Twirly Girl

shrieks echo off little apple tree

as Twirly Girl takes the stage

tasting the wind and feeling

salt mane whip across summer shoulders

With her toes she digs in deep

grass-stained and light as air

skimming tops of dewey blades

she's dancing with God-ordained steps

Some twirl to escape

others twirl from innocence.

But you, Twirly Girl-- may you dance

for the one who formed those twirly feet.

Let them praise His name with dancing

and make music to Him with tambourine and harp.

Psalm 149:3

Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!

Serve the Lord with gladness;

Come before His presence with singing.

Know that the Lord, He is God;

It is He who made us, and not we ourselves;

We are His people and the sheep of HIs pasture.

Enter into His gates with Thanksgiving,

And into HIs courts with praise.

Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.

For the Lord is good;

His mercy is everlasting,

And His truth endures to all generations.

Psalm 100

Joining Emily today from Imperfect Prose...I really loved her post.

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ManCamp--Foiled!

Last weekend, we up and left for a spontaneous camping trip, just the 5 of us.

Risky, I know, to go without reservations during the last camping weekend of the Summer. We Wiebers like to live on the wild side.

We drove up to McCall and the first campsite was full--the last spot taken by the car in front of us. We traveled to the North side of the lake and pulled into the campground there. We hadn't traveled 20 feet when, we came upon our great, great friends Axe-Wielding-Scott and his little guy, Trevor. Brian was thrilled to not be the only guy in the forest.

Apparently, Scott and Trevor were in the middle of "ManCamp".

Good thing the Wiebers show up, right? What with all their girls and all. But seriously--can you even believe it? Not only do we get to be neighbors to the Swans, but we also get to camp next to them without any planning at all!

Did I mention this was "ManCamp?"

We tried so hard not to ruin ManCamp.

We really did.

Yes, these would be The Wieber girls...at...ManCamp...dancing with...fishing poles.

Yes, I did say "dancing."

This was obviously just a momentary lapse of reasoning on the girls' part. It won't happen again.

The girls got to fish for their very first time. They were so excited.



Notice the stylish trench that Holland chose to wear camping? She's a rugged one!

Liv tried especially hard to fit in at ManCamp.

Trevor kept good ManCamp form throughout:

Keri came up to ruin ManCamp with us.That was a highlight of camping for me!

This was the day before The Swans celebrated 6 whole years of wedded bliss. Happy Anniversary!!

But back to ManCamp...

I know it's hard to take ManCamp seriously when Trevor is the only guy in the picture, but just stay with me, ok?

Trevor knows tricks and apparently these can be exhibited using everyday items, like, say, a shovel.


Liv was able to learn these tricks. This was an added bonus from being at ManCamp.



I think we'll go crash ManCamp again next year. Thanks Scott and Trevor!
That was so much fun!

Fair 2010

Ah, the fair.

We..fortunately, or unfortunately live right down the street from the fair. The girls squeal from the backseat of our car as we drive past the big trucks unloading carnival equipment, making plans, and saying, "remember when, and last year...?" and whining that the fair isn't year-round. Then, when the fair does open, they just assume that we will live at the fair and sell all our belongings and become carnies. They just assume. They don't even ask us!

This year, we spent a whole day getting our fill of the fair. The girls waited till dark to go on the rides so that they could see the lights. I love the dusky night sky as the backdrop for the ferris wheel.



Reese looks up to her sisters already and knew she was missing out on the rides: Just 16 more inches to go, baby!



The girls had fun with the tractor pull again this year. Check out the fierceness displayed here by Miss Holland:


Seriously--check it out! I love this girl!


Brian is never too busy, or too big, to color with our girls:



The girls entered some of their projects into the fair this year. They were so proud to bring them to the exhibition table (this was taken a week before the Fair opened):



Several days later, when we were at the fair, we sought out their projects in the Expo center. The girls were so excited to see their projects displayed. We hadn't ever even talked about the chance at getting prizes.

