Two little girls and other such matters

Joy-Belle, sporting the pretty pink ruffle dress that used to be Hopey's.

Adorable, if you ask me.

Even better with a smile. :o)

And her pretty big sister in blue - both ready for their Sunday afternoon naps.

Hurray for Sundays with Daddy!

A frequent position for Joy - arms back, like she's ready to take off somewhere.

What's summertime without popsicles? I made some last year too, but the girls didn't really like them then.

This year it's different. :o)

Some friends lent us the swimming pool their now grown children used to use, and it came just before the hottest week of the summer. Phew!

We finally decided on the position of the swing set and got it staked into the ground. The girls especially enjoy the slide in the evening, when it's surface has cooled from the HOT afternoon sunshine. 

As you can see, they have their own preferred ways of going down the slide....

... and up the slide. Joy's slowly learning this is NOT the way Mommy likes her to go up the slide.

Ready for take off -

and here she comes again!

Yes Joy, very cute expression.

This is about the last of her smiles without eye teeth. Thankfully, after two long months, they are almost all through, just waiting on the last bottom one now.

Hot summer evening, cute pajama shirt, baby legs....

Sigh. What else needs to be said? :) Oh yeah.. blonde hair, blue eyes, long eyelashes. Okay okay... sorry! I love my big baby girl. :o)

The girls had to learn the hard way that grass and leaves are not meant to be thrown onto the tarp covering the pool, because those leaves and grass eventually made it into the pool. Re-running it and sticking them right in seemed unkind, due to the cold water that comes from the tap, so a couple inches of water in the good old baby bathtub had to suffice for the day.

I got smart this time - popsicles OUTside! They made a sticky mess of my kitchen floor on their maiden run of the year.

Note the orange drop on the end of her nose. Love it. :o)

Thanks for the sun-kissed smile, sweet Hope.

The start of something good! We were yard-sitting for some friends who were on vacation, and their strawberry patch yielded very well during that time. They said we could pick and keep the berries, so I took the opportunity to try making homemade strawberry ice cream, given the real strawberries available to us. :o)

A yummy-looking result.

Hopey wasted no time in enjoying her little bowl full. :o)
By the way, those 19 braids in her hair were worth the 90 minutes they took to do! I left them in for two weeks, sparing us the morning frustration and occasional tears that can result from brushing long, sweated up, summertime hair. It was also a really good time to have her hair "ready done" and not have to fix it each morning.

Joy often picks a few things to play with after breakfast, and occupies herself pretty well while I do the dishes. ;o) She loves my kitchen things - hence the beater and measuring cup.

Is that a mischievous look I see on your face, Hopey?

But there's that careful, older sister look too....

And down you go! All on purpose, all fun. :o)

Making hay while the sun shines... or rather, preparing fruit for the freezer and and more strawberry ice cream making while the sun shines.:o)  Josh was gone for the weekend, so evening meals were simple. It was a beautiful sunny day, and the pool was set up outside, so I figured there was no need to keep myself indoors just to peel and chop fruit. I just did it in my lawn chair outside. The girls probably ate a good half a mango each as I worked my way through the supply that day. :o)