Looking back at the pumpkin patch

2003 Symantha {age 1}

2005 Symantha and Hailey{ages 3&1}

2006 Symantha and Hailey {4&2}

2007 Symantha and Hailey {5&3}

2008 Addison 9mo.

2009 {ages 7, 5 and 1 1/2}

2012 {10, 8, and 4 1/2}

It never gets old.

Paradise

In August, our family went up to Paradise for a hike before dropping Symantha off at camp. It was a pretty quick hike, but so beautiful. Just wanted to share some of my favorite pics.

And goodbye to summer. It was a great one.

Summer Recap 3: Addison

Better late than never, it’s Addison’s turn. I love, love, love her right now. She is still in my favorite age/stage (except I do love the babies!). She was so fun this summer.

♥She still takes naps every day, but we can skip it if necessary. She will just be a bit emotional that night… or sometimes more than a bit.

♥She has a very sensitive nose. Often proclaims places “stinky,” and she can’t handle it.

♥Every time we are in the car she wants to play the animal game (guess what animal she is thinking of) or “I spy”. She also is constantly coming up with “would you rather” questions. Such as, “Would you rather live in a marshmallow or a tree?”

♥She loves her friend Ava, next door. They are peas in a pod, and so cute together. They are generally dressed up and playing house or school.

♥She took swimming lessons again this year at Henry Moses, but would not put her head under water. She became deathly afraid of doing it. She is ok with you splashing her like crazy or water spraying her face, but not going under water.

♥Besides the head under water, she is a pretty brave girl. It only took a few times of us walking her down the zipline before she was going on her own.

♥She was able to do a lot of what the big kids could do this summer. She has always had to be the observer, but now she can often participate.

♥I wish I could stop her from growing anymore. I get teary-eyed just thinking about how big my baby is getting.

Summer Recap #3: Hailey

♥This girl has a great sense of humor, and she can be funny even when she isn’t trying. She is very matter-of-fact about things, which can also drive you crazy. Things are usually black or white with Hailey Grace.

♥She is a monkey on the bars. She climbs everything and wants to flip, do tricks, etc. And she wants someone to watch every trick.

♥She is much more of a daredevil than her sisters. However, she still must show me every owie or injury and can be very dramatic about it.

♥She has gotten quite into reading this summer, and will read by herself for a long time. However, she still likes to have a book that we are reading together. She has not been a fan of doing her school work this summer, compared to the last couple of years when she actually liked it.

♥She is a fish in the water. She barely comes up for air, she just wants to stay underwater with her goggles the whole time. Swimming lessons were good for her this summer, and she can finally pass the swim tests at the pools we go to (so she can go in the deep water by herself).

♥She is almost as social as her big sister, constantly wanting to play with a friend. She loves to play house, usually acting out some kind of drama.

♥She continues to be very picky about the clothes she wears. Clothes cannot be too loose or it drives her crazy. This drives me crazy. Most shoes are “uncomfortable” for some very small reason. I have to force her to wear tennis shoes.

♥She still loves to cuddle, especially her mom. She always wants to hold my hand when we are places, and I don’t mind.

♥She gets along wonderfully with Addison. She is a good big sister. When Symantha was at camp, these two were great together. However, she has some trouble being a little sister. She can be SO annoying to Symantha. Derek relates to being a middle sibling – it must be tough sometimes.

♥She is one of a kind, and we love her so much:)

Summer recap #2: Symantha

When I think back on this summer, there are certain things that stand out about each of our girls. Things I want to remember. Things that were uniquely THEM. That’s what my next few posts will be about, small but important details about each of these girls. Starting with Symantha …

♥ She is one social girl. Sometimes I think she may die if I say she cannot play with a friend. At least she acts that way. She asks constantly, and is not happy being alone. Unless she grabs a book, which could keep her occupied for hours.

♥Her summer was filled with camps and activities. Some through church and some she was invited to by friends, but she is at the age where she is able to do anything, and she really wants to do everything. We have to reign it in a bit for her.

Living history Day Camp

Junior camp at Pleasant Valley Christian Camp – she was gone for a week! (she loved every second)

♥She turned 10 in July. She wants to know when she can wear make-up and dye her hair. I have not decided times for these things yet! Are you kidding me?

♥She continues to be very dramatic and full of personality

♥She loves babies. LOVES them. Especially “Baby Molly”. I think Molly may be called “Baby Molly” for the rest of her life:) She is actually really good with babies and little kids. She can’t wait to babysit.

♥She loves to dance, sing, or perform. She always has. Both her and Hailey are still very into their group “The Girly Girls”, and they love to plan things for the group. With the Olympics this summer, she has also gotten back into loving gymnastics.

♥She loves to scheme and plan adventures, but she can also be very nervous about carrying them out. She scares easily, still hates anything slightly scary on tv, and is not a big fan of rides. She wants to be brave, but she admits she is usually not. It took her a bit to be comfortable on the new zipline.

♥We continue to explore all new territory with our oldest girl. It’s a constant process of figuring out when she can do what and what is appropriate for her age. But we continue to be so proud of the big kid she is becoming and her loving heart.

Summer recap #1: Our friends

Not a lot of blogging happened this summer. There were too many other fun things to do. This was our first summer in our new house and I LOVED it. We didn’t go on any big trips, but we kind of felt like we were on a vacation every day. We got the playground finished, had a ton of barbecues and events at our house, loved running around barefoot in the grass, loved having a nice patio to hang out on, and played with friends almost every day. That is what this first recap post is about – our friends.

Due to living in a trailer for three years before our house, we didn’t get to have many friends over. And there were no friends by us. Now, there are neighborhood friends or cousins over practically every day and the girls are loving it. They all play for hours, and it made for a really fun summer. And we did go on some adventures away from home with these friends, too. Here are a few of my favorite shots:

Birthday parties

Trampolines

Berry picking

Sprinkler games

Tea parties

Posing

Our own trampoline

Water, soap and suds

Family fun center with grown up friends:)

Preschool friends

Little Gym Camp

We love our friends. Stay tuned for another summer recap. I promise.