Photo 181

Kaitlyn wanted to take the picture of the day - this was what she chose (along with a few other things)

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Olivia and a new toy. We've just not been buying her toys because it takes her one day to tear them up. This was no exception to the rule, but we did it anyway!

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Quickly edited this shot from Thomas' tandem free fall jump today. It's something he has wanted to do for years now. I bought him the gift certificate to go for our anniversary (although we couldn't find it this morning, UGH!) and he was soooooooooooo happy to do this. I'll post more about it on the main blog...but here's a picture of the day for now!

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Sometimes we all need a little reminder...and this is the picture that I found on my camera after the kids took it around the house.

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It's amazing how one little box of product combined with card-making and scrapbooking can make a room look SOOO messy after almost being clean.

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I just love this girl in little girl piggies with her bows and her little girl dresses. Just love her!

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Decided to create a few cards for a Hero Arts blog challenge. Enjoyed it.

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A self-portrait...since I'm very seldom in the pictures. Just proof that I actually WAS ON the vacation with the family.

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Kaitlyn officially conquered her roller-coaster fears. She measured in @ 48 1/2 inches and was able to ride every ride. She got through with this one and said it was AWESOME!

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A sunset while traveling to the hotel. I loved seeing the beautiful fields of grain and corn. It was a very rural setting...very beautiful to look up and see this church on the hill with the sun setting behind it.

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Okay - it's NOT clean yet (notice tell-tell bits of paper on the floor and the paper still stacked up.) BUT it's SOOOOOO much better it deserved to be the picture of the day, lol!

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Olivia was a BAD, BAD doggie! She took off Kaitlyn's St. Louis Zoo Build-a-Bear's nose. Kaitlyn cried for probably 10 minutes. Poor thing! Bad girl doggie was sent to her room with no supper.

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While cleaning, I found one of the 2 pictures Thomas has from his childhood. This one is probably his 10th grade school photo. The other is from when he was almost 1 while in foster care. It's funny how you can hold school photos of each of us next to the kids and see so much of us in them.

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My version of French Toast. Recipe can be found here.

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Kaitlyn, putting on a clown wig that somehow made it's way from church, and coming in to the house saying...Mom, ya know how Dad said I couldn't ever dye my hair? Well...I'm sorry...

HA!

TOO FUNNY!

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Cards I made on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday...

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We had our Father's Day breakfast today. The breakfast was a bit more involved, so I wanted to be able to have enough time to make it. DELICIOUS, is all I can say! This was the cream cheese, smoked salmon, and chives omelet. YUMMY. I did have of it with pancetta, though, because I knew the kids wouldn't like the salmon. The smokiness of the salmon with the cream cheese and bite of chives was a fantastic combination. Thomas like the pancetta side better, though...he's not as fond of smoked salmon, but likes it just okay. See my main blog for our other dish.

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I picked up the boys from camp today. The car stunk/stinks now. Loud, rowdy, dirty boys...that had a blast at camp!

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My summer wreath.

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Who knew that this antique typewriter sitting in the garage would be a novelty to the girls for imaginative playtime? For the last 3 days, it's been a cashier's register...a teacher's computer...and a bank teller's calculator. Glad it's there now. It kept them entertained!

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Wildflower from my field next door. Adventured back over there today to take a picture of the wheat for our church's Camp Meeting flyer.

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Kaitlyn invited Chloe and Cammie over today. We went by and got a slip-n-slide. Unfortunately the water pressure isn't that great coming from a hose going uphill. SO...they had to just fill up the ends of the slide and turn the water sprinkler on to make it semi-fun.

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I'm so bad...such a bad procrastinator on some things. WHY would I pick SEWING as my first POTM? WHY? ANYHOO...it's June 8th...8 days into the new month and this is as far as May's POTM made it. It got 'ripped' and placed by the sewing machine. UGH on me!

Photo 158

This is how you spend your Saturday when your freezer thaws unexpectedly earlier in the week. You create 6 dishes to freeze up from the chicken you cooked up before it went bad. FUN!

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Oh, really?
He did?
WOW!

Photo 156

This boy and this dog. Always together. Always.
An amazing relationship that makes my heart swell.
I asked him one day (when remembering what loving my own dogs felt like) if his heart 'hurt' or 'tumble' when he looked at Olivia and squeezed and hugged her like he does. He said yes. I said...that's love. And a wonderful expression of it, too.
I love that he has something like this to love so much. Makes MY heart swell.
(Picture taken early in the morning before anyone else was up...kids, that is...and just me and him talking on the back porch...a perfect summertime memory for him and me that we've had every morning this week.)

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Computer time for her involves Webkinz.com. Anyone else have an addict? She will literally spend a couple of hours on this site. She skipped breakfast for it this morning. Perhaps I shouldn't let her do that. My excuse...it's summer. She'll eat when she's hungry, lol!

Photo 154

Tuesday night was filled with the 1st game of the tournament. An exciting game...one of the best they've played all season. They went in as one of the underdogs this season, so perhaps this is to show everyone what they've really got in them?

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No pool...no problem. Just grab some goggles, a snorkle, stick your head in the water sprinkler and call it done.

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At least this bike made it's way to lean on the garage door. Usually it's found on the sidewalk, in the grass, down the road...another sure sign of summer! It's NEVER in the garage. Which is a good thing...that means it's actually getting used, right?