June is probably one of our most busy months - we have two birthdays to celebrate, and Father's Day - and, you know, we were unpacking and trying to get settled on top of it all.
Sometimes I put a lot of pressure on myself to have everything spic n span and all orderly and organized...but guess what? I'm trying real hard to cut myself a little slack. Otherwise, how in the world would I enjoy my kiddos and our summer? So, it's gonna take a while to get our home settled, painted, organized, put together, etc. But it's okay. Deep breath, IT IS OKAY!
And because it is okay - here's some of the summer fun we've been up to. June has only been above 100 a few days - I'm starting to think that Texans are wimpy when it comes to weather. They all gave me these stern warnings - but it has been perfect! How summer should be! (so far...)
We walk or ride bikes to the neighborhood pool. It's so much fun! And when we're not at our pool, we're at someone else's pool...or at the YMCA! We joined a couple weeks ago and they've got both indoor and outdoor pools with awesome splash features and even fun slides! It's like a mini water park! ( plus so much more!)
Sawyer is our artist-in-residence. It's amazing to see how much he's improved his drawing ability over the past year. He went from hardly interested in coloring to freehand drawing and coloring his own drawings. He's pretty good, too! I love it when he draws me pictures. My favorite lately are the shark (pictured) and a little orange fox he drew a week or so ago. He is also very enamored with Ed Emberley's books. If we're hangin' at home, you can bet Sawyer is either in his room creating with Legos, or at the table, drawing.
We celebrated Hazel's first birthday, and Sawyer's fifth birthday this month! I already did posts about their celebrations - but wow, it kept me busy, baking, decorating, and celebrating for a whole week straight! We had a great time! And next time we have a baby in our family, we will try to make sure it's not in June! (gotta spread 'em out a little bit!)
Ohhhhh, Hazel. I had to take Hazey's crib bumper out because she started boosting herself up and even though I don't think she can quite climb over and out...I don't want to underestimate her. She is so tiny - but strong and agile. The first time I caught her I snapped this pic on my phone - I'm sure it's just me, but she sure is a cutie!
I haven't even taken a picture of our new sink! But HOORAY and HALLELUJAH we finally got our kitchen in working condition. (well, functioning, at least - I still have some organizing to do!) When we moved in, the garbage disposal was all rusted out and not functioning. The sink was yuck. So...since we were going to replace the disposal...we decided to just do the whole she-bang. We got a new sink, faucet, and disposal. They are amazing!
Otherwise, the kids' rooms are slowly but surely coming along. I ordered a mirror for above Hazel's crib, and a new crib sheet - but they won't be here until mid-July. I'm working on sprucing up the little play kitchen - it was scraped up a tiny bit in the big move, so I decided to paint it white to go in Hazel's room. I'm working on it :)
Sawyer and Aspen's room is almost done. I still need to hem their curtains and get them a little shelf for the corner, but otherwise, they're pretty well settled. Whew! They love sharing their room - and I love how well they love one another and play well together. The hardest part is that they have the hardest time going to sleep at night, because they're chit-chatting away, or singing....but at least they they enjoy one another's company (although I do think Aspen has a micro-crush on Hazel's pink walls!)
I also spent some time getting more samples and narrowing down the paint color for the master bedroom and all the bathrooms. We've selected all our colors now, so next month it's time to start painting again! LOTS of work (we're doing all the ceilings, too) but it will be something that will make a world of difference in helping me, at least, feel more settled. The walls are a little crazy with my many swatches on them...so it will be so nice to get our calming colors in place once and for all.
Of course, the kids also got to celebrate their most wonderful and amazing DAD this month! They took him out to dinner at an Indian restaurant, and then to get Fro-Yo. They got him some fun/practical/random gifts - like biking shorts and a t-shirt. AND they each picked him out a house plant. We were out and about doing errands one day and Sawyer and Aspen spotted some plants and got SO excited about getting a plant for their Daddy. We had a few plants we had to leave behind when we moved from Seattle, that Jacob really liked, and it was so sweet that they remembered that he loved plants and wanted to pick one out. Sawyer based his choice on the name of the plant - he picked out a "Dragon Tree" (looks like a mini palm) and Aspen picked out a succulant called a "Jade Plant" or something like that. Anyway, it was cute because we had to hide them in the closet until Father's Day rolled around a few days later. They were excited (and I think Jacob was genuinely surprised!) about their gifts.
