Labor Day!

Well Labor Day was great! We spent it out on Matt's families farm where we BBQed, dug in the sand, and jet skied all afternoon. But the highlight by far was this:

Our friends that live out there know, Robby and Karen, came up with this great little contraption. Robby and Karen are pros on the wake board, but their little 3 year old boy wanted in on the fun too. So Robby, being his clever crafty self, designed this "surf board" and it was a huge success. I honestly couldn't believe Emma wanted to try it, but she did great and had the time of her life.

Here's a few more pics of our fun day.

Tal LOVED Riggs. I was sort of surprised, because if a big black dinosaur walked up and looked my right in the eyes I don't think I would stay around for very long!!! Not Tal. He followed Riggs around all afternoon... he wasn't loving the water today.

Don't mess with the best or you'll end up all wet, right Matt!!

Good bye Summer!!!

The last bit of summer

We are squeezing that last bit of fun out of summer. So we took a weekend to spend on the boat.

Emma was the flag girl...

and Tal was the captain (who's is the cute co-pilot?!)!

And with the fabulous weather we've had, we took another day and went to the zoo. We love the elephants, don't you?

Emma's 5!!!!

Thinking about this has been a bit hard for me. My baby is 5. She's so grown up. She's just starting to be such a big girl. Those cute little toddler girl tendencies are slowing leaving. She is starting to actually act the way we've tried to teach her, which don't get me wrong, makes me so happy, but at the same time our sweet little Emma bear is turning into "almost grown-up, big Emma bear." We're so proud of her. She's smart and sweet and did I mention just so grown-up?

August 27 was the big day. We had a fun little lunch with her little friend Amanda then that night grandma and grandpa C and Aunt Dita came for BBQ hamburgers and hot dogs, and of course cake!

Emma got a pink cowgirl hat and cowgirl boots from grandma and grandpa B which went perfectly with her pink unicorn Rosie! YeeHaaa!

First day of school!

Well, the big day arrived! Emma was so excited. She has some amazing teachers (I'm already so impressed)! She worked really hard to make her school bag look just right... with a little help from mom. Instantly, the entire class was her friend. Just as it should be when you're 4!

The day before Emma had watched Robin Hood, so she decided that Robin Hood, Little John, and Maid Marion were going to come with her to school (she's holding their hands in the picture)!!!

The kids couldn't wait to go inside. Their teachers were already inside getting the last things ready, and waiting for the bell to ring. Emma didn't realize they had to wait for the bell and then the teachers would come open the door, so she said, "Why don't they see us?" Sadly, patients is not her strongest virtue!

Headboard!

Here's a few pictures of the headboard I made. This was such a fun project and really, really simple. Cut your piece of ply wood, then frame with 2X4's on all 4 sides. I wanted mine a little taller, so I framed it a few inches longer then the cut ply wood to make "legs." So on the front it's all smooth and flush across, and the back is open for wrapping and stapling the batting (or I used a queen size mattress pad to make it softer) and your fabric underneath each ledge. Ta-da, a headboard! Some day mine will have a dark sage green wall behind, so you can actually see it!! It's on the extremely long list of things to do. ;)

Fair '09

I seriously only took 2 pictures at the Fair this year. Could it be because between my friend Emily and I we had 9 1/2 kids (she's expecting!) all under the age of 7!? We had a few extra tag-alongs. Crazy, yes. Therefore, I rushed out of the house without my camera. Ooopps. But somehow I remembered it when Emily, Molly, and I went back for the JoDee Messina concert. Funny how your brain functions after kids are in bed and you're by yourself for a second!

She was really fun, and the weather couldn't have been better.

My Five:

1. Quick family trips

2. My brother Corbin. He's pretty awesome these days!

3. Taking a dip in the pool

4. One of Emma's school teachers from last year was baptized on Saturday. I haven't been to a baptism like that in years. Wonderful is all I can say.

5. Primary songs!

Summer Pictures

Matt and his dad had a meeting at Lake of the Ozarks, so the three of us and Matt's mom joined them! The hotel were the meeting was held had a beautiful Japanese Garden, so out came my camera! I do realize there are lots of pictures here. Sorry!

Then Emma took a picture of the fish in the pond, and me and Tal! She LOVES taking pictures.

Oh Tal!

Tal is so great. I've decided that having a boy means you have a few other thing too: messes, hitting, messes, trucks, messes, and a whole bunch of cuteness!! He toddles around and gets into everything with a smile across his sweet little face. He just makes me smile, even when we does this:

I've learned to to keep all doors closed again. If not I'll hear "splash, splash, splash" and his cute little laugh coming from the bathroom!! Gross. Emma never did that.

We were playing in his room the other day and he brought me his gun hostler and his church shoes and sat down in my lap so I could put them on! It was so cute.

How can you resist this boy!!! Mmmm I could just squeeze him all day.

The Cookie Mystery!

This has Emma written AAALLLLL over it. Painting book, a pink wrist band, and a pile of cookies with the cream filling licked clean!

And THIS is all Tal!

Lone Elk Park

Picture this: the high is 75 degrees with no humidity and it's July in Missouri!!! It's true, it happened, so we had to be outside. A few miles from us is a pretty little place called Lone Elk Park. It's a huge, enclosed stake park with buffalo and elk walking around. There's a driving trail that takes you around, and if you're lucky you'll catch a glimpse of these roamers! That's were we decided to spend this incredible day and our friends the Jensen's came along.

So ignoring all the house work that needed to be done, we packed up ourselves, the Jensen's, and a yummy picnic and enjoyed the time outside.

The girls found a frog. They chased it, and giggled for quite awhile!

Where's Tal?
Here's our buffalo friends (no elk on this trip)!