So you can see in Liv's face here, her utter shock at getting first place for her scooter. Liv's idea for this project began when Holland wanted a scooter. Liv graciously gave her own scooter to Holland, and set to work making her own out of the same wood previously used for the baby cradle she slept in! During the making of the scooter, Liv learned how to use a drill and even wrote her address on the foot board. She later painted over it with hearts. She then took it out on the greenbelt and it worked wonderfully! She was so excited to get a blue ribbon.



Holland entered some monster zucchini from our yard. We really had to lug it in...it was heavy!


Holland also entered her Fifi brownies (andes mint brownies). She really wanted to eat them, but I told her they had to be kept on display for the people look at.


Holland was overjoyed to get First place for her watercolor. She is our family's little artist. She has an eye for color, has a very "light" hand when it comes to painting, drawing, and coloring, and is very purposeful in what she decides to create and the choosing of the colors. This painting has been hanging in our living room. I love it!


Liv got 3rd place for her artichoke painting. She used a real artichoke to guide her as she drew the shape with a pencil. It gave her lots of grief but she learned some lessons in breaking down the object by focusing on familiar shapes.


The sweet dress Liv made for Reese got 4th place. I can't wait for Reese to wear it. Liv would like to thank Grandma for all her help with the sewing machine.


The girls pose with their prize money and returned projects. Yes, that would be my daughter eating a 13-day-old brownie. A brownie that had been exposed to the open fair air, with wafting swirls of manure, prodding fingers and tracked-in carny dust. I promise you, I did my best at discouraging her from eating this brownie. But I tell you...getting to eat this brownie was the best prize of all, in her eyes.


The girls were blissfully happy at the night's end and are already talking about going next year.

Oh Look--It's Reese With Her Spoon!

Sage Hen

Sage Hen Reservoir Group Camp Site...our first time visiting, yet it holds many fond memories for us now--as many memories as can be crammed into less than 48 hours. Even though, due to one wrong turn and a flash-flood-induced highway closure, it took us nearly 3 times the time to get there as it should have. Even so, after driving around and around the campground at midnight, they are true friends, those who can recognize your baby's cry in the middle of the night (thank you, Sharon!), and come out and help set up your tent in the pitch dark. (Thank you, guys!!).

Our constant friends, The Hughes, organized a camp trip with a bunch of their friends. Some we know and are very close with, others we met for the first time. 20 kids and 14 adults. Yes, we were very outnumbered. But I am happy to report that not one--not one--adult was caught unawares and tied up by untamed children and left for the mosquitoes. And that, my friends, is how we measure success around here.

Here are some of those wild children now. Don't let their innocent expressions fool you.

The kids played and imagined and impersonated Robin Hood until the sun went down. The girls were sure they were dreaming to be able to spend so much time with their friends. Actually, Brian and I felt the same way. Here the adults are having fun:

It was Darin's birthday on Saturday. He received a beautiful, state of the art, plastic bow and arrow for his birthday. He was like an apple pie at a picnic. The kids swarmed him and they were thrilled with his present:

We learned so much during this trip. One thing we learned was that it's fun to help each other, even more so than getting a turn:

Here Holland thinks, "how does one load this thing?"

She asks good friend, Stellan, for help.

Another thing we learned was that it's a chivalrous thing to help a lady with her bandaid:

We also learned that scary faces do keep bears away. Or, maybe we just didn't see any. We'll never know, I guess.

Personally, I learned that if you want to be just like everyone else, just fake it. No one will know the difference. Notice all the guys working hard to carry their offspring. Nathan must have wanted to be just like them:

On of the favorite things learned was the ability to disguise yourself in the middle of the woods. Natural mustaches are the best:

We had fun playing in the mud and water. One of the best things about our baby, in my opinion, is her love of getting dirty:

And apparently she likes to fish, too:

Brian lets Reese think she got to go on a real live boat trip.

Then he takes the bigger girls out to the middle:

Sand castle architects:

Beautiful sites seen on our hike:

When it was time to go, we, along with The Cooneys, didn't want the fun times to end.

So we found a spot on the way home to play some more:

Harrison loved seeing the skipping rocks:

Reese loved seeing Harrison:

I packed the girls a zip-lock bag to collect treasures on our trip. I think it's safe to say that the glittery colored rock was Liv's best find: