WEM waterpark

The whole Hinko crew ventured to the water park and ended up making it a late birthday celebration for Jacey Bird! Such, such fun.  Kingston is like a fish, Jacey has nothing but smiles and Neely we needed to watch fast because boy that girl moves fast.  Our ladies loved being with their cousins and were inspired by Kingston's goggle use to be more brave then they have ever been before.  The whole day was a big thumbs up! Togetherness and lots of laughs!!!!

 A beautiful smile from the Bird Girl :)

This Stella Bella and her lashes....amazing!

THE WHOLE HINKO CREW 

One bummer about the selfie stick is that it is so far away it is hard to see exactly what you are capturing and the first pictures has Jacey covered up and then the second picture we all look a little less pleased with the whole 'selfie group shot' thing hahahahaha   Oh well live and learn, I'll check more closely next time :P

 These three are my favourites and man do I adore them!

The crazy dinosaur below was tired after spending the day swimming so spent the meal snuggled up on my lap and I loved it.  I know the days of them sitting on my lap for dinner are numbered so I will cherish it and love it while they still want to sit with me.

~ Mrs. P

growing food

We learned something new this year, gardening!  We have much still to learn.

 I wanted to provide the opportunity for our girls to help grow a garden and be able to harvest food that we could then use and eat. We finally have a yard and consulted both my Grandma Hinko and friend Emma as to where the best place to grow would be.  We decided on 2 raised 4x4ft garden beds and placed them on the west side of our yard, they would then get the mid day and afternoon sun. I can not express the thrill I felt with our first little harvest of onion and dill, absolute joy and pride.

Zucchini's grew in abundance and the rhubarb we transplanted in late spring still gave us plenty for pies!!  We were all so pleased, each time we went to really look around there was something new or bigger.  We watered and pulled the few weeds that grew in the fertile soil, the metaphor and effort required for growth isn't lost on me....I love it!   Now the sunflowers are as tall as the roof, we look out Stella's bedroom window and have a perfect view of those beautiful, yellow flowers.  The effort has been worth the reward, the beauty and the yummy veggies.

President Kimball counseled: “Keep your lawns and your gardens well-groomed. Whatever your circumstances, let your premises reflect orderliness, beauty, and happiness. Plan well and carry out your plan in an orderly and systematic manner” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1976, 171; or Ensign, May 1976, 125).

I thought that growing a garden would be something fun we could do together as a family, have to work at and then reap the benefits together. Graham built gorgeous raised beds, we planted together and have enjoyed the results together.  I love keeping things in order, I am not a pro at our house or a pro at our yard but I appreciated the President Kimball quote.   Having a garden this year has certainly brought happiness. I already can not wait until next year, I think we are all excited to do it all over again next year.

~ Mrs. P

Joy School Girl

Although we both miss big sister it has been wonderful to have one on one time with Stella Bella!!!!  She is funny and sweet, a perfect side kick.  We have a music class that started up this week, she was so pleased and rocked it. She is also doing a set of swimming lessons and it is so different just having one person to do 'stuff' with.  One of the best things has been the undivided attention she receives. She will often ask me to come and give her snuggles, so we will cuddle on the couch or the bed and read stories or watch a show. LOVE this woman!!!!  I am glad that we get to have this time together. It is cool that Amelia had a window of being the 'only' until Stella arrived and now Stella gets this window of 'only' while Amelia is at school.  It is cool how things work out sometimes.

 

 This week was Stella's first day back at JOY SCHOOL :)  It was awesome!!  There is something so sweet and beautiful about this program.  Emma hosted with her son Will and walking up we were greeted with this charming sidewalk chalk message.  I got tingles as Stella walked in and hugged it out with her friends and teacher for the day.  Each of the families take turns hosting and it is something I just love about the program, different homes each with a momma who teaches and shares their teaching style and gifts with my kid. It is a little sad to me that this will be our last year.

There was big smiles and excitement from Stella!  This week was Will's birthday so they had a party and learned about the letter 'P', such fun.

This kid is so rad!

~ Momma P

biking beauties

The girls have been getting in the bike riding while they can! 

Love these women to bits, 

from head to toe,

silly or stubborn,

sweet or sassy,

everyday,

all day.

Biking Beauties

~ Mrs. P

her style

My kids are awesome (yes I am biased) but they are absolutely awesome! 

While our big girl is definitely a morning person I would absolutely describe our little girl as having an up and at 'er personality.  Stella doesn't like to hang around in her pj's, she likes to get dressed and get her hair done and get on with the day.  We are carpooling for school so our mornings this week have been a little slower and Stella took the time to really accessorize and I love it!!!  She is into pink right now so had pink leggings, pink skirt, pink tshirt, pink sweater and finished off the outfit with some pearls and the feather crown. She nailed it!  It was so great I asked her to pose for a pic and she put those hands on her hips and worked it hahahaha!!!  Sometimes we have to work together and negotiate so an outfit works for the weather but generally things come together and look good.  I love her strong personality and sense of style.  

Her determined nature can be such a strength.  

Her style is just great to look at.

~ Mrs. P

old stuff

I have a love for old stuff!

 I love the history and the story behind things that have been around for awhile.   For a few years now there has been talk about tearing down the 'old house' on the Hinko farm.  It is the old homestead house that my Great Granparents lived in. It was my Grandpa Hinko's parents.  They are planning to knock it down in the spring so Uncle Mark and Dad asked if we wanted to do an exploration mission to see if there was anything we would want or anything of value.  So firstly, it was sooooooo crazy in there and secondly we found some GEMS!!!!!! 

It has a dirt basement, which I remember as a child being both cool and scary.  The roof was half tin and half shingles so when we went inside the shingle side of the house had caved in and it was pretty nasty.  The other side of the house was surprisingly pristine, dusty but pristine.   It ended up just being Alyson, Mikey and myself along with Uncle, Dad and Auntie June. They removed the dead bird before I came in and they didn't see the deceased cat skeleton or they would have likely removed that too before we went in. The gross was worth it though!! We pulled out a few windows and cut out an old wood door and oh the nasty but cool tin stuff we found in that basement.

 

 At my moms insistence we wore masks and had hoods to cover our heads, once we walked in we were definitely grateful for the coverage...a must!  There is just something so fascinating about exploring another time and considering what life was like in that little old house.  We talked about what Dad and Uncle knew about the layout and how the rooms were used, when and why expansions on the house happened.  The bathroom which I remember also having the ringer washer in the corner was once used as the bedroom for my Grandpa's youngest brother. The bedroom with the cool door we cut out was previously the porch that they built up and made a bedroom (that was were the cat bones were eeek).  All of the kitchen cupboard knobs had already been taken off and a it was evident that people with interest had already been through the house.  How special though to have something or be able to use something from that old house!

After we spent a few hours looking around we washed up and all went out to eat. It was nice, wish I would have gotten a group picture. I did however snap one of these brothers :) They are hilarious, sound the same and often dress similar hahaha!

 I almost immediately started dreaming about my mantle and how I could incorporate one of the window frames into our house.  Knowing that it comes from our Hinko Farm makes it even that much more awesome.

I wanted a quote on family and when I came across this I knew immediately it was perfect! How true. Oh how important famiy is. 

~ Mrs. P