Spaghetti Girls

Spaghetti has always been a go-to meal for Abigail. She eats it better than just about anything else. I don't make it very often, and feel like it is kind of a special treat for Abigail when we do have it. Well, this week, we decided to let Ellie have a go at it, and she followed right in her sister's {messy} footsteps.

I know what you are all thinking when you see Ellie's arms... "Does she work out?"

Of course she does. Arms like that don't come easy.

I'm a Lucky Girl

Some of you might know that my husband is the oldest of 5 boys. No girls for them :(

I hadn't really every thought about it TOO much, until this morning, when we were getting ready for church. I thought about the stories I have heard about their ritual sunday morning pat-downs before church, to make sure they weren't taking anything into church that they shouldn't. I thought of the stories I have heard of my dear brother in law standing in the pew, and opening fire with his toy guns on a fur coat a few rows ahead of them.

This morning, I was really sad for my mother in law having all boys... because I know her Sunday mornings never looked this sweet.

Sorry, Himmer boys. I love you all, but you just can't compete....

A few select people will appreciate this

Not everyone that reads this will get it.

But there are a few people, you know who you are, who will look at this,

and probably die laughing.

This one goes out to anyone who has ever tried to wake me up in the morning.

All her Glory

My sister Lori is visiting for the summer, from her far away home in Abu Dhabi. She and her girls spend the summers visiting family here. She couldn't wait to get her hands on my Ellie girl after seeing lots of pictures. After changing her diaper Lori insisted that I take some pictures of Ellie without her diaper on, because "her diaper covers up like 4 rolls!"

That's my Ellie girl.

I won't share all of them, but I have to share a few... :)

Trouble

Today was a dark day in the Himmer home...

I found Ellie's stash in her room.

I wasn't prepared to deal with this...

My Big 3 Year old

Abigail had a birthday- a day late.

I took tons of pictures.

My camera is being ghetto. Or my lens. Or Both...

Either way, I am pretty upset right now, that I don't have much to show for her party.

It was pinkalicious. I guess we can just leave it at that.

The night before her birthday, she was barfalicious and her baby sister was poopylicious.

Me, I spent the night washing sheets, car seats, and carpets,

trying to clean up after all of our mishaps. Yuck. A big thanks to whoever brought

their sick kid to church for that one.

We had to reschedule the party. It threw me off a bit. I felt so bad for her on her birthday, but she recovered, and she is enjoying all of her presents. She is pretty spoiled by all her friends and family who love her. Thanks everyone!!

A conversation I never thought I'd have...

Abigail: (giggling, and "rattling"...) Look, Mom, Ellie's toys are on my bum!

Me: What? Ellie's toys are on your bum?

Abi: (Turning around and lifting up her dress) Yeah, see?

Me: (Reaching in her panties to get them out, but only getting one of the toys)

Abi: HEY! Don't take them out!

Me: Abi, you can't put Ellie's toys on your bum, it has germs and she puts those in her mouth.

Abi: But its not IN my bum, just in my panties.

Me: Ok... You can't put Ellie's toys in your panties.

Abi runs out of the room, rattling.

She returns, quietly.

Abi: Ok Mom. I'm sorry. Look, its gone. (She moons me)

Ok... one thing at a time, I guess.

I will save the lesson on the evils of mooning for tomorrow.

Anticipation...

This week is boiling with anticipation for Thursday.

Thursday we will celebrate a special birthday for a little gal in our house.

I can't believe she will be three.

My mind is going crazy with all we will do for her, it is the one day I can spoil her rotten;

and you better believe... I have big plans.

Here is a sneak peak:

Weekend visitors

Last week was a quiet week in our house. Abigail left on Tuesday to go visit her Mimi and Pops, and the rest of our family up there.

She didn't come home until Friday.

By Friday, I had the shakes, bad headaches, and wore only pink (or something like that). You get the picture, I was having serious withdrawals from my girl. Actually, I had dusted the blinds, cleaned the house, done the laundry and grocery shopping, finished up some birthday shopping, and lots of stuff for the rapidly approaching Team Jaylie 5K.

I had run out of things to keep my mind off of missing her. It was fun to spend some one on one time with Ellie though. I always love that.

Friday came, and so did Abigail, along with my sister Lori, and her two girls. They got to stay the weekend with us, and we had lots of fun. Abigail just loves her cousins!

