Preparing myself for July

I'm going to enjoy the last day of June today

July is going to beat me and leave me begging for my life

I may go to bed tonight and pray that I don't wake up until August

We have some fun things planned, it's just going to be a little wild for a while

 

I can't believe the 4th of July is this week

We will probably hit up both parades and the fire works

We're so predictable!

 

We start ball tournaments this week

The boys wrapped up their normal games last week

Spencer's team went undefeated, 14-0

Parker's team, well...... they had fun playing- we'll just say that!

 

Next week we have vacation bible school, Spencer has show choir camp

and we'll be wrapping up baseball tournaments

 

 

I finally booked our hotel for vacation

and a day later, called back to ask if we could come a day early

As much as I dread trips, I must really need this vacation

 

 

I haven't told many people but I applied for a job last week

I have mixed feelings about it

It would be a great opportunity but I have mom guilt

Only time will tell whether it's meant to be

The week after we get home from vacation, Grandma Camp starts
My nieces will be home and Grandma is going to blow our socks off


And sometime in all this madness, I have to find time to work


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Not every day can be a good day

 

Last week was a struggle

 I wondered many times why I was anxious for summer break

 

The week came with a lot of rain and bad storms

While we're thankful we escaped the bad stuff, the rain brought some boring days

 

The boys were bored and boredom causes issues at our house

Running through the house, picking fights, eating every 30 minutes and just plain annoying mom

 

I should've had a back up plan for rainy days

 

A movie, a trip to the Discovery Center or SOMETHING

 Here's what we did
 

Make Something Monday:

Lemon pudding pops

 

Try something new Tuesday:

They were so hot they made him sweat

 

 



The new flaming  hot Cheeto burrito from taco Johns



 

 

What's new Wednesday:
I was back teaching gymnastics this week
The boys came along to watch but had more fun climbing under the bleachers


Thoughtful Thursday:

This girl loves to have the windows open
Thursday morning was nice and cool so she got spoiled
Look at the tiny head on that big body {makes me laugh}

Fun Friday:
By Friday the sun was finally out and I was ready for someone else to entertain them
I love that when we go to the pool, they always find a friend
It's rare that I find these two together

 

 Soaking up the sun Saturday:

 Saturday, Missy and  I did the Royal Ball 5K
We had a blast and have already planned our next 5K


We also had our annual family reunion Saturday
It was a small group but it was nice seeing everyone

Doing a little tree climbing

Finding treasures
I love this boy and his cute dimple

We're hoping for a better week and better weather this week!

 

 



Our week in photos

I've been working on a million projects
{I can't wait to post about it but I'm afraid my expectations are a little high}

Thankfully for me, the weather wasn't pool worthy last week

so we stayed close to home, got some projects done and enjoyed some down time

 

 

Our week in pictures

Make something Monday
We made these and they were delicious


Time to read Tuesday

The boys have been wanting to see this
We decided to read the book together and then see the movie
We're not quite half way done and it's a great read

What's new Wednesday

We visited a new ice cream shop "Sweet Treats"

Super Man with gummy bears

Thoughtful Thursday

My mom has been giving us rhubarb so we made some jam
and made sure to share some with her

We helped my mom celebrate her birthday

One of the gifts we have Grandma

Friend Friday
I worked all day Friday so the boys got to play with friends


Soaking up the sun Saturday

The boys found this little guy after he fell out of his nest
Unfortunately he didn't make it
 

That's what our week looked like
I have some fun things planned for this week
but it looks like we're going to have to get an early start to be the heat
It's definitely feeling like summer out there!






 

Currently

I tend to blog about the boys more than anything

I started this blog as more of a "memory book" than an actual blog

I can't seem to find time to get their scrapbooks caught up so here we are

 

Other than the normal mom stuff, I don't blog much about myself

so I thought I'd take this week and blog a little bit about me and my life these days

 

 

Currently I'm:

 

 

Reading- Blogs and magazine
A few of my top blog reads right now are- The Small Things (Kate), Whatever (Meg), Sawdust and Embryos (Beth), 71 Toes (Shawni) and Todays Letters (Em)
Some of my favorite magazines right now are- Good Housekeeping, allyou and Better Homes and Gardens

Watching- My boys grow like weeds

Trying- To exercise every day, live one day at a time and remind myself daily how blessed I am

Cooking- The same stuff all the time {Blah}

Eating- Healthier {gosh it's tough}

Drinking- Diet peach tea {addicted}

Calling- Clients and my mom {I just can't get enough talk time in with my mom lately}

Texting- Clients and friends

Pinning- Recipes, crafts, quotes, photography 

Crafting- Working on a shirt for the 5k I'll be doing in a few weeks

Scrapping- I need to find the time

Going- To a ton of ball games but I wouldn't have it any other way

Loving- Summer break

Hating- The gnats

Discovering- Beauty all around

Enjoying- Walks with Spencer every morning, flowers blooming

Thinking- How did I ever work 3 jobs {I'm enjoying this much needed break}

Feeling- Refreshed

Listening (to)- Nothing and it's so peaceful

Celebrating- My mom's birthday is coming up {I'm in search of a yummy cake}

                      Father's day next weekend

Splurges- 16 cent scrapbook paper at Michael's, dollar bins at Joann's, Target and Michael's, cute cupcake liners {It doesn't take much to please me!}
Working on-  I'm working on quite a few projects. My nieces will be home in 6 weeks and I have some photo props I'm working on in hopes of capturing some fun pictures.

