Holly turns six

It was Holly's birthday.  She wanted a rainbow cake and pizza for dinner. (Mommies homemade pizza has been the birthday pick for years).  Any of you that know Holly she loves fruit, so she was way excited for this fruit rainbow cake.  I had grand ideas of cupcake clouds, but put the cake on too small of a plate and then it was just silly looking.

 
Holly got some really cute new outfits from Grandma and Grandpa, she wanted to pose in her own way as I took these pictures.

 Holly also got GIRL legos, Barbie clothes, high heel shoes (the only thing she wanted for her birthday when asked) and dress-up clothes from Oma and Opa.  Josh got her earrings (which really means mommy bought and wrapped them and Josh handed them to her).  We got her a mermaid Barbie, Barbie accessories, nail polish and something else. Even our sweet neighbors gave her a gift.  This girl made out like a bandit!

Daddy's girl

Holly loves to mow the lawn with Don.  She thinks that it is fun.  They looked so cute out there together.  I was so proud of Don, it was hot outside and letting Holly help takes twice the  time, but he was bonding with his girl.

Holly loves her daddy, and her little smile melts his heart.  I can see many daddy daughter dates in the future.

Take me out to the ball game

We went to Mormon day at our local baseball field to watch a baseball game.  It was dollar hot dog day.  The concession stand person said they have never sold so many hot dogs.  I thought she has never had so many Mormon's there before, we are a frugal people!

Holly loved hang out with the other girls from our stake.  Some older girls (actually young adults)  took the kids to the kids place area to play.  Can you dig Holly's side pony tail?  She did it herself.

Josh trying to get the game.

And us, should never go with someone taking a picture going up, but going down. I love when we get to go together as family.  One of the best parts was we got in free because of a reading thing the kids did.  They each got two free tickets.  I think this may have to be a family tradition as long as we can cash in on that.  We didn't stay for the whole game or we would have been there to midnight it was slow going but Don and I enjoyed it.

Fourth of July fun

We went to Mississippi for the fourth of July.  We decided to take a road trip to Shiloh and see the historical site.

This is inside the museum.

Here we are at the cemetery, did I mention it was quite HOT!

Checking out the headstone.

We also went to some cemeteries in Mississippi to see some family headstones.  Every year before school is out we make a list of fun things to do, going to a cementary was one of Holly's ideas.

Holly in grandma's curlers.  Just had to add it because it is cute.

Berry Pickin'

We went berry pickin' with our friends the Pehrson's and

Susan.  My kids love Susan.  Every Monday we go to her house so I can quilt and they watched Netflix and had a cookie or two that Susan always had ready for them.  I think going to her house was one of the things the kids would miss when school started again.

We picked blueberries and Susan picked blackberries. Yum, but man it was hot!

School Field Trip

My kids' principal is an adventurous woman. She decided to take the WHOLE school on a field

trip! This last week it was Dr. Seuss' birthday. 'The Lorax' the movie was coming out, so what perfect timing. The kids studied from Dr. Seuss books the last two weeks. In Josh's class they talked about pollution and the enviroment. Even math was taught in a Seussy way.

The kids were soooo excited to go. I went to chaperone in Holly's class. I guess we had a huge chaperone turn out, because the only kid I was asked to watch was Holly.

Each child got a High-C and a small bag of popcorn. It was great and I loved the movie. I thought it had a powerful message, and it has inspired me to do a new baby quilt. I am so blessed to be able to go with the kids to things like these.

Holly's style

Holly picked out this outfit all by herself and I thought she looked so cute. she looked kinda grown up. Or it could be that the jean jacket brought me back to JR high days and I pictured her as a teenager. She needs to stop growing, stop looking cute, stop having crushes on 12 yr old boys, stop wanting make-up, stop loving high heel shoes, just STOP.

Oh by the way. I was on the phone with my mom the other day and Holly wanted to know what the weather was like in her (meaning my mom) land. My parents live in California.

