Oh what do you do in the summertime...?

...you slip n' slide until you're raw and get a couple of tattoos of course!

Slip n' slides...good old fun in the backyard. I remember growing up we had a WWF slip n' slide. Did we like wrestling? Were we fans of Hulk Hogan who happened to be at the end of the slide? What do you think? It must have been the last one when my mom bought it. Regardless, we loved that slide. Wonder whatever happened to the Hulk? Well this year I bought the girls their first slip n' slide. We have used it so much the girls got grass stains that wouldn't come off for days! They got so slick and got so good at sliding, that most of the time they'd slide right off the end into the grass. And they weren't the only ones! I slid a few times with them..and it's still a blast!

My sister Laura goin' for gold! Claire kept counting "1..2..3..4..I declare a thumb war!" before running and sliding. Hmmm? I think she was a little confused...

What goes hand and hand with slip n' slides? Tattoos of course! I've been reorganizing the laundry room when I came across some Strawberry Shortcake tattoos. Why do I have Strawberry Shortcake tattoos in my laundry? Doesn't everyone happen to have a spare page of them just in case of.....a day when your kids are screaming that they're bored and there's nothing to do! So I whipped them out and we tattooed ourselves. The girls had a hoot and practiced looking tough. I said they were the Strawberry Shortcake Gang and they really liked that until they took it a bit far and started "play fighting" which of course turned into real punches. Here are some pics for your enjoyment...

I wouldn't want to meet these two in a dark alley way!!!Swiggin' back some hard stuff!

Just in Case You're Wondering if Fire Hydrants are Male or Female...

What do you think the answer is? In a house full of girls, of course we have to have a girl fire hydrant! My dad found these beads in an old Disney bag and gave them to the girls. When I thought they were out riding their bikes, they really were having a grand old time decorating the poor fire hydrant!

That is one good lookin' woman!

I think Hallie had the most fun! She kept saying "Mama Mama! Yook!"

Oh my, I do believe she needs more beads girls!

The look would not be complete without a beaded purse!

Proof that indeed we are Patriotic!!!

The pictures are finally off the camera! Hooray! But that means a very extremely late post on our July 4th! Bear with me...
I think that Independence Day is my second favorite holiday! The last couple of years the weather has been perfect! You get to eat yummy popsicles, eat yummy food and the History channel always has something on about the founding fathers or other historical deal on the country - I LOVE American history!!!
Every year we go to the Tumwater parade and spend the rest of the glorious day at my mom and dad's place. I have to add that this year's parade was a little lame - how many police cars and old cars with even older people in them waving their hands, do we need to see? I mean really, people! The girls had fun though so I guess it's worth going to. We bbq'd shish ka bobs (sp?) back at my mom's, played in the water (slip n slide and wading pool anyway) and as soon as it got dark my parents put on a spectacular fireworks show. They spend hundreds of dollars on the fireworks. This year was especially fun because homes all around us had the same idea and had spent even MORE money so our fireworks show was phenomenal! My sister Laura has a tradition of saving the best firework for last. We think we're all done and she says. "uhhh, wait just a minute!" And brings it out of hiding. We cheer and light up the last one! It's just one of those silly things we do every year. She also likes to dance with the strobe fireworks too - flippin' hilarious!!!




The three girls with my cousin Olivia. Yep, my cousin is 8...And really this is only a good pic of Claire because her flag is covering Em's face and Hal's eyes are closed- a real winner!
Picking up a kiddie pool at Fred Meyer. The girls thought they were pretty strong!
At the parade...the girls were thrilled with all the candy they got thrown at them. Me not so much... Oh, and I made those flower thingys for their tank tops and their hair clippies.
My buddy Crystal taking a picture of me taking a picture of her. Original huh?
Hallie didn't like how loud the fireworks were. Grandma helped her out by covering her ears for them.
I think we were looking at a grasshopper on my grandma's hand...don't know why I added it...

Some catch-up...

I haven't blogged in forever! Mainly because I take so many pictures, our computer is almost out of room! So July and August's pics are on the camera still! Yikes! I thought since I'm journaling on here that I'd catch up with a few things since the start of summertime...
My sweet crazy friend Heather, had a little tea party for the girls finishing school. It was darling! The food was amazing and we got to chat with friends - what more could you ask for! Heather did an outstanding job, like always!


Poor Adelyn - Becca's baby daughter is never left alone when Emma, Marlee, Claire and Julia are around! They all take turns holding her - Becca, you're a good sport!

Look at all the yummies! And take a glance at her kitchen - her home is right from a Pottery Barn ad!

All the wonderful ladies that were able to attend. Our ward has got the neatest women in it! I am truly blessed by all your friendships!

Dave, Emma and I at her little graduation from preschool. I love St. Andrews! She had a blast there and made some really cute friends. It's been fun seeing how much she has grown and blossomed in a year!

My mom with my youngest sister Jamie and Emma. I am so fortunate to have such a great supportive fam! I love you two!!

Emma's Preschool Graduation with Miss Kathy and her "most favoritest" teacher Miss Deena.

David and Claire at the graduation.

My beautiful SINGLE (give a shout if you've got a hottie single LDS man you know of - she's a catch - and she's gonna kill me for this...) sister Laura at her GRAD School Graduation party in Seattle.

