A first real haircut!

My baby girl finally got her first real haircut.

A few months ago, we did get her some bangs cut...but she had never had the rest of her hair touched. I don't know why the picture doesn't show it, but the ends of her very long hair were blonde, even though she NEVER was...so I just had the hardest time cutting those off!

She loved the salon treatment from our favorite hair stylist, Heather.

Heather even just got a kids car for cuts, and Maky was the first to use it!

She didn't love the hairdryer...

It was so so worth it though....

This is how adorable it looked....

Ahhhhhhhh.........so cute!

I just love her so much. She makes me smile every minute!

She just seems so much bigger these days...

and having a big-girl haircut just makes it feel so final to me.

I don't know why...it just does.

Silly...I know.

I adore her...all of her!
All of the time!

My Littlest One....

Everything about this little girl warms me.
Everything....
Her tiny little voice, her crooked smile, her soft skin, her cowlick in her bangs, the way she says "me" instead of "I"...and..."boybewie" instead of "blueberry". I adore the sparkle in her eyes, and her chubby lip...leftover from scar tissue due to a big fall long ago. She has a mole on her ankle, and a scar on her tummy...I love them.
I even love her fits, and the way she stands up for herself to her brother.
I melt when she bats her giant lashes at me. I love that I am her number one desire for her every single need, especially when she is hurt. I love her smell, her toenails and her giggle.
I love how she loves her daddy...
I...could seriously go on FOREVER...
I love that she loves me this much too!

I adore the one-on-one time that we now get to spend, for more-or-less, the first time ever.
I am realizing that she is becoming, SO MUCH, a little person.
Sometimes, it is hard to take in...but...for now

I just spend, every minute breathing her in.

Just a little DIRT!

The weekend BEFORE we went to Leavenworth...it was time to continue the yard.

We needed a GOOD heaping layer of nice quality top soil to finish off what had turned out to be a VERY time consuming, expensive project...

On Thursday, October 1st.....

THAT we got......

A bit of dirt.....

Quite a bit of dirt...

ummmm....OK....a DARN LOT of dirt...

TOO much, in fact...20 cubic yards

but we have a lot of yard, and we know we can find a place for all of it.

Watching the truck was pretty fun for the kids.

We were left with this.....

So then we did a lot of this....

And a lot of this.

ALL day on Saturday! Literally!

Our wonderful friends Mark and Erin came over and helped us ALL day. Erin and I filled wheel barrels of dirt...one after the other....again and again...and Mark moved and dumped the barrels, and Kevin spread (and of course did everything else as well). This is after we cleared out and beautified the ground before laying the topsoil...removing all roots, sticks and big rocks. We ended up calling it a day after 6pm. Kevin and I were up at the crack of dawn continuing...and then Mark came back over and helped again. Eventually...it was done.

Next step...

Kevin is building a retaining wall, and we will fertilize, lime, seed and peet moss it...to hopefully get some grass growing before we freeze up for the winter.

Missing Tooth!

On Saturday...October 3rd...at 6:40 in the morning....[yes, I said 6:40...that's AM].
Tyler lost his very first tooth!

Last year, in Kindergarten, EVERYONE around him was losing teeth. In fact, he was one of the VERY few that didn't lose any. His teacher told us that she had never had so many lost teeth in one year in kindergarten.

So, of course, as you can imagine, Tyler was LONGING to lose his!

All of the time, he would say..."when are my teeth going to get loose?"

Then in about August, at a dentist appointment, we were told that his bottom tooth was loose, and that all of them had small roots (which I guess is a sign that they will be getting loose.)

After that...he was pretty obsessed about wiggling that tooth...but it took a long time to actually see it move beyond what a dentist can see.

However, little by little, it kept getting looser and looser....

Then....literally, in a minute, IT WAS GONE!

Don't ask me why he was playing with it at 6:40 in the morning.

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But DANG....He is SO CUTE!

He was so excited! I mean, you can't tell can you?

Just another first...

on a list of many...

everyday reminding me...

that my little boy is growing up!