Daddy with his girls! This was on our way out the door to church and Sawyer wasn't cooperating because he didn't want to wear shoes or something. (I wonder where he got that trait? No shoes!?! Oh me, oh my! Sounds like T-Y----)
I just have to record this for memories sake...
While at the Indian restaurant for dinner, this family for some reason had got take out from McDonalds and came to eat it right in front of the restaurant - kinda weird, since I think it's for patrons of the Indian place, but hey, whatev. Anyway, Sawyer actually loves ethnic food and had already enjoyed his meal - when he spotted the box to a Happy Meal. He just stared at it, and went and looked at it. And I'm sure he was imagining and wondering what kind of toy was inside the box. He's had a few Happy Meals in his life - not many - but enough to know that, to a kid, it's something fun. I thought it was kinda funny. Kinda sad, kinda funny...our silly Sawyer (and notice, somehow he lost his shoes?)
I've never been very scheduled with my kids. I haven't had to be. I try hard to keep things simple and have never wanted any of us to feel like slaves to a schedule. So...our days are always kind of a montage of activities. I'm trying to enjoy the carefree nature of our days, the non-commitment, because starting this fall Sawyer will be in pre-school two days a week (9-2pm) and we also signed him up for soccer at the YMCA! He's really excited! And Aspen about DIED when I told her (she's been asking and asking) we can sign her up for ballet in the fall! And so it begins...the need for more structure and a schedule. I think it will be good for all of us, but I definitely am a fan of the dog days of summer! When we're...
silly as can be! superheroes! practicing skate kicks, bike riding, scooter-ing, snacking on the sidewalk in jackie-o shades - just having a good ole time.
This girl is the sweetest thing. Seriously. Lately, she's taken to "making" her own hair. She makes it just LOVELY, don'tcha think? She wears it out to do errands all fancied and made up - and she gets so many smiles. Wouldn't your day be a little bit brighter if you saw a sweet girl with her hair all carefully made like this? She certainly brightens my days! (and she makes music, too! the girls loves to dance and sing!)
We also like to explore. And eat yummy, summer-y things. And stop to smell the yummy flowers. We have two rose bushes in our yard, as well as a magnolia tree.
We hit up one of the Farmer's Markets last week and had a great time. This farmer's wife took our picture. She was super nice. She even hand-makes soap, of which we bought three different scents. She also spent 20 minutes telling me all about her own four children and how she homeschooled them and she tried darn hard to convince me I should do the same. Then, I could maybe have time to start my own farm, too. Or something like that. It made me smile. Really! I am the first to admit I at one time said I would NEVER consider homeschooling my kids. I'm not saying I'm actually going to do it - but I'm not opposed to it. More, I question if I could give them everything they need by doing it. I feel like some of my reasons for considering homeschool would be more selfish. For now...they'll go to public school. But one day, well, you just never know.
Oh me, oh my - I spy nakie bums in the corner of my eye!
Jacob kind of rolls his eyes at me sometimes. Like when it's almost bedtime and I go out to water the lawn and the kids wander out to see what I'm up to. And I start spraying them. And then they ask if they can get wet!?! And Jacob says "but it's almost time for bed" and I say "you can run through the sprinklers and get wet - only if you don't get your clothes all wet!" ha ha! You know I want to join them! So...they got to bed a little late. But they sure had a blast and made good memories! ;)
And this baby, well, she pretty much just melts my heart. Makes me laugh. I'm crazy for her and can't ever get enough. She goes down to sleep in her crib in her own room now. But usually, at some point during the night, she ends up with us, and I wake up to this sweetness. None of our kids have *truly* slept through the night until I quit nursing them. And I don't rush them. All in time. I really cherish this time - I love the special bond that comes from nursing my babies. It's the sweetest thing.
Well, I guess that's a glimpse into our kinda random and crazy June. We're getting pretty excited about celebrating Independence Day - next week! Bring on July!
