Is Anybody There???!

Hello, again. This is a bit embarrassing - with the over a month gap in my posts this time, I'm not even sure where to begin....

We've been busy? I have fallen off of the blog bandwagon? I still love my blog, but forget about it? Yep, yep, & yeppers. I will really try to keep updating from time to time - as I do love to blog - but apparently I don't take photos anymore. And when I do, I apparently don't blog them anymore. :) Ah well, we do the best we can, right?

Here is a photo of me & E on our first day of school:

Here is E this summer riding horses with Grandma GG.

Here she is riding a wooden horse at Grammy Faith's house:

And just for fun, here's a pic of a very happy E at dinner one night.

Who knows, maybe I'll even do another post sometime soon....you'd better stay tuned....just in case.

xoxo

Family Photos

Last Monday, {Labor Day} we headed out to a grass field & Willamette's campus with our great friends the Mogfords. We took turns taking pictures for each family & got many, many photos of the girls & baby Owen. What FUN it was!

Armed with a balloon bouquet & 2 over sized lollipops, we set off for our first official family photos since Eloise was 3 weeks old. Here's a small sample of how it turned out:

Thanks Ash for taking our photos - they are priceless to me! If you'd like to see more click here.

xoxo

Camp Aunt Jess

A week ago, I whisked my nieces away for a full day & night of 'Camp Aunt Jess'. We hadn't done this before - & now that we have, the girls can't wait to continue the tradition next summer of this camp. :) We packed a lot into our amount of time....we had a trip to Starbucks for a treat (before we hit the road from Vancouver), stopped at McDonald's for happy meals, took a rest, went to Limeberry for yogurt, went to Target for prizes, treats, & decorations (Nellie asked if we could have a 'dinner party'. And at Camp Jess, just about anything goes - except for bad behavior- so we decorated before our meal). After Limeberry, we had craft time, decorated the kitchen/dining room for dinner & then it was pancakes with sprinkles on them with a side of strawberries. After dinner, we played & then had a movie complete with blanket snuggling & popcorn. After the movie, we fell into bed....

The next morning was more eventful than I had hoped for - Mia got sick...so all plans for that day were bagged & we went back up to meet Laura. However, next year, we will finish those plans & add more! Thanks girls for coming to Camp Aunt Jess - it was so fun!! Have a great start of school on Wednesday!

Craft time:

Decorating for dinner:

Decorating our own pancakes:

For those of you skeptics who think my house is always clean..... whew! Camp Aunt Jess was hard work!!

xoxo

Photos

Miss Eloise is following in her fathers footsteps & is becoming quite the photographer as of late. Here are a few examples of her work from recent weeks:

Very abstract, right? :) I uploaded pictures to my computer earlier this week & was surprised when it said 181 photos uploading. I soon discovered that about 100 of those photos looked like variations of the above. Love it.

xoxo

Belated Update

Do you remember back at the beginning of July, when we had the 4th of July? You do?? GREAT! I have some pics to share from you from then. That's right - I just uploaded them tonight. Sigh.

Here is Eloise getting her first manicure from big cousin Nellie. Adorable. Eloise chose a hot pink color for her fingers & green for her toes. She was very proud.

Patriotic cupcakes:

My mom enjoying her E time:

Eloise holding a sparkler!?!? YIKES! That's right - Daddy wanted her to play with sparklers - so I quietly prayed & worried as they did. :) And guess what? She was just fine.

Maybe I won't wait 48 days until my next post. Maybe I will. I guess we'll all have to wait & see. :)

xoxo

4th of July

Happy 4th of July!! Thinking of all who have fought & served our country to ensure our freedom. Wishing you & your family a wonderful, safe holiday.

xoxo

62

These past two weeks Eloise has started saying some of the cutest little phrases, like: 'Mine do it' & 'Sit' {this one refers to the window when it's going down}, but the one that takes the cake is 'Doing Mama? Doing?'. Isn't that cute?