 

 Me and my handsome little man at my cousins wedding in November

My favorite thing in life is being a mom

       

 

 





Summer Plans

My children need routine

Too much down time for them spells disaster

We took this week off but I've come up with a plan that I hope will work

It will take a little preplanning on my part but I think it's manageable

 

I'm hoping my plan will also make it

 so the boys aren't down at their friends houses all day every day

 

 

Here's the plan:

 

Monday

Make something Monday

Movie Monday

 

 

Tuesday

Time to read Tuesday

Take a trip Tuesday

To the park Tuesday

 

 

Wednesday

What's cooking Wednesday

Wet and Wild Wednesday

 

 

Thursday

Thoughtful Thursday

Thinking Thursday

Time for a treat Thursday

 

 

Friday

Fun Friday

Field trip Friday

Friendship Friday

Figure it out Friday

Fresh and fun Friday

 

 

 

We also have a summer bucket list that we'll be working on

 

Sidewalk Chalk . Parks . Play dough . Build a fort . Make a craft . Legos . Hike .

Bike ride . Walk . Bonfire . Board Game . Zoo . Museum . Swim . Parade . 5K .

Feed the ducks . Library . Picnic . Lowes workshop . Play date . Bake . Fishing .

Movie night . Ice Cream . Scavenger hunt . Drive in . Aquatic center . Read .

Slip and slide . Fireworks . Bubbles . Write a story and illustrate it . Skate park .

Play in the rain . Farmers market . Day Trip . Write a letter . Wild Cat Den . Baseball .

Mississippi mist . family reunion . Shaved ice . Random act of kindness . Smores .

Go to a camp . Catch bugs . Learn something new . Field Trip . Blow Bubbles . Vacation


I'm sure there are things I forgot or things we'll do that I didn't mention but that's the short of it



 



Yard work

This past weekend was full of yard work

 

I'm dying for a weekend of pure relaxation

  

We've made some changes that have created a ton of work

 

We took out 2 big burning bushes in the front of the house

We thought the roots were causing a problem with the foundation

After digging one of the bushes out last fall, we found a hole in the foundation

Ahh haa... hence the water issue every time it rained

We waited too long in the fall to get the other bush out so this weekend we got to work

We took the bush out, checked the foundation, tilled the dirt, fixed the AC unit the was falling in due to the dirt moving every time it rained,  planted some perennials and hauled in some mulch

 I can't wait until they are big and beautiful

 

When I agreed to let the hubby extend the deck, I agreed with stipulations

The nasty fence would come down too

No fence =No pool

We had a huge hole that we had dug to get the ground level for the pool

Sunday we got two truck loads of dirt but we still need more

 

We also had a outdoor fire pit that sat in one of the fence corners

It was rusty and got thrown out on big city trash day

We put it in 10 years ago and never thought we would have to tear the rock up around it

Over the weekend, we picked up a million rocks and vowed to never put rock in the yard again

 

There's always more projects

 

We live on a terrace and can't grow grass on it

For one thing, you would think we didn't have steps

The kids love to climb up the hill

Grrr.....

The hubby tilled one side and planted some grass seed

We'll see if we can keep the kids off of it long enough to grow some grass
In the mean time, it's an eye sore

With all the work comes a pay off

BEAUTY

Our one lonely poppy that only lasts a day before the rain usually beats it to death

 

 

These peonies were transplanted from my Mom's house

 

 

 

 
 




We have been having trouble with squirrels digging in our flower pots

These plastic snakes seem to do the trick

These petunias were a beautiful coral color when I planted them

I wonder if the PH of the dirt can make them change color

 

 

 

 

We made it

 

 

We made it!

 

This year was by far the craziest school year ever

 

2 kids at 2 different schools

Mama working 3 part time jobs

and

a van that got plenty of miles put on it

 

We survived!

 

The first day of school 2013-2014

 

The last day of school 2013-2014

They might not look much different but if you look up close, a lot has changed

Braces, contacts and maybe even a bit taller

 

Look at these teeth

6 months later
 

The day he got wired
 

They are looking beautiful!

Don't mind the food stuck in there, brushing braces is tough work

and oh my goodness look at all that peach fuzz

 

Spencer also got contacts last week and is LOVING them

Mama is not loving the $80 a month price tag but I LOVE seeing those baby blues

 

I think Spencer definitely changed more than Parker this year

 

 

Parker's school got to go to the Aquatic Center for the last day of school

I was uneasy about the idea so I went along to watch over the kiddos

 

Look who I found hanging out

I tried to get them to sing and dance for me but they wouldn't do it

We are going to miss Parker's teacher
Thank goodness we get to see her at the ball field
Big hugs Mrs. Yahn - You will be missed

 

 

We had a great school year but we're looking forward to summer break

We have a lot of activities planned but also hope to relax