Apple Hill

I am so thrilled living here in California where there is so much more to do than in Kansas. One of my favorite things to do is go to Apple Hill. It is a buch of apple orchards on the way to Lake Tahoe. They have all these booths and activities and my favorite lots and lots of food. The best apple donuts, they are to die for and I think I ate 5 or 6 just that day. It is a family tradition to go to apple hill but usually we arn't out here in the fall when it is open, but now we live here yay! Can you tell I am a little excited to be here. We are really loving it a lot. The girls saw this pumpkin and they thought it was the coolest thing. My nephew Steven is climbing on the back, (big surprise.) I love this pcture of Janie. She is getting easier to photograph, she actually will look sometimes now.

Lizzy and Nellie started acting like little punks. We got to ride on a train and then we were going to take them on some pony rides and they were acting like they needed even more. They wanted to get their faces painted and buy a toy. Sometimes it makes me so mad because tehy get so much more than I ever got as a kid and they arn't always very grateful.

Lizzy got to ride the big horse and she thought it was pretty cool. I can't believe how big Lizzy is getting. She will be six next week, wow!

Nellie got to ride a little pony that she named blackie. She loves animals so much, and even though I am not a huge animal lover, I hope one day we get a dog so that she can have one. She was so cute becasue shewas leaning down and talking to the pony.

I love fall it is my favorite time of year!

The Little Gals

Kevy took this picture of the little gals a few weeks back. I think it may be one of my favorite pictures. It completely shows each of my little girlie's personalities. If you look closely you can tell how dirty Nellie is. I keep saying that we really don't need a boy because we have Nellie. I swear she is the dirtiest kid. I cannot keep her clean to save my life, but I swear that I do try. I also love the face Nellie is making because it shows how because Kevin asked her to smile she is going to do what she wants and not smile, what a silly girl. Lizzy has her usual perfect grin for the camera. She is always so happy. And Janie has her cute little smile that says "okay if this is what you want me to do." I LOVE having my three little girls.

Nellie Belle

My little Nellie. I sure love this little girl. I look at this big four year old and I can't believe that she is the same as the little 2 lb baby she was born as. She sure gives us a run for our money and if there ever was a person sent to teach her parents patience it is Nellie. Sometimes I want to rip my hair out because she is so obstinate. If I ask her to do something she automatically decides she wants to do the opposite. She really has had a rough time lately because of all the changes that our family has gone through, but she has started to pull out of it and is doing much better. She started a new preschool out here and she LOVES it so much. She wants to go everyday and we have discovered that she is quite the little artist. She draws the cutest little pictures. She drew a picture of a police car that was so neat it had the light on top and all these cute little details that I would never have thought that a four year old could do. Another thing that Nellie really loves to do is help me in the kitchen. She is a good little cooker and she told me that when she grows up she is going to be a chef. I didn't even know that she knew the word chef. The way that Nellie gets set on something I wouldn't be a bit surprised if she ends up being a chef when she grows up.
Nellie is also amazing me at how easily she picks stuff up. She seems to learn things really easily and I swear she has a photographic memory. Whenever we play memory she kills me because she remembers where every single picture is. At first I thought it was just lucky, but no she really remembers all of them. She loves to read and now that Lizzy is learning to read she wants to as well and she is doing pretty darn good.

We all know about Nellie's obsession with Jaguar prints, she is in love with jaguar prints and would have an entire wardrobe of them if I would let her. She will go up to complete strangers and tell them she likes their shirt if it is a jaguar print. My mom has a pair of jaguar print pajamas and Nellie will go up to her and start petting her and telling her how much she loves her pajamas and she does this every time she wears them. For Christmas I really need to find some jaguar print fabric to make her jammies out of. She also has a little stuffed jaguar that she named Jasper and she is super attached to him. She has to take him wherever she goes and she keeps leaving him, which has really created a problem at bedtime. She still of course loves the color green and still loves to wear that too.

Nellie gives the best hugs, she is very loving and kind. She loves to share her stuff with others. If she has a treat she will always share it, and we all know how much Nellie loves her treats. She is one of the sweetest little girls that there ever was. She doesn't care what other people think of her, she is what she is and I really love that about her. She is really starting to include Jane more and really does love her a lot. She even shares Jasper with Jane which says a lot.

Nellie is such a special little girl and even though she isn't the easiest child I love her so much and I am so glad that she is mine. She brings so much joy to our family.