The Girls

 My Wonderful Girls

Happy Girls

 These are two very happy girls with their happy Pepaw.  We sold Caroline and Lee Lee's dollhouse back in Rifle, and they understood the reason why.  We discussed it with them and we told them it was very possible they could get a new dollhouse when we moved to Rangely.

Fastforward 7 months and 2 moves later, Lee Lee got a dollhouse for Christmas, and Caroline got dolls for Christmas, and Pepaw and Daddy spent several hours last night putting the house together.

These girls are incredibly excited about the new house and the new dolls to go with it -- and it gets to be in their bedroom!

"I couldn't find cucumbers."

 "She's in a spa treatment.  I used apples on her eyes because I couldn't find cucumbers."

Sharing

 They were walking around today sharing a purse...

 Tracey and Caroline are doing cheerleading through the Rifle Parks and Rec department this summer and they had their first performance on July 3.

They looked adorable in their uniforms, and I snapped this picture of them all ready to go...

Then, when they were out with their teammates I could hardly recognize them.  They looked so grown up in their uniforms doing their cheerleading routine with all their teammates.  I feel like I blinked and they are suddenly in high school.

Girls Cooking

 This past weekend, Caroline and Lee Lee made dinner -- Dr. Pepper chicken in the crockpot with homemade catsup.  Hunter of course was a helper.

A Little Longer

 Sometimes I take a picture, and I just know it's going to be one of those that I look back and just wished I could have frozen my girls right then just to treasure it a little longer.

These Girls

 These girls are so awesome, with their little brother looking on.

And man, in this picture, Lee Lee and Tracey really look alike.

Daddy Daughter BALL 2022

 Hubby's grandfather passed away recently, so we took our crew to St. Louis last week to spend time with his family and attend the visitation, funeral, and graveside services.

The visitation was supposed to be Thursday night and then funeral and graveside service on Friday, but St. Louis had an ice storm on Thursday so the visitation was pushed to Friday.

Friday was a long day.  Visitation in the morning leading right into the funeral, and then the graveside services.  Following the graveside service, Hubby and I re-loaded the car (we were there 3 days... hardly worth unloading the car), and then had a dinner gathering with Hubby's immediate family (8 adults and 13 children).  It might have been nice to spend Friday night before heading home over the weekend... but we hit the road after dinner Friday night... because, as my parents put it, all three of our girls had Saturday night dates!

The DADDY DAUGHTER BALL was Saturday night!

Tracey and Caroline have attended two Daddy Daughter Balls previously in 2019, and 2020.  There was no Ball in 2021 due to COVID, so this ball was a big deal.  It was Lee Lee's FIRST Daddy Daughter Ball EVER, and Tracey and Caroline's first one after a year without one.

Hubby was NOT going to miss this event with his princesses.

We got home at noon, and after a quick cat nap, Hubby and his princesses were on their way to dinner and the ball a few hours later.

To The Top

 Around our home, when we are saying goodbye, or good night, or just because, it is very common for one of the kiddos to say something like, "I love you all the way up to the moon and back."

I always respond with, "That is a really long way."

This is usually said by Howard -- pretty much every day Howard says something like this.  Some times Caroline will chime in with a long distance that her love spans.

Yesterday, I overheard the sweetest conversation imaginable.

Caroline looked at Lee Lee and said, "Lee Lee, I love you a lot."

Lee Lee looked back at Caroline and said, "Caroline, I love you all the way up to that really tall shelf where we keep all the games."

I took a picture of Lee Lee in front of the shelf that she is talking about... that's about as high as her sweet little 4-year-old shelf could imagine, and that is how far she loves her older sister.

Brothers and Sisters...

 Brothers

and Sisters...

and Brady

Their Idea

 It was my kiddo's idea to position themselves in this way and try to take this picture.

Happy Birthday H & C!

 Wishing Howard and Caroline the Happiest of Birthdays!

I cannot believe my twins are SIX years old!  WOW!

I will do a more detailed post about them on facebook and in a few days on here, but I have to do this post in advance as we will be traveling back to Colorado on our twins' birthday... and hopefully we will be able to give them a special birthday given that we will be traveling AND it is National Holiday when many things are closed.

Take a look at this picture... I am only now realizing that Howard is standing on Caroline's foot while the picture is being taken.  If that doesn't sum up what Caroline has to deal with having a six-year-old twin brother, I don't know what does.  God Bless that Sweet Girl!

Last Time

 A few days ago I read a heart-warming post on facebook about a mother who suddenly realized and noticed that all her children were taking showers for themselves without any assistance needed.  She commented on how big of a milestone this was in motherhood after years of both the joy, and chaos of bathtime.  And within moments of her realizing this big motherly milestone, she was crying because bath time was over forever.

After reading this, what did I do?

I pulled out the swimsuits and told my children that they were taking one bath together all six of them and this would be the last bath ever with all six of them.  And they were crowded, but I didn't keep them in there long.  We got some pictures, had some splashes, kids put soap on each other's hair, and Brady looked like he felt like he had made it into the club.  Miraculously there was no crying... but another minute or two and I think there would have been.

I still have a few years of bathtime fun ahead -- brothers with brothers and sisters with sisters off and on... but the kids are getting more independent, requiring more privacy, and just growing up.  The time of bathing all children in the same tub as a way to end the day and prepare for bedtime are over.