Why Katie is so cool

I have a friend here in Medford who is pretty cool.  Her name is Katie.  Our first week at church she called that night to drop off cookies (my kind of friend) and brought her three girls and little boy.  She is now pregnant with her second boy so our families get along great since we have the same family dynamics.  Yesterday we went to their house for a party.  I love her house.  It feels so nostalgic.  Like the America we all wish we lived in where people have gardens, kids can run and play and explore, they can their own food and even fly the flag.  Look at how pretty her yard looks with the grape arbor that is FULL of grapes, covers  the picnic tables her husband MADE and where the kids gathered to make blackberry jam.

One of the things I hate about birthday parties is that you have to get lame party favors that you end up throwing in the garbage shortly afterward.  I feel like it is a waste of money.  But at Katie's party the kids made jam to take home!  SO MUCH BETTER!!  See why she is so cool.

As a part of the activity they decorated a tag to label their jar and helped mash the blackberries.  

Here was Dodge just hanging out during it.  I like his little baseball outfit.  

And the finished product.  My girls love the jam.  Kaylee came home and started eating it with a spoon.  They feel pretty special having their own jar of jam.

The other fun part about Katie's house is that they have chicken to chase and have recently acquired a litter of baby bunnies.  The kids spent almost the entire party holding the baby bunnies.  It's always fun going to Katie's.  Much cooler than our house.

Heidi really wants to keep one of the baby bunnies however we just found out yesterday that Butterscotch, who escaped from the cage, was found shot with a BB gun at the school.  She still has Hershey left but I don't feel like getting another bunny that I am going to have to chase around the school grounds and feel like a fool when the office calls to say they found our bunny.  Anyway, I always enjoy going to Katie's.  She does an excellent job as a mom that luckily even my kids benefit from.