Red, White and Blue Overload...

Over a month after the fact,

but hey,

at least I am posting

4th of July pictures!

And a ridiculous amount at that!

And just think...

these are just the

"pre-festivities" pictures...

so I'm sure you will eagerly be awaiting

more posts about the remainder of our

4th of July/Birthday party pictures...

~

I love holidays.

And I love dressing my kids up in

ridiculous {but very adorable}

holiday outfits.

{I may or may not already to

working on Christmas attire!}

This year I made the girls little matching skirts

for the 4th.

And little sequined headbands.

I thought they looked so darn cute.

Baby was less than thrilled with her

headband!

She hates anything on her head!

We are never, ever on top of things for the fourth.

Like we are still running around getting 

dressed and people are 

already coming to the house!

But this year the kids were SO excited...

we all got up early and got ready so fast 

that we had nothing at all

to do for a good hour before people started coming!

So we had time for a little photo shoot.

The kids were thrilled.

haha!

I think I've got the cutest girls around!

Elsie was a little afraid maybe she looked 

too blah 

because I didn't let her wear gobs of eye shadow.

I think she had plenty of sparkle about her!

I love that whenever it is an

event of some kind,

James not only wants his hair spiked,

but he also wants some 

red hair dye gel in it!

The boy has style.

Except on those days when he wears orange from head to toe,

or work boots, tall socks and shorts!

Happiness...

I try to do my best to 

remember how short and sweet this 

time of childhood is...

to relax more and just enjoy and 

simply to Be.

be happy,

be contented,

be focused,

be present.

~

Sometimes its too easy to let the 

little frustrations and chaos that 

arises each day

to be my focus.

Sometimes I need to remind myself that 

reading one more story is 

more important than 

dusting or washing a window.

~

My babies are growing quickly...

I need to 

cherish this time.

Its up to me what kind

of warm-fuzzies 

my children will have to look back at.

 

"If you are in the process of raising children,

be aware that the tiny fingerprints

that show up on almost every newly 

cleaned surface,

the toys scattered throughout the house,

the piles of laundry to be tackled

will disappear all too soon

and that you will

~to your surprise~

miss them profoundly."

                                             ~President Thomas S. Monson

Mr. Turtle...

A few weeks ago while visiting at 

my parents house,

the kids found a big turtle in the yard...

 

As you can tell,

the kids were crazy about him!

I think a few of them may have even gone 

running off screaming in the 

opposite direction!

Elsie did finally get brave enough to 

touch the friendly little turtle...

James wanted nothing to do with him.

He was certain the turtle had big teeth!

Angelina didn't seem to mind the 

turtle one bit though!

The kids all thought it was so funny 

because she kept trying to

eat the turtle!

Yum, yum!

{don't worry, I am sometimes responsible

and didn't really let her eat it!}

I'm sure next year 

Angelina will be scared of 

wild animals...

and hopefully the other two will be 

over their fear!

Wanna-be Walker...

 Baby is becoming far too 

quick and comfortable on those 

little feet of hers!

I have a feeling she will be walking 

well before her first birthday...

Its always exciting to those 

first wobbly little steps..

but it's sad to see my baby 

grow up so fast...

I don't think I am quite ready for my baby 

to enter toddler hood!

The most she has taken has 

been 2 little wobbly steps at one time...

then she falls down!

She always smiles,

squeals and claps her hands

before she walks...

It always looks like she is proud 

of herself!

When this little lady isn't 

trying to walk,

she is crawling

{at high speed}

toward something 

she isn't supposed to have!

Busy, busy

little lady...

Going for a Walk...

We have been trying to go on a 

little walk every evening 

after dinner.

Its a nice little outing,

the kids ride bikes 

and I push baby in the stroller.

Lately the weather has been very

mild...

so an evening walk is perfect.

If we go on a long walk,

James little legs get mighty tired

of peddling that trike...

so we discovered if you put the front wheel

in the stroller basket,

he can still sit or stand 

on the trike

while I am pushing the stroller.

Like a home-made 

buggy board!

James thinks this is the best invention ever!