Metcalf Bottoms- an addition to summer places

Our friend Lori, introduced us to this fun place of Metcalf Bottoms. I can't wait until next summer we are definetly going back. It's about an hour away and a perfect all day place. The kids could raft down or play in the water, or look for tad poles, and the list goes on.

Yes, it is that cold.

This is the life!

Holly's Birthday surprise

When I asked Holly what she wanted for her birthday she said she wanted a barn. A barn? I don't even know where to get a barn!, was my reply. She simply said, "You just go to Home Depot." I asked her, "You mean a real barn. Why do you want a real barn?" Matter of factly, "So, I can put a horse in it." So for Holly's birthday I set up with a friend in our ward to go over and see her horse. I didn't tell Holly what we were going to do, just that it was a surprise.
She was so excited. I brought carrots and apples to feed Cole, the horse. At first she tried to call Cole like a dog, "Come her Cole, Come her boy.", patting her thighs. She got to lead him and brush him.

She even rode him bare back. I couldn't believe that she wasn't scared at all. Later on she feed him which was a little scary, horses have big mouths and Holly has little hands. This horse was so mellow and I am VERY thankful to Kelly for making my little girls day. (Josh's too, he went for a ride and the kids also rode together) Holly still would like her own horse, but wasn't excited to hear that she have to clean up the poop everyday.

By the way the horse is eating an apple her, not Holly's hand.

A birthday Tradition

One of the things that I do on my children's birthdays is sing Happy Birthday to them for every meal. Who wants just one wish when you could have 3! They also get to choose what they want to eat. Breakfast: Yogurt and berries. Lunch: Ham and cheese roll up. I also made her a tomato flower.

Dinner was tacos and for her cake she wanted a strawberry cake with strawberries on it and a horse on top! I got a little carried away on size. Let's just saw that FHE treat and treat of the week will be Holly's birthday cake.

Ladies and Gentlemen... I give you the preschool class of 2011

This was Holly's last year in mommy co-op preschool. We get to start kindergarten this fall. She had a great time with these kids and learned alot.





From left to right we have Mable, Zoe, Holly, Benson, Brylie, and Cruze (P.J had already left).





For our end of the year party the kids played we had pizza, cupcakes and goodie bags. We'll miss you class of 2011.

True Knoxvillian

We were playing at the park with some friends the other day and Holly comes up to me and says, "Mom, where do I live?". I told her you live in Knoxville, she proudly walks back to the three older boys she had been talking to and says, "See, I told you, I don't live in Tennessee, I live in Knoxville!". The other mother and I just laughed.

Preschool Field Trip

We got to go to the fire house for Holly's field trip. The firemen were so nice and soooooo patient with our 8 kids plus younger siblings. The kids loved the fire truck. The guys let them go all over it and showed the kids what firemen look like when they try to help them in a fire. Holly was totally getting her flirt on!

The group P.J, Mable, Brylie, Parker (benson's little brother), Benson, Cruze, Zoe, Holly, Charlie (Mable's little brother)

She's ready to drive, just as soon as her feet reach the petals.

Her own style

Holly loves dresses and skirts. Although spring has flirted with us here, it is still necessary to wear pants and most of the time a sweater or jacket. I thought that I would post of few of Holly's combinations. I forgot to take a picture of today's out fit. It was a long sleeved blue flowered dress shirt with a plum skirt underneath that and jeans under that.

These were earlier this week. A little summer dress, (which I will always make her wear a t-shirt under, but I would pick white in color), with a purple stripped tee underneath and jean stretch pants under that. In the morning she had a lavender sweater to keep her warm and don't forget the purple high heel shoes that she loves to clomp around in.

The last one actually worked and I wished I had gotten a picture when she had her pink raincoat and matching rain hat on. Plus her rain boots and matching umbrella in tote. This ensemble is a cute lime green tee, paired with a bright blue

ruffle skirt (you know ruffles are all the rage this season) and sparkly leggings to go underneath.

She just loves her skirts and maybe she will start a trend.