Back To School Pictures 2011-2012

This year marks quite a milestone for our family - all three girls will  be in school.  This is the first time this has happened since... well.... since EVER.   Only two years will they all three be wearing the same uniforms before Punkin goes off to college.  I really wanted to document this times in our lives with a back to school photo session.


I'm pretty sure the puppies think they are going too.  They will  be so sad and mopey when the girls are gone all day.  I'm glad Boo will only be gone in the mornings though.


This little vintage school desk belonged to my hubby when he was in first grade.




Boo's little jumper used to belong to our friend Sydney - who is now a Junior in high school.  I can't even believe it - thanks Syd!!










Somebody is terribly excited about starting kindergarten!




The girls go back to school next week, and I'm not sure what I'm going to do with myself.   We will have one in high school, one in middle school, and one in elementary school.  Three different school schedules, and good ol' mom is the school bus.  I guess that's what I'll be doing all day!   This will be the first time since 1995 that I won't have any little girls at home with me to take care of.  I'm not quite sure if I will cry, or if I will throw a party!  (Probably both).

The Dollhouse Fairy

Well - we survived Irene.  We lost power for only a day, and it was plenty long enough to make us really appreciate electricity.  There are some in our area that still don't have power, and plenty of roads still closed and traffic lights out.    I did snap this sweet picture of Banana while she hugged her favorite blue bunny "Blueby" while she watched the hurricane outside.  Our blue tarp did survive on the roof, but we still had plenty of bowls and buckets to catch the drips.


We stocked up on library books before the storm and this one has become one of Boo's favorites.


She decided to really spend some time arranging her dollhouse in hopes that a fairy may stop by for a visit.  After lots and lots of waiting, Boo was very surprised this morning to discover that a fairy had paid her dollhouse a visit in the night.....


She even left a trail of fairy dust everywhere she went throughout the house.   Boo thinks there were two fairies since they set the table with two plates and apparently feasted on turkey.


It looks like they also spent some time on the couch in front of the fire and playing with the dogs.


Boo was so excited showing Daddy her discovery this morning.  She keeps discovering things inside the house the fairies did - like leave a purse on the bed and took clothes from the closet.



She keeps checking  back every hour to see if the fairies have visited again, but ever since big sister has been at the barn - we haven't seen a thing.... strange...  :)

The Calm Before the Storm

Hurricane Irene is heading our way - we are as ready as we can be I suppose.  The rain has just begun to come down, heavy, heavy rain.  I snapped these as the first line of bands rolled in.





See that lovely blue tarp on the back half of our roof?  Let's hope it actually stays on.  We are days away from having our entire roof replaced, so our roofer very kindly covered our roof for us to avoid any more leaks.  It's nailed down pretty well with 2x4s, so pray that it (along with our entire roof!) stays intact and doesn't become a sail during the hurricane!

I Heart Faces - Pet Week

One of my blog readers suggested I enter this photo in the I Heart Faces challenge this week - so I did! Thanks Janet!  Check out all the other entries over at I Heart Faces.

Fairy Houses

My crafty creative girls are at it again!!  One of the things I love most about summer is the amount of time the girls have to just think, create and imagine. 


They chose a little corner of our yard at the stump of a tree and created a welcoming cozy cottage for fairies.


Complete with a very soft lambs ear bed with lovely smelling floral pillows.


Some very interesting lanterns hanging outside the door for when twilight appears.....


If you look closely, you might see a berry chandelier..


Can you see the teeny-tiny purple flower petals lining the pebble walkway?


In the far corner you can find a little rock stool and a mushroom table with a fairy sized green pumpkin awaiting a curious fairy.   Notice the broom beside the table just in case the fairies need to tidy up??


We see lots of fairies in our yard - but you have to sit very, very, very still and wait for them to land on your toes. (Also a well-kept secret in my photography bag of tricks for keeping little ones still and focused long enough to snap a good shot!)


Almost every morning a fairy leaves a dew-kissed flower in Boo's car seat for her to discover - this has happened for years and years......   I know the fairies will be excited to discover a litle home built just for them after all these years of flitting around our yard.


Fairies come in all shapes and sizes......


My Banana also created this nature-inspired horse as a surprise for Punkin.   Her creativity astounds me sometimes. 




We decided he is a hillbilly horsey since he looks like he only has one tooth in his mouth.  :)


In other news.... we have had plenty of late summer storms this week.  Several days we even had hail.  I snapped this picture after they were already melting - the hailstones were even bigger than these.


And our puppies have been catching up on their reading....



My favorite read this summer has been 'The Help" - I highly recommend the book AND the movie!!

Dad & Marion

Wow - what a crazy couple of weeks it has been!   I have a lot of  catch up to do with my blog.  This past weekend my Dad and stepmom came from Florida for a visit.  Boo has always had a special love for her Papa. She snuggled right up to him as soon as he arrived.





This is Marion thumbing through one of our favorite poetry books.  We had a great time one evening after dinner talking about all sorts of poetry and reading some aloud.



Any time my favorite redhead is around, our conversation usually turns to poetry, literature, or the latest movies ;)



On Sunday we went to the Walters Art Museum.  We have done several school field trips here, but this was our first time going as a family.  The girls really enjoyed it - and Miss Boo was completely captivated, which actually surprised me a little.











Boo's interpretation of the statue.















I have titled this photo "Perpetual Motion".