August 31

Mom came over with one of her old college friends, Cheryl, (who is in town visiting) and I had fun taking pictures. They were trying to reenact an old photo of the two of them from college and they're still looking great! Sophie hopped into one at the end of the shoot and this turned out mighty cute!

August 30

Back to the classroom today to get prepared for the new cherubs, and I was pooped at home tonight! Sophie had her swim lesson and then we went to the park, so before bedtime, we played in her room to quiet down. She spent some time reading through her books and then we played with her tool box and doctor's kit. A fun evening!

August 29

Going along with making my house look better, I power washed my deck to prepare for staining next week and I've installed some new curtain hardware in the house. I had a bit of trouble with stripped screws, so my dad came to the rescue. These are the cute little curtain holders that I put in Sophie's bedroom. She has a curtain rod to match, and it goes great with her flower and butterfly theme in her room. She likes them too!

August 28

It's okay to give yourself a little pat on the back every now and then, right? I worked my behind off today, putting beauty bark in the front and back yard. It was hard work, but it makes my house just look that much better. Since I can't afford a paint job this year, this will have to do!

August 27

Sophie wanted to read her Bible to me tonight, which was too cute! She received this cute little pink one when she was dedicated at 3 months old. There aren't any pictures and she can't read yet, but she certainly tries! My favorite part is when she opens it up and says, "Once upon a time...!" This girl is into her fairy tales!

August 26

I always enjoy when my hydrangeas start blooming again. They seemed a bit late this year, probably due to the crazy weather and a large tree that was crowding it, but here they are!

August 25

Today was back to school for our last LID day for who knows how long. We got ourselves and our school prepared for some neat new models to improve our school atmosphere. Anything can help and I'm pretty anxious to see how it all turns out!

August 24

I took some pictures of Sophie in the Cinderella dress to get her birthday invites finished up. She had just gotten some Cinderella gifts from Aunt Nancy and Uncle Bob - a ring, necklace, purse, and gloves, so she was modeling those too! This isn't the picture I'm using for the invites, but it sure is cute!

August 23

Sophie had her first day in her new school this morning! She started at Kiddieland and did great on her first day. I thought she would cry when I left, but after playing in the kitchen for awhile, she was ready to let me go with a simple, "Bye mom, I love you!" I'm glad she wasn't upset and when I picked her up she was happy to see me. Her new teacher Linda, said she did great except for having a little accident on the playground. Well, we can't all be perfect! :)

August 22

We went over to Gramma Sue's house tonight for dinner and Sophie at really well! I had found some beads in my classroom while cleaning up, and thought that Sophie would enjoy playing with them. We tried with some string, but it kept getting frayed and didn't work out. Gramma makes necklaces, so she gave some wire for Sophie to try out, and it worked like a charm! Sophie played with those beads for a long time and still enjoys playing with them every chance she can get! I'm amazed that those little fingers can do it, she's growing up!

August 21

Another busy day today! Sophie and I helped our church hand out water and coffee at the Horizon Pointe garage sale in the morning, and then went to the Olympia/Lacey Church of God block party. They had free food, bouncy houses, and other fun things. Sophie loved her hot dog and fireman's hat, but especially enjoyed the big slide!

August 20

We had a busy day today and Sophie got a very short nap. As a result, she hit meltdown mode at about 7:30 and it remained until bedtime. Every little thing caused her to burst into tears, but she wanted so badly to stay up! Finally, after a chapter of Charlotte's Web, sleep won the battle and she was sleeping soundly.

August 19

Nothing to report today!

August 18

Sophie, Papa, and I went blueberry picking this morning. We went to the Giles' farm and were able to get a lot of berries. Sophie did a great job picking, and most of them actually made it into the pail and not into her mouth! My favorite part was listening to her say, "Kuplink, kuplank, kuplunk!" as she dropped the berries in her bucket. We have read "Blueberries for Sal" so many times that she knows the drill!

August 17

Sophie was in the mood for picture taking this afternoon, and I got several fun shots of her. She loves making faces and being silly, and I love to watch her!

