Half a dozen

6 years ago I made the best decision of my life and said "I do" to a man

who has given me more than I could have ever asked for.

Since that Beautiful fall day, we've continued growing together. 

Ups.  Downs.  

But unfailing.

I think I love him more today than I did the day we married.

 Happy Anniversary Babe!
I love you!

Orchard overload!!

Sunday we took advantage of the gorgeous fall weather and made the short trip to Minnesota Harvest Orchard!  

This is only the second season it's been back up and running and we all really enjoyed ourselves!

I highly recommend a trip to Jordan if you have some time!

They had an Apple Launcher that was pretty fun!

Had to take a stroll through the corn maze!

Wearing the flower Lila picked for me!

It's so great when you can hand your camera to your kid!

And because we have 12lbs of Harelson Apples... today was the perfect day to make ourselves a little treat! Mmmm! I love fall!

Emily ~ Senior Photos

Yesterday I spent some time in the morning with this lovely girl!

It was a little cloudier than I was hoping for, 

and far chillier than she was hoping for, but we made do!

It is so fun to have a cooperative subject now and again!

Thank you Emily, you really are just gorgeous!

Tea Parties and some other stuff

Lately the girls have been in to having Tea Parties.

Just about every day, they spend at least a short time downstairs playing together.

Making food, pouring tea, and having cake.

:)

They usually hound us to come down and play with them.

"But we need to have a grown-up too!!!"

We don't always oblige, but once in awhile it's really fun to have a tea party!

And by the way... I think little girls are hard-wired to know how to make the

Pshhhhhht

noise when pretending to pour a beverage.

Truth.

Tea parties are great!

 The random mattress is for our guest bedroom (yet to be finished), and for some reason it has become the stage for all tea parties as of lately.

We have also enjoyed cruising the cul-de-sac on our bikes,

having carpet picnics,

and are little girls with french braids not the cutest things EVER?

So cute, right?

Oh, and Boone's cool too.

Celebrating Ryan

When Ry got home from work last night, the girls were so excited to jump out and say 

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

He had left home before they were awake, so this was the first time they had seen him all day.

We had spent the day doing stuff around the house and attempting to bake a cake.

I say attempting.

Ugh.

Moving on... the girls "helped" me wrap their present to him and decorated the paper!

I think he was pretty happy with his new French Press!

We of course sang Happy Birthday and he blew out his candle!

He obligingly ate a piece of his cake (I did not) and the rest went in the trash.

(I found a recipe for Guiness Chocolate Cake on Pintrest.  FAIL!)

 

It was a nice night at home, celebrating the birth of a man I love more than I can say!

Happy Birthday to my love!

Today is Ryan's Birthday and since he had to work, the girls and I wanted to give him some love to look at today!

Daddy, we love you!!

Happy Birthday!

Bragging

I'm a lucky lady.

Yesterday morning, I left for work a crabby B*%$h.

Seriously.

The girls woke up early (5:20am people.)

Ryan slept.

I had to go to work on a gorgeous, fall, Saturday.

Yep.  Crabby.

My day was just fine.  Nice, even.

My patients were lovely and their babies... even lovelier!!

The best, however was yet to come.

Upon returning home last night, I walked into my house and this is what I found...

A sparkling, clean kitchen.

Freshly scrubbed couches.

Vacuumed carpet.

Mopped floors.

Clean front bathroom.

A newly installed water softener (that's a great joy in and of itself!)

A painted and prepped under-the-stairs storage area.

Two children, freshly bathed and in their PJ's, sitting quietly watching old home videos.

A handsome hubby, on our nice clean couches, listening to some quiet music, reading a book, and enjoying a beer!

SOOOO not crabby anymore!

Is my husband Awesomeness or what?!?

A Dance

I've posted videos from So You Think You Can Dance before.

As expected, I watched this season.

It's coming to an end, next week is the finale.

There have been some exceptional dancers and some great routines, but I've lacked having that "feeling".  That moment that gives me shivers and makes me feel like my heart might burst.

I don't call in and vote, and rarely watch the show in live mode.

(I love my DVR)

Yesterday morning I had a short time to watch most of it before I headed to work and had a 

wonderful, unexpected surprise.

A MOMENT.

This one moved me folks.

I grew up dancing.  And I loved it.
I have a dancer's heart.
But I don't have the technique, or the strength, or the relentless commitment it takes.

This particular dancer is simply phenomenal.

No other way to put it.

He's dedicated, and gifted, and beautiful, and I hope he takes the prize next week!

Enjoy.

We Remember

11 Years ago.

Never Forget.

Marshing Mallows

So last night, after Lila asking for weeks... we decided to have a little fire.

The thing was, 

it was windy out.

Really windy.

Not ideal for having a bonfire.

So, instead we used the small old Weber grill we inherited from our neighbor and

had a little fire in that!

We got out the marshmallows, graham crackers, and Hersheys

and were all set to go.

Lila is now so excited she can hardly contain herself!

"Mom, it is SO fun to marsh these!"

what?

"Marsh em.  I like marshing mallows!"

Oh! Hahaha!

We proceeded to "marsh" aka burn our mallows and then she tells us

"I really love camping!"

To which Ryan and I both giggled.

If this is camping to her... we can "camp" any time she wants!

First Day

Yes, I realize that in the grand scheme of things, 

Preschool is not the biggest thing in the world.

But on Wednesday, for Lila (ok, probably more so for ME)

it was.

A really Big thing.

Something we've been talking about for weeks.

Something she looked forward to and asked about incessently.

Two and a half little hours, three times a week,

yeah, not a huge deal.

But it means she's really a Big Girl.

And it's hard for her mommy to comprehend and accept how fast time is flying.

Sigh.

That morning, Lila literally woke up at 5:45 (not that unusual)  

and wanted to get dressed and ready to go right away.  

(very unusual, as it's usually a fight to get her out of her pajamas.)

She must have asked me twenty times before 8am if it was time to go. 

When I finally allowed her to get dressed, and suggested we take some pictures, she was

all whooped up and excited!

So we took some photos. 

(ok, so I took a lot.  cut me some slack, she's my firstborn.)

This photo is courtesy of Elaina ~ impressive huh?

Then she got a little nervous, but that lasted all of about 7 seconds.

We piled in the car, and before we were 10 feet from the house, she was back to her bouncy, excited self.
When we pulled up in front of the preschool, she spotted her friend from daycare and was out of the car before I had my purse and camera in hand!

Lila ran right in (she had been there for a meet'n'greet night 2 weeks ago) and we did the "hello's".

We found her name hook and hit the bathroom.

C'mon Mom!

I felt the tears welling up when she turned to me and said,

"mom, are you gonna leave yet?"

Sheesh.

Throw me a bone here.

Can't you even Pretend like you're going to miss me?!

So I pulled it together, and watched her mingle and explore.

She gave a quick hug and kiss when I left and I walked to the car.

I shut the door, buckled my seat belt, and proceeded to be That parent bawling in the parking lot.

Then I drove away and snapped this

 Sniff.  Sniff.

When I came back to pick her up, this is how I found her...

Clearly, she wasn't having any fun at all!

We picked up her art project, said good-bye and away we went.

She said she had so much fun and couldn't wait to go back again!

My big Preschooler.

How the heck did that happen?!