More photos. I know, ridiculous.

I have porcelain dolls for children. With cute pink polka dot swimsuits. That are hand-me-downs from older sister, but cute nonetheless.
Joy of all joys--- we have a PLAYROOM! We have a three bedroom house, so one is ours, one is the girls (they go to bed at the same time and yes they disturb each other immensely, but just as much as they help each other calm down), and the third bedroom is a playroom. The girls love it and I plan to fill the walls with posters from walmart of various animals and photos, etc. Love it. We love the yard!!! Ok, we've established that truth. Lucy and Benny Haws came to our house for a 'pool party' (translation: their parents had to go to a get together so I babysat them). Benny came struttin' in with his blow up intertube! I'm like... uh... did someone tell him there's no river and no pool? Well, contrary, there was a small pool. With no shortage of fun! They are all laughing at my little brother Isaac who is visiting from California.

These girls of mine are wonderful. Sometimes they stress me out so much I think my brain is going to detach from my skull and go skipping it's little gray self across the pavement. Alas, I have a lot of room to grow. But I do kiss them. Lots.

Overjoyed.

This is our first house! We moved in a few days ago. These pictures were taken after being in the house for a day, so excuse the mess! We love our house so much. I love the yard so much it hurts. Just owning a patch of grass just makes my heart so happy. The girls go out there and play all the time. The evenings are the best, it cools down to 80 degrees and they go out there, run around and are ripe for bedtime :) We were building a house and recently decided to buy this one since it's the same floor plan for less money. The finished yard, sprinkler system and fence are all saving us more money as well.

The sun comes in our bedroom window really bright, so the first few mornings we were here, I would wake up at 7 am and could not go back to sleep. I bought some drapes from Pier 1, they were on sale! They have a rod that is dark wood and the drapes are a tan color and go floor to ceiling! I think out of anything we purchase for our new house those will be my favorite thing. I have never used anything other than a sheet or blinds (except for in the AZ house, in which we used white drapes that belonged to Jake's mom). But seriously, these drapes that I bought are long and luscious. Ok that's enough of that talk. Moving right along...

Front door/entry.

This backyard is the best part of the whole house!!! We are out there every day and every evening. Jake and I put the kids to bed and come back out and sit outside. It's a nice place to reflect (maybe reflecting on the house payment, ha ha.)

This is the view of the mountains we have out of our Master Bedroom window. The farmers aren't selling their land anytime soon, or so I've heard...

Kitchen. I love the floors and the huge window that overlooks the backyard.

Dining room w/bay window. We are working on the whole "kitchen table" situation. Basically, we don't have one yet. I will always remember sitting on the floor for days on end with the girls. Trying to contain the mess.

Do you notice a pattern?

Only a mother would recognize the distinct advantages of Grace's gappy teeth. She never has to floss. Does food get lodged between them? Rarely. Sometimes she'll put a pretzel in between her front ones as a joke, but it never gets stuck. She can more than spit water from her gaps, it flows forth like eight great rivers. If we get a straw skinny enough, she can do all her beverage consumption and still close her jaw. We remind ourselves that several very famous models have gaps. We think her teeth are perfect, as well as every mole, bump, weird toenail, scar and every inch of unmarked skin.

Do you know one of my favorite things on this earth of ours is when my babies are sleeping and they take in a long breath and sigh it all out at once! At that moment the whole world is asleep and peaceful. I love this.

Lying to my daughter.. again.

Let me just come right out and say it: I do not swear. I don't swear at home, I don't swear when I'm angry, when I'm sad, when I'm annoyed. I don't swear. Well. Having made myself clear, I will make a hypocrite of myself: I swear when I almost get in car accidents. Every three months or so, a car will drive scary and almost hit me and there ya go, the swear word that is waiting at the gates of my subconscious comes out and I can't do one darn thing about it. This word is a usually a female favorite. Men in movies usually have a thing for the 'F' word, but I have noticed that women usually opt for a word that starts with a softer consonant group and ends with a 'T'.

Alright, so my girls are in their car seats and I'm driving on my way to an appointment with our insurance company. As I'm driving through an intersection, a lady tries to turn left right in front of me. I slam on my brakes and luckily avoid an accident. Let me tell you what happened next. Please. That word worked it's way out and Grace heard it.
She said, "Mommy, what happened?"
"That lady almost hit Mommy."
"Mommy, what's that you said?"
"Um... I said 'hit' because that lady almost hit me."
"No Mommy, you said 'sheet'."
"No I think I said 'sheep'."
"Mommy, why you say 'sheep'."
Once you start lying you just can't stop. Especially when you are spending your whole life trying to create a perfect image of yourself to your young daughter. This image must remain perfect at any cost.
"A sheep is that animal, remember?"
From here the conversation changed and we were onto bigger and more important conversations. I am just waiting for the dreaded moment when my child drops her ice cream cone at a crowded birthday party and says that word. Loudly. At that point I would sneak out the back door and make my husband come pick her up later.
I'm a good mom, I swear...

Food, Glorious Food

OH MY GOSH. Ok, this one's for you Kelly. I just had to post. I read your post about food the other day and it's so true. I love food. Even more than I love punctuation. Really. I think most women live for food. Raise your hand if you agree. Thanks, I thought I was right. So the other day I discovered heaven. Go to Costco. With some money. Then buy some Parmesan Cracker Bread. It's like 5.99 or something and it's in the bread section in a plastic little tub thing. Then buy a huge tub of cream cheese. They sell that at the grocery store. Ya. Then spread the cream cheese on the cracker bread and watch a girlie movie and you have the makings of an entirely perfect evening. Top it off with some fresh strawberries and a bit of cream. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Ruby's Redwoods

When I see a good photo, I always think that it has to be the best photo so far that I've seen in my entire life (I like to exaggerate). Well this is my new favorite. We stopped at Richardson's Grove, a serene Redwood Forest a bit south of Eureka. Ruby had never seen Redwood Trees like this before, so when we sat in the middle of this grove, she literally stared up at them for minute upon minute. I was so surprised at her reverence. If I can make the girls understand sometime in their life that trees are more interesting than television, I will feel as though I have succeeded in mothering.

More and more and more trip.

My aunt brought hula dancing skirts and laes. She taught Grace and my other cousins how to hula dance and they had a luau with fruit and m&ms. Yum.
Ruby is at the beach. This is moonstone beach in July... a balmy 55 degrees with a slight breeze. BRRRRRRRR.
My sister Miriam took Grace on a canoe trip (once around Grandpa's pond) to check out the lily pads and the bridges that my Grandpa made.
This is Grace, Ruby and I at Fern Canyon. One of my favorite places in the world.

Grandparents

Above, my Grandma Jeannie and Graciegirl at the park.

Below, Grandma Jeannie and Grandpa Dee, they are an inspiration to all of us. Great marriage, great kids, and a lively retirement have come all because they are some of the best people around.

Mom and Dad

This is a grainy photo, but I couldn't resist despite lacking daylight. My parents. Words can't describe.

Peace.

If men in cities, states, countries and continents around the globe would stop. And take a moment to stare into the face of a child. There would be no more violence, hatred or any other monstrocity. They would simply cease fighting and become speechless.