Raising Cubs in a Campground

On any given Sunday morning you will find me going back and forth between three closets piecing together coordinating outfits for the kids to wear to church. I only shop garage sales, Goodwill, and resale shops so truly matching outfits are rare - especially with one girl in 7/8 and the other in 12/18 months. Sam is the one who is picky about what he wears where as Julia will wait for me to pick out her clothes and never complains about my choice. I'm going to savor that as long as I can! This particular Sunday we had plans to visit the zoo after church, hence the denim. 

I decided that I was ready for a break from the stress of throwing birthday parties at home so this year we searched for different venues where we could have parties for the kids. We knew the themes months in advance (a HUGE key in keeping the costs very low) so when I learned I could host Julia's at a local restaurant for FREE, I felt we could splurge a little on a pool party for Sam at a nearby hotel pool - the perfect place for a pirate party! See? He invited all the boys in his 2nd grade class and a friend he's known practically his whole life. Google helped out with the wording for the invites and I aged paper using tea.   I found bottles where I bought our garden plants that are meant for making homemade vinegar with the intention of rolling up the invite and putting it in the bottle for Sam to give to his friends but I neglected to unscrew the top to make sure the opening was big enough to get the invite in. oops! So instead I laid them out on Saran Wrap...

I have a backlog of posts to write about birthdays, orchard visits, halloween costumes, weight loss, milestones, camping trips, and other things I won't remember unless I look through the 3,000 photographs I've taken in the past 6 weeks. But tonight I'm simply sharing one photo. One photo of my three cubs - my loud, silly, giggling, kitten snuggling, doll playing, leaf jumping, chapter book reading, stair climbing, growing cubs who I love. How have you been keeping busy this fall? * The hats the cubs are wearing from the Blue Yodey Boutique . I'm so glad Elsa's still fits !

In honor of International Babywearing Week I went through the photographs on my phone and pulled out the babywearing ones. It was fun to look back at all the different things I was able to do while wearing Elsa. I've pulled favorites before for her Alphabitty Moments book as I used Babywearing for the letter "B" page.   I printed Elsa's baby book in time for her rainbow party in July so I found some new ones on my phone that were taken since then. (sorry for the reverse order)  Naptime on our boardwalk. September 2012  Sibley County Fair Witching Hour Love the Ergo! Didn't love the fish. I bought the Ergo specifically for the easy of a back carry, but it's not as comfortable as I had hoped. Elsa liked it though. (I do LOVE the front carry with the Ergo.) I wore in the Ergo when we went out to collect maple sap in March. Saint Patrick's Day 2012 Winter hike. Did you know that slings and wraps are great...