I Love These Girls!

 Doesn't this picture make you want to curl up on the couch with a cup of hot coffee and have some fun on your computer?  That's what I thought at least.  But I love these girls!  They were so excited to ride to school in the rain today!  You can tell that doesn't happen very often around here.  As for Ruthie and I, we're enjoying an inside morning and I thought I would share a few (fairly) recent pictures with you, since I've been a little lax in that regard lately:)

 

First, you'd better check out these cute first day of school pictures.

Here's Josie, heading off to Kindergarten!  On the bike ride home that first day she told me fifty times if she told me once-literally- that she LOVES LOVES LOVES Kindergarten!

And Anna, all ready for first grade (which she has been absolutely loving so far, too, I might add):

Ruthie and I came with them that first day for the Opening Ceremony/Rose Ceremony.

Thank you Mema and Papa for the fun dresses, the girls love them!

 

 What better tradition to have than ice cream on the first day of school in the heat of August?

 Anna lost her first tooth!  Look at that great grin!

 We are enjoying our new house.  For those of you that I haven't kept in touch with very well lately, we moved into a house here in Boulder right before school began.  We are loving our backyard, back porch (we've had dinner out there every night), new climbing trees, and this Mama is especially enjoying the normal size kitchen with a dishwasher and having a washer/dryer!

 

Three good friends in their climbing clothes eating peaches on the back porch on a sunnier day:

 I designated some climbing clothes for them after they were destroying all their school clothes getting them covered with sap while climbing the 50 foot tall Spruce tree in our backyard.  Anybody have a remedy for sap in hair?  I've learned that the alcohol in hand sanitizer will take sap off hands beautifully (thanks Rob and Michelle!), but I've yet to find a remedy for hair. 

 

One of my favorite recent pics of these three sisters.  Classic.  A moment to remember and treasure.

 Friends over for dinner!  The Kennedy's came to celebrate our new house with us.  Little Ally and Ruthie are fast friends.

Anna, Isaac and Ruthie reading on the couch.  I'm loving this new step into reading with my big first grader.  Way to go, Anna!

 Anna found a way to climb onto the roof of our house.  Whose kid is this???  She was quite proud of herself.

 Ruthie and I love our mornings together while big sisters are at school.  I'm also loving all the space and light in this wonderful kitchen.  Put the two together and you can find Ruthie and Mommy working in the kitchen together on many a morning!

 Anna and Josie are wonderful kitchen helpers.  They're making Daddy's lunch in this photo.  Pancake sandwiches! (Daddy'O Update:  Mitch has 3 more weeks until he's done with his masters!!!  THEN we can truly celebrate!  But it still feels like a big push to get through these next 3 weeks.  Keep us in your thoughts and prayers, we need extra doses of patience and grace in this house.)

 Ruthie climbing the Russian Olive tree in our backyard while I'm hanging laundry.  It's hard to find a time when at least one of these girls is not in a tree.

 Last but not least, I thought I would share our most recent family photo.  It was actually taken in June on Father's Day. 

Sledding

This was the best sledding hill I have ever seen, safe enough for a Mommy to enjoy sending her little ones speeding down, no obstacles to hit, free, not crowded, and FAST! They even had inner tubes you could use for free that were the best sledding ride I've ever had. Grand Lake Golf Course which doubles as a Nordic Center in the winter.

If you have the time, enjoy this series of videos of our sled rides. Granted, nothing is as fun as actually experiencing it yourself, but if you like watching us laugh you'll enjoy these videos full of little girls' laughter.

Three girls one at a time down the hill:

'Mitch flipping' (Can you hear the girls laughing at him in the background?):

'UP the hill':

'Helmet Cam', Mommy and Ruthie:

Josie:

Anna:

And my favorite- 'All Together Now!':

Josie was getting tired by the end of our time sledding so I offered her the camera and let her take a video of her sisters sledding. That kept her content for a while longer so her sisters could keep sledding. She really wanted me to post her video so you could see it, she was quite proud of it. Be forewarned, in Josie's own words: "I couldn't really see if it was pointed at them or not, but I think it was." Four year old cinematography:

Flips

Parents of young children beware! This post contains content that might inspire other young adventurers to try things in your home that might not be considered safe by all!

Consider yourself forewarned.

The new setup in our house, the girls' kitchen is now out in the main living area:

I put the coffee table close to their kitchen, a surface for them to play and cook on.

Or a surface for them to climb on, as the case may be:

And climb higher from:



And do flips:

Victorious!

Anna in action:

Yes, inspired by little Ruthie, that coffee table ladder has meant hours (literally) of play for three little girls as they climb, flip, run around to the back of the couch, and climb and flip again.

No injuries yet.

Here's a little video of Ruthie in action. You might want to turn the sound off, it doesn't add anything to the video. Anna had a sore throat and ear ache for a while this afternoon and you can hear her crying in the background. She feels fine now, but she had a rough afternoon. Thankfully for me, Ruthie and Josie were completely self-entertained (by a coffee table and a couch) and I was able to focus on Anna. Anyways, enjoy the video of a cute Ruthie doing her flip: