My Outlet

We have been renting for about a year and a half.  Not long, but just long enough for me to get the redecorating itch.  That paired with the extremely hot temperatures have left me wanting to reorganize, change, update, the entire place.  I have tried to harness my desire to do something productive.  So, I painted some pictures for the boy's room. 

I'm going to stain the wood frame a dark brown to match their furniture.  I also want to refinish some floating shelves to hold the piggy banks that I painted.

Emily wanted to make a cake for her mother-in-law this weekend.  I haven't made a cake in a while because most of my stuff is packed away in boxes.  But, this one was simple enough to make without all of the cake stuff.  It was nice to get to make one again. 

 

I love to create with my hands. There is definitely something in my personality that feels so rewarded when I get to start and finish a project. With the move coming up and they boys finally sharing a room, I hope to keep working on finishing their bedroom. My goal is to make everything more personal by making it all by hand.  We will see how that goes.

Mamaw and Pawpaw

We love having visits from Mamaw and Pawpaw.  It's so nice because when they come we usually don't have anything going on so visits are just about playing and spending time with the kiddos.  Lucas shows them all of his trains and cars, Pawpaw tells the kids stories, and they rough house. Because they are the only two grandkids I think that they are getting a little spoiled.  That's what grandparents are for.  We recently had dinner with Mamaw and Pawpaw at Texas Roadhouse.  I would definitely call that restaurant kid friendly. 

Plenty of rolls, loud music and lots of people walking around=successful dinner out.

 Even Samuel enjoyed the yummy bread

Thanks for coming to visit us Mamaw and Pawpaw.  We are so greatful that we get to see you as often as we do.  Love you!

Daddy Time

Brian has been working a lot lately.  Samuel and Lucas seem to cling to him when he is around.  Lucas seems to think that Daddy can do everything better than Mommy.  In many cases he can.  Daddy can build a better train track and he can make better car noises.  According to Lucas, Daddy also changes his diaper and brushes his teeth better than Mommy.  Well, I can't argue with that : )

Something else that the kids do differently with Daddy is play rough.  Very rarely do the boys ever hit me, or tackle me, or jump on me out of nowhere.  But, when Daddy walks into the room the place becomes a boxing match.  It's crazy but a lot of it is started by Samuel.  That's right, my sweet little 10-month old has been instigating physical play.  For some reason he is intrigued by Brian's shaved head.  He will walk up to Brian, stare him down, grab his face (hard) and pull his head down just to give it a good hit.  I don't know how to explain it.  Its like male bonding or something.

I love to watch my boys play.  Sometimes I don't always understand their play, but I love to watch them.  They have the best Daddy in the world.  Brian will always drop what he is doing to play dinosaur, or to build an awesome train track or to wrestle.  I know that my boys love having him around and they miss him when he is gone.

Sunday Afternoon

Almost every Sunday afternoon our entire family gets together.  Sisters, parents, brother-in-laws, and grandchildren...and sometimes a dog.  Its been a tradition since we were little (I think it comes from our southern roots).  We always went to church as a family and then had lunch all together.  Sunday afternoons are something so special.  After a week full of craziness we all get to be together, share stories from the week, eat yummy food cooked by Grandma and Pawpaw, and play with the kiddos.  

Last weekend we went swimming at Grandma and Pawpaw's neighbor's house.  I think that the kids really liked to have the grandparents swimming too.

Its such a special time for me. I know that my kids are going to grow up with great memories from spending time with their extended family. I know that things will change, people might move, kids will grow up. But for now, we are going to keep enjoying and appreciating our time together.

Smiling

There hasn't been a whole lot going on around here lately.  Hence the lack of posts.  But, one thing that we have been doing a lot of is smiling.  We have been trying new crafts, playing with a lot of cars, enjoying our new sleep set-up, having lots of family dinners, trying new foods at those family dinners, having one-on-one time with Mommy, ect. 

Smiling while making a mess

Smiling after achieving a full tummy

Smiling at Which Wich...mmmm

Trying to hide a smile after making his little brother laugh

Smiling while making his little brother laugh

Little Brother laughing

Mommy and sweet baby smiling

Driving a Car

I always said that I would never let a toy like this be in the house.  But, when the temperatures are around 110 degrees outside there is no choice but to bring the outside in.  Some friends of ours generously gave us their little red car because their kids no longer played with it.  My kids are absolutely loving it.  They are having so much fun  Here are just a few of the ways that our new little car has influenced our playtime...

Snack time on the roof of the car

Definately not a two-seater

Even Daddy is getting in on the action.

Sister's Night Out

Last week four out of the five of my sisters went out on the town.  We had dinner, went shopping and then had some chocolate.  It was really nice to go out and to get to be with each other.  Very rarely do we make this happen.  But, we definately need to start doing it more.  Thanks for a great night sisters.  Here are some silly pictures of us from the sugar high.