Potter Week

Amy playing with the only thing her size

 This last week we made our annual trip to Washington to visit my older sister and her family. We love doing girly stuff with "the girls" when we go & look forward to this trip each year while Daddy works long hours for harvest season. This year we made our trip a little earlier than usual because my sister is having baby #6 and we didn't want to stress her out, so we came 4 weeks before the due date to help get ready for baby.

Lucy doing the monkey bars

 Some of the usual things we do when Auntie Christine comes to visit are painting nails, doing each girl's hair (4 of them) each day, watching movies, hitting up the local park, etc. But a few new things were added to the agenda this year. We tried making our own lip gloss and using clay you bake in the oven to make key chains. The lip gloss was a big hit, but we left the key chains until THE VERY LAST SECOND, so those didn't quite turn out because we were so rushed, but I think we all had fun attempting it at the very least.

Camilla

 Here we have pictures from our day at the local park where we enjoyed a picnic lunch. Don't ask me where the pictures are from everything else we did, but just take my word for it that we had a blast!!

Serious Camilla

 My sister and I were also able to get out and sort through the baby clothes which is always fun. And my brother-in-law volunteered to watch all seven kids so my sister and I could head out to do some shopping kid-free. That was soo amazing! We went to a place called Craft Warehouse first. Need I say more?! This place was huge and awesome!! They had so many things and ideas, it was so fun to just browse and talk about the different ideas we saw. My sister was kind of wanting a new nursing cover, one that was large and kind of cutesy, so we found her some adorable purple and teal fabrics to make a reversible one. I also found two really cute fabrics that I just bought (they were only $4/yd) for some project in the future, be it a nursing cover, carseat canopy, or something else. They were just too cute together to pass up. Then we hit the big jackpot for the day. I found a huge (2 feet by 3 feet) framed mirror that has a really neat design in the frame in a pewter-ish finish. And the best part? It was 50% off! So I made my first major house decoration purchase. My plan is to hang it in the front room with a large shelf below it and then various decor items on the shelf that will be reflected in the mirror. I think it will be super cool........when I can get it all together. I have some inspiration, so we will just wait for the funds and time to follow.

This is the REAL Camilla

 This trip was also really great because I was able to stop and see two different really good friends on our way. One set we hadn't seen in almost two years and the other it has been at least six months. These are both dear friends from nursing school and both have kids my kids could play with. The friend we stopped to see on the way home we actually spent the night and part of the next day with, so we took the kids to play at a really awesome park after we mommies had our fun looking around Hobby Lobby. That place is dangerous!! And before heading out, I stopped to shop at the factory outlet with the kids getting stocked up on great clothes from Osh Kosh B'Gosh and Carters. I was hoping to find something for me at Dress Barn, but no such luck this time.

Natalie

Karalie trying to do the monkey bars just like her big sister

 So, all in all it was a fabulous trip! We were so sad to leave as it was shorter than usual thanks to Sam being in preschool now, but it was enough to just see our family again. Things like that are important. It is good for us to get away and have something to distract us from how much Daddy is working and it is also a relief for Robert to not stress about how much he is gone from us and just focus on the job. I think he also secretly enjoys five days of bachelorhood, but that's just me ;)

Sam

Caleb

 So that's all about our last week. The kids did awesome on the drive there. The drive back was a little tougher, but still really good. Today we've been winding up for more errands, YW stuff, preschool, and canning season. Started it off with freezing 5 dozen ears of corn - yum! And for those of you who are skeptical of cooking your corn in the husk in the oven, it really does work!! And I feel like it saves so much time! If you have no idea what I am talking about and want to know more, just give me call and I'll convert you! :)

Sam showing off

Amy trying to figure out how to play on all the big stuff