No ants invited!

It was a nice day so we decided to take a picnic lunch to the park. Michaela invited a friend, and so did Payden. Unfortunately, Payden and her friend ran off and I never got a picture of them!Michaela and her friend decided to stay close to the food!

Ava and Corrine love picnics! We love this park. It has a great big grassy area with big trees, a nice play ground, a walking path and a pond with ducks.





Feeding the ducks! Here I managed to get a picture of Payden and her friend!

The ducks weren't really hungry, but the littlies didn't care. They just kept throwing the bread in the water even though no one was eating much of it.

There is this gorgeous black swan there. So graceful, and we love the little curly feathers on its back.

The swan did eat some!

Michaela and her friend!

And Ava and Corrine; Corrine thought it was too high and didn't jump!

Surf n Swim

My mom and I took the girls to the Layton Surf n Swim over the 4th of July weekend. It was very busy that day!

Corrine was so funny. She took a while to warm up to the water, and the waves in the pool(every 1/2 hour or so a whistle blows and waves are generated; lots of fun!) scared her. At first she didn't even want me to put her down! By the end of the day though, she was swimming like a pro and jumping into the waves.

Ava loved to ride the waves in her tube.

Michaela making a dive.

Payden jumping!

Ava's first time on the diving board....

will have to wait until next time! She got a little scared!

It was a fun day!

Summertime fun

For my birthday on the 8th, the girls got up and made me breakfast in bed; fresh squeezed OJ, fried eggs, toast and grapefruit. It was very yummy! They also had both looked online for homemade gift ideas and each made me a gift; Michaela made me a fabric covered pinboard and Payden made me some egg carton flowers and a homemade scentsy. I was touched by how much work they put into them. My mom washed my car inside and out and waxed it, we got to go out to dinner and yard saleing. It was a very nice birthday.


For FHE, we decided to do a pedicure night so our toes would be pretty in our flip flops! We soaked then painted.



Payden and I also braided Michaela's hair for girls camp. I forgot to take a pic of the finished product! It took us a couple of hours but she sure looked cute!

Michaela's toes!


Corrine got a pool for her birthday and they have loved using it!

A very nice way to cool off! The last time they were in it, there were about 6 other neighborhood kids out there with them!

Fun Refashion for Ava!

I found a cute way to extend the life of pants that are either too short or have holes. The blog, The Cottage Mama, showed how to do this and I decided to expand Ava's summer wardrobe! She is so tiny, the waist on all her pants fits even when the length gets too short. These also had some holes in the knees.I picked a cute scrap from my stash, and went to work.

You just cut the jeans off at the length you want, and cut the fabric in strips four inches wide and one and a half the length of the leg opening. Then you fold the fabric in half, stitch it, gather it, pin it on the pants, and sew! It seriously took me 1/2 hour to do these. To make them even cuter, I cut out some the circles from the fabric and stitched them on with a zig zag stitch.
Here is the back:

Here they are on my cute girly; she absolutely loves them! She got so excited about them she hugged them. She gets lots of compliments on them too.

Here is the front. There was a stain on the pants, so I covered that up with a circle.

Here they are from the front. I have since done this with a pair of khackis, she loves those as well. Payden even wants some! I have so much fun doing this kind of thing. So, try this out! New shorts for free!
Oh, and do you like her pose? Can you tell she has an older sister that she gets her ideas from?

Corrine and Payden's Birthday

We had a fun dinner for our three birthday girls. Payden and Marlene share a birthday on the 19th and Corrine's is on the 20th. It always falls on or near Father's day so we make a big day out of it.

Dinner included Payden and Corrine's favorites; potato salad, broccoli salad, grilled chicken, grilled bell peppers, and pink stuff.



Corrine wanted a heart cake and Payden wanted a chocolate cake. Corrine's favorite color is orange, so that's why hers is decorated with orange m&m's.

The 3 birthday girls!



Payden wanted a golf cart so bad, and Jason was able to find one on KSL. She was so excited!

Corrine had fun opening her presents. Payden had exclaimed excitedly over every present, so Corrine did the same thing. She would open the present a little, say something like "Yay!" then say "what is it?" It was so funny!

A bubble lawn mower; she loves bubbles!

One of her favorite presents was a Dora book Grandpa got her. It reads the story to her, and as is typical for my kids, she was focused on the book with a sea of toys around her.

I made Marlene a sign that said "Feeling down? Saddle up!"

Happy Birthday!

This is supposed to be a pic of Marlene blowing out a candle, but without the cake in the picture it looks like she is either very excited for having a coughing fit!

A Study of Ninny

Ninny was watching tv the other day and I couldn't help notice how cute she was.

Hi mom.

What are you doing?

I love her little lips.



Look at those cheeks! It won't be much longer that they are that chubby. I wish I could preserve them better than taking pictures.



You're funny mom! Why are you taking pictures of me?





Couch potato!

Our little sunshine!

And if you made it this far, I will reward you with a new Ninnyism:

Mom, I have lots of burps.

Oh, yeah?

Yep. There's another. And another!

Oh, your hiccuping!