Weekend Wrap Up-Austin Is Three

Saturday morning started early for Scott and Anna (and they had been on a date to the movies on Friday night too!!). They took a flight to a town just south of us to have breakfast!
Looks like we may have another pilot in the family in a few years! Anna is willing to try anything, there is no way I would have even tried to hold onto that yoke!

Once again, Scott earned extra credit for taking pictures...what a guy! They had to hurry back to get to Lowe's in time for us to meet cousin Austin to build a rain gauge, and it was even more fun because it was Austin's 3rd birthday!!!

"Excuse me, Ma'am, could we get by you (and your bottom) to get our craft kits?" Seriously, she was right where everyone had to walk right by her to get started! Wear higher pants, or a longer shirt...paaaleeease!

Look at the concentration on this THREE year old face! He loves tools, and wants to do everything "all by myself"!

Lindsay had her own personal helper, but boy can she pound a hammer-watch out for your fingers and toes.

Here are the finished products, look at Anna's fogged up goggles (it was 80 outside, and she was working hard doing the whole thing by herself ). What a fun, cute, FREE activity! They get to keep the aprons and goggles, and when they show the Lowe's lady their finished project, they get a patch to iron onto the apron!

Gavin was, once again, VERY sweet, he knows he will be in the mix in another year or so working right along side the rest of them!

Austin's birthday party was on Sunday at a fun bouncy house place.

He was having a ball playing with all his friends, he LOVED his "Mater" cake too!

Big boys get all the candles blown out quickly!!

The birthday boy with his Mommy, Daddy and Little Brother (who wants a bite of that cake)!

Austin, I remember the night you were born just like it was yesterday! You were the most beautiful baby boy and made so many people happy that night!! It is so fun being a part of your life. You are such a sweet, tender, smart boy and God will be able to use you in a mighty way one day because of your tender heart and your willingness to obey! I hope you have another wonderful year of growing and learning. I am so blessed because you were born! I love you so very much! Happy 3rd Birthday!

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TGIF

Mornings are hard at our house! Lindsay LOVES to sleep! When she finally gets out of her bed, (after Mommy and Daddy have BOTH been in to cuddle) she sometimes sneaks into Shae's bed..and believe me, Shae doesn't mind one bit!! We have needed to get lots of sleep to survive this busy week!

Lindsay and Anna had a birthday party to attend for our "might as well be another sister", Chloe. It is always so exciting for Lindsay when she is invited too!!

Later in the week I got to spend the day with my favorite blue eyed boys! Austin kept me entertained with his drum playing...

He also "needed" to mow the lawn!

Gavin was just along for the ride, enjoying the warm sunshine with his trusty thumb close by!! (Isn't he yummy???) We also took a walk around the block, read books, played ball and ate lunch! By the way, boys are WAY busier than girls!

Shae returned to the doctor for visit #4, with a relapse of Bronchitis and a bad ear infection! Three new medications and 2 inhalers later, I think she is feeling better. Dr. Anna Luff was on hand to administer the medications. (You should see Shae trying to take the liquid cough medicine, an academy award is in her future!).

I sorta think the patient was enjoying all the attention...but, the poor Dr. ended up staying home sick today too!

I finally conquered the closets this week!! This is Lindsay's, I.took.everything.out. So I pretty much had to get it finished before bed time! This girl has some clothes!

Here is the clean sheet, vacuumed, dusted, organized closet bedroom!

Anna painted this rainbow in Pre-K, and since it has purple on it, Lindsay has claimed it! (she thinks anything purple is hers "because it is my favorite color").

This room was much more challenging, since Anna actually plays in her room A LOT! Not to mention the fact that there are a million dolls living in this room with her!

Oh, and check out the monogrammed pillow shams.....they were $1.50 for the pair at Shasta Discount Outlet (non-monogrammed). The monograms were..cough...cough...$10 each!! (good thing they were sooo cheap!) Scott picked them up for me (so he actually paid for them, and hasn't said a word!) I was a little disappointed that the monogram is so small, and un-girly, but "you get what you get and you don't throw a fit". Next time I am sending my items south,where they really know how to monogram and don't charge as much!!

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Happy Spring!

Spring is my favorite season. It brings such renewal and hope, it is the season our beloved Saviour conquered the grave after bearing the burden of our ugly sin. Spring and Fall are especially beautiful in Northern California....maybe because Fall is a welcome relief from the 115 degree summer days and Spring is the "warming up" to them! Everything is blooming and colorful, windows are open and birds are singing!

I tried to decorate my entryway table...not like I had pictured it in my head, but "Springy" nonetheless. (almost EVERYTHING on it is from the thrift store! )

Found a cute egg wreath for half price at Joann's! This weekend I hope to plant some pots of colorful spring flowers.

