Ember turns seven!

Emma's dear friend Ember turned seven this past weekend.  So hard to believe...especially when it means Emma is just a couple of months behind her!  She celebrated with what had to be the best party ever!  The day was gorgeous...the parents sat in the sun....first soaking it up and then sweltering in it.  You couldn't ask for a nicer day for an outdoor party in mid-October!

I had to sneak a picture of Ember's guest list written out so nicely on her white board.

The frog pond

Pictures with the strongest man and balloon pop it!

Yum....carnie snacks!

Fun decorations

and....

face painting!  Cassie did an awesome job painting
the kids faces and/or hands. 

I loved this pic...two boys the same age as the girls, spiders (no butterflies or dolphins for them!),
bare feet and holes in the knees.  Gotta love boys!  :)

Each of the kids got a guitar after popping their balloons.  For the girls, they stayed guitars.  For the boys?  Yep...they turned into guns.  :)

All the guests.
Do you see that pie Ember is holding?  It was what had to be the best
cherry cobbler ever!! 

Enjoying cobbler and ice cream on the trampoline.

Presents!
{All of the boys are off hunting each other.}

I love that the girls can actually read their cards now.
This one was a special card from her momma...doesn't the girl on the front
look a tad bit like the birthday girl?

And here's the one that put it all together.

Last weekend...

...started with an early trip out to the farm.
We beat the sun...and then got to enjoy a gorgeous sunrise!  I'm used to getting
photos of the sunsets, but, oh, this sunrise!

The guys are making progress on the shop!  The roof is on, the front wall has been rebuilt (that'll be a sliding door there on the right), and now they are working on putting in the insulation.

Digging the trench to run electricity from the house to the shop.

While the guys were slaving away outside, the girls were slaving away inside.
I bought $17 worth o produce at a local fruit stand and came home with...

...28 jars of delicious salsa and 7 jars of stewed tomatoes.  Yum!

We made two double batches of chocolate chip cookies for Mom and
Dad's freezer...

...and enchiladas for dinner.  All of this cooking was happening at the same time...I imagine it was
an interesting aroma when you walked into the house.  :)

The fruits of out labor.

While the guys took a trip to Lowe's, Mom, Emma and I enjoyed the cool evening air. 
If you look closely, you can see Emma standing using the fire pit as a stage while she entertains Mom with a story.  :)

Me and my little nut.

Yep...she's  a nut!

The shop originally had four large doors on the front.  They were built about 50 years ago out of wood from a very old house in Richland, Oregon.  We figure the wood is at least 100 years old.  Over the past four weekends, Ryan has been very carefully taking the doors apart.  He hopes to sell the wood to someone who will use it to make picture frames, etc out of the old wood.

Even Emma gets to help on the shop!
~~~

Scenes from this past week

This was the view out our back window earlier this week.  This little building is Bob's shop.  It was a work bench, peg board, and even some tools.   What it hasn't had is anyone using it!  It's so nice to see those lights burning in the windows as the days get shorter and cooler.  I hope it becomes a
common sight here.

Dear Tomatoes,
Please ripen.  Soon.
Thanks,
Katie

I love that we still have gorgeous flowers peeking out here and there.

Emma's been home sick with a cold these past couple of days.  Luckily, she's
very good at entertaining herself.  On this particular day, she decided to
spend some time on the river in her own little boat.

And on this day, she was Queen Starbucks.  We'd stopped earlier for a bit of caffeine, and she picked up an extra cup sleeve.  When she got home, she started right away with her scissors. I was quite impressed that she figured out on her own how to cut the holes in the sides for her headband to slide through.  When Bob got home, Emma was sitting on the couch wearing her crown.  Bob happened to mention it to her, and she replied, "Oh, I'm sorry.  You can't talk to me while I'm wearing my crown."

And today's entertainment was a bit of handsewing. 
Tomorrow?  It's back to school!

My projects this past week include a flannel lap
quilt for a dear elderly lady.  So soft and cuddly!

My bright yellow and red bag is definately a summer bag.  And, even though it was 101 here on Saturday, it is Fall.  I decided that I needed a new bag.  Now I'm trying to decide if I like it.  Hmmmm...

Emma's class is incorporating apples into their lessons this week.  I happened to come upon a recipe in the most recent "Women's World" magazine for apple cupcakes.  These did not turn out quite as perfectly as the ones in the magazine, but (luckily) my intended "audience" is made up of 6- and 7-year olds.  Whew!  :)

That's all for now.  I was considering closing up shop on this little blog for several reasons.  However, I'd decided to give it a bit more time.  Posts will likely be not-so-randomly once a weekish, so keep checking in!  And I'd LOVE to hear from you lurkers out there.  :)

Bob has been helping Dad with some work on the farm, so we've spent the last several weekends there.  It's been wonderful to enjoy the awesome fall weather on the farm.

Teaching the next generation

Look at how happy my CPA husband looks getting all dirty and sweaty!  :)

It's hard to keep Ryan on the ground!