Bow and Arrowing

 For her birthday, Leila got some cash to spend as she pleased! Her heart's desire, for the time being, was  a Princess Merida archery set. Leila has really enjoyed bow and arrowing (as she calls it) in the backyard!

Five Today!

Five today! Oh magical morn! 

Wonderful milestone along life's way. 

Five years ago a baby was born, 

And Leila is five years old today! 

by: Frances Holmstrom

(Leila's great-great grandmother)

Happy 5th Birthday to our dear Leila! I interviewed Leila last week to chronicle some of her favorites as she prepared to turn 5. Here are her responses to each of the "What is your favorite..." questions:

food: rainbow Goldfish, noodles and red sauce, Kraft macaroni and cheese
color: "Purple now. When I'm five, it's gonna be blue and green."
toy: Littlest Pet Shops, princess dolls, Legos and Star Wars figures
TV show: Wild Kratts, Charlie and Lola, Doc McStuffins and The Dick Van Dyke Show
princess: Merida, Ariel and Rapunzel
movie: Peter Pan and Aladdin
book: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
animal: elephants and dinosaurs, mostly the brachiosaurus
number: #44
hockey player: Todd Bertuzzi of the Red Wings.
bedtime buddies: Hoppity the bunny, Blankie, books and Rapunzel blanket
sport: hockey to watch, soccer to play
sandwich: peanut butter and honey
band: Mumford & Sons, The Avett Brothers, Carbon Leaf
song: Roll Away Your Stone by Mumford & Sons


As usual, Chris and I took Weeds out to eat on her birthday at Red Robin. It has become our little family's tradition.

 Leila got some birthday money from a family member and got to spend it after our lunch at Red Robin. She chose an archery set (from the Disney movie Brave). I think she will get her money's worth out of it as it will take a while to learn the hang of it.

We love this girl more than we could ever describe. We are blessed each and every day as we watch her mature into a caring, funny, intelligent, beautiful girl. Happy birthday to the BEST 5-year-old we know!

Party at Gramma and Papa's House

 Saturday evening, we headed over to Gramma and Papa's house for dinner and a little more partying. All of my family had already headed back to Oregon, except my Mom and Jim, so it was a small gathering. Both sets of grandparents and Chris and I had held our presents out from the park party so Leila got to open those gifts at dinner. It was such a relaxing way to spend the evening. I didn't have to think about dinner one bit. Thanks, Mike and Shawn!!

 Chris and I got Weed Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls. She has been talking all about them since we bought a book earlier in the summer. I think she liked them!

 Grammy and Granddad got her a baby carrier...and other things too. :0)

 Gramma and Papa got her some pink and purple Legos...and other things too. :0)

 We let Leila choose her own cake from Baskin Robbins. She went with horses. What were the cake and ice cream flavors you ask? Oh, vanilla and vanilla. Thatta girl!

Happy birthday party day, Baby! Now for Monday, when you really turn 5!

Party in the Park

For Leila's 5th birthday, we invited friends and family to the park on Saturday morning. Leila chose a princess themed party this year. She couldn't decide between Ariel and Rapunzel, so she just went for all the princesses. The weather was chillier than we expected, but the kids had a blast anyway.  

 Some of the younger guests: Kajsa, the Birthday Girl, Bergen, Wyatt and Sadie. This picture was taken before the Simon girls and the Neeley kiddos arrived. And the babies, Leif and Cody, were with their mamas.

 Getting ready to blow out her candle.

My brother, Jon, and Leila share the same birthday, August 20th, so he is always included in the birthday festivities. Happy birthday, J. Love you!

Family Poem

My great grandmother, Frances Holmstrom, was a published author. She had several books of poems published. We are lucky enough to own her books and we enjoy reading her poetry very much. One of her poems has always been special to our family through the years. My Mom has the hand-written copy that hung in my grandparents' house their entire marriage.

Prayer for a Little Home

God, send us a little home

To come back to when we roam.

Low walls, fluted tiles, 

Wide windows, view for miles. 

One picture on each wall-

Not many things at all.

God, give us a little ground, 

Tall trees standing round.

Homely flowers in the sod-

Overhead, Thy stars, O' God! 

God bless when winds blow, 

Our home, and all we know. 

