A fresh Daisy in the house!

We have a new Girl Scout in the house.  Audrey started Daisies last week and looks soooo cute in her Daisy blues!  We're sort of doing Daisies together as I'm leading (along with the help of my friend, Nicole, who I convinced at her weakest moment to help me) her troop.  A troop of twenty girls!  Yikes!!!  Our first meeting was an adorable success so I'm not really nervous anymore.  I just love Girl Scouts and the adventures and opportunities it opens up for our girls.

Because blasts from the past are always fun...this is how little Audrey was when Natalie was a Kindergarten Girl Scout Daisy!  So adorable!  

This picture was taken during the first parade Natalie participated in with Girl Scouts.  It was the Walnut Festival Parade and I'd agreed to be a parent helper to walk with the troop and help shepherd the flock of Daisies.  Well, the parade was late starting so I'd used up all of Audrey's stay-in-the-stroller bribery food by the time the troop actually started to move forward on the parade route.  Consequently, I was of no help in the supervision of Daisies as I spent the entire parade chasing Audrey in every direction but the direction we were supposed to be walking.  It was pure entertainment for the crowd!

Beauty in Braids

Natalie went to a birthday party a few weeks ago and the special guest was a woman who calls herself Brenda the Braider.  She created this amazing do for Natalie! I've never seen anything like it.  Natalie slept with her head wrapped in a silk scarf (instructions from Ms. Brenda to keep it intact for a few days) for two nights and managed to keep these braids looking fresh and lovely from Friday evening until Sunday's bedtime.

 The only thing more enjoyable than examining the intricacy of these braids was admiring the POOF of a do that resulted when she finally let us take them out.

 So fun.

Totem Tree

The latter half of 2015 was challenging at times.  Corey lost his job last August and it caught us a bit off guard, to say the least.  But the reality was that he wasn't happy in that job any longer and he needed a change that he likely would have never made on his own.

The following months he had at home were spent very wisely: he was able to spend a lot of time with the kids, get involved in their school (he even went to a few PTA meetings and managed to create a new grading plan that solved a decades old drainage issue near the building!) and after school activities, have and recover from much needed knee surgery, and work on home projects that had been on his to-do list since we closed escrow on this house almost 3 years ago!  After 5 months to the day at home he started a new job a few weeks ago that he's enjoying.

He managed to handle the last five months a little more graciously and gratefully than I did.  I worried my way through it as I've worried my way through most unknowns in my life.  I'm trying to get better at living in the now and remembering to put things in perspective.  This giant oak tree helps.  I am in awe of it every time I go on my walks on the trail near our house.  I just had to post about it because it's my absolute favorite thing about living where we do.

 I thought it was important to show Corey next to 

this tree for scale purposes.  He's tall.  It's ginormous!

Girls Weekend!

Where has January gone??  I'm not sure.  But it's been a crazy busy month that started off just right...with a girls weekend in Arizona.  On New Years Day I flew to Phoenix to start a laughter and food filled three days with Ash, Aimee and Emma.  We talked, we laughed, we walked, we stayed up waaaaay too late, we spahhhd, we ate, we ate, and we laughed some more while we ate some more.  It was a glorious start to the new year.

I cannot take our posture seriously in this photo.  

Not to mention our unplanned matching outfits.

This little cutie warmed up to me a little bit 

during my stay, but I emphasize the phrase "little bit."

He still prefers Uncle Corey to me any day of the week.

Here he is snuggling a picture of Uncle Corey while

I was sitting at the kitchen table and available for

actual in person snuggling.

Loved time with all of you so much!