pumpkins, leaves, and cute bags :)

i came across this cute blog the other day...Nest of Posies!

and here are some fall things i found...

 i'm ready for orange!

i want this!!!!



i wish this was in my house :)

i'm so ready!!!!

cooler weather is coming our way this week...relief at last!

ps...pumpkins have made their way into our home already :)

grabbing on to fall early...

 we planted this tree in the backyard last year because i wanted leaves to fall...

(our tree in the front yard stays green year round)

 the girls spotted leaves on the ground and needed to take a closer look.

(now, i realize that this tree is trying to survive the relentless heatwave, but we had our first rain shower in a very long time which made the dead leaves fall to the ground...but all my kids could see were fall leaves :)

 cari had the idea to pick up as many as she could before dad mowed...

so we grabbed a basked and went to picking...

 the weather was the best that we have had in a VERY long time...

 being outside with the girls during a cool breeze and seeing all the leaves on the ground...

 put an excitement in my heart that only fall can do.

so we are grabbing on to fall early this year despite the weather!!!

quick recap of cari's 6th birthday party

my baby is now 6-years-old!

her birthday fell on a friday this year, so we had to celebrate the day of!

the party was 2-fold...

it was a fun old fashion sprinkler party

and it was a great excuse to water my lawn during this awful drought!

and no, it was not on our assigned water day :)

if you haven't already seen the slide show then check it out!

This thank you made with Smilebox

arrrr...summer is coming to an end.

my family has been on a one-act-play kick for the past week. 

here are pictures of the latest entertainment...

school starts on monday for my kids and 

i think we are all going to miss the extra free time to create these fun memories...

 arrrr....open house is tonight and while we will miss the fun free time

i am looking forward to getting back to a steady routine.

have a fun friday!

funny friday foto

we visited the houston museum of science awhile back and i asked the girls to look scared...chloe cracks me up (from the left cami, cari, chloe)

inspiration comes in small packages

as cari was reading her last dick and jane book for the summer

she commented on the cover after taking a little time to exam it

she said with amazement, "that is so clever!" 

this is coming from a little girl who 

wrote, directed, starred in, and was prop designer 

of her very first play the other night after dinner.

i guess inspiration can come from anywhere...

today, for cari, it happens to be the cover of fun for three, 

but her dad and I are inspired by her creativity all the time!

i did have to promise to supply her some paper bags soon :)

hanging on...

I really love this idea...

http://www.thehandmadehome.net/2011/08/a-few-of-my-favoritest-things-8-11-edition/

I recently went through my oldest daughter's clothes and realized that she has outgrown every skirt she owns!

She will be turning 9 this fall and has been able to wear size 7 for a long time, but now her legs and hips say otherwise :)

Well, this was great news for her younger sister who still loves getting her older sister's stuff - but not good news for their dad who thinks clothes are way too expensive - and bad news for me who has to get creative in shopping and piecing outfits together on a sometimes unrealistic budget.

Either way, I have an empty hanger like the one above and I have already starting thinking of ideas for this look in our house...maybe it will stay in my daughter's room after all :)

6 candles

 

this is my daughter, cari.

  

today is her 6th birthday.

 

she is a lot of fun and a delight to have as a daughter...

 

she is very creative and calls herself an artist...

 

she is a tall, blond, blue-eyed beauty who sometimes pretends she is a ninja turtle...

 she loves dogs, hats, art, dressing up, superheros, and barbies...

 happy birthday to the coolest kid i know!

discovery camp...25 years later

when i was a little girl (around 7 years old) i went to discovery camp for the very first time.

it was a brand new camp and i remember swimming in the swimming pool, painting rocks, and being completely moved by the church services. i would then return nearly every year, even in my teen years.

 

now, nearly 25 years later, my very own daughters have attended the camp. they have swam in the same pool as mom and attended the same moving services. 

chad, my husband, also attended the same summer camp as a kid and i can't help but wonder if we ever attended at the same time as young children. 

actually, the first time i really met chad was at discovery camp when we were both 12 years old. 20 years later, we volunteered to go as helpers from our church and took our own kids.

i think this could very well be my last time to attend discovery camp, but certainly not my two girls.

over the weekend

over the weekend, after taking our kids to a church summer camp, we visited my brother and sister-in-law.

(i will share more on discovery camp later)

 

some of the girls from our group...my two are the first from the left.

this was chalk talk at the camp (cami, karolee, and cari)

cari's notes from service :)

my husband's sister, sally, and i have been friends for a long time. we were even roommates for awhile before we married each others brothers. we all hung out all the time and this picture brings back great memories.

from the right to left: sally (sister-in-law), chad (husband), crystal (me), mike (my brother), pat (brother-in-law)

they now live in the houston area and we live in the austin area, so between our busy lives, it is hard to get together these days, but we still try.

look at that cute face...she was playing tag with the ducks

our girls are double cousins and get along great. their daughter's name is chloe and she calls my girls by one name, "camicari."

 chloe and cari camping out together

we had a great time catching up this trip and even enjoyed the science museum where the dinosaurs were loved by all 3 girls.

no sew blankets

the girls and i love doing project together in the summer.

i just purchased a sewing machine not to long ago and know nothing about it other than it is hard!

so, we decided to make no sew blankets this time.

we all four (the girls and their american dolls) headed to hobby lobby to pick their fabric. 

(i wish i had taken some pictures of them pushing their dolls around in the shopping carts)

cami's choice...

 cari's choice.

to our surprise, all the felt was 30% off...we bought about a yard each.

 once home, we cut cari's corners 2 inches and then made small 2 inch cuts around the sides.

 on cami's we cut a 5 inch square with 5 inch strips around.

(i probably would have done 3 1/2 if doing it again)

after all the cutting comes all the tying!

 cami did hers all by herself. 

(the longer the strips, the easier it is to tie.)

 you can see that cari's strips were much shorter, but cute still!

(the shorter the cuts then the bigger the blanket)

cami and her new blanket

 cari and her new blanket

they love them both!

they are very cozy and unique!

 we even had enough to make their dolls matching blankets!

 robin and rebecca...

(a new doll is on her way just in time for cari's 6th birthday)

we still have fabric left over, so share with us different ideas you think we should try!