Summer Update~

This was an odd week as I sent the kids to my mom's house for three days.  Then, they stayed at other Grandma's house on Thursday night, so Alex and I could go to a show.  (We saw Spanked, A 50 Shades of Grey Parody.  It was hysterical!)

It is 2:20, and both kids have been asleep for 3 hours.  Rowan doesn't take naps, but I think all of this sleep at other people's houses has thrown him into wanting the comfort of his own bed;-)  I'll take the quiet again for sure.

We marked a few items off of the to-do list.  I can't believe it is almost July! Eeek!  Where does the time go?

 1.  Go to the North Pool-Done!
2. Summer Reading Program for All-ongoing.  We have logged 13 hours with Rowan and I this summer.  Both of our kids love to read, so we spend lots of time reading! 
 3. Swimming Lessons-One week done-one to go!
4. T-Ball for Rowan-ongoing. One more game! 

Ready for the ball!

Looking around!

So hot!

He's got a pretty good little swing!

The team!

5. Firepit-Done!
6. Snow Cones-Done! Rowan's t-ball game this week was VERY hot.  It was 105 when we started, and they only played one inning due to the heat.  I thought we could have made it the second inning, but we went and had snow cones instead.  They were delish!  

Isla had a pink snow cone!

Rowan had root beer float!  It was yummy!

 
7. Happy Hour at Dairy QueenDone! We didn't exactly go to Dairy Queen, but we still had ice cream.  Sonic had a half price day on Shakes, so we ventured out.  Isla had strawberry, Rowan had chocolate, and I splurged and ate a peanut butter malt.  It was amazing!
8. Cupcake Trip (I'm seeing a trend here)
9. Go Fishing- Alex took the kids last Saturday while I ran in the Color Run!  These kids love to fish!
10. Chuck-E-Cheese
 11. Vacation Bible School-Two more weeks until this!  I'm still looking for volunteers for the preschool group;-)
12. Discovery Center Camp for Rowan-This is the last week before school starts!
13. Bike Ride at Lake Shawnee
14. Feed the Geese:-o (Insert horrified look here-I hate geese)
15. SpRiNkLeR!-
16. Bake Cookies-
17. Discovery Center-Been a couple of times now!
18. Bowling
19. Paint Therapy Uncorked
20. Movie Theater-
21. Make Homeade Ice Cream
22. Picnic at Park
23. Paint own rock
24. Donut Shop
25. Go to Branson-Done, and it was amazing!
26. Video Games with Dad-ongoing. Can I just say that I HATE video games...  I am still working on finding an appropriate amount of time for Rowan to play them!  He'd play them all day everyday if I would let him. Ugh!

Dad and Isla mowed the lawn too!  She rode the whole way!

A Blessing!

It is a Monday afternoon, and I am sitting quietly in my own picked-up living room soaking in the silence!  So peaceful.

 My mom, bless her heart, is on vacation.  My mom being a doer, though, said, "I'll take your kids for a couple of days on the farm, and you get stuff done".  Oh, the blessing this is! 

Alex and I ran the kids to meet Grandma and Poppy yesterday afternoon.  Then we returned to our home, kidless-so weird.  We aren't the kind of people who don't have our kids and have nothing to do.  Typically if we are kidless, we are at a meeting or event or there is some purpose behind their absence.  There is no purpose for this kidless expedition other than my mom wanted to spend some time with the grandkids and realized I could use some quiet in my life;-)

I am grateful for her generosity, and I am working my way through my to-do list that moves so much faster when you don't have to deal with the little people!

I love my mom, love my kids, and I'm loving this quiet~

Summer Update~

 Vacation has come and gone, and we are in full summer bliss here at our house. 

 I'm enjoying this season of life where both kids are able to go and participate, and they are really starting to play together (most days).  Of course, there is the occasional, "Row Row is hitting me," but they really are pretty tolerant of each other.  While I still can't sit down and read a book with them both awake, I am at least able to get a little bit of housework done while they entertain themselves.  

I've updated our summer list, and we are chipping away at it.  With swimming lessons this week, we didn't have as much time to play, but next week should be better!


1.  Go to the North Pool-We went on Tuesday for Gage's birthday celebration.  It was fantastic, and we made it until 3:00 p.m.  We will definitely be going back!
2. Summer Reading Program for All-ongoing.  We have logged 7 hours with Rowan and I this summer.  We have made it through 4 of the Magic Treehouse books now, and we are working on the fifth.  Rowan LOVES them.
 3. Swimming Lessons-We started this week, and both kids have done fantastic!  I'm impressed.  We will finish our second week at the end of July.

Sassy sits on the step when it isn't her turn and plays.

She's doing great.  Blowing bubbles and jumping in!

A little kicking practice!

Rowan's pretty independent and most of his swimming is below water;-)

 4. T-Ball for Rowan-ongoing.  Two more games to go!
5. Firepit-We had a cool evening one night where Alex lit up the firepit, and we all sat around!
6. Snow Cones
7. Happy Hour at Dairy Queen
8. Cupcake Trip (I'm seeing a trend here)
9. Go Fishing- Rowan and Isla have gone with Alex twice now to fish since school has been out.  They both love it, and I enjoy the quiet the empty house brings.  I'm thinking this will be an ongoing activity!  We fished a lot on our vacation!
10. Chuck-E-Cheese
 11. Vacation Bible School-Rowan is signed up, and I will be volunteering!  This is the third week of July!
12. Discovery Center Camp for Rowan
13. Bike Ride at Lake Shawnee
14. Feed the Geese:-o (Insert horrified look here-I hate geese)
15. SpRiNkLeR!-Rowan loves the sprinkler, and the kids have been in it a couple of times.  It is so much easier than the pool!
16. Bake Cookies- Rowan and I made Rice Crispy treats last week, and we all enjoyed them.  They were yummy!
17. Discovery Center-Been a couple of times now!
18. Bowling
19. Paint Therapy Uncorked
20. Movie Theater-Done, and I just don't want to think about this one again.  It was that bad!
21. Make Homeade Ice Cream
22. Picnic at Park
23. Paint own rock
24. Donut Shop
25. Go to Branson-Done, and it was amazing!
26. Video Games with Dad-ongoing. We are still playing Skylander Giants, and Rowan told me this morning, "Will you put all of the Skylanders on my Christmas List".  Oy, oy, there are 48 of them!

