As requested. . . hairbows and tiny piggytails (Robyn this post is just for you)

My cousin Hillary let me in on this fabulous blog for little girls' hair styles (Yay for you Hillary!)
Hair Today
Every since then I have been obsessed with doing my girls' hair and making bows for them. Here is some pics of what I have been up to. Just to warn you these pictures are kind of in random order:.
I LOVE the korker bows! They are so easy to make and so cute!
Here is your bows with a little cheese on the side. Brynn wanted me to put all the bows in her hair at once.
Here is my little doll with tiny piggies in her hair. Try tying bows on a moving target. It was a challenge. Thanks Uncle Bart and Aunt Katie for the adorable outfit.
Today we tried one piggy on for size: Very cute. This baby has so much hair! I don't know what to do with her. She has got a serious mullet going on in the back. I think I really might give her a haircut soon.
Here is another bow I tried out. I think it is called a stacked bow. You can tell I am new at the bow-making as everything is a little skewampus.
Here is the same style of bow in pink.
Staying true to form, as soon as we were done taking these pictures Syd made me take the bows out of her hair. She will really only tolerate lots of girlishness on Sundays at church, then she comes home and rips everything out of her hair and changes into her cutoff sweats and stained T-shirts. I love my little tomboy!

Syd's 7th Birthday

Our lovely Sydney turned 7 on June 15th. We had quite the party with family in tow. The theme was pirate adventures!
Claire Bear helped me make the cake
Pirate cake goes down nice and easy.
Captain James keeps a tight hold on his scurvy crew.
Using a treasure map supplied by Pirate Daddy, we all went on a treasure hunt. Digging for buried treasure. (Yay that we live next door to a park!)
The booty was shared by all.
Uncle Jake working on Syd's new Transformer. Yes, we got our little girl Optimus Prime.
20 minutes later. . . Jake still working on transforming Optimus.
40 minutes later. . . Jake gave up and decided he would rather play with the Barbie convertible car.
Syd showing off some of her fun new presents.
Grandma Leslie and Grandpa Dave were part of that above-mentioned scurvy crew.
Syd went from California cutie to one-eyed pirate faster than you can say "Arrrrggghhh, matey!" Syd had a great time. Thanks to all those who came over to join in the fun. Brynn's birthday is tomorrow so we will do it all again. Except the theme is princesses instead of pirates this time!

Bedroom Hijinks...Nudity...and Blindfolds...

So lately our baby has decided to have some fun when she is supposed to be sleeping...

A couple of nights ago we put her in pajamas like this:

Then wrapped her up and put her to bed like this:

But when we went to get her in the morning...

I was so confused - why would the baby be naked in her crib early in the morning? I picked up her blankie from the bottom of the crib and her jammies fell out. The only thing we can figure is that she kicked and squirmed her way out of them. Both Syd and Brynn managed to squirm till their jammies pinned their arms to their sides. - But nothing like this.
(Yes, the above pics were staged to show you what happened. Settle down.)

And then a few days later she decided to play ninja baby!

It didn't even seem to bother her that much. She was just hanging out blindfolded.

The Greatest Invention Ever

We pulled out the Bumbo for Claire (thanks for the loaner Becca & James), and I instantly fell in love with it. I wish they had these things when Brynn and Syd were babies. How cool is this little seat? Look at my tiny baby sitting up like a big girl. I put her on the kitchen counter and we chatted while I made dinner. Yay for the Bumbo!

Brynny is apparently in love with this little seat too. She is just lucky she could get out of it without some help! Good thing her bumbo is not so biggo.

Claire's Blessing Day

We blessed Claire on Sunday. Shawn did a great job. We got to spend the afternoon with family and friends. It was a great day.

My little beauty

My three girls

Four Generations

Cousin Miles, looking cute as ever

Syd and Cousin Ian wrestling- way to observe the sabbath

Uncle Jake getting attacked by all the nieces and nephews. He asked for it.

Uncle Derek and James

Memorial Day

We had a great Memorial Day weekend. On Sunday we went up to the Logan Cemetery with Julie and Bonnie & Kurt. We visited Grandpa Russell's "rock" as the girls call it. We also just wandered around the cemetery looking at headstones, a few we knew, some we didn't. I think cemeteries are very peaceful places.

On Monday we drove to Salem and spent the day with my extended family. We visited Grandma Lee's grave. It was good to be there with so many people who loved her. I still miss her lots. We let the girls pick out some flowers to take to her. Theirs are the little purple mums.

Claire got to meet all the extended family. She liked all the bright colors at the cemetery.After the cemetery we went to my cousin Jessica's house and had lunch. It's been awhile since we've all been together, so it was really fun to sit around and talk with each other. Even my dad was pleasant! I don't think he made any kids cry all day long!


Grandpa Lee got to meet Claire for the first time. She really liked him. He sat and held her for a long time, and she was just happy to sit there with him. He said to me "She sure does have Sylvia's hair". We both love her dark hair. I hope it stays that way.
We fed all the kids first. (Good thinking Jessi!) It was really fun to have them all around the table together. Notice that Ian is eating while wearing his Superman cape. He didn't take it off all day long. The kids played together great all day. What a fun, crazy group. It reminded me of when we were all little. I think both Sydney and Kaylee were really happy to finally have girl cousins to play with.
We had a really great day. Thanks to all the Swensons for having us down. It was fun to see you all. I'm sure Grandma was happy that we were all together.

Our Breakfast Companion

Our kitty Jack disappeared a couple of months ago (very sad). Since then our other kitty Bobbi has been seeking out lots more attention and love. And we have responded by babying her. She pretty much gets whatever she wants now. And what she wants is to be inside with us all the time. I am pretty sure she thinks she is just another human member of the family. This morning I was getting breakfast ready and Bobbi just hopped up on the stool next to Brynny like she was waiting to eat with the rest of us. (Do you like Brynny's bed head?) Well, Bobbi found out that she doesn't like boiled eggs, toast and jam, but she did get a bowl of milk to snack on- on the floor! Meow!