Frances Holmstrom ~ 1948

I cross-stitched the last stanza of Nammy's (that is what she went by in our family) poem and gave it as gift to my brother and Amanda for their new home. I hope they can enjoy it in their place for many years to come! 

Pinterest Inspired

I found this crafty idea on Pinterest. For Christmas gifts I made JOY, PEACE and LOVE for family members. Chris is always stocked with scraps of 4X4 from his play sets, so he brought me home a TON! I decided to make Weed her name for her bookshelf in her room. It turned out pretty cute.

Pool Party

 

Our friend, Tim, usually hosts a few pool parties in the summer months. We are lucky enough to get invited each year. Thanks, Tim! We headed over Thursday morning with suits, snacks and towels. With temps already climbing, it was the PERFECT way to spend the day!! My brother gave Leila this swim vest and she was super excited to try it out. She found some goggles at Tim's and had to wear them. What a goofy kid. 

Freckles

This girl! She crawled in our bed early Wednesday morning and watched Disney Junior while we slept a little longer. As I started to wake up, I noticed what I thought was chap stick on her nose. This didn't really surprise me as she has done it before. She likes to put it on her nose and pretend she is Rudolph with a shiny nose. I asked her if she was, indeed, being Rudolph again and she told me no. Apparently, before crawling in our bed, she had spent some time in the bathroom trying to scratch off her freckles! What?!? I love those little freckles!! The kicker was that I had scheduled a photo shoot at JC Penny for later that morning. Of course!

Early Birthday

 Our friends, the Neeleys, invited us over earlier in the week for a play date. They weren't going to be able to come to Leila's birthday party in the park, so Erin and the kids threw her a little pre-birthday celebration. It was very nice of them and Leila loved it! Erin made each kiddo a chocolate chip cookie cake and let them decorate with frosting and sprinkles. They had a great time and ate too much sugar before nap!!

 Leila's masterpiece:

 Elliott and his cake:

 Miss Edith and her partially decorated cake:

Thank you, Neeley Family!

Brown's Point

I've blogged about our favorite family picnic spot before, but I can't help posting more pictures from our visit to Brown's Point earlier in the week. We just love it there. It is peaceful, beautiful and reenergizing. Like usual, we grabbed a Subway dinner and enjoyed a summer evening by the water. This is truly one of my favorite places to be with my family!

Kick Chick

I won't lie. I am excited for Leila to start soccer this week! I hope she enjoys it! I hope she makes some new friends. I can't wait to cheer her on at the games. I'm looking forward to watching her practice and learn the game. Man, I'm just excited! She tried on her shin guards, socks and cleats last week to make sure they all fit. She was too cute! Look at that tiny, size 3 soccer ball!! Here's hoping for a fun, first ever season of soccer!!! 

Chip Chops with Dad

Leila and I usually make chip chops (aka chocolate chip cookies) together, but Dad was manning the kitchen last week and decided that the family needed some cookies for dessert. Leila was so excited to show Daddy how "Mom and I do it." They had a great time...and the cookies were excellent!

2012 Olympics

Man, oh man do I love the Olympics! There is something special about watching all the countries come together and compete. We watched practically every sport broadcast this summer! Leila's favorites included women's gymnastics, rooting for Jamaica's track team, beach volleyball, archery and the equestrian competition. She enjoyed watching the horses jumping while riding her rocking horse, Beep Beep. My Papa made Beep Beep years ago, when I was a kid. I love that Beep Beep is important to Leila and I love that the two of them watched the Olympics together!

TV Tray Dinner

Leila was very excited last week! We always eat dinner together at the table and we almost always try to keep the tv off (except if the Red Wings are playing we make an exception). Well, this last week, Chris was in charge of dinners and I was supposed to be taking it easy on the couch, so Leila was thrilled to eat dinner on a tv tray!! Oh my! She loved it! We watched the Olympics and enjoyed our dinner in the living room. Don't get used to it kid!

Coats Concert in the Park

Every summer the city of Puyallup hosts weekly concerts in Pioneer Park. We don't usually attend many. However, there is one group we always try to catch...The Coats! This is a hometown group that we have heard MANY times over the years, but their concerts are always outstanding. This group of four guys is an acapella group that is nationally recognized. They are always very entertaining!! It was a great night for an outdoor concert. Perfect weather for music, a blanket and shaved ice!