Double frogs & Fairies :)

Ashlynn came home from playing with her friend and was so very 

excited about the most amazing frog she had found.  It was a double frog she said.  

The neighbor lady sent me a picture of this most amazing frog.

Ashlynn went on and on about how these frogs were stuck and she 

had to throw them on the ground to get them to break apart. LOL

Another neighbor was over as she is telling this story.  His only comment 

was "boy did you ruin their night ha ha".

I never told her the truth about these silly frogs and why they were stuck together. 

 I am sure one day she will figure it out :).

Ashlynn went to Elizabeths birthday party.

  I love her cute cake.

Ashlynn was in a cute little dance class.  

It ended back in May 2017

A girl from church was the teacher and she 

was super fun with all the little girls.

Ashlynn loves dancing.  She does, however, have a hard time

with the instructional part.  

She is kind of a free dance type of gal.

I think it is adorable how the teacher made 

them all these cute tie-died shirts.

At the end they, blasted the music and had all the families come out and dance.  

It was a lot of fun.

Keep calm and DANCE!

Mom and Ashlynn's  field trip to the bridges of Madison county.

I never skip church.  However, this Sunday I can't remember what day it 

was but it was a very warm summer day,  all HECK broke 

loose at the Phippen home.

Ashlynn was a wreck and crying about everything. It did not seem 

to be your normal temper tantrum, but a sadness in her.  

The boys were not sympathetic to her tears and finally when I realized no reasoning 

 was going to be done with this girl, I put her in the car with a cold lunch and we drove. 

I was not sure where we were headed just somewhere to

 help her pull it together before we both lost it.

We drove all over and finally ran into this cute 

park in Winterset.

We hiked up to this castle.

 The view at the top is so pretty.

Ashlynn loved taking pictures, walking, talking

 and hanging out with just the two of us all day.

As you can see Ashlynn kind of loves taking pictures:).

It was a fabulous day.  I am thankful I took this day to spend time 

with her and talk to her about all the things she had going on in her little head.

From the mouth of Ashlynn..."It's hard being the youngest kid sometimes."

Here we have Ashlynn designing a fairy garden. She is sure they only come if you have a place for them to live:).   In the process, she managed to

 ruin a cute new outfit and had all kinds of stuff
scattered all over the back yard.

 It's all good though, at least we will have fairies in our backyard now:).

Horse riding lessons 2017

 Ashlynn LOVES animals.  

She is set on being a veterinarian when she grows up. 

Groupon had a really good price on horse riding lessons at Louw Stables.

She had been begging me to sign her up for a few years.

I finally said yes.

 She absolutely loved it!!! 

Ashlynn was not the best at following the instructions. 

She did not want to stay in the circle.

 She was sure she already new how to do it the right way. 

LOL

 The teachers were very patient with her.

 Getting her to leave the farm was always a chore.

These guys have way too many wonderful pets to

 ever want to leave in Ashlynn's opinion.

You can see from the first pictures that 

 by the last week Ashlynn had really improved her pose on the horse. 

 This was the perfect class for Ashlynn.

She LOVED everything about it!

2017 journaling randomness

Alyssa had not been home from her mission too long when her and I decided to take a day and go to the Temple.  It was a great day.  The only problem with the two of us driving together is that we both like to talk and not pay attention.  We missed our exit.  It added an extra hour and a half to our drive.  That is the second time I have done that when I was driving with her.  I would love to say I won't do it again, but I can't make any promises:). 

 Britton tried out shot-put this last spring.  I hate to say it but honesty is the best policy:). . .

I am glad he doesn't want to do this again.  Very boring to watch. I think this year he will be running the mile instead.

 Ashlynn and her friend Ava really wanted 

to be in the art show this year.  I thought the

 poster they made was adorable.

 EASTER 2017

 Last year Riley was in our Easter pictures. This year he is 

in Peru and Alyssa is in them.  Life is so strange with older children.

This family that use to feel so big all the sudden is shrinking.

 I was very happy I got them all to paint eggs

 together this year.

 Ashlynn is still at an age where everything is fun and magical

 about the holidays. 

 The older ones take part, but more out of force from mom.

 Daxon found ways to keep himself entertained. 

 It was a fun time. 

 I am thankful for times like these as a family:).

 Some of our friends had a big evening 

easter egg hunt this year.  Ashlynn loved it.

 Kids are the best.  Everything makes them happy.  

Perhaps that is why we are told to be like little children.

 I love this picture of Ashlynn.  She decided to try rollerblading.

 She didn't love it for too long, but while she did it was adorable!

Leap!

 As soon as this movie came out, Ashlynn was begging to see it. 

She loves Paris and dancing, and is always dreaming.

  She is very passionate about

 everything. This seemed to be the perfect movie for her.

She and I finally found a time to go and it was such a fun night.  After the movie, we immediately went on to Itunes and downloaded the soundtrack sang all the way home.
We had to stop singing for a little while when we stopped
at Ashlynn's favorite place to eat, Panera bread. 
  I absolutely LOVED this movie, as did she.

I do not love most animated movies. It is usually by force that I go to see them.

This one was adorable!

 These pictures are from last year's anti-bully week (or something like that:).

She had Pajama day, hat day...

 Wacky Day,

 Sports day.  I love how much she loves this Romo Jersey 

It was her brother's,  they keep telling 

her that he doesn't even play anymore, but it is still her favorite.  I have a theory about why she loves it so much.  I feel that memories play such an impact on the things we treasure. 

When Britton was given this jersey, the boys and Ashlynn would watch the games and cheer with them all the time.  Riley was very good about making Cowboy game time a PARTY time. Cheering was involved and anytime a touchdown was made he would put Ashlynn on his shoulders and run around the room hollering YAHOO!  Popcorn and food was a must.  During halftime, Riley would take everyone outside to toss the football around.  JD didn't work Sunday evenings so he was always involved in this and usually made a big pan of brownies to eat after halftime.  Britton and Ashlynn loved all of this.  QUALITY TIME is a love language they both speak. We might need to start doing a better job of making game time fun again like Riley did:). 

 I am pretty sure the memories are why she loves the jersey.

HAPPINESS to the WORLD...

 I came across this on Pintrest and I love it.

I love that I get to be a stay home mom.  JD and I make each 

other CrAzY on an daily basis.  Our children make us

 even more CraZy on an every second basis. Yet, somehow 

at the end of those crazy days being together and raising one another together. . .

 (because lets face it the kids are raising us as much as we are raising them).

. . .it brings happiness to our world to

know that no matter what the world has thrown
our way, we get to be together. WE ARE A FAMILY! 

Being together is a crAZy, wonderful, happy place to be!