Thankful Thursday: Music and Miniture Violinists

For the past month or so Sarah has been voicing her birthday wish list. She turned 5 this week. The list has remained surprisingly short and to be honest, quite impressive: a xylophone, a violin and Minnie Mouse slippers. Okay, I cannot tell you how much hearing my child express definitively that she wants a violin and a xylophone makes me wants to just gush all over the place. My mind immediately flashes forward to a beautiful young woman standing in a long black dress, bow in hand, accompanied by a full orchestra....or maybe chiming in with the percussionists in the background. I'm guessing she would have outgrown the slippers by then.

So, here is my little violinist at 5 years...now to find a teacher....

To celebrate her birthday we went to a high school marching band contest at the football field. It was a blast. I played percussion from fifth grade through high school and have an insatiable affinity for a really good street beat, so seeing my children sitting on the bleachers joyfully taking in the whole experience was a thrill. They were smiley and fidgety and obviously being effected by the beat. Sophie now tells me she plans to play the drums and Sarah of course, is set on the xylophone.

So, black tie orchestra or marching band, I have big dreams of enjoying my children make music as they grow. For now, I'm happy to add a lot of banging on the drumset and a squeaky violin to the living room guitar and piano conciertos I've already been awed by. :)

The Picture Post :)

Take a Closer Look!

Everybody scroll down and click on the picture of my sister's family now that I've fixed the link to enlarge it....it's worth an up-close look (: Have a great day!

New Arrivals!!

My twin sister and her family have had an exciting month. Just about a week ago they moved in three precious children they are adopting, and then yesterday morning their new family of eight was blessed once again to welcome a little baby sister!! I am very excited to meet all of our new neices and nephews!! Just take a look at this sweet family!

Congratulations Sarah and Tony and family!!!

Baby, Puppy, and alot of Snow

Just thought I'd post this picture so everyone could see how big Oliver and Ruby are getting. :)

My Helpful Blog Advisor and Remnants of Fall

I don't have nosy neighbors, but besides being one of my best friends, my next door neighbor is occasionally what I will call My Helpful Blog Advisor. :) I got a phone call from her a couple days ago just to let me know that out her kitchen window was a blog-worthy view that I really should go out and get a picture of. So here I am following her advice. (You're awesome, Steph! :)

I will call this picture "Snow?....I'm not done with my leaves!"

Yes, I did go out this weekend and rake the rest of our frozen leaves into the dormant vegetable garden. With plans to finish up the leaves in front, I left my rake leaning out against the deck. I never did get to the front yard, so my rake stood through a fairly hefty night of snow. By the time I took this picture, the snow had melted some...but the inspiration was still there.

Winter has arrived, but here are a few of my favorites scenes from fall...enjoy!

Thankful Thursday: My Sweetheart

Today my Sophie graduated from kindergarten. Papa took the morning off to attend the festivities. The program was adorable, but it was the sweet moments caught on camera afterwards that I will always remember: Watching Sophie throw her arms around her Papa's neck with such a delighted sparkle in her eye was enough to make time freeze for a moment. It is overwhelmingly obvious that my children are crazy about their Papa...and so am I.

I am so thankful to be married to my favorite person in the whole world.

Thankful Thursday: Surprises

Pictures!

Here's a picture post since I haven't posted any of the kids lately and the little jewel is growing and changing so quickly!

Here she is making her way through everything within reach:

And happy to be at the center of our attention:

Our Little Superguy:And of course the girls...they are simply fancy :

The Toothless Two

Here's Samuel and Sophie sporting their matching toothless grins:

Peach and Daisy

Just had to post these pictures of my gals! Several months ago, my oldest daughter began calling herself Peach and her little sister Daisy. It's always fun to hear them playing and seeing little sister responding to her new nickname almost as quickly as her given name.

Summer Pictures!

Here's a few photos of our summer. We put this swingset together just before our vacation so the kids got to swing while I packed!

And a close up of the beautiful three:

A few of my favorites from the garden:


Every Kansas girl needs some sunflowers, even when she lives in Michigan! Ours have gotten huge. The tallest must be at least nine feet tall. It is really amazing to watch something that big grow in a season from a tiny seadling pushing up through the soil to a really awe-inspiring flower. My children call them trees.

One more...I can't resist adding this breath-taking sunset captured by a good friend on a recent vacation in Charlevoix, Michigan..It's too beautiful not to share.
(Thanks, Stephanie!)

This is not Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit

I have three children: 20-months, 4 and 6. My older two, a girl and a boy, are good pals and extremely imaginative. I am amazed at the stories they create together. Our house is full of the many characters created by my 4-year-old daughter. It is the background noise of my day and occasionally I jump into their world for a while.

The kids and I played with clay today.

This is Peter Rabbit in Mr. McGregor's garden:


This is Luke Skywalker with his padawan learner, Cottontail:


I took my leave before the story reached this point, but couldn't resist coming back with the camera when I learned that Luke Skywalker had taken Cottontail Rabbit, Peter's sister, as his Padawan learner.

This is not Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit.