The girls were excited to get these shirts from Grandma before school started and more excited to wear them TO school!  So cute!

Another benefit to a 2-story house

The kids look forward to laundry time, when mom says it's actually okay to throw stuff over the railing.  Saves me from making trips up the stairs, the girls think it's fabulously fun, and it gets the job done.  Winning!

Grandparent Visit

 We took the girls to a pumpkin patch

 A random goat walking around, just wanting to be petted

 They enjoyed the seesaw

 Kendra wasn't afraid of the animals at all

 Kendra and Grandma

 Up on the big horse

 The girls love riding horses, which was one of the main reasons we went here

 Another highlight: the 6 week old puppies!  Megan couldn't get enough of them!

 We took a little train ride

 Later, we went to the fish hatchery in Oroville.  The salmon are jumping the ladders right now and it's spawning season.  There were way more fish than I anticipated and they were MUCH larger than we thought they'd be too.  It was really neat and I enjoyed watching the fish struggle to make the climb up the ladder.  Definitely on the to-do list next fall too.

 We played some Wii dance and it was fun watching the girls rock out!

Go Kendra, go Kendra!

We also took bike rides, tried a local restaurant, took a tour of Trent's work, played lots of games, went to Olive Garden with my parents in Chico, took lots of walks, and enjoyed spending time with the grandparents.  Thanks for visiting!

Straight or curly?

 I've having fun with hair accessories lately.  I made this brown chiffon flower and sewed a few buttons in the middle.  I'm trying to be okay with wearing my hair down, but if you know me, you know that does not happen often!  I like volume and with my thin hair that's hard to achieve when it's down so it often goes half up with my beloved bobby pins.

 Mikayla was having fun trying to take pictures of me.  haha!

 As a kid, my hair was much straighter, like Mikayla's, but it would curl up in humidity or get frizzy to be more specific.  Then, right about high school time, it started getting really curly and I learned how to scrunch with mousse and diffuse it.  I started to embrace the curl even though I secretly wished it was straight and often tried to straighten it without much success.

 I love long hair, but it curls so much better at this shorter length and I actually do like when it gets super curly.  I guess I'm just happy I have the type of hair where I wake up and say: straight or curly?  hmmm...  lovin' the versatility!

Surprise!

 I made a puzzle for each girl and hid the pieces all around the room(one puzzle, one room for each girl).

 They had to assemble the puzzle...

 yes, it was tricky on purpose!  And then they got the first clue: Megan's puzzle was a crown and Mikayla's was Minnie Mouse.

 Then they got a chain with 39 links on it and Mikayla started cluing in to something here!

 Thank you Kendra for destroying the puzzle, ever so helpful.

The last clue, since they still needed a little help!  I made matching Minnie Mouse shirts for the girls.  So, just to recap: a crown, Minni Mouse, 39 days, Minnie Mouse shirts....hmmm... that's right!  We're going to Disneyland!  We're so excited and they have been loving taking a link off their chain each day.  Only 25 links left now!  We're going with Trent's brother and sister-in-law, Brock and Chelsey, and their 2 cute girls, Paytin and Presley.  They also have Minnie shirts, so we should have some cute matching pics of all these girls from our trip. 

To help with behavior and obeying around here, we are starting up our marble jars again.  Good behavior that goes above and beyond being helpful or listening the first time with a good attitude, etc. earns a marble.  Marbles can be taken away for less desirable behavior and and the marbles can be cashed in for quarters before our trip so they can each have spending money in Disneyland.  We'll see how it works!

Ways to Keep Cool

 I saw this on Sesame Street of all places, since that seems to be the show of choice on tv lately.  We froze water in lots of different sized plastic containers and bowls.  I dumped them onto the patio in the backyard and they had fun building ice castles and towers.  Thank you Sesame Street for a free, fun activity for the girls!

 Another way Kendra keeps cool...she opens the cabinet, picks her Crystal Light flavor of choice and a water bottle.  Smart girl, knows what she wants and how to get it.

Apple slices and lemonade, awesome!  This is one happy girl.  This outfit gets worn every other day or so.  She looks through her drawer till she finds it and if it's in the wash then she checks the laundry basket for the "lello" shirt.  Cracks me up!

Sister to Sister

 Megan got this dress for her 2nd birthday and Mikayla got a matching one.  Well, 2 1/2 yrs later, now Megan wears the bigger one and Kendra wears Megan's old one.  I can't believe how fast that 2 1/2 yrs went and how stinkin cute they look matching!  I love that we can pass clothes down from sister to sister.