Yeah...I thought so too. Two weeks ago. Now, it seems like it's all I hear throughout my day. So, yesterday I thought, I wonder how many times a day she says that? That's right - I kept track. I'm that mom. Guess how many times.

62

62 versions of 'doing Mama? doing?' 'Jessie, doing?' 'Mama Jessie, doing?' 62.

And do I answer her? Yes I do. Because she has to learn what I am doing. Even if it's only answering her questions. :) I answer every time. And most of the time - I don't even use sarcasm. That's love, people.

62.

I was thinking of counting again tomorrow to see if I could get an accurate average...

xoxo

Tonight I Am....

1. LOVING my new purse. I bought a bundle deal with 2 shells & bought another shell on clearance at my friends party. Then, last night Tim came home from the Rose Festival {where he was one of the official photographers!!!} & surprised me with 2 more shells. Spoiled much?

2. Playing with my Silhouette - making Father's Day cards & Birthday cards for a week filled with friends birthdays.

3. Feeling sentimental about this song:



I bought the piano sheet music tonight & printed it from my computer {hello technology} - went upstairs & sight read it - I was a little proud of myself. I haven't done this in ages...it feels good.

4. Enjoying an evening of getting some loose ends around here tied up. :)

5. Wishing the laundry would fold itself & the toilets were the insta-clean kind. Thinking that can all wait until tomorrow.

6. Kind of thankful for the rain - my flowers are very happy.

7. Thankful for a nice low-key weekend. Looking forward to a low-key week as well.

Happy Sunday!

xoxo

Summer Fun...

Our summer has already begun!! A couple of weeks ago, we went with our lovelies Amanda & Sophia to a couple of nurseries to get some flowers. While there, we gave rides to two sweet little girls:

And we *may* have filled Amanda's trunk with flowers...

We've already been to ID to visit the bestie & families:

And today we discovered a new *oh.so.fun* place to play with our friend Margaret & her kiddos. The Willamette Valley Fruit Company. Good pie, adorable boutique & great fun to be had outside? Yes, please!

What a super summer it's starting out to be & the weather is even cooperating this week too!!!

xoxo

Bike!!

On Mother's Day, we set out for Target to purchase a helmet for our little pea. One of our friends had just given us their hand-me-down 3 wheel Dora scooter, & Eloise needed a helmet to ride it. So...what did we come out of Target with??!!?

Yep. A new BIKE! It's Sooooo fun. Eloise loves it, but I think I might love it more. I ask her everyday if she wants to ride her bike. :) Today she turned me down for the stroller - ah well.

It's a Radio Flyer tricycle with a pink basket on the back & a bell. Hee, hee. I love the 'parent handle' & when she puts her feet on the pedals, they don't move unless she wants them to. As she gets older, it turns into a 'real' tricycle.

And we did walk out with a helmet. :) Honestly, I think these pics are the only time she's ridden her bike without her helmet. Promise. She calls it her hat & asks to wear it before she gets on her bike. Safety first! :)

xoxo

My Erin

...and her Aiden.

<3

Easter Dress/Mother's Day

The pictures of the Easter dress mysteriously disappeared - so last Sunday {on Mother's Day} we pretended that it was Easter again too & dressed Miss E up in a repeat performance.

Here she is getting ready. Can I just say that I LOVE this picture?:

A Mama & E shot to keep this Mama happy on Mother's Day:

E twirling for Daddy:

My precious little girl:

Cuteness {x4}

In Keeping With The Theme...

In keeping with the theme of delayed holiday posts - here are some more Easter shots. This year was Eloise's first year to hunt Easter eggs {since she wasn't walking last year!}. We took her to our church's Easter egg hunt & it was SOOOO much fun. We had a story, did a craft, & then hunted eggs. It did not take long for her to figure out that something fun was hidden in those eggs. And when she discovered that that something fun was chocolate - she was sold. For the rest of the weekend {and following week} she would walk around & say 'Eeegg? Chocoate?'.

Maybe in a few months I'll share with you pictures from Erin's baby shower & pictures from Mother's Day. :)

xoxo