a party in the back, all business in the front

I love summer!  No schedules.  Lots of down time. :)  Makes me happy!  And in between all the fights, nit picking and arguing, I capture sweet moments like this...sharing a sleeping bag!

 This morning, we went to a playground and had some fun!

 Yesterday, it stormed and rained a lot, so it was nice to be out and about in the sunshine.

 Love these little kiddos!!

 After the playground, we headed over to get our hair cut.  This boy was starting to get shaggy!! 

 My friend, Ashly, cuts our hair and we just love her!!  She does a great job and the kids love playing at her house while they wait on me. ;)

 And, guess what....Today was Miss Maggie's FIRST HAIRCUT!!!!!!!  I was excited!  She is growing a mullet, and at Gretchen's gentle suggestion {"It looks like a party in the back and all business in the front!"}, I decided to get just a little trimmed off of it so it would start growing in more even.

 She has some pretty curly hair and it is sooo wild!  Granted, she is caked with sunscreen in these pictures. ;)

 Look how little she looks sitting in the chair! 

 Mullet city!!

 And, voila!  It looks much better.  Not quite so stringy. :) 

 Baby girl's first haircut is in the books!  She is getting too big for her britches!  Love this baby doll!

splish splashin' fun

When I asked Levi what he wanted to do for his birthday party, he said, "Mom, I would really love just to go swimming with my cousins."  Well, hot diggity dog, that was easy enough to make happen!!!  I can't believe that my little boy is SIX years old!  And, my baby girl is TWO.  Seriously, where did the time go? 

 We just did a super simple bring-yo'-suits...

 ...cuz-you-is-gonna-get-wet birthday bash!

 And, the cousins came...

 ...and got wet...

 ...and splish-splashed...

 ...and jumped...

 ...and peed in their swim diapers...

 ...and slid down the slide...

 ...and swam their little hearts out...

...and acted like goof balls...

 ...and splashed their brothers...

 ...and snuck up on their sisters...

 ...and jumped some more...

 It was a really great, laid back evening with the family.  I think the kids could swim 24/7 and be content!  When it was time to open gifts, they made out like bandits!  Maggie got lots of girlie stuff...bows, monogrammed bloomers, a doll, a baby carrier and dress up clothes.  Levi got boy stuff...remote control cars, Indiana Jones for his DS, Monster Truck stuff, and his fave gift was a Lego airplane from his Lego loving cousin, Griffin!

 So, you know what happens when you forget your camera at your OWN KIDS BIRTHDAY PARTY??  You rely on your sister to take pictures for you.  And, you hope that in all those pictures, she will get an uber flattering one of you for all the blog world to see.  Yeah, didn't happen.  She just got a few of me running my mouth! :/  Ha!

Thanks to everyone for making this day so special for my little hoodlums. :)

wooden and reckless...

It's been a pretty full week, but I honestly can't remember what we have been busy doing!  Does anyone else ever have weeks like that?  :)  I tried to capture some of the highlights with my phone.  

Last weekend, we took the kids to Pizza King to celebrate their birthdays!!  Levi LOVES the train.  I mean, what kid doesn't like their drink brought to them via choo choo train??  {I will post about their birthday party.  I was a BAD mom and forgot my camera, so I had to wait on my sister to get me the pics!} 

Alright, you guys, it has been HOT here!  I'm not really much of a hot weathered person unless you can spend time in a pool!  That is exactly what we have done.  Spending lots of waking hours at Grammy & Papa's!  So nice!

 I even got to spend two and a half hours there by myself on Friday just laying out.  Heaven.  Well, except that my dad found a nest of spiders living under the pool pump about six months ago.  Those spiders happened to be Black Widow spiders.  O.M.G.  He has also found some Brown Recluse spiders.  Needless to say, Black Diamond has been coming out regularly to spray!!  He did find some more Black Widow a few weeks ago, but I think they are all gone.  I've been napping by the pool with one eye open. ;)  The funny thing about this little rant is that when my dad showed the boys the spiders, Levi called them Black Wooden spiders and Griffin called them Brown Reckless.  Boys!  Too funny. :)

 We've been having lots of cousin time at the pool, which has been wonderful.  We love our cousins!!  My brother sent me the picture of Maggie below.  I think it's hilarious.  Dad said she looks like someone from the Avengers! Ha! 

 We've also been spending some time at Grammy's classroom.  She is retiring this week and been giving the kids lots of her books!!  They are LOVING it!  Something really special we got to see on Thursday was the baby chicks!  Mom is doing a chick lesson and eight of the chicks have hatched!!

 Levi was all about holding the chicks and playing with them, but Maggie just liked them from a distance. :)

 With our three day weekend, Eric has gotten to spend lots of time at home with us and it has been awesome!  We've gone swimming, grilled out, had movie nights, made fun stuff for breakfast, and just had some really quality family time - yay!  Much needed!  I adore these two little munchkins right here...

from moss green to corn silk yellow

When we moved into our home three years ago, we didn't paint very much.  In fact, we only painted the living room.  The kitchen and living room were painted the same color...I called it moss green.  I didn't mind the color, even though it wasn't what I would have picked out.  But, it was a little too much green for me, so went with something more neutral.  Please excuse the cute little girl in the tote! ;)

 So, here it is...the moss. 

 For Mother's Day, I decided I wanted a kitchen re-do!!  And, Eric didn't fight me on it.  Happy Mother's Day to meeee!!!  :)))  I packed everything away and got ready for taping everything off.  Um, I usually clean my little decorative jars pretty often {I just throw them in the dishwasher!} but I guess it has been a while!  Can we say DUST???  Gross...

 On Saturday morning, the painting began!  Later, I found this picture of Levi.  Hilarious!  He hasn't learned about flattering angles yet. ;)

 Goodbye moss, hello corn silk!  I love, love, love me some YELLOW!  It reminds me of my Grandmother. :)  She always told me that on a rainy day, you need to wear some red or yellow.  It will make you smile. 

 Levi got lessons on the proper way to paint.  I think he just wanted to paint his name everywhere! Ha!

 Hello cuteness!  She didn't get to paint, so we tried giving her important jobs like "go get a wet rag" or "go turn the tv up"...

 And, voila!  The finished room!  I was SOOOO happy with the color!

 I still need fabric for my chairs and window treatments, but it is almost complete!

 My canisters from Pier 1 on our girls weekend! :)

 I love how my jars show up against the yellow! :)

 And, one little addition...a new lemonade jar.  Eric died when I said it was for decoration.  He doesn't understand the need for some cute stuff.  Sigh...

And, my new rug...

I hope to get my window treatments this weekend!  Then I will have one more "all done" picture!  But, I'm very pleased and excited about my Mother's Day Makeover!