Happy Birthday, Sierra Elizabeth

 Holy smokes, this tiny little chub muffin is 14 years old today.

 

 And I can't even tell myself, "Don't worry, Mama. She's not *quite* 14 yet, you still have ~insert number~ hours left before the clock strikes that magic number in which your baby is one.year.older."

 Nope. 
Can't even say that to myself, because she was born at 5:50 am, and as I type this, at 6:30 in the morning, she is *already* 14.
It's already done.


 

{2009 ~ 7 years old}


 

{2010 ~ 8 years old}

 

 {2011 ~ 9 years old}
 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

{2012 ~ 10 years old}



 

{2013 ~ 11 years old}

 

 

 

 {2014 ~ 12 years old}

 

 

 

 

 {2015 ~ 13 years old}



Miss Sierra, it truly seems like a minute ago that you were my little girl ~ losing your first tooth, learning how to ride a bike.

And now, here we are, two blinks later, and you are about to start high school, taller than your mama!
It seems I am constantly caught between sadness that you are growing older, and complete joy: marveling at the young woman you have become, enjoying the time we have together, excited for your future.

You are:

Strong and determined ~ you know exactly what you want, and often how to go about getting it.

Organized and detailed ~ you will run a mighty tight ship one day! You expect a lot of others, but I suspect it's because you expect a lot of yourself.  You have a love of all things organizational.  Pretty bins, storage containers, papers, and pens. 
Everything has its place, and there's a place for everything.
Your favorite tool is your checklist.


Poised and mature ~ You've always seemed beyond your years. You are a born leader, and your sisters look up to you.

Thoughtful and giving ~ You love giving gifts ~ Picking out treasures for others.  And you are the first to get your Thank You notes done!

You love:

Summer days spent by the creek.
Reading a good book.
Taking care of animals.
Dinner out.
Hunting with Daddy.
Crafting with Mama.
Camp-outs.
Time in the kitchen.
Dreaming of vacation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are so very proud of the young lady you are becoming.
Happy Birthday, Darlin'!
We love you to the moon!
 

 

 

 

 

 

More Summer Fun . . . At the Beach!

 A couple of weeks ago, we kidnapped my mother-in-law, and all escaped to the beach for the night.

The beach is my happy place.
I love it.
When I'm feeling sad,
When I'm feeling lost,
When I'm confused,
When I'm hurting:
I long for a trip to the sand and sea for peace.

 

 

 

We walked long walks,

 

 

We rode fun rides.
{When I say "we", I don't mean me.  That does *not* constitute "fun" in my mind.  That looks like a nauseous mess waiting to happen.  BUT ~ it's obviously fun to some!}

 

 

Gram and Kam ♥
 

 

The girls found the carousel.  A favorite tradition!

 

 

 

And while the others were on the carousel, Sierra found a space for lease, and was dreaming of opening her bakery there :)

 

 

 

 

Then we hit the sand to collect seashells,
 

and watch seagulls.

 

Tay even found another walking stick.
Remember our last beach trip, and her walking stick??
 

 

And the obligatory group photos ♥

 

 

 

 

 Hopefully the girls and I can make another trip soon.  We miss it already! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Camping Re-Cap

 

So. Summer is almost over, and from the looks of the ol' blog it seems as though we've done a big, fat nothing.

 

Not true.

We've actually been cramming in as much family fun time as humanly possible.
Which leaves very little time for documenting it, funny enough!

 

Last month, we made it to my family reunion camp-out!

 

I wasn't sure we would this year, with everything going on. 

We haven't missed a year in the 14 years we've been married ~ but we also hadn't suffered our second loss in four years before.
Life is so different now, it's almost unrecognizable.

 

BUT. 

Campout.

 

I'm going to leave you with picutres.

 

It's my favorite way to tell a story, ya know:
 

  

There was plenty of bike-ridin.

 

 

There was some bug-catchin'.  Let me just tell you ~ these bugs that the boys catch for fishing are the biggest, ugliest suckers you can imagine! Ew!  But the fish love them!

 

 

There was a LOT of cousin bonding time.

 

 

Prizes were won,

 

 

Tournaments were played,
 

 

Snuggles were given.
 

 

 

 And at the end of the weekend, we wound up with another family photo for the books, and many, many, wonderful memories made.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wordless Wednesday ~ Blueberry Picking

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

Celebratin'

 

 Miss Kam.

