We love Daddy

Happy Father's Day is:













Candy Bar Messages,














Just Being Cute,








An afternoon Stroll,








And we know we are cute,












add a little, Thanks for a Dad, cuz we are all pooped.









Yummy BBQ,









and some Strawberry pie to finish it off,








We added more whipped cream cuz the heart was just a little too cheesy











Chocolate crust, with hand picked strawberries, yummy









add One Chocolate baby, and what do you get








One very happy Dad...We love you Josh

Josh's Best Day Ever!

Well I know some of you have been waiting to finally see the fabulous Birthday Present we got for Josh this year (with the help of some of you) But it was also his father's day gift so I wanted to wait, just so he can't forget..haha

Taken by Mia


But Seriously Josh was so happy, and he hasn't stopped smiling...and has been getting flustered with all the rain we have been getting. He is usually the "I don't care if it is a blizzard and 10 below I am grilling" kind of guy... but he hasn't wanted the grill to be exposed to the rain...he is so funny sometimes.








Josh Kissing his new Grill

mmm....Strawberries, a reason to celebrate

I love early summer, the weather is beautiful, the smell of honeysuckle fills the air....and it is time to pick STRAWBERRIES!

Every year we go to Trax farm for their strawberry festival, Mia enjoys the activities, and josh and I enjoy the strawberry smoothies, milkshakes, shortcake, and what ever else looks delicious. The girls particularly enjoyed feeding the animals...that is until one decided to try to eat Mia's hair.

McKinlee was fond of the Llama, they were so soft she just sat and pet it over and over, I think she would have cuddled and taken a nap with it if we would have let her.

We gave Mia the choice to ride the barrel train or to have a pony ride...just like her daddy she chose the pony

Later in the week we all go up to the farm and pick some berries...sadly this year there were no berries to pick at Trax, a late frost destroyed their crop. So we had to improvise, luckily we live in a major city who is determined to maintain their small townness, and we called the other local farms and finally found one who had some berries to pick. It was McKinlee's first time of being able to help, she loved it but was eating the strawberries faster than we could pick them. We finally had to put her into the backpack...or we would have not had any to bring home. Now it is time to make some jam...yum!

1st Grade!

First Day of School

Last Day of School

No one warns you that the last day of school is almost as hard as the first day of School. I am so excited to have my Little Mia home for the summer, but am realizing how much she is growing up. She can read books, write words, add and subtract numbers...she rarely wants to hold my hand to cross the street any more, she can look both ways by herself...then there is the realization that she is in the FIRST grade! When fall comes she will spend most of her waking hours at school! It is a complex feeling to watch your kids grow up, you are so proud of them as you see their accomplishments, but on the other hand, you wish you would have cherished their babyhood, and toddler years just a little bit more. It is interesting that you can't wait for them to go to school so you can have some free time, but once they go you want them to stay home. I think it is about time somebody invented a time freeze machine.

Dancing Queen

Last night we had the thrill of watching Mia light up the stage in her 4th dance revue. I can't believe she has been dancing for that long or that she is that old, but she was wonderful.

She surprised us by doing cartwheels and landing on her feet every time! She danced to an Elvis song from the movie Lelo and Stitch, and Part of your world from the Little Mermaid. She loved every minute of it, and proudly informed us that she was wearing Steeler, and Penguin Colors for her costume. She is becoming a true Pittsburger, haha.

Miss Lisa and Mia Baily and Mia

Holly, Baily, and Mia

Keeps me on my toes

I love my little McKinlee, but all to often her name is called out in a slight tone of frustration and annoyance. Its not that she is a bad kid, it is that she is curious. She is the kid who breaks the toy because she wants to see how it works. She dumps out the bag of chips, because she wants them, and when I am cleaning up her mess, she knocks over the clean laundry and wipes off her hands and mouth on them. She sticks her head through the hole to see if it will fit and cries when it doesn't come out as easily. She also wants to be just like her sister, this is a picture of her getting her hair done right after I finished Mia's, she just climbed onto the stool and waited.

She is also my little engineer, she loves to find things and stick them in boxes or places where they fit. The other day I couldn't find my keys, Mia and I were looking all over for them when suddenly McKinlee went over to her toy basket pulled out her peek a block giraffe and pulled out my keys. I often find stuff put into shoes and put into baskets or boxes. Last week was rainy so we decided to make cookies, we got the butter, sugar, etc mixing and I couldn't find my vanilla, I looked everywhere, I knew I had it but didn't know where it was...so I did what any rational wife would do cleaned out every cupboard thinking my husband put it in the wrong place. I finally gave up figuring I must have used it all on Josh's b-day cupcakes, so I sent Mia to the neighbors. She brought some back and we got back to making cookies, then it was time to add the dry ingredients...I found my Vanilla.