This jar has some handpicked cotton in it! Scott braved the barbed wire fence to get it for me on our drive from our California wedding to our new home in Texas (and the poor guy has had to lug the box from attic to attic for nearly 22 years now!) I was a city girl, and I still love that cotton..it is so fascinating how it grows! (and it is a sweet reminder of our happy newlywed days in Texas, too!)

A nest, artichokes and a cross fill the apothecary jars this season.

Birds in the kitchen.

We still have lemons on our tree, and we have really enjoyed our fresh squeezed orange juice from Papa's oranges (he has even mailed some oranges to Texas for the cousins to enjoy!).

Still working on my "He Lives" banner...show you later!

Happy First Weekend of Spring! Hope it is beautiful, where ever you are!

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Fun Thrift Finds

I found some GREAT stuff at the thrift stores this weekend! My favorite thrift store is the one run by the "Shascade Independent Living Organization". Their store is very neat, clean and organized (and the best prices!). There are "special needs" adults working there and they are darling, you are always greeted by 2 or 3 people with humongous smiles!
Here is the breakdown:
*iron bird thingy $2.99 (love it!!)
*sterling silver sugar and creamer (they were very tarnished!) $2.00 each piece
*The Message Bible (it looks brand new!!!) $.25
*glass apothecary jars and bell cloche $.50 each
I also found 2 pairs of jeans for Lindsay that look like new (Gap and Old Navy) for $1.00 each! Shae was really fussing about the jeans, but I told her that they are from some home where they don't take their stuff to consignment stores or have garage sales..they are better off than us 'cause they can afford to DONATE!! (and hello I washed then 5 times!)

This is my favorite find! Isn't it PRECIOUS!? I found this darling doll crib at a garage sale, and I called my mom for moral support and to have her talk me into getting it knowing she would say "oh I will send you the $ for it!" The sides go up and down just like a real crib! It was $20 and worth EVERY cent because Anna LOVES it! Now all the dolls are fighting to see who gets to sleep in it! (now if only I was like Julie Day and could sew up a cute bumper and quilt!!) I did find a vintage small pillowcase for it.

*now on to laundry, ironing and getting the house all "Springy"..more pictures to come!!
(and just so you southern girls know how lucky you are...I got some pillow shams for Anna's bed that I wanted to have monogrammed and the cheapest quote I have so far is "$35.00, Huh?) I may just have to use Sharpie!!

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Busy Week

What a busy week we have had! All fourth graders in the state of California learn California's rich history. What an amazing heritage we have in our state! Anna's class went on a field trip to Sacramento (a 2 hour drive) to visit Sutter's Fort. Sutter's fort is where the early settlers of California came to get supplies, rest, directions and advice during the gold rush days of the 1800's. I imagine it was a welcome sight for the weary travellers!

Anna and her friend Katalina in front of the museum.

This is an old printing press in the museum...it still works! The students were able to see it print a "wanted" poster of the 2 fourth grade teachers! Scott LOVED this part, he went on and on telling all the things they learned there. He was so impressed by the hard work it took to print a newspaper back then.

One of the "trappers"at Trapper Camp.

Striking it rich panning for gold!!

These two had a wonderful day! I was so glad that Scott wanted to drive on this field trip, he loves history and enjoyed himself, he just kept thinking how much faster he could have been there in that airplane!! (and he survived the trip driving a car full of girls!)

Other events of our week included, Lindsay and Shae looked at pictures on Shae's phone...

Lindsay being "set up" in the living room with Dora (to get out of Anna' hair) good idea though!)

Shae's ALL DAY volleyball tournament..."Go Shasta Magic" (see, volleyball never ends, you just play in a club after school volleyball is over!!)

On Friday night Scott and I were able to go to dinner and we walked on the famous (featured in Sunset Magazine) Sundial Bridge here in Redding. It really is a huge sundial that is solar powered to light up at night. It goes over the Sacramento River and has a beautiful botanical garden on one end and The Turtle Bay Museum on the other.

We had a very busy,but fun week..and I found some treasures at the thrift stores too!!

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Time Flies

This is sweet Little Anna at 3 years old. I ran across this picture and I realized that time really does fly! How can my baby, my youngest, my last child be approaching a double digit age? She is home sick today, so I am savoring the day with only her at home. These days are few and far between. Lindsay will be thrilled to see Anna already home when she gets home (Anna might not be all that thrilled to have Lindsay back on scene though!) She IS my baby today, and we are having a Brady Bunch marathon, eating soup on a TV tray. Photobucket src="http://i372.photobucket.com/albums/oo169/simplyyoursdesign/ingersig.png" border=0>