Sierra's p-ART-y!

Yesterday was Sierra's 9th birthday and we threw her a pARTy that she will never forget - it was just her style: arts and crafts with several of her closest friends.  I was telling one of the other moms that the rowdiest part of the whole afternoon was when we served up the food (crumbled brownies and vanilla ice-cream topped with sliced strawberries - Sierra's favorite!).  The rest of the time was spent listening to classical music while the girls painted, beaded and embroidered.  Lovely!

I borrowed several easels from friends at church and purchased a 16X20 canvas and a paint pallet for each of the girls.  They had a table full of various brushes and a whole rainbow of colorful acrylics to choose from.  The rain was gently falling outside and we kept the garage door up as they began to paint.  Here are the masterpieces that they created:

 

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 (Sophie wins the "originality award" - she painted The Flying Cookie Angel.)

Then, we came inside for the embroidery and beading.  Each girl had a cross-stitch bookmark to decorate with colorful thread.  I was surprised at how popular this activity was and at how nimble their fingers were.  Since both Marc and I (and my wonderful Mother, who came over just in time!) were all busy rinsing brushes, threading needles and tying off bracelets, I was not able to get a lot of pictures of this part of the afternoon...but you get the idea.

The whole afternoon reflected Sierra's personality very well.  It was a wonderful way to celebrate her birthday.  We love her for her quiet, tenderhearted spirit.  Happy Birthday, Sweet Sierra!

Super-Soaker Birthday

We couldn't have ordered up a more perfect day for a water themed birthday party!  Ally was "super-dooper" excited to get to celebrate her 7th birthday with her cousins and so many of her good friends.

The party was at Settler's Park so that the kids could run around in the splash pad.  We had water guns instead of goody bags for everyone.  Marc also filled at least 200 water balloons for a water balloon toss...and for an all-out water war at the end.

 I kept my promise and Sophie had as much watermelon as her little tummy could handle.

We played a boys-against-girls sponge relay to fill a cup with water.  I love how I captured Carson's excitement in mid-jump.  And don't be fooled by Garrett's expression - the boys won every round!

Long straws and blue cupcakes made for quite a mess at the tables!

Two birthdays, one anniversary, Mother's Day and Father's Day down ... just one more birthday to go!  Next week we are having a pARTy for Sierra.  Get it?!  :)

Payette River: Open for Business

 "One"

"Two"

 "Three"

"Four"

 
Ally must have repeated that sequence about 50 times on Monday afternoon.  These girls don't know the meaning of cold water.  They played for hours, giving each other river tours in the kayak and swimming over to the rock.  They are little fish!

Valerie, on the other hand, didn't care for the cold water all that much and opted for a trip to the "candy store" (the lovely new Garden Valley Market) with Grandpa instead.  She brought back loot for the rest of us.

 

Grandma took the girls and me on a couple of bushwhacking adventures...and we have the scars to prove it.  Somehow the trail never seemed to stay where we left it!  I don't know if Ally will ever agree to "go for a little walk" with us again.

40 Years

My parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary this weekend.

 June 1, 1973

We had a little cake reception for them at church this morning.

I am so blessed to call these two godly people my parents.  I can't think of any greater treasure than the heritage that they have passed on to our family.  We praise God for the 40 years that He has granted them together.  We love you, Mom and Dad!

School's Out!

We did it.  First grade and third grade are officially in the books.  The girls are bursting with excitement and I am so proud of them.  We finished EVERYTHING that we set out to accomplish this year:

Saxon Math - CHECK

Language Lessons for the Well Trained Mind - CHECK

Horizons Spelling & Vocabulary - CHECK

MCP Phonics - CHECK

Life of Christ (God's Great Covenant) - CHECK

Earth & Space (Christian Kids Explore) - CHECK

Story of the World:  The Middle Ages - CHECK

Woot!  Woot! Woot!

Don't tell the girls, but I am even more excited about summer break than they are.  No more late nights getting everything in order for the next day's lessons. No more weekends full of lesson planning.   No more making supplemental worksheets so that I can teach Sierra and Ally the same material in Bible, History and Science.  No more last minute trips to the library for inter-library loan materials about to expire.  (At least not until August when we will start this crazy home school business all over again.)

 I love having all their work organized into binders that we can admire for a while.  Sure, they take up way to much space and I will one day have to get rid of them...but for now they are proof of all our hard work.

 (This is what Sierra did to her "Friday Folder" the minute that she finished her last assignment for the year.)

15 Layers On the Onion

During our wedding ceremony I remember thinking, "Really, Dad?!  Onions?!?!?"  He was talking about how love grows in layers like an onion.  You may think it's good now, but then you add another layer and it just gets even better.*  It's been 15 "layers" now - and I get it.  And lest you think that I'm bashing my dad, I'm not.  He gave us good advice on our wedding day that I haven't forgotten:

1.  Put down roots.

(Establish some solid relationships/traditions with Christ as the center.)

2.  Send out shoots.

(Invest in people/things outside of yourself...have a ministry.)

3.  Keep having hoots!

(Make your marriage fun.)

 And for your entertainment, I dug these gems out of the pre-marriage archives and sent them through the scanner:

 Our DTR (define the relationship) Date:

Drive-in movie, borrowed truck, couch stolen from dorm lounge... awesome!

 Santa Barbara:

Whenever we had enough money for gas, we used to drive to Santa Barbara and spend Saturdays at Ruby's Diner and on the beach.

Best Date Ever!

The night before I left for my semester in Israel, Marc planned an elaborate date on the beach.  We had a private dinner served by friends and live saxophone music right on the shore.

(*Wink to Melissa who hates onions.)