She's such a breath of fresh air.

The other day we had some errands to run, and we made a stop at the Dollar Tree. 
It's a favorite of the girls', don'tcha know. 
Because everything is right in their price range {and mine too, if we're being honest!}

Kam took a little of her hard-earned money, and purchased party hats, plates, and cups, for her AG doll, Emma's, birthday.

Sweet girl, she was hard at work decorating, and getting everything just so.

 

 

 

 And then she invited her sissies and mama in for a celebration.
 

 

She captured some memories,

 

 

 

 brought out the goodies,

 

 

 

 and even had gifts for her favorite doll.
 

 

 

 

 I just love her imagination, spirit, and creativity ♥
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wordless Wednesday ~ We LOVE S'mores!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

Breakfast Time

 

 In the spirit of more time with kiddos in the kitchen . . .

I present:

Pancake Décor.


Start with a mini pancakes,

add a little whipped cream and powdered sugar,

 

 

A dash of sprinkles,
 

Apparently more is more to a certain, just-turned-five year old.
 

And, voila! A festive, summertime breakfast treat.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kids in the Kitchen ~ Popsicle Bites

 

 Our "finding the joy" adventures that I had planned in my head, took on new form when Tay started coming down with a virus.  Last week, when Kenners had started running a high fever and complaining of a sore throat, I had chalked it up to lack of sleep and stress.  But when Tay showed the same symptoms a week later, I had to accept that we were spreading some germs 'round here.
Yay. Summer Sickies.

Luckily, a sweet friend had recently brought dinner to us, and with that she included just about everything you could think from her garden. Fresh lettuce, spinach, onions, raspberries, and blueberries. Yum, yum, yum!

So. Straight to the kitchen we went, to make a feel-better-kids-snack.
{PS ~ This adult liked it just fine too!}

I knew I wanted to make popsicles, but they take such a long time to freeze, and Tay-Tay is not known for her patience; particularly when her throat is on fire.

So we started with these:
 

 

 

Little bites of creamy, yogurty, raspberry-y, goodness!

We found a mini ice cube tray, mixed our ingredients, and poured straight into the tray.

About an hour later, and they were done!
 

 

 

Then I found these plastic shot glasses that I had picked up at the Dollar Store awhile back.
And cut some cute, paper straws in half to use as sticks.

 

 

The PERFECT size for mini popsicles!

 

 

 

 Quick and easy, and oh-so-delicious!
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 No need to wait for a sore throat! 
These little treats could be gobbled up as a sweet, Summertime, cool-down, snack! 
That's just what my older girls did!


The details: {In case you want to make your own!}


You'll need:

Raspberries {or your favorite berry!}
 ~ About 2 cups {more or less, depending on how many treats you plan to make}

Vanilla Yogurt {1-2 Cups}

A splash of Cream orrrrrr I used Vanilla Creamer. Oh Yum. Oh Yum, Yum, Yum.


Mix it all up {I like to crush the berries a bit}, and pour into whatever mold you choose:
Popsicles, ice cube trays . . .

Toss in the freezer, and you're on your way to frozen goodness!

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Messy

 

 

Whew.

 

It is a mess around here.

 

I'm not sure how else to describe it, really, other than life is real messy right now.

 

A couple of weeks ago we lost my father-in-law, tragically, and suddenly.  To say that we are lost, and having trouble knowing how to go on, is an understatement. We were *just* finding our way after the last tragedy, four years ago. Just beginning to smile again.  Just finding the joy in the new memories being made. And now . . . what?

 

That's been my question for the last two weeks.  'What now?'  Of course, I just want to scoop up my mom-in-law, and move her right in with us. But, I'm not real sure she'll go for that.  {Orrr ~ has anyone searched mother-in-law cottages on Pinterest? Adorable!}  But I think our first step is just that, a step.  One step, and then another toward living again.  I am reminded how short this life is. How little time we have with one another.  So my goal is to do MORE.  Even when I feel like doing less.  To make more memories with my daughters and husband, my mother-in-law, and my own parents. More sleepouts on the living room floor. More nature walks. More time with my girls in the kitchen.  More life, less stress. More trust, less control.

 

That's the plan, Stan. To seek out a little bit of joy in this world of chaos and confusion.

 

Big hugs from me to you, in case you are feeling lost too.