My New Favorite Word

"Love-a-bye"

It's how Sadie says lullaby. I think it says what a lullaby really is just perfectly.

The Shideler Family 2012

 This pretty much sums up the end of the phot shoot....Grace screaming.

 One of my favorites.

 My beautiful girls!

"The Switzerland of America" {Ouray, Co}

Chris's brothe Mike and his wife Alicia invited us on an overnight trip to Ouray a couple of weekends ago and on a whim we decided to go. It was worth it. It's a short 3 hour drive that takes you to some of the most beautiful mountains and scenery in Colorado.

We started our mini vacation with a trip to the Ouray Hot Springs Pool. Then we headed over to Mike and Alicia's campsite for dinner and s'mores. (You can't go camping and not have s'mores!)

 Saturday morning we all went on a hike up to see a beautiful waterfall.

 Chris held Grace for me because otherwise I wouldn't have made it! :)

 We also took another trail that went up even higher and led to an extremely high bridge (in my opinion!) and a very cool tunnel.

 On the way down Superdad held Ava and Sadie both because they were too tired to walk.

 This picture does not do Ouray any justice but its the only scenery picture I took.

 

 

After the hike we had a nice picnic in the park, headed back to the pool and then headed home.

5 1/2 months

Look who is sitting up all by herself!

 

sorry about my blurry out of focus picture. I was trying to hurry just in case she decided to fall backwards without any notice.

"Daddy's Little Helper"

Sadie goes to work with Chris probably 80% of the time.  She told me the other day she's "daddy's little helper".

 

And it's so true! She even wears her cowgirl boots and hat.  He's such a good dad to let her come. And I'm so grateful to live in a place where my kids get to go to work with their daddy. 

My little fish

Summer is almost over and our public pool is already closed. I'm sad about this because Ava learned out to swim this year and I would have liked more time for her to practice. (Luckily we have the Hot Springs near by and will probably be there a few times this winter). These pictures are from a month ago but I love them. Ava is my little fish. She is so daring in the water (sometimes it scares me). This series of pictures was taken at siwm lesson and they capture her perfectly.

 

After these she continued jumping but added tricks, such as cannon balls, front flips, dives, and twists. I'm looking forward to next summer already.

More Words of Wisom {by Ava}

Talking to Sadie about bee's.....

"First they squeeze the honey out of their bums, then they stir it and put it in a bottle. And that's how they make honey."

hmmm....I don't think that's exactly how it works.

My Baby's All Grown Up

Off to her first day of preschool. My my baby girl is no longer a baby.

 

 She even picked out her own clothes.

Her new favorite pose....showing me the "I love you" sign. 

Words Of Wisdom {by Ava}

"Mom, maybe snot comes from some boogers melting."

Might As Well Do The Other Two While I'm At It....

It is really not easy taking pictures of my own children. I don't know how the professionals do it! Yikes. I was fortunate enough to get a few decent ones. They are still quite ametuer but I am getting better each time. Now if only my photo subjects would cooperate I could really learn!

Here are Ava's 4 year old pictures and Sadie's 3 year old pictures. Pick your favorite and leave a comment so I can decide which ones will go on the wall!

 Ava 1

 Ava 2

 Ava 3

 Ava 4

 Ava 5

 Sadie 1

 Sadie 2

 Sadie 3

 Sadie 4

Sadie 5