Strawberry Jam

My friend helped me make strawberry jam this afternoon. I get so much satisfaction from looking at my 14 containers of homemade jam lined up neatly on my counter.

Pretty red jam. It makes me look forward to this fall when I will bottle apples, peaches, pears, and possibly some vegetables. Yum!

Happy #8

So how did we celebrate being married for 8 years?

Fancy dessert.

Grocery shopping with no children.

Perfect.

Sweet Baby

Kimberly rarely falls asleep in my arms. Even as a baby she just wanted me to lay her down in her bed to sleep. So when she does fall asleep with me, it's so precious. Luckily the other day when she did it, my camera was within an arm's reach.

I can't get enough of this picture. Those eyelashes! That cute button nose! Those pouty lips! That little hand under her chin just like the princess that she is! Oh sorry. I got a little carried away there. I just love this little one!

Kindergarten Graduation

The morning of Kindergarten graduation, we got up early so I would have time to make Makayla's hair look nice, the front pulled up with tons of curls in the back. However, when I wanted to take a picture, all she wanted to do was strike this pose. So I have half a dozen pictures like this with none of her beautiful hair.


I had every intention of getting to the school early so I could get a good seat. Since I know my camera does not have a very good zoom, I wanted to be close for some decent pictures. Apparently 1 minute before was not early enough. We sat on the back row. Oopsie! So while I have no good pictures during the ceremony, I do have this cute one of my girls afterwards.

One thing that I loved was they had each student say what they wanted their future occupation to be. Some kids were really shy at the microphone so the teachers stepped in to help. Makayla was not one of those kids. She very boldly stepped up to the microphone and spoke loud and clear, "Hi! My name is Makayla (last name), and when I grow up I want to be a fireman." Who knew?

There was a little boy who made everyone laugh when he said, "When I grow up I want to be a mom and a dad."

I, admittedly, was a little nervous that it would be a little boring and a lot cheesy. But it was 100% super cute! I even got a little misty-eyed when they showed a DVD of all the kindergarteners. Makayla has grown up so much this past year.

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On a side note, this is a picture of the music teacher who terrified Makayla on her first day of Kindergarten. He does look a little intimidating, but he is seriously the nicest guy ever.

First Ice Cream of the Summer

Hammin' it up for the camera.

Ellie, do you like your ice cream?


I'll take that as a yes.


Here mom. Want some?

No thanks, you eat it.

Mmmmmm!

This was Kimberly's first time to get her very own ice cream cone. She was in Summer's Dream heaven.

Coming Soon. . .

once I figure out how to unlock my external hard drive where all my photos reside, pictures and posts about

• Kindergarten Graduation
• Kimberly dressing herself
• the first ice cream cones of summer

I can tell you all are so excited!

On Being a Mother

This afternoon I went outside and jumped on the trampoline with Ellie when what I really needed was a nap. Or to pay bills. Or to wash dishes. Or to finish laundry.


To me, this is what it really means to be a mother. Not just taking care of my children. Not just merely providing for their physical needs. But taking time out of my day and things that I need to do in order to spend it one on one with my little girl who just wants to be with me. Having fun and being crazy.
All that other stuff can wait.