Self-Portraits

For today's "show and tell" the girls wanted to show you the self-portrait paper dolls they made. Molly and McKenna (in particular) love to do anything involving scissors, glue and paper... basically anything that involves a lot of clean-up on Mommy's part! This is why I usually hesitate to allow them to satisfy their creative urges (which are a fairly constant thing for McKenna... she always has to be creating something), aside from the easily managable crayons and pads of paper. But, since Daddy was away last week, I gave in and we made a trip both to the library to seek out craft books and then to the Dollar Tree to purchase the necessary supplies for these rather large works of art. The girls and I had a great time making these together and they were very proud of the results shown here.

Molly would like to add that, "My paper doll looks like myself. And it has pigtails just like me. And she has a beautiful dress. I made it with a little help from Mama."

McKenna says, "My paper doll looks like me. She is beautiful but a little bit smaller than me. I had a little bit of help from my Mommy."

Dressing Up

When I asked the girls this morning what they would most like to show you, they both went straight for their dress-up clothes. Most of you have seen Molls in her much-loved tutu. She practically lives in this outfit. McKenna's is a "new" Goodwill purchase that she picked out herself yesterday.

McKenna would like you all to know that her dress is: "Really pretty, it is the prettiest dress I have ever seen! And the flower and bow on it are really a pin. It looks like a princess' dress."

Molly would like you to know the following about her dress: "It is a tutu-dress. And I really love it!". What more is there to say?

It is supposed to reach 100 degrees here today. We are to be joining friends at their neighborhood pool this afternoon. The girls have really progressed in their swimming this summer. Both can jump in and swim to the side of the pool on their own. In fact, the other day they both went off the diving boards (the low ones) and loved it. It was a goal of ours to get the girls swimming by the end of the summer, and they have certainly accomplished and surpassed this goal.

We hope this post finds you all well and keeping cool on this hot summer day! Thanks for checking in with us.

Beating the Heat

Hello Family! Ron and I thought this would be a great way for family to keep up with the goings-ons in the Garner household. I can't promise daily posts, but I hope to update the blog frequently as a way of staying close with our far-flung families.

Today is supposed to reach 98 degrees and tomorrow is to approach 100... way too hot to be out and about! So today, the girls have friends over (Isabel and Andrew) for a "daytime slumber party", complete with pj's, sleeping bags, favorite stuffed animals, pillows, popcorn, and ofcourse, a movie. I don't take credit for this stroke of genius... it is something I read about doing in Family Fun magazine and thought it sounded like fun. We did it one other time this summer, and it was a big hit, so I thought why not do it again? School is fast approaching, so we're trying to pack as much fun into the remaining summer break as possible!

Well, I'll close this first post. I hope you will all enjoy being able to have a small glimpse into our daily lives, and that somehow through this we'll all be closer in heart.