Fish sticks and Princesses

Scottie came to town for work and we were able to have Sushi with her at Heather's house on Thursday night. Samantha had just gotten a new Princess dress from Taylor and convinced me she had to wear it. (it's a bit big...but then again Taylor is a tall eleven year old!) Emily also discovered fish sticks! Normally I would be freaking out but since they were organic and didn't have anything she was allergic to and it is a good source of protein and omega's I figure what the heck! She loves them!

Samantha's first day of school.

Samantha had a great first day of school. She is going to preschool at Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church Early Learning Center. She went to school without any complaints and wants to go everyday! She has a lot to say about school at this point. It is only the beginning but I hope her love of school will last a long time.

It all happens too fast!

Samantha's first day of preschool. Bitter sweet. She is starting to want to make her own breakfast in the morning and she has opinions about what she is going to wear. It is all happening way to fast! SLOW DOWN

The stormy date

Not often to J and I get to go out on a date. So we were very excited for the surprise date that Heather and Jared took us on. It was at a winery on the cliffs overlooking Spokane valley. There was a country western band and we had a picnic. Of course...mother nature had her own plans! As we were pulling up to the winery there was a severe weather warning including high winds and hail. We set up our picnic and were going to troop ahead with our adventure. Well the storm blew in...the band stopped...and we lucked out! We got to have our picnic inside the historic home not open to public! After the storm was over the band set up in the tasting room. It ended up being a beautiful evening. The pictures from left to right top to bottom is the order of events....storm blowing in....storm blowing through....eating in historical house....historical house and winery after storm.

Spokane Indians

We lucked out and got to go to a Spokane Indians game this summer. Spokane Indians are a minor league team for the Texas Rangers that plays here in town. The girls loved the game and entertainment. We had great seats for half the game thanks to our neighbors (who are from Texas)! It was a lot of fun. What a great way to end the summer.

May I have some Avocado please?

Emily decided that she was going to have a say in what was going in our salad. So she got the fruit bowl and proceded to dump both avocados on the ground. Thus making them mushy and needing to be eaten (she soon turned into a green monster!) These photos are also the last moments of that bowl which I have had for over ten years. You would think when you had a second child you would have learned from your mistakes with the first. But nope...the bowl and all the fruit were pulled right over on the floor soon after this photo was taken.

Peaches and Ponies

While J has been spending his Sunday's enclosing our porch upstairs. The girls and I have been escaping to quieter places to nap (in the car!) A couple of weekends ago was the Peach Festival up in Green Bluff. Afer tasting peaches....(did you know there are at least three varieties of peaches? and they all taste different!)....Samantha and Grandma had ice cream and then the girls each took a ride on a pony. Of course Samantha wouldn't get on one but when she finally did she didn't want to get off and tears started! We made sure that the ponies would be there again during pumpkin harvest. No worries we will be back.

Emily feeding herself

Emily fed herself for the first time the other day! We had to have two forks going though because not a lot was getting in her mouth and she was not willing to give up her fork that often!

The weekend at the Lake

We have been lucky enough to blessed by the generosity and gracious hearts of Heather's parents Jim and Sue Hanley. This past summer we have gotten to use their pool and when they went to the lake for a week they invited us to come stay with them for part of it. (especially nice considering I was worried about going camping with the screaming banshi!) So the following photos are of our trip to the Lake. The lake house was situated up on the cliffs above Lake Couer D'alene which meant a nice hike to the lake when we wanted to go. The weather was a bit cruddy so luckely this house was equipped for kids. The girls really loved playing with the Karoke machine and of course Smores by the fire pit. This was our big camping adventure (minus the camping part) for the summer. Hopefully next summer we will be able to get out and camp. Each time we planned a camping trip this year it would storm the day we were supposed to go and the following days!

Smores

A day at the Lake

Karaoke At the Lake

Cat Talkes

We are fortunate enough to live near a great animal refuge called Cat Tales. During J's vacation we decided we were not going to sit around but go and do fun stuff. So we took the girls to Cat tales. Samantha and Emily both loved it! Samantha and I were lucky enough to be standing right in front of two Tigers who decided to "play" with eachother including getting up on their hind legs and batting at eachother. (funny the animal people use spray bottles to get them to stop playing. All she had to do was put her hand on the spray bottle and say their names and they stopped! Hum...isn't that what you do to train a house cat?) Samantha now asks to go to the Cat place at least once a week....it's a good thing it's not expensive!

That's my Oatmeal

Of course Samantha doesn't mind sharing but when her sister puts both hands in a bowl of Oatmeal....not pretty. That is Oatmeal all over Emilys face and hands and all over the ottoman! Samantha was a bit upset about this one!

From one Monkey to Another

Emily's favorite food is bananas. So needless to say she sees one she wants it. Samantha was nice enough to share her banana with her sister. (there was a bit of a mess left after this!) Samantha has been such a good big sister and is willing to share. But she is also careful not to share anything that Emily might be allergic to!

The girls and Great Grandma

The girls are both fortunate that they get to spend time with their Great Grandma Tita. She lives not far from our house and we get to Grandma sit everyonce in a while. Samantha absolutly loves to read with her and also sit and play nursery rhymes and games.

The dog days of summer

Summer got hot this year. Once Emily could crawl there was no stopping her from doing what her big sister did. Typically after playing with chalk there is more chalk on the girls then on the sidewalk.

I wanna be like my sister

Emily for twenty minutes one night tried and tried and tried to get this purse around her neck. And SHE DID! She wants to be just like her sister

The best kids in the world

We were lucky enough that the Amtrak Disney Christmas Carol Train stopped in Spokane. Silly me I thought it would be a real quick trip but it took the whole day! And both my girls were rock stars. No Whining in Line (1 hour 45 min wait) Stayed with me while we toured the train (45 min) and then waited another ten minutes to see a preview of the movie that scared Samantha and as I am writing that I now realize that was what her nightmare was about this morning! (BAD MOM!)

Lithia Park

On the way home from our first trip to CA. We decided to stop in

Ashland Oregon on the way home. When I was a little girl we used to play in the park when we came to the Shakespear festival. Samantha was rather funny and did not want to walk in the middle where the moss was.

Playing With Faith