Summer Time

Well, I don't have anything exciting to share, but I can say that I don't like it at all how my pictures load in reverse order of my selection... just sayin'.

The picture below is my first Cricut project. It is 26" tall and about the same in width. I really had very little part in it other than telling my ultra-crafty-friend that I wanted to do it. She came over and told my machine what to do, and it listened. It turned out so well. All I had to do was hang it. I tried telling my wall what to do, but it didn't listen, so this took a lot longer than it should have. Stupid wall.



I've wanted to get McKay a slide for a while and have tested a few out at yard sales. I refused to pay $50 retail for a plastic slide or $20 for a used and not very sturdy one. So instead I got one free from someone's trash! I walk early every morning with a friend. Someone had set this by the curb with the trash. It's a Step One and is really sturdy. When we saw it, we quickly walked to my car and loaded it up b4 another early riser beat me to it! The kids spent the sweltering morning playing on it.


This is a blurry picture that sumizes Mack's behavior these days... the naughty explorer.

I LOVE THIS PICTURE! I love that you can see his adorable crossbite and the ever present twinkle in his squinty, little eyes. There is something about this picture that helps me invision what he'll look like at a 16 year old. He just looks so big to me here.

This is a picture of my guys and our favorite summer friend, Meleah. She has been spending summer days with us since I quit working in 2006. Her mom is a good friend of mine from work who needed a place for Lee-Lee (as we call her) to pass the summer days. We love her so much and look forward to her coming. She only hangs out with us a couple days a week now since she's older and does some solo time at home, but she is amazing with my kids and is a very special young lady. Serious props to her mom for doing an outstanding job raising her!

We made this ice cream cake, and decorated it like a pool, to kick off our first trip to the pool. It was pretty tasty!

The day after the big boys got out of school, we went to the ice cream parlor with the cousins. It was fun. I am so sad that summer is more than half over. Another school year means my children are getting older and that kills me. I know I'm supposed to be glad for them to grow and experience all the good things that come with each year, but I am not, ever--glad for that !! I love the lack of chaos and lack of structure of the summer. Even though days get boring and the house gets messy, I find great comfort in having these boys close by. When I walked into Wal-mart the first week in JULY and saw a 'Back to School' banner I wanted to puke and yell at the manager for wrecking my summer buzz. Sheesh. Darn capitolism.

A trip to the ice cream parlor is tricky for us. We have to request a clean ice cream scooper be used to scrape back the layer of 'contamenated' ice cream so that Garen and Oakley, who both have peanut allergies, can enjoy a treat without requiring an epi injection and trip to the ER. Oakley and Mack are also allergic to milk, so they always get sorbet... clearly, Mack is not complaining. He seriously dug his raspberry 'ice cream'.

I didn't get a picture of Elli. She was with some girls that were also there. Here's Jake, Luke, Oakley and Garen enjoying a taste of summer.