The Boo Barbie

For Christmas a couple of years ago, we bought Kaylie a Barbie styling head.  She loves doing her hair, painting her nails, putting makeup on her . . . and hiding her in strategic places around the house just waiting to frighten her next victim.  This is not a little Barbie head.  She is practically lifesize with arms to boot!  Kaylie used to leave her on my bathroom counter after a beauty session.  She would scare me everytime I walked around the corner into my bathroom.  The girls thought it was funny and have made a sport of it.  You never know where she is going to show up or what she will look like when she does.  You might find her glaring at you from beside your bed when you wake up in the morning or in the bathroom cabinet when you go to get the bleach.  She could be hiding in your computer chair and surprise you at the last moment.  Sometimes she appears on the toilet seat when you have to go really badly! 

Barbie has gone through quite a transformation this past year.  This is what I found waiting for me this morning as I opened my cabinet to get my waffle maker. 
 

Yes, she made my heart skip a beat.  I decided to leave her in there to greet the girls for breakfast.  Kenzie was the culprit this time and even she was scared!

Fall Festival

For the Fall Harvest, we usually like to pick a family theme for dressing up.  As the years go by, it gets harder to find something that we all agree on.  This year, the girls chose "Little House on the Prairie."  Kenzie was Black Susan, the cat.  Kaylie was Mary, Leah was Laura, and I was Ma.  Pa stayed home to slop the hogs.

Ma with Mary, Laura, and Black Susan

We spent our evening at the Fall Festival at church.  The girls enjoyed games, bouncies, food, friends, and of course LOTS of candy!  They were even so fortunate . . . ahem . . . to be given a goldfish that was won by a friend.  And I thought my luck on that game ran out when they ran out of fish!  They named it Copper.  Luckily, we still had Kenzie's fish tank and food from when she was younger.

Copper's new home

 

A blast from the past:

Oz Wars 2010

2008

Mystery Inc. 2007

Wonderful Weekend

Last Sunday, we enjoyed a picnic with our church.  We had tasty chicken, yummy desserts, and bounce houses (yes, even I bounced!).  Best of all, we were incredibly blessed to have our close family friends join us from Germany!

Lots of girl time

Two peas in a pod

My dear friend, Jen

The following day, we invited our friends over for lunch and a time of fellowship.  We had a wonderful time!  We miss you!

Don't cry because it's over.  Smile because it happened.

Ooey Gooey

It has been an ooey gooey week at our house!  We made a sticky mess of old flour and water, played in the mud after the rain, and made slime in science class. 

This just wasn't enough for us.  Today, we made Oobleck!  Kenzie and Kaylie dug right in and made a mess (thankfully it's easy to clean up).  Leah was completely disgusted and wouldn't even touch it.  

This is cool!

Disgusting.

Want to make your own Oobleck?  Mix 2 parts cornstarch to 1 part water.  We added green food coloring for fun!  What do you think: Is Oobleck a liquid or a solid?  When you're done, do not wash it down the drain!  Dispose of it in a trash can.
Want to make slime?  We used this Slime recipe from the internet.  We only made half a batch for each of us.  It worked great!

Swim Fun!

We had a wonderful day of swimming with friends yesterday.  It was 109°, but the water was great and everyone was in good spirits.

1... 2... 3... Jump!

What a feat to try and get this shot!

It has become tradition for me to make my girls' birthday cakes.  This year Leah chose a "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" theme.  I try to find some decorating that the girls can do to help.  They had a great time putting on the flowers in the grass.  

Leah's "My Little Pony" cake

Leah is 5!

We celebrated my sweet baby Leah boo's 5th birthday yesterday.  I can't believe my youngest is now 5!  Where does the time go?  We celebrated as a family by having dinner at Peter Piper Pizza and dessert at Cold Stone.  Leah was giddy the whole day! 
    

 Leah got herself all dressed up for her big day.

She LOVES pizza!

Everything tastes better with sisters!

"Just what I always wanted mom!"  
She was so happy!