A funny shot of the two younger girls cranky this thingy with Emma lying on her back - pretty typical...:)

My darling youngest sister Jamie having a moment with Claire at Tumwater State Park.

Family Resemblance?

David has been so good lately at scanning pictures of both his side and mine. He's gone through baby books and old photos just lying around our parent's house. I was going through my baby pictures he'd scanned when I thought I'd do a little comparison between myself and my kiddies! Dave only scanned entire pages of his baby book so I didn't have a picture yet to compare him too. What do you think? Is there a family resemblance?

A Day like that...

Do you ever have a day where you question yourself? Of course you have, I guess everyone does. Tonight after fixing dinner, wrangling the kids in and out of the bath tub, lotions, jammies and a pass off to Dave for book reading duty, I sat down and just stared out the window. I wasn't looking at anything in particular, in fact, I think I was staring at our fence. This overwhelming sense of doubt came over me. I kept asking myself, "Am I a good person? Am I interesting? Am I fun? Am I a good mom? Am I a good wife? Am I a good daughter/sister? Am I a good friend? Am I using my time on this earth the best way I possibly can?" My answer to all is "eh." So I guess I'm having an eh day. I feel like I try. Is it noticed? Am I succeeding? I don't know. I guess all we can do is try. And pray. I think it's important to question these things in life. To re-evaluate. Take a step back and look at my life. So I guess this post is my self evaluation. In writing this I'm reminded of what President Hinckley said in the October conference in 1995, "Each of us can do a little better than we have been doing. We can be a little more kind. We can be a little more merciful. We can be a little more forgiving. We can live with respect and appreciation for those not of our faith. We can improve the world about us, in our homes and in our social activities. We can do it, if we will be prayerful and faithful."

I hope that when my children read this post someday they will be able to answer "yes, mom, you were a good mom that tried hard to raise us the best way you knew how." I hope that my family when reading this realizes how much I love you and look up to you. I do try to be there for you, but I will try harder. To my friends reading this, I hope you know what a blessing you are in my life and my family's. I hope you feel I'm there for you. To David, I hope you know how much I love you and couldn't imagine my life without you. I hope I'm everything to you that you are to me. And to myself, I promise to try a little harder to be happy with who I am.

Great Wall

I adore this picture of the men! If only the soldiers who walked this wall could see the Coleman men! They would be terrified, don't they look so fierce? :)
The whole family. Isn't the background so incredibly beautiful? The wall goes on and on and on...
Me and my honey. We were so excited to actually be standing on the GREAT WALL!
David and Matt at the top of this incredible climb. They went as far as they thought they could go until they saw this sign next to them saying you couldn't go past this point. Then they saw a french couple coming down the stairs behind them and were a little peeved they hadn't kept going. Apparently, past that point it wasn't secure - they hadn't started any restoration past that point.

I guess I'd better finish up the China trip before I forget our last couple of days. This was by far my favorite day in China! We had a guide pick us up (didn't speak a lick of English) and drove us to the Wall. As soon as we got out the downtown area we could see how different they lived in the more rural areas. They literally lived in run down hut looking things. It was like that until we got the Great Wall. Once we parked and got out of the van, we were bombarded with merchants selling all the typical souveniers. We made our way up a steep hill until we got to the gondola. the ride up was amazing. So green and lush! And hot!
It was so surreal being up there on the wall. To know that this ancient place was tromped on by soldiers that lived their whole lives on their section of the wall. Workers lived out their lives there and sometimes died building it. And now we can walk on it! It was just an incredible day - one that I won't ever forget!

Photo Shoot!

My good friend Crystal came down to visit us yesterday and brought along her extra fancy camera! So we decided a little photo shoot of the girls was in order considering I haven't had their pictures taken in year! I put them in dresses that of course would coordinate with my home ;) and had the pictures taken in my mom's back yard. It was a little difficult to get everyone smiling at the same time, but a few turned out beautiful!

Daddies and Daughters

I grew up with 2 sisters. So there were 3 girls in the house and then my mom....and then...my dad. My poor dad. So much estrogen under one roof is never a good thing. But he survived! And now....he has 3 granddaughters! I chuckle just thinking about it! But I know my sisters would agree, that we couldn't have asked for a better dad. He always made sure we knew how much he loved us. He planned the best family vacations every year and always provided for us - I never knew when they had money issues. He was the one who drove us girls to college and saw us off. I remember my second year at BYU Idaho, he'd just dropped me off and was ready to head back to Washington, when I realized I'd forgotten something in his car. I must have surprised him because when I saw his face he quickly dried his eyes. If he sees an emotional movie or commercial even, he is the first to get teary! This is why I truly believe that it takes a certain kind of man to have only girls for children! Dad, I love you!
Still on the subject of special daddies to girls, I come to my husband David. I have to admit that I was a little nervous when we were first married. I'd never seen him around children! But once Emma was born, my worries melted away. No kidding, that man had a list of who could not hold Emma as an infant! As I'm typing this, he's putting Emma and Claire to bed, the darling. He honestly, is one of the most patient, loving, soft men I've ever known. The love he shows for all of us amazes me every day, especially when at the end of the day my face looks like the one below, and he comes in with hugs and kisses for us all. He has a testimony and a brilliant mind that I see reflected in my girl's eyes. David, I love love love you my honey of a man! I could not ask for anything more!