Dakota makes her bed!

When I was unpacking some boxes last week (yes, a year in this house and I'm still unpacking boxes. It was my summer project, but now it looks like it will be my fall and winter project as well) I came across all of our old floppy discs of pictures from when Cheyenne was a baby (and Dakota was 3). So many memories on those little discs!

I don't actually remember this day, but I know what was going on. Dakota was learning to make her bed. I would do the sheet and the comforter first and then she would finish up with her "Elmo blanket" (it was actually just a piece of fabric that I had bought with the intention of making her a dress-when I learned to sew. She found it and became attached to it, so it became a blanket instead.) It made her so proud to "help" me like that.
Just seeing these pictures, though, does bring back so many memories. It's amazing how many things I have forgotten about over the years. These pictures are only about 8 years old, but it seems like ages ago. So many things have happened since then. We have added two more children to our family, we've moved four times, I've worked in 5 different schools...wow!

I don't remember this day when she made her bed, but I do remember those Blue's Clues stickers on her wall. I remember her helping me put them there and how she liked to rearrange them. I remember that Cheyenne's crib was in the corner diagonal from Dakota's bed and she had Blue Jean Teddy stickers on her wall.
I remember that we really didn't need a bed for Dakota because she always slept in our bed anyway. She, Daniel and I slept crowded together in our full-sized bed-until Cheyenne came along and then I slept on the couch with her in the car seat next to me so that I would hear if her monitor alarmed.
It used to be so hard for Dakota to fall asleep at night because she was always thinking too much to fall asleep. I remember reading to her literally for hours every night until she finally fell asleep. When I finally got to the point where I couldn't read The Little Mermaid or Toy Story one more time (and because the pictures just kept her awake) I moved on to reading Charlotte's Web and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to her. She's always loved books.
I remember that that comforter on her bed had stars on one side and the checkered pattern on the other and she always had a preference for which side was on top when she was going to sleep. This is also the age when Dakota loved to watch Barney. We had one Barney video that she would watch over and over. In this house, my cedar chest was right next to the entertainment center. When the Barney video would finish, it would automatically rewind and eject itself. As soon as it would pop out, Dakota would climb up on the cedar chest and push it back it in. Even if she was busy playing with toys and not really watching, that video had to be on in the background.

And now, this sweet little three-year-old who loved Barney and Toy Story is 11! She loves Poke'mon, Harry Potter, video games, and her computer (thank goodness boys are not on that list yet, but that's soon to come, I'm sure). She's on the swim team, goes on church trips and Girl Scout trips all by herself. She no longer makes her bed because she wants to help me, only so I will leave her alone and let her play her video games. I no longer read to her for hours at bedtime and she has long ago outgrown Charlotte's Web. Now she reads to herself-Chronicles of Narnia, Nancy Drew, Harry Potter.

She's going to the middle school this year. For the first time, she will not be in my building at school. I won't pass her in the hall or have a teacher come and and say "Guess what Dakota said...". She's off on a new adventure-to the world of changing classes, sitting with friends at lunch instead of just with her class, riding the bus after school...all those things that she's so looking forward to. She's growing up. I guess that's the way it's suppoed to be.

I'm excited to look back in another 8 years and remember the way things "used to be". I hope we have lots of memories like this-just regular days that didn't mean alot at the time, but become treasures of our time together. And so, now, I'm off to make some of those memories with the kids. I think we are long overdue for a coloring and playdough session at the kitchen table. I'm sure those dirty dishes will still be there when the crayons are put away.

Oh, and thanks Lynnette for continuing with Wednesday's Walk. I really needed it today.

Stellan

Baby Stellan is again in the hospital and is not doing well at all. Please pray for Stellan and his family today. His little heart is continuing to beat entirely too fast and is not responding the any of the treatments the doctors have attempted. Here is the most recent picture his mom posted of Stellan, taken early this morning.

This is what Stellan looked like just last week. Stellan has already beaten the odds many times. Please pray that God has another miracle for Stellan today.

Party at the waterpark

Can you tell I only have one child at home today? Landon spent his birthday money yesterday and bought a new Spongebob movie, so I've had some free time on my hands today. As soon as lunch is over, I have to take Landon in to get his back-to-school-shots. I'm sure it will be traumatic for both of us, so we're just taking it easy until then.

My computer is in a good mood and is letting me post pictures, too, so I thought I would take the opportunity before it goes away.

Here are some pictures from Landon's birthday party. It was so much fun! I hope we can get the kids together at the splash pad again before summer's over.

Is this not the cutest baby ever??? I love the way she has her tongue sticking out in these pictures! I was so blessed last week to get to spend almost the entire evening at VBS cuddling her. This is the most laid back baby I've ever seen. Can't wait to watch her grow up!

Most of the kids had never been over to the splash pad before. They had so much fun! I heard a couple of them asking their moms/dads if they could come back again the next day. It was nice that we were nearly the only ones there. We were a crowd by ourselves!

All the kids were such good sports to come out of the water for a while to watch Landon opening his gifts! We are so blessed that our kids have such a sweet group of cousins and friends to grow up with!

\The moms (and dads and grandparents, and aunt) were also good sports to sit out in the heat. Thankfully, it was kind of cloudy that morning, so it didn't get too hot until after the party.

In case you didn't know, when Landon grows up he is going to be a superhero! He loves spider man! So, of couse, a spider man cake was in order.

I really can't believe that Landon is already 4! As of August, I am no longer a mother of preschooler-all of my children will be in school! Hard to believe! While we were shopping yesterday, Landon found something that he wants for his next birthday. He said "when I'm five (or "sive" actually is how he says it). That almost broke my heart. I refuse to let myself think that he will be five. Four is old enough for me.

Lions, and tigers, and bears, oh...

...wait! We didn't see ANY of those things. We did, however, see this giant tortoise statue,

the butterfly garden,

some ducks and fish,

and some sea lions!
We are becoming regulars at the zoo this summer. It's so nice to be able to just load up and go for a couple of hours and not feel like we have to see EVERYTHING at the zoo because we know we'll be back in a week or two. It's also nice that the kids are all big enough that we can pretty much go on a whim-just grab the backpack, throw in a few snacks, fill the water bottle, and go. No diaper bag, bottles, baby food, etc. And believe it or not, I took them all by myself and didn't even lose one along the way!

I know you're impressed!

Popsicles

These are the popsicles we made for the 4th of July. It took a really long time for them to freeze, so we had to wait until the next afternoon for them to be ready, but it was worth it. They were so yummy as you can tell.

cookies for pops

If you want to participate in Wednesday's Walk Down Memory Lane, or if you want to check out what other people are remembering this week, head over to Lynnette's blog.

As I was looking for an inspiration for this week's Wednesday's Walk, I came across these pictures from last summer. They are from Father's Day weekend 2008. I always have a hard time with Father's Day gifts. I never can find the right gift...especially for my grandpa-Pops. He has everything!

Last year, the kids really wanted to make him something, but we just couldn't come up with a great idea. Finally, one of the kids suggested that we make cookies for Pops. I liked the idea, but wanted to make it more meaningful-to somehow show him how much love the kids put into making the cookies for him-so I decided to take pictures of the kids making the cookies. We put them into a little album and gave that to Pops along with the cookies. It turned out great!

Here are a few of the pictures we gave to Pops.

Wednesday's Walk Down Memory Lane

Here are some more of my favorite Landon pictures. He is 4 years old today!
Happy Birthday Landon!!!