A little Leavenworth

We took a little adventure to Leavenworth. Just the little kids and I.

Kevin couldn't take this specific time off, and Karman couldn't take the time away from school. So we just took a road trip...and it was great!

We bonded in a way that we have never been able to before. We played all day, and stayed up late. We had no where to be at any specific time, and we had no time limits...we could take our time, and just focus on playing. Plus there has never been a time, where I could focus all of my attention on them ALL day! No cooking, no cleaning. It was great, they LOVED it!

All of the colors were changing over, and it was gorgeous! I have never been there before even though I grew up in both Spokane and Bellevue. The drive was very pretty!

There were flowers everywhere...the town is very kept up and clean!

The flower pots were overflowing...they are unbelievable! I have never seen such amazing gardens.

There were hundreds of picture opportunities.

Plus, the whole town is designed for tourists. There are a ton of painted murals to take pictures in front of...and beautiful trees...and rockeries.

The kids hammed it up at every turn.

It is such a quaint little town...Bavarian in style and feel. There are a ton of little shops, very touristy, but homey too. Everyone is friendly, every shop has Christmas ornaments in it all year long, and it is filled with Bakerys, oh sooooo many bakeries. Not a good thing when you are trying to lose weight.

Our hotel offered a continental breakfast like none I have ever seen before. This is the waffle bar, where you could make you own belgian waffles. Tyler LOVED it!

Here we are on our night out to dinner...all dressed up.

We went to the arcade, which was a big hit. These are all of the tickets that the kids won.

The favorite game was ICE BALL. They could have played it all day long!

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Everyday I watch my kids as they morph into little people. They have their own thoughts, and are certainly developing their own opinions. It makes me so happy to know I am a huge part of who they are becoming. That somehow, everyday, I am touching their lives in the way that they have changed mine.

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We went mini-golfing.

This was CERTAINLY the highlight of the trip for the kids. They had so much fun. They could have played again and again. We were there for two full hours, but we could've stayed all day long.

When we were done...the kids just seemed different. They had spent time with me, and with each other, and it seemed, it was just what they needed. They were just plain happy! Happy with every single minute.

I took every minute of them in. They were nice to each other, and they were laughing and joking. They were really good company. I couldn't have said that a year ago. I mean I loved them just as much and all...but they would have been a lot more work a year ago.

Here we were alone, away from home, and daddy and Karman...and yet, I was never lonely.

It was fun. All of it.

The golf course, by the way, was one of the nicest I have ever seen. There were bridges, and benches, and waterfalls, and fountains. All of the water was colored blue. Not to mention, the flowers and the trees.

Maky's ball was pink, and she was proud of it!

She picked up on how to play after about 3 holes. And really did pretty well, considering she is three.

Tyler got it right away. He thought the real thing was better then the Wii. :)

This is the fountain that we could see from our hotel room.

It was really pretty.

So I had it all planned to go to this place that I found downtown that takes "Old Time" photos. The kind where you get dressed up and all.

The kids had a blast! They chose cowboys, and they did really well.

The husband and wife who own it, said that Tyler was a natural.

Here is a picture of the picture.

It really is VERY cute!

Here is the local Starbucks. Everything is made to look authentic.

Here is a beautiful bench that is handpainted. They are all over the place, and really nice!

No seriously, could they be cuter?

Below, they each flattened pennies for souveniers.

It was a fun trip....not so much for where we went or the town, or the events while we were there....but for the trip itself. Being alone with them for the first time ever in this way.

I am a stay at home mom...and though some hear that and think..."cake-job"...it very much is not.

All day long, WITHOUT the shopping, cleaning, organizing, or cooking, I also get kids dressed, make meals, take to school, play-with, clean up, brush, wash, pick up from school, hug, love, answer a million questions, break up fights, listen to gossip, help with homework, bathe, play with some more, feed more, get ready for bed, read to, tuck in,...etc...

While I wouldn't change a thing about it...

(well most of the time)

it was wonderful to get away, and do nothing but play with them,

and love them.