Sunflower Seeds

Towards the end of August, J's sunflower matured and dried out.  Finally, the seeds were ready to harvest.  So one afternoon we gathered out on the back patio with a large bowl and started scraping away. J was quite proud of the size of her flower and wanted to keep the head.

We took a picture of her with it instead.  Here are the seeds we harvested. 

Unfortunately the seeds were really small so we couldn't roast them for us to eat.  We're going to use them for bird seed instead. 

While J and I took care of the sunflower the boys played on the patio.  These two love to play outside.  (C in blue and W in orange)

Random August

Here are some random pictures of the kids playing from August.  J is hot and sweaty from playing outside in the Houston Summer heat.  (W is in the stripes and C in the red)

Here is the result of C trying to feed himself some cheerios and W is trying to steal food from his brothers tray. 

W trying to get through the baby gate.

J being her silly self. She lived in her swim suit during the summer.

J and Daddy sharing some brownie batter.

The one time it rained in August.

W being silly with J's undies on his head. 

What She Wore

Here is the latest installment of "What She Wore" with our fashionista J.

First Day of School

The last week in August brought the beginning of a new school year.  J is now in the 4 year old class at preschool and was so excited.  She goes 3 days a week this year and goes in the afternoons (thus the messy hair already). 

When we got to school she didn't want us to come in with her at first, but we finally talked her into letting us and she dictated what she wanted me to take pictures of.  Here she is hanging up her school bag. 

Giving her Daddy a hug.

Our big (almost) 4 year old.

Amy's Projects

I may have slowed down on my organization projects for the year, but I haven't completely forgotten them and I've added other "crafty" projects to the mix.  Our stark white fireplace has been driving me crazy because it didn't fit into the decor of our home (don't mind the Christmas bears, we've had them us since mid-July to keep the boys out of the fireplace). 

After:

 

Here are a few close ups:

I loved the way it turned out.  I also sanded down our console table so it's finish is not so shiny (sorry no pictures).  I also did an organization project.  I've really gotten into couponing so my "stockpile" of household goods had gotten out of control.  It was stashed everywhere and was not organized at all.  I unloaded everything into the living room so it was all in one place and then I organized and labeled it all. 

Along with this the bathroom cupboards got organized. 

So did the laundry room cupboards,

and my portion of the garage. 

hopefully it stays this nice.

J's Birthday Party

For J's 4th birthday we let her have a party with just her friends.  Since my birthday is only a couple days before hers we usually have a joint party.  J decided that this year she wanted to have a princess party so I made these wand invitations for all of her friends from church, they told each princess to come "dressed for the occasion". 

I was going to make cupcakes with cute toppers for the guest but ran out of time so we ended up buying cupcakes and a mini cake for J.

I did however, have time to put together these goodies bags with with home made gift tags.  I thought they turned out really cute and was quite proud of myself. 

Here are all of the princesses in their royal attire. 

As the guests arrived they got to go to the back patio and color a princess themed picture.  Once everyone was there they learned how to be a true princess by learning balance (walking with a bean bag on their head), how to dance (to princess music of course), and they all got to pose for a princess picture (which I will get to the parents one of these days).   
                                              

Then it was time for cake.  J enjoyed having everyone sing to her and getting to blow out her candles. 

After the princesses got done with their treats they went outside and played until they got too hot and then they came in to watch a movie (the smurfs - go figure) until their royal carriages came to take them home.  J had so much fun that she's already planning next years party.