Family...

Over a month ago my sister and her family 

came for a visit...

So we all planned an evening of 

family pictures!

Since we were all colour coordinated and 

lookin' good,

we did some family pictures of our 

little family...

Hands down,

my favorite family picture of us!

I think we kinda 

love 

each other...

My entire family...

we are a nice lookin little group!

And just keep on growing...

2 more on the way in the fall!

I lost the hotshoe on the tripod,

so we used a ladder and the self-timer...

It was tough,

but they turned out pretty good!

The girls of the family!

{Jon was the photographer here...

he did a good job and kept us all

laughing with his crazy angles and 

snap-happy attitude!}

Mom and Dad...

the head of this big ol' family!

As you can tell from the photos,

they are a completely 

serious couple...

haha!

Love my family!

Love the unity.

The friendships.

The loyalty.

Family is everything...

We are blessed...

9 months old...

This girl is growing up so fast...
I need to figure out how to make her slow down a bit!
She is now 18lbs 13oz!
and 28" long!
She is one tall girl!
~
Angelina has been pulling herself up on
 everything 
for a long time now...
but just reticently she has been letting go 
and standing all on her own!
And now she has even been trying to take some steps!!
She falls right away though...
and I'm just fine with that!
~
While Angelina might be a quiet and contented little thing,
she is fast and curious!
Sometimes I put her in the middle of the floor,
turn my back for 
One.Minute...
and shes gone!
She loves to play in Elsie's room...
because she isn't supposed to be in there due to 
little objects being down low!
~
Her other new place to play is in the baggie drawer!
She screams and cries because she cant quite 
open the drawer up by herself...
then out of pure frustration,
she manages to open it just enough for her to
squeeze her hand in an grab out a fistful of baggies!
She just might turn out to be a busy 
little thing,
like her brother!
Lord help me!
~
We love our busy little
Anne-Innie
{as James affectionately calls her!}
Perfect little girl...

Snack Time...

We have a new favorite snack here...

 

Smoothies!

Now that fresh fruit is in season,

the kids cant get enough 

fresh fruit smoothies!

Plus Daddy bought us a new blender with 

a Smoothie button...

and the blender is orange...

so the kids always beg to take it out!

~

We put 

strawberries, blueberries, apples,

spinach {don't tell!}

frozen raspberries

and pineapple!

yum, yum!

Sleep Time...

                           Getting Angelina to take a nap

is sometimes a 

pretty tough task!

She has inherited that great

Ostrowski gene of

"I don't need a nap!"

Most days it isn't unusual for her 

to wake up around 9:30

then take her first nap around 

3:00...then be good until her 

8:00 bedtime!

That's a lot of awake time for such a little girl!
Good thing she is a happy and giggly little thing 
while awake for that long!

Water Girl...

Angelina loves being outside...

if she sees an open door,

she crawls over to it as fast as she can

and cries till we bring her out.

Her primary reasons for wanting out are

1. Water...pool, water table, buckets of water...she loves water!

2. Eating grass and bits of leaves and who knows 

what else! I've pretty much given up on

keeping things out of her mouth...

she spits everything out anyhow!

3. Sandbox! She loves sand! She loves to just 

sift it through her hands...

through she also likes to eat it!

 

 James loves being outside too...

in his underpants.

Because its nice and cool.

And when you are 3 its totally acceptable 

to wear just your undies anywhere you go!

Angelina stands next to everything in site!

She is starting to want to climb on top

of things too!

And she now stands all by herself

in the middle of the room for a 

few seconds before falling down!

Sometimes she tries to let go of whatever she is standing

next to and just

walk way...

but her legs are too wobbly...

and she has a nice little bruise on her 

cheek from trying.

The first of many,

I'm thinking!

Give this baby a bucket of water

and she will keep busy for quite some time!

She loves to splash in water...

~

This pictures sums up my favorite little things 

about Baby this summer 

that I don't want to forget...

the baby rolls,

chubby fingers,

soggy diaper from playing in water,

over turned water bucket,

tan lines in fat rolls,

wonder and exploration...

I love this age...