My idea of the perfect summer treat is playing outside with these two babies… but I think that they would disagree.  They seem to have it in their heads that a popsicle is the best way to end an evening of fun.   I'm good with that as long as they have the same color.  If they get different flavors, my picturesque night turns into World War Three.  Ha!

Today was United Way's Day of Caring here in Bowling Green.  It's a city-wide initiative to volunteer and give back to the community.  My workplace had two projects, and I was blessed to help serve at one of our schools.  We painted bathrooms and stenciled cute, little paw prints (they're the Jaguars) on the floor. It was such a fun morning with my co-workers, and I feel so blessed to work with such caring, giving folks.  Tonight I get to teach at church and next week is Bible School.  With two little people running around, it's hard to regularly volunteer and help, so I am excited for these little opportunities when they come along, and I look forward to doing more and more in the future with my family!

I'm trying to soak in every last second of this summer, so after dinner each night I'm leaving dishes in the sink and toys in the floor, so that I can head outside for some one on one time with the kids. On the one hand, the mess drives my Type-A self bonkers, but on the other hand I know that these days are fleeting. Summer's warmth will give way to Winter's chill, babies will grow and life will keeping on moving, so I'm taking in every last drop because dishes can wait.  Tonight we went swimming.  Eli is braving the pool without floats, and Ellie loves to squeal and splash around.  These two are a delight, and I'm pretty sure that they get their love of water from me! Ha! Of course no summer night is complete without a popsicle, so we have to indulge every night before heading inside for baths…cause, why not?!

Playing in the sprinkler was on our summer bucket list.  To me it seems weird just checking if off and moving on to the next activity because when I was younger, we ran through a sprinkler pretty much every day.  Putting it under the trampoline and letting it keep all the "jumpers" cool, was a favorite pastime. I cringe now. What the heck were we doing with eight kids on a net-free trampoline anyway? Ha! Back to the present…Eric treated the pool yesterday, so we couldn't swim which made it the perfect night to drag out the water hose and sprinkler.   Neither child loved it at first, so we turned down the pressure.  They slowly but surely warmed up to it.  Bless her little heart, Ellie stood right in the middle and took a direct hit.  She would make the worst face you've ever seen then cry ridiculsouly if you tried to move her.  Eli ran straight though the middle with his eyes closed.  Thank goodness our y...

This morning before church I tried to get a picture of these two, but Ellie was in LaLa Land and Eli was doing something funky with his shirt…ya just never know!  Anyway, after the sermon we came home and grilled out steak while Ellie rested up for Griffin's birthday party.  It was seriously one of the cutest parties that I have ever seen.  The animal/party theme was so much fun, and I'm envious of the decorations…amazing, ya'll! So, I had to share the picture below of Ellie and Cayslee.  They're four months apart in age and have just recently started interacting.  The problem is that Ellie treats her like a baby doll kissing on her, trying to carrie her, and even stealing her pacifier.  We're hoping she's not displaying premature signs of bullying.  Haha! After the party we went to town for what I thought would be some accessories for our bedroom.  I ended up being a new comforter set.  I promise to show you ...

I had to work  late  last night, so I to leave early today which was perfect.  I took Eli to the dentist and then we headed to Chick-fil-A for a little fun with Griffin who turned three today!! The plan was to go to the splay park, but it was chilly and rainy.  I don't think these three minded the overly busy play place at Chick-fil-A, and Ellie certainly enjoyed the cookies! We picked up a pizza at home and plan to have Family Movie Night!  I can't think of a better way to spend my Friday.

I read a quote a few weeks ago that really cut me right to the core.   It said, “The days are long, but the years are short.” No matter what season of motherhood you may be in, I’m sure you can relate, myself especially.   Today I looked down at the calendar and realized that in less than three weeks my precious boy will be entering kindergarten, but I’m not ready. I’m not ready for that first monumental step toward independence.   It may disguise itself as a walk down the school hallway, but deep in my heart I know it’s the beginning of a mother’s plait…her journey of letting go….but I’m not ready. I’m not ready to let go.   Please, don’t get me wrong.   I look forward to fall festivals, Christmas plays, field-trips and all the memories awaiting our family in this new season.   I’m just not ready to let go of this version of Eli and the wonder and magic that comes from the dirty-faced, baseball-lovin’ adventure-seeking preschool Eli. I’m n...

I mentioned yesterday that this has been a really mild July, which means that we've been able to get outside in the afternoons much more often than we typically do in the summer months.  I've always loved taking Eli to the park after work, but with the new hours that has been a rare treat.  Lucky for us the weather was perfect this afternoon, so we headed to the park for a little fun before church.  Eli is getting so independent and can climb just about anything he wants.  It's hard not to hover, but I know he needs a little independence…just not at the sake of a broken bone. Ha! I love these two picture of Ellie.  It looks like she is dumbfounded by the majestic play ground in front of her.  She is also overly independent and makes me a nervous wreck.  Be still my heart…this little guy is growing up so stinking fast! Ok, one more…caption the photo below.  Haha!