Waiting on the rain...

Today we heard thunder. We got excited. We checked the radar and saw what we thought would be a pretty good storm coming. We went outside to check it out, Abigail grabbed the essentials- rain boots and a lace parasol.

We waited... Ellie watched.

And the rain came :)

As soon as it started to rain, Abigail realized she was not dressed appropriately. She took me upstairs to her bedroom and pointed out her "rain jacket."

By the time we made it back outside, the rain had stopped. She insisted on keeping her winter coat on and sweat it out while she pretended to play in the rain.

Now if only our grass would pretend it rained for that long..

Summertime

What do YOU do in the summertime?

Every morning now, Abigail wakes up, goes to the bathroom, and then puts her bathing suit on. We pack up the swim bag and wait for Ellie to wake up. Then we load up the stroller and walk to the pool and stay for as long as Ellie will allow. At first, it was pushing it to be there for an hour. Now, we are getting 2 or 3 hours in before it is time to come home. When I think of my summers as a child- this is EXACTLY how I remember them. And as far as I am concerned... this is what summer SHOULD be like.

And what is a summer in Texas without some grilling? My parents got Charles a grill for his birthday, to welcome him to Texas I think. He has taken to it nicely and has made some awesome burgers so far. We are going to get lots of yummy dinners out of that thing :)

And yes, Abi is eating her hamburger while wearing her bathing suit. What else?

OHHH, Texas... it feels so good to be home :)

Family Reunion- That's a Wrap

On the last night, every year, we all gather up and take a picture.

So here is the whole clan.

Well, almost the whole clan. A few come and go during the week, and I lucked out and got to be behind the camera this year :)

Now, back to normal life.

Bingo

We have had lots of different games throughout the years.

When we were all teenagers, we'd play capture the flag after dark.

When we are feeling really brave, we play spoons... but that gets dangerous. I think we have broken a chair or two.

This year, a few of us adults even played a riveting game of Old Maid.

One thing is constant, every year.

BINGO.

Papa is the caller, Nana hands out the prizes. The stakes are high :)

This year, Papa had a helper.

Birthday Celebrations, Early and Late

While we were all together, my family did a little surprise birthday lunch for Charles. His birthday was the week before, but my mom wanted to celebrate anyway.

Any reason for a party :)

The real party was Nana's early birthday party.

We all went around and said something we love about Nana. It was fun to hear memories and favorite things about her. I have lots and lots of fun memories of her growing up, but I really love seeing her play with my own kids now. They love her, and she is so sweet with them.

Then we went outside and the kids went after a pinata, and topped it off with cake and ice cream.

Diamond

One morning, I got up and took Abigail horseback riding with some of the other cousins. She loved riding on Diamond. The ride was about an hour long, and she just talked to me the whole time about all kinds of stuff. We were riding through a pretty heavily wooded trail, so she loved seeing all the different stuff back there. We saw spiders, a turtle, a horse shoe, and a deer. She really liked getting to ride, and talked about it a lot after.

It was fun getting time to spend just with Abigail, with no distractions.

That doesn't happen often.

Riding on the Tuba

We took the girls out on the boat with my brother and his wife and kids.

Our kids are about the same age, so it worked really well. Abigail LOVED riding on the Tuba (innertube). It took some persuading to get my nervous nelly out on it with me, but she loved it once we were out there. About every 15 seconds, she would say, "I don't want to fall off, Mommy." Guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, eh?

Henry on the other hand, wanted to go all by himself, and decided after a few minutes, that he would be a daredevil, and ride sitting up on his knees, without holding on.

Ellie loved the breeze of the boat. It was roasting hot, and, you tell me, how comfy does that lifejacket look? She had a rough time when we were stopped, but eventually fell asleep to the breeze and the lull of the motorboat.

Grandma Camp- Pirate Style

This year my mom (Mimi) and her sister decided to hold Grandma Camp during the week for the kids. This year the theme was Pirates. Abigail still talks about going to Pirate camp, she loved it. Every day they did a few crafts, and games. It was great to have something organized for the kids to do, and get out of the sun for a little bit every day. Lots of pictures from pirate camp today.

Henry wins "Pirate of the Week"- he was digging the dress up,

wonder where he gets that from, Kyle?