We took Dad out for ice cream on Father's Day.  Sassy loved it!

Vacation!

Last Sunday we headed out to Ridgedale, MO for 5 days of glorious relaxing in the sun.  We purchased a 1300 square foot 2-bedroom cabin off of Ebay.  This particular cabin was on a resort with fantastic amenities.  Our cabin had two bedrooms with two separate bathrooms, a living room and full kitchen in between the two, laundry, and a back patio with barbecue grill.  So, in essence, it is just like being at home but with no other responsibilities;-)

We stayed on the resort all but 1 of the days.  We ventured into Branson one day to Ride the Ducks and do a little shopping.  Other than that one day, we simply stayed on the resort and swam or fished.  It was relaxing, and we had fantastic weather!

We fished!

and fished...

This was a kid's pond that was uber stocked with fish!  Isn't it pretty?

We swam!

and enjoyed the outside!

We played putt-putt!

and fished some more.

Isla had to stand on the rock too!

The kids loved our whirlpool bath!

and fished!

and drove the duck on the lake!

Caught a turtle fishing!

Don't they look comfy;-)

Isla drove the duck too!

and fished.

and swam some more!

We came back refreshed and relaxed to start a new week.  Alex went back to work this morning, but we sure enjoyed having him around last week to play with us!

Week in Pictures-Summer Update~

Summer is underway, and we are crossing items off of our Summer Fun List!  I'm ready to enjoy life for a little bit and not feel so rushed to do everything.  Here's our progress and some pictures of the highlights. 

1.  Go to the North Pool
2. Summer Reading Program for All-ongoing.  We have logged 3 hours with Rowan and I this summer.  We started reading The Magic Treehouse, and he is really liking them.  I ordered a few more of them to see if we can't get him hooked.
3. Swimming Lessons-The lady called who does Rowan's lessons, and we are postponing them a week since it has been so cold here.  I'm okay with that!
4. T-Ball for Rowan-ongoing.  We had our first game last week.  Rowan got a hit, and he made it on base!  He is still dramatic in t-ball, but he has a little more potential in this sport!
5. Firepit-We had a cool evening one night where Alex lit up the firepit, and we all sat around!
6. Snow Cones
7. Happy Hour at Dairy Queen
8. Cupcake Trip (I'm seeing a trend here)
9. Go Fishing- Rowan and Isla have gone with Alex twice now to fish since school has been out.  They both love it, and I enjoy the quiet the empty house brings.  I'm thinking this will be an ongoing activity!
10. Chuck-E-Cheese11. Vacation Bible School-I signed Rowan up for this last week!
12. Discovery Center Camp for Rowan
13. Bike Ride at Lake Shawnee
14. Feed the Geese:-o (Insert horrified look here-I hate geese)
15. SpRiNkLeR!
16. Bake Cookies- Rowan and I made Rice Crispy treats last week, and we all enjoyed them.  They were yummy!
17. Discovery Center- I took the kids to the Discovery Center last week.  They loved it, and it is such a great facility for Topeka.  I'm excited to go see their new water exhibit that they have opened up!
18. Bowling
19. Paint Therapy Uncorked
20. Movie Theater-
Lindsey and I took the kids to see Epic on Monday at the theater.  We are just going to call this an EPIC fail, to say the least.  Rowan was a champ.  Isla was awful to say the least.  She screamed, spilled our popcorn, yelled "Potty!" twice, but then wouldn't go when I took her out, and encouraged the people in front of us to move down the row. I left the theater early with her, and thank heavens for Lindsey, who said she'd bring Rowan home when it was over.  This was an uber mom fail with Isla.  Rowan and I are going to have to do this again just to make it a more positive experience for me!
21. Make Homeade Ice Cream
22. Picnic at Park
23. Paint own rock
24. Donut Shop
25. Go to Branson-We leave on Sunday for this trip.  I'm excited to have some rest and relaxation away from our home;-)
26. Video Games with Dad-ongoing. Alex and Rowan have been working through Skylander Giants.  Rowan even got a new Skylander last week that he has been bopping through the game with! 

Depends on the day, but they like each other a little bit.

This was the first morning of summer.  Isla came and snuggled!

Playing a little t-ball with Daddy!

Rowan's mastered the bike.  He's good enough to leave the sac now.

It was only kind of warm when we got out the pool.  The kids loved it, though!

The slide adds some appeal!

Sleeping! I love watching them sleep.

Painting at the Discovery Center!

Sassy even did it!

Isla was being annoying, so Rowan took care of it! 

Gotta love summer!

We made underwater sea scenes with some stickeys.

Rowan and I were working on his last name, and Isla was busy too!

This was the scene after our epic movie fail at our house.  It lasted about 10 minutes, though, before she was
up and tearing stuff up!

. 
Week two is ahead!  I'm almost caught up on my housework, so hopefully I can find some more time to just sit and be;-)