We are having such a mild July, and for that I am so, so thankful.  We're outdoorsy people, so we're usually cursing the humidity this time time of the year.  This nice cool snap has us outside more than usual.  Tonight after dinner we brought out the "roller coaster." My parents got it as a Christmas gift for Eli back in 2010.  We've played with it inside several time, but recently had the brilliant idea to take it outside for a little change.  Eli loved it and rode down the little ramp again and again.  His legs are getting a little long, and the car is hard to steer, so there were lots of laughs.  There were also a few tantrums because Ellie wanted to ride too.  She would have a meltdown because she couldn't go down alone.  Then when I would finally help her, Eli would throw a fit not wanting to share…sigh! Don't you fret, we compromised by letting both kids ride in the gator…these two are dangerous drivers...

Happy Monday, ya'll!  After a great weekend, I am in wonderful spirits today and I thought I would share a few things. 1. Thanks for reading my vacation posts.  I still have a few more to do which will be back dated so that my OCD mind can keep my memory book in chronological order. 2. I also have some fun posts about Thunderfest, July 4th, Our Holiday Weekend, Nan's Birthday, and a Weekend Recap from the past few days!  I meant to work on them yesterday, but I left the laptop at the office.  I'm going to try to get caught up this week. 3.  In other news, I did get caught up on the cleaning this weekend, and I feel like a new woman, even if Ellie didn't sleep.  About that...we decided to attempt a last ditch effort at crying it out.  Yeah, she was up from 1:00-5:00 Saturday.  Eric's three hour shift was more successful than mine.  I caved and brought her to bed with us. 4.  Also in Ellie news, she refused to a wear a diaper o...

It’s been a rough week.   Actually, if I’m being perfectly honest, it’s been a rough two months in the sleep department.   I don’t write about it often because who wants to be friends with a Debbie Downer?   NOT THIS GIRL!! The truth is that Ellie is not a good sleeper.   There, I said it.   My kids struggle in the sleep department.   I guess the silver lining is that they haven’t slept poorly at the same time.   Eli rocks the nighttime hours now.   Nonetheless, that does not change the fact that I have not consistently slept through the night in five years. As you know, with Eli my exhaustion surfaced as depression.   This time around it’s much different.   For starters, it comes in waves.   We’ll have several great nights, a few okay nights, and one or two horrible nights.   The cycle will repeat itself which gives me a few nights to get my feet back under me before the exhaustion hits again.   With Eli I tried ...

Today we got up and went to church will all of Eric's aunts, uncles, and cousins to celebrate Nan's 60th birthday!  Then we surprised her with lunch at a pizza parlor.   Her brothers and sister acted like they were leaving down, but showed up at the restaurant for one last hoorah for  the weekend! It was a great way to wrap up a wonderful trip, and celebrate my loving, caring, kind mother-in-law!

After all the fun on the fourth, we kinda needed a chill day.  Eric and Colby went to play golf and I stayed poolside while Dixie took the kids to play with their cousins.  My relaxation was just what the doctor ordered until I fell asleep on the float and got stung by a bee!! We once again grilled out and enjoyed homemade ice-cream!  Then we built a bon fire and tried to enjoy it.  I use the work "try" because Ellie was mesmerized by the flames and kept gravitating toward them which made me a nervous wreck.  I had to share this picture because I think it captures the tranquillity of Eric's family's farm. It's so serene and beautiful, and the uninterrupted time with family always recharges our batteries.  We are so blessed to experience this with three generations.  And in case you're wondering, the kids are never running down that hill gleaming and happy like a scene out of "Little House On The Prarie." More often than not,...

We woke up and left town on JUly 4th to head to Eric's family's house for the weekend. Several of his cousins were coming in and his mom was celebrating her 60th birthday, so we had a lot to look forward to. Plus, the fact that it was in the upper 70s made it even more perfect! It was surprisingly a pleasant car ride.  I honestly thought that it would be rough following vacation, but the kids were in a good mood and even participated in a family dance party!  After thoroughly embarrassing our selves in the car, we made it to Marion and went straight to the home place to spend time with Eric's family.  The kids had a great time playing in the rocks, throwing baseball, blowing bubbles, tossing cornhole, and just being together.  Eric's mom and aunts put together a little scavenger hunt for them too.  It was super cute, and they were all excited to get prizes to take to the fireworks. As always, the food was superb!  I really can not ...