Donuts!

Our foster daughter visits her mom every Monday morning and while she does that, the kids and I try to find something fun to do together in the "new to us" town. There is a donut shop near the visitation site so today we went there. (I ignored the fact that one donut has more sugar and fat than a full sized candy bar and just watched the kids enjoy their sugar filled "breakfast!")

Poor Emelyn has two very very loose teeth so eating anything is a challenge these days!

And this sweet boy only likes the top of desserts - ie the frosting of cakes & cupcakes, muffin tops only and apparently just the frosting of his donut:

Ducks

Each week we go to the library for story time and crafts but before that, we visit the ducks in the pond that is next to the library. Look at these sweet babies with their mommas!

Snuggles

Last week Ruth had a fever one day and didn't feel good in general so after a very short nap I laid down with her in hopes that she'd go back to sleep. She loves snuggling but had no plans of sleeping!

Library time and more

This past weekend we did some yardwork which included planting our first garden. Cantaloupe, carrots, green beans and a tomato plant :) I'm hoping to add a little to it each year:

On Wednesdays we have been going to our library's story/craft time. Today was all about robots. The kids and I joined the summer reading program too, and they were all excited to get their first sticker today! (4 stickers = Naturals baseball tickets)

Making robots:

And Ruth just wanted to play with the scissors and glue sticks :)

Emelyn has told us this is her favorite spot in our yard:

And here is Emelyn walking to a friends house all by herself this afternoon. The sun was so bright my eyes wouldn't stop "watering" as I watched our daughter walk alone, all grown up!

Fun Friday

We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day than we had today. We started the day visiting daddy at work and then went to the park to meet friends for a couple of hours. Afterwards we cooled off with ice cream cones at McDonalds:

After lunch we painted some butterflies; even Ruth got in on the action:

After painting everyone took a much needed nap. This sweet girl still needs to snuggle with her momma when she wakes up. At least part of her is still my baby!

Silver Dollar City

Yesterday morning when I got home from running Jake asked if I wanted to surprise the kids with a trip to Branson. We quickly got around and packed some snacks and when the kids got up they were more than excited! Here are some   pictures from our day:

First swimming suit of the season - glad I grabbed the 3T not 2T one!

Splash area!

Shooting water guns:

First pigtails!

Cherry Berry

Last Wednesday the kids and I had an hour to kill in Bentonville so we went to Cherry Berry for our first frozen yogurt of the season.

Proud as a Peacock

This little lady thinks she is a big girl. (Mom begs to differ.) This past week, anytime someone has mentioned going to the bathroom she exclaims "I unna go Paaahhty!" (I want to go potty!) We finally decided to let her. She sits there, big smile on her face, looking around the room from her "throne" until she finally decides she needs to wipe and get down. She's only actually gone a time or two, and I don't think she's ready to potty train, but it sure makes her day when we let her sit on the potty like a big girl!