Violet at 9 months

Our sweet Vi is already 9 months old! Of course that warranted a mini photoshoot! :) Violet is such a happy baby. She loves people and animals and is quick to give smiles to everyone. Daddy's pet name for her is Smilet (smile+et) because she's such a smiley baby!







Violet has done a lot of teething this past month. She now has 7 teeth and counting! Although she likes solid foods her system is not quite ready for them. She is very easily constipated, so we are sticking to just nursing for now. One thing that has helped with her constipation is what we call her tummy troubles bottle. It is a combination of organic coconut water, goats milk, blackstrap molasses, maple syrup, and flax oil, with a liquid vitamin thrown in for good measure. :) We give her one bottle of this a day and it has worked wonders. She now has at least one soft poo a week. A big improvement!

Violet enjoys bathtime. We mostly use the kitchen sink as it's a nice height for mom. But her splashes are getting a bit messy so we should probably transition to the big tub.


Violet LOVES books! She gives McDuff and the Baby five stars. :)

She will even help turn the pages.

Of course her favorite is when Daddy reads to her. Richard Scarry books are always a big hit.

We love our sweet Violet. She brings us so much joy. When one of the big sisters gets hurt and is crying it's Violet to the rescue! Her sweet smile can make anyone feel better. :)

Back Porch Improvement Project

Our back porch had slowly and steadily become overtaken with toys and misc clutter. My goal was to reclaim the porch as a peaceful place for the family to gather. I wish I had thought to take a before picture, but I did not. It took the better part of Friday morning to sort through stuff and get the porch cleared off. Then I could get to the fun part! I potted some herbs and salad peppers in two big pots I got for 1/2 price at Fred Meyer.


The main project was assembling the patio set. I am no coupon guru, but I did get a really good deal on this set. Fred Meyer had all their summer furniture on sale for 50% off. I had been saving a Rewards coupon for an additional 20% off the lowest marked price on patio furniture, plus I used another $10 off in-store coupon. I was very pleased with the price. :)

It's a good thing I rather enjoy putting things together. Still it was a pretty big project assembling all this furniture. First up was sorting all the pieces.



I decided to tackle the sofa first.

All the girls pitched in to help. Emma was mostly helping by keeping Violet happy. :)

The girls thought the cushions were a lot of fun for making forts...



First piece of furniture assembled! Katie added the finishing touches to the sofa.


Starting on the chairs...




First chair done...


And then, a couple hours later, the whole set was finally finished!

Now we have a pleasant spot to sit and read stories together on the porch. The chairs rock and are surprisingly comfortable for nursing too. This was a very rewarding project!

Megan's Turn

for another Daddy date!

Of course Elizabeth the bear gets to come along.


Riding in "Trucky" is one of the best parts!


Daddy likes to adjust the seat belt so it's nice and tight! Then they're off to Karl's bakery for breakfast and doughnuts followed by a trip to Legion Park. So much fun! :)

Homeschool Playdate

We had such a fun time today at the Durham's. A friend of Rachael's introduced the moms to Norwex. I'm seriously excited about some of their products, like the kids mop.

Rachael showed us her chore circles. What a great idea!

The children played outside. It was actually pretty nice out in the afternoon.

My girls love the rope swing.



Tanner is just too cute!




Our Homeschooling In Christ group is such a blessing!

Silly Goose

Katie was cracking me up on the way home from Bible study Sunday night. We met at a friend's house and they have a parrot. She was telling us how the parrot was not happy with her and gave her a mean look because she pointed at him like this...

Really? I didn't know birds could give "mean looks" so I asked her to show me. This is the face I got...
Then came the giggles... She tried to make the "mean face" again but could not.

So, she shook her angry bird fists. Grrrr...

Then she tried to hide her face, but it was too late. I had captured her silliness.


Such a sweet, silly goose! :)