August 16

Mom's friend Connie offered her wonderful pool to me, Becky, and our kids on a hot, hot day! It gave mom a chance to get out of her house and to visit with Connie, while I got to play with Sophie in the water! Sophie is quite the fish, jumping in, dog paddling around, and having the time of her life.

August 15

After church today, I was in charge of the little kids playing with bubbles, while the older ones did a bubble gum blowing contest! I couldn't resist grabbing some shots of these kids working hard to get some bubbles going!

August 14

Sophie wrestled around with Uncle Tim today and had a great time. She was a bit apprehensive at first, but learned that he is a lot of fun! We also had a wonderful lunch with Lauren, Andy, Dad, and Marcia to send off Tim.

August 13

Sophie and I hung out with Gramma Sue tonight while she is recuperating from her surgery. Sophie had a good time running around in her sprinkler system and then settling in for some reading with Gramma.

August 12

I stayed up late tonight to see some of the meteor showers that were happening. I also tried to get some pictures, but had no luck. I only did see one shooting star since it's too bright around where I live, and so I settled for a picture of one on the laptop. To my surprise, that came out blurry! Oh well!

August 11

Didn't get a shot today.

August 10

Uncle Tim is in town!! It has been nearly two years since Sophie and Uncle Tim have seen each other, but you wouldn't know it! They are already old pals, and it's so fun to watch. Tim is so good with kids and Sophie is just enamored with him. We're looking forward to a few more days with him!

August 9

My child sings most of the day. A lot of times she picks up any sort of object, makes it a microphone, and goes at it. Sometimes the lyrics are real and sometimes she makes them up. Nevertheless, it's a lot of fun to watch her! Here she is belting out a song she made up while holding her yogurt spoon. I don't know... American Idol in our future?

August 8

I did a little yard work this evening and Sophie decided to lend a hand! She usually just gets in my way, but tonight she pulled weeks and placed them in the bucket! I have been waiting for this day because there is a lot to do outside. Let's just hope that she doesn't learn that this is a chore!

August 7

Lauren came up to visit mom in the hospital, but to also spend time with Sophie and I. Mom wasn't up for visitors, so we headed for downtown Tacoma and walked all around. Sophie loved going down all the stairs on the UW Tacoma campus and enjoyed seeing a "princess" AKA a bride getting her pictures taken by the Glass Museum.

August 6

I spent the night at the hospital with mom and came home to a very grumpy Sophie. Finally, she went down for an early nap and slept 4 hours! I couldn't believe it! She hasn't slept like that since she was really little. I got a lot of things done and a little rest myself!

August 5

This is the interesting building that is the hospital my mom is staying in. She had her surgery today and it went well. I spent the whole day and night with her and am looking forward to her getting better and home!

August 4

Today was $1 day at the Thurston County Fair and Sophie and I took advantage! We rode the free bus (which Sophie was so excited about), she got in for free and got a free ride, and I brought a can of food so my ticket was a buck. The only thing I paid for was the pony ride. Sophie was excited to ride a pony and wasn't scared at all! She waved to me each time and was so happy. We also saw lots of animals including the cutest piglets. We ended the fair with a ride on the carousel. Sophie opted for the seat instead of a horse, but that was fine with me!

August 3

Nothing today...

August 2

Does this look like a child who's ready for bed? Well tonight, it took her a little over an hour to fall asleep. When I went in to see what was going on, she was twirling "Monkey George" over her head and was happy as can be. A few weeks back she was spooked by the giant pickle in the Veggie Tales movie, "Dave and the Giant Pickle." She brought him up again tonight, mentioning, "I don't like that giant pickle!" I told her to think about Cinderella in her pretty blue dress instead. She said, "I'll do that," and was asleep in no time! I'm sure she's dreaming of her favorite princess right now!

August 1

We went over to Grandma and Papa's house this afternoon and Jacob was visiting too. Sophie loved following Jacob around like a puppy dog, laughing at all of his antics. They played tag, "Ring around the Rosy," captured 2 moths and a frog, and goofed off. It was fun for Sophie to have a big brother for the afternoon!