Hair Cut

Bella got her hair cut. It was getting really long and I thought I would get it trimmed, but somehow it got cut a little shorter than I planned. But, it will always grow back. She didn't want me to take her picture and wouldn't smile -- she actually got pretty grumpy over getting this picture taken -- very unusual for her as she is almost always happy and smiles all day long. She must be getting like my older girls who are always telling me not to take their picture. 

Lazy Sunday

This past Sunday was one of those quiet, do nothing, relaxing summer days that I love. We went to church then came home and had lunch and did chores. Then I decided it was a good day for Caroline to make the birdhouse she got for her birthday and for Bethany to paint and put together her wind chimes. It entertained them for well over an hour and it was so nice and quiet here. 

Andrew helped Caroline get the birdhouse put together as it was a little hard for her to do alone.

She did all the painting by herself and I think she did a pretty good job -- she loves any kind of craft.

Bethany didn't have much to do but paint a little and then get the chimes put together, but she loved doing it. If there is any chance of me learning to love crafts it will probably be because of Bethany. She wants to do crafts daily -- and she never seems to tire of them.

All finished -- then we went out back on the deck and found a place to hang them. 

Caroline finally finished after carefully taking her time and trying to copy the picture that was on the box.

After we hung the birdhouse we made homemade ice cream again on the porch -- a nice ending to the day.

Zola just spent the day reading Doctor Who -- even while we ate ice cream. 

4th of July -- A Few Days Late

Every year on the 4th of July we cook out with family and a few friends and then gather in the cul-de-sac in the evening and do sparklers and fireworks. This year Bella was much more interested in everything and stayed up for the entire evening. She even held a sparkler -- with her older sister right there watching and making sure she was careful. Bella seemed to respect the sparklers potential and held them carefully. Our neighbor had family and friends over also -- so there were lots of kids running around and lots of sparklers being lit. Andrew said it was the best 4th of July he could remember. I think it was pretty nice, too. 

Homemade Ice Cream

After looking at some old pictures of my kids making ice cream, I decided we needed to make ice cream again. The last time I remember making it was when Andrew was about 3 years old -- he looks so cute on our front porch watching the process. Anyway, I ordered an ice cream maker since our old one seemed to be missing, and last Sunday we made our first batch. It turned out great. The kids really enjoyed the entire process -- from hunting down a recipe to mixing and the watching and waiting for the ice cream to thicken. We just made vanilla to start with, but I think we will try a few different flavors as the summer continues. 

Claire was so excited that she didn't want to leave the mixture for even a minute. She sat and watched and watched until it was ready. 

Finally done. We realized we could have more than doubled the recipe, as we had lots of extra room in the freezer.