Let's Get This Summer Party Started (July 2016)

July was filled with... 

living room campouts with Grace and Mary Ellen 

If she finishes everything on her tray and no one notices, she starts yelling until someone pays attention. Today, I turned around and asked her who she was yelling at. This was her response...

sister bath and story times 
The Pigeon Needs a Bath is a new favorite around here.

this girl's cute faces 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSfPu3xfiBA

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnSHO8O61oA

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QGV_6Gs21U

 summer afternoons like these at the library 

listening to this sweet girl grow into a strong reader 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2x54dENtGg

 practicing baby wearing for our trip to Utah

mornings at Target to get ready for our big trips

date nights with this guy 

When the to do lists are long and the details of the life feel overwhelming, I'm thankful for this guy who knew what I needed and helped me fight for it when I couldn't. When it felt too hard to slow down and I was in desperate need of some peace and rest, he stepped in. He took me to dinner and then created space for me to stop and read and BE with Jesus. Just like that I felt like I could breathe again. 
 

family book club day 

Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin is a favorite of ours and a perfect first pick for our family book club! We started our morning with breakfast tacos and our first reading of the book. We followed that up with some taco sticker fun and a craft. The girls were entertained for a while with many rounds of Taco Takeover. We finished our day with a full taco dinner spread and another reading of our book. It was a ton of fun. The girls loved it and were asking what our next book was going to be before the night was over.  I'm looking forward to our next family book club day too! 

 

 

 lots of swimming with friends

a fun 4th of July celebration: swimming, BBQ, s'mores, poppers and sparklers with friends

 

 

 a day at the lake with school friends

 

blueberry loving

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCge0J-C7JQ

birthday party preparations!

This is the face of one excited (almost) 4 year old. Ella was so excited to come to the store with me and so appreciative as we picked out the special things for her little birthday celebration. Her birthday joy even made the disgruntled Walmart shoppers smile. Only two more days until her Paris party...real poodle included!

 

One night, Abby came with me to finish up some small birthday details for Ella. We passed her favorite store and she just had to run in to take a peek. When did my baby become such a big girl. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rm3ICJ-3h3I 

Best Daddy Ever

On Father's Day, we took the day extra slow. We let Daddy rest and spend lots of quality time with his girls. The girls showered him with special cards, artwork and homemade gifts they were really proud of.

We spent the afternoon swimming in our friends pool and had a blast together.

Time for a snack break

Watching our girls with their daddy is one of my favorite things in the world! God knew what He was doing when He chose you for us. Thank you for choosing our family over and over again. We love you so much!

Goodbye Kindergarten, Hello First Grade

End of the year festivities had Abby and her Kindergarten friends at the bowling alley.

Friends, fun and french fries...doesn't get any better than this!

Abby and Raina

From the first day of school to the last! Look at how much our sweet girl has grown. Her love for school and learning has grown just as much.

Ella started summer a couple of days before Abby and this is what her morning looked like while we were getting Abby off to her last day of school...

On the last day of school, Abby was awarded a scholarship for the 2016-2017 school year. We are so proud of her!

It was a special morning celebrating the end of Kindergarten in Abby's classroom.

The class presented a reading of The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. Abby was one of the three readers. She did a great job!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpST6wD-PWE

We loved Abby's teacher.  It's been a great year watching Abby grow and learn!

My baby is now a big girl first grader! I love her so so much.

Abby and Raina 

Goodbye Kindergarten! First Grade, here we come. We have already read The Night Before First Grade by Natasha Wing a bunch of times.