My Girls

I know I'm beginning to sound like a broken record, but really, why have my girls gone and grown up all of a sudden?

Easter Sunshine

The party was on when this little ray of sunshine showed up at the Easter celebration!

His mama told me he was excited to be seeing his cousins.  Ellea is his favorite girl, and Morgan and Nicole are pretty great, too!

Ready or Not

I gave the girls the job of going outside to scout out the best location to take our family photo while I helped in the kitchen at Easter.

Ellea took the camera along and they ended up having a photo shoot!

Remember that picture I posted yesterday of our family three short (long) years ago?

What happened to this little girl?

Watch out world. . . .

. . . ready or not. . .  

. . . here she comes!

Three Years

We had our annual family photo taken at Easter in beautiful, sunny Lewiston.  Some of the fam were anxious to change out of their church clothes sooner, but they went along with my demands that they hold out for picture taking time because they know we always take a family picture in Lewiston on Easter morning.
 

Flashback.....  This is from my very first blog post three years ago.  Can you believe this was only three years ago?!  Really?  Honestly, I had to count on my fingers.  This picture could not possibly be from just three years ago.  They're so little!  We've lived a lifetime since then!

I love how mature and beautiful our  kids are becoming, but where did the time go?  How can they grow up so much in three short years?  Wow.  It's so bittersweet to watch your kids grown up.  *sigh*

Cold River

We all enjoyed our beach time on our recent camping trip.

Even the dogs.

Playing in the sand is fun after a long winter.

Nicole was annoyed that her dad didn't want her wading too deep in the river.  "It's not cold," she said.  I didn't believe it, but she had herself convinced.

At least until she got cold!!!

Beach Weather

Not sure what's going on here.  Excited to be on a beach perhaps.

Excited that the sun is out and there's no snow in sight.  I know I was.

Of course, I wasn't in shorts and a tank top.  More like long jeans and a hooded sweatshirt with a jacket nearby.  It was in the 50's and breezy, after all.  At least I didn't have on a scarf and hat!

Good Book

My favorite thing to do when camping.....  Sit out in the sun with a good book.  Dog is optional.

Scavenger Hunt

We went on our first camping trip of 2014 on the Salmon River over spring break a couple weeks ago.  The river is always 10 degrees warmer than our house, so it was a treat to go hang out in the beautiful sunshine for a couple days.

Industrious, creative Ellea put together a scavenger hunt for us prior to our departure.

It was a fun challenge to find something for each category (something round, something rough, something beautiful, a pine cone, two leaves, etc.).

It was boys against girls.  You'd think that with three girls, we'd have no trouble beating out those stinky boys, but they finished just ahead of us!

While we were sorting our collections, Morgan picked up a small round thing and asked Glenn what it was.  Glenn told him it was deer poop and Morgan was a little grossed out.  That's how you win a scavenger hunt... I need something round and there's some deer poop - in the bag it goes!!  Only a boy would be okay with that.  Only my husband, not my son!!!

Here they are all holding their imaginary deer poop!

It was a very fun activity.  Good job, Ellea.  You are now the activity director of all family events.  Can't guarantee we'll always cooperate with your activities, but we'll try!

Hair and Makeup

I don't like that my oldest is growing up so fast, but it was fun to get to help her do her hair and make-up before her very first prom.  We played with her hair a couple times prior to the big day and had our game plan all figured out.  I didn't even burn her with the curling iron, although she was suspicious I was going to once or twice!

She was so pleased with herself when she put on her heels and was taller than her mama.  It was annoying. :)

Prom Flowers

The first step before the official prom date begins is to hand out the flowers.

The boys had it so easy:  "Here, let me slip this elastic band on your wrist."

The girls, on the other hand struggled with figuring out how to pin the boutineer on the lapel.  The boys were nervous they were going to bleed!

Smile for the camera,

Then a parent will step in and help you!

So pretty.

And so grown up.

Prom Pampering

One of the highlights for Nicole as we were preparing for Prom was when her dear Auntie offered to pay for her to have a manicure.  Then sweet Grandma suggested that she would like to pay for a pedicure since she was wearing strappy sandals.  Fun times for a 15 year old girl.  Let's get pampered!

What more could a girl want on the day before her first ever prom?  She especially enjoyed the comfy (massage!) chair with soaking tub.  And the foot massage was nice too, I'm told.

She had gel polish on her hands which is supposed to last two weeks.  A beautiful turquoise blue with glitter on the tips.

And french tips on the toes with a cute little blue flower to show off in her beautiful shoes.  So pretty!

Prom

 I don't know how it happened, but our first born child went and grew up when I wasn't looking.

It was so much fun helping her pick out her first prom dress and get ready for the big day.  But also a little sad that she was old enough to do such things.  Her and her date made a beautiful couple.

But it breaks my heart to think of her slowly growing up and moving out on her own.  That's what we've been raising her to do these past 15 years, but that doesn't mean I want it to happen soon!

Pole Vaulting

Both girls are taking track this year.  Poor Nicole has had a rough start.  First she had an awful cough and took antibiotics for bronchitis.  Then she started having knee pain.  The pain was so intense that she hobbled around like an old lady.  We took her to the doctor and she was diagnosed with Osgood-Schlatters disease. OS is very painful, but not as terminal as it sounds.  The main treatment is rest which kind of puts a damper on running track.  Things are improving so she will be slowly reintroducing some track activities.

One of the events she's decided to try is Pole Vaulting.  There's a generous older guy in a nearby town who is happy take kids interested in learning pole vault under his wing.  Since our own track facility is pretty basic and doesn't even have a pole vault pit, it's necessary to travel to nearby schools.

She had her first lesson this week.  Sounds like it's a pretty tricky process, but she's willing to do it again.

She obviously needs to gain some height, but it's not bad for the first day and a girl who hasn't been able to do much track conditioning.  Fingers crossed for no more health problems. . .

Grown Ups

Us grown ups went out on a date last weekend.  We were actually gone from home ALL DAY on Saturday.  The kiddos hung out at home by themselves all day and then grandma came over to have dinner with them and stay the night.  Our dinner mates (who have toddlers and babies) couldn't imagine what that must be like to not have to get a babysitter for the kids.  It was a long time coming, and we don't take advantage of it often enough, but it sure is a nice phase of life.

We even got dressed up like grown ups.  Of course, I forgot my purse at home, so without an ID, they wouldn't let me drink grown up drinks.  Can you imagine?  I'm certain I look like I'm a couple years past twenty, but no ID - no drinks.  Which was okay because their drinks were overpriced.  I just pretended that it was a compliment that they thought I was underage!