. Several other moms and I helped to load the plates with goodies and then cleaned up the mess after the feeding frenzy. Sierra and her classmates were the "Native Americans" while the other K class were the Pilgrims. You'll notice the tie-dye shirts...that was another class project. They made for quite a colorful Thanksgiving!

Turkey lunch-meat, corn bread, fruit salad, and pumpkin pie!

Lining up to head out to the hallway.

Waiting for the food.

Sweet Sierra.

Introducing....

RILEY DAVID BECK

Born on eleven/24/09

At eleven:44 p.m.

Weighing 8 lbs. eleven oz.

(The happy cousins!)

Sunday Morning

Looking at this line-up just melts my heart!

HaPpY HaLf - BiRtHdAy!!!

Don't you just want to eat her up?!?!

Believe it or not, this little chubba-lubba can actually lift that belly and those chubby cheeks off of the ground and get up on her hand and knees. Unfortunately, she can only scoot backwards so far. She loves all the new tastes that she gets to try out now that we are giving her solid foods. Her big sisters are her favorite people in the world, but she usually flashes a shy smile to just about anyone who will stop and tell her how cute she is. We are so blessed by Valerie's sweet temperament and go-with-the-flow attitude!

Happy Halloween

It's a good thing that our girls have a loving Grandma Mouser who has a gift for sewing. I was not inspired to make or buy extravagant costumes this year for Halloween. We were going to reuse some old costumes and call it good. Last Saturday, we received a package in the mail with two BEAUTIFUL princess dresses. (The pictures do them no justice at all! You should see the detail.) Carolyn made a gorgeous Belle dress for Sierra complete with a hooded cape. An enchanted rose came with her ensemble. Ally got the perfect Snow White dress and cape. A red hair ribbon and plastic apple completed her outfit perfectly. The looked SOOO CUTE! Thanks Grandma Mouser.

Sweet, sweet, sweet Snow White.

As we were getting ready, Sierra asked, "Mom, do you have time to dye my hair brown?"

Um...no.

Checking on the flames inside their jack-o-lanterns.

Cutest little pumpkin in town!

Cousin Annie came to buzz around the neighborhood with us!

Linder Farms 2009

We decided to take advantage of the lovely change in the weather yesterday and make our annual trip to Linder Farms after dinner. It was perfect! There were very few people out, the rain had done away with all the dust, the evening was gorgeous and the girls had a blast. Sierra and Ally took full advantage of their tokens! Valerie just had fun watching everyone else. (Have I told you what a content little baby she is?!) We came home with two small pumpkins and three tired little girls.

Kid's maze.

Hay ride!

Waiting for the big girls in the bounce house.

I wanna jump too, Mom!

Holding on for dear life.

An old pro on the barrel train.

Each girl found her own "perfect" pumpkin.

Not a great picture - but, oh, so true to life.

Ally being her own quirky self.

Sierra being a little mother.

Valerie just smiling as her head is being squished!

Sand Dunes

Do you ever feel like you are constantly trying to climb a sand dune in life? You take one step forward and then sink almost right back to where you started. Well, that's kinda how I've been feeling lately. I barely have the dishwasher loaded from one meal and it's time to cook the next. I wash one load of laundry and by the time it's dry, I have another pile of dirty clothes. I clean up the playroom only to find crumbs all over the kitchen floor. I am weary of making "to do" lists because I am adding more items than I am crossing off. (Hence the pathetic lack of posts lately. Sorry. ) I'm not looking for advice or consolation....just a good verse or two to get my eyes focused back in the right place. What Scriptures motivate you to keep climbing?!

The Tooth Fairy's First Visit

That's right, folks! The tooth fairy will be making her first landing at the Mouser home tonight. After three weeks of wiggling, Sierra's first tooth finally popped out...with a little help from Mommy. Sierra was so excited that she was literally shaking. The girls have been uncommonly quiet since we tucked them into bed, but I'm not convinced yet. :) Of course, Sierra would pick tonight to lose her tooth. We just got back from a Target run and Marc used his last two singles to buy popcorn and a Coke on the way out. The lucky girl is going to get a FIVER!!! (And that's only because I wouldn't let Marc give her a twenty. Can we say "sugar daddy"?)

Growing Up

Little Miss Chunky-Monkey is growing up way too fast! Here are Valerie's latest accomplishments:

She likes to "play" with her toys now.

(Love that grin!)

Her sisters can keep her entertained for a long time.

She gobbles up her rice cereal.

AND....

(Sorry about the lame mommy commentary in the background. I'm a nerd.)

09-09-09

1. Struggled through reading Zechariah 1-6 in the early hours this morning, but am enjoying the chronological approach to reading through the Bible this year.

2. Remembered that school started 20 minutes later today for Sierra and got her there on time with 23 individual applesauce containers (and spoons!) for her Kindergarten class snack.

3. Picked up a couple of check registers at the bank on my way home. (Does anyone else still use those things?! I can't quit the habit. I record EVERY transaction by hand.)

4. Finished a hand-written letter to my good friend and roommate from college. It's been a long time since I wrote out a 4 page letter. She sent me one a couple of weeks ago and it made my day. Try it!

5. Watched a little Disney Princess Sing Along and did a stamp/ink pad activity with Ally.

6. Cleaned up a blow-out from Valerie's diaper after picking Sierra up from school. So bad that I had to wash the whole car seat. Ew.

7. Am wasting precious nap minutes writing this silly post - but the title is cool, eh?

8. Need to come up with a good chicken recipe for dinner. Chicken soft tacos sound good - but the girls don't eat them. :(

9. Looking forward to Youth Group and AWANA this evening. I hope that Ally and Sierra both enjoy their new groups.

And now for the good stuff....

Yes, we did spend Labor Day Weekend at the cabin.

(How did you guess?!)

Everyone was there. SO FUN!

Grandpa took the three "big" girls to get some treats in town in his pick-up. Brave man!

Uncle Chuck gave the girls thrilling rides on the motorcycle.

Grandpa, Sierra and Ally spent the night in a tent. Ally said that she never wanted to leaver her purple sleeping bag!

I L*O*V*E this face!

Valerie and Daddy on the beach at the cabin.

Sierra Elise, Kindergartner

Well, folks, she did it! Thanks for praying for us. Her first day of school went very,very well. She was up and ready early and ANXIOUS to be on her way. My sweet sister, Susie, offered to come and watch the other two girls so that I could take Sierra to school without having to worry about them. It was a good thing. Sierra got a little overwhelmed when she saw all the kids on the playground, but she bravely marched into her classroom when it was time to line up. No tears. For Sierra, that is. I cried like a baby all the way to the car and all the way home. Again, it was a good thing that Susie was here. She's a good comforter.

My good friend, Kelly, brought her kids and some delicious blueberry muffins over in the morning to cheer me up as well. It was just what I needed! The time flew by and before I knew it it was time to go back to pick her up. Sierra had lots to say about her day: there are more boys than girls in her class, she was an excellent listener, there was one table group that didn't get any points, she knows the sign for "bathroom", she sat on the carpet 3 times and at her desk 4 times, they read "The Kissing Hand" and did a little craft, and she didn't make any friends yet. That will come, little girl.

Ready to go!

(This picture makes me sad.)

Proud mama.

Ponderosa Elementary

Lined up and ready to go inside.

School's out!

The welcome home gang!

Telling Grandpa and Grandma all about her first day.