Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Speedy June

IMG_8811 by RachSal
June has just flown by and I realize I haven't updated at all.  So we started early June with a trip to the blackberry patch.  This was the same place we visited to pick strawberries earlier in the year.  The kids had a great time picking and we had filled up a basket before we knew it.  The plan was to make this blackberry cobbler and it was super easy.  I knew we needed 2 cups of blackberries for the cobbler and we picked twice that.  I thought the kids would enjoy having this as a fruity treat, but they each had about a bite and said they were done.  Jeff and I really loved it though.
IMG_8725 by RachSal
IMG_8727 by RachSal
IMG_8730 by RachSal

The kids are so excited that it is finally warm enough to swim!
IMG_8763 by RachSal

Shortly after that we went to see our community's parade before the start of the fair and rodeo.  We had fun watching the parade and later in the week we visited the fair and rodeo.  Jason was getting over a cold, but had a great time riding the rollercoasters.  Both kids had fun watching the "cows try to get away" at the rodeo.
IMG_8767 by RachSal
Yes, my crazy boy decided to wear pants when it was rather warm!
IMG_8768 by RachSal
but he was still having a blast!
IMG_8771 by RachSal
Elizabeth wasn't so sure.
IMG_8776 by RachSal
The sirens got a little loud.

We celebrated Father's day with Jeff and quickly headed down to San Antonio to visit the grandparents and attend the Vacation Bible School they had at their church.  Jason had a blast at their Kingdom Rock and Elizabeth got some special Mommy and Grandma time.  Silly Mommy didn't remember to take out the camera until after the grandparents left to visit other family.
IMG_8817 by RachSal
IMG_8840 by RachSal
Elizabeth still had a great time playing with their toys when they were gone
IMG_8839 by RachSal

Hopefully I will do better with updates and pictures in the next month!

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Sharing

**I accidentally deleted this post from 5/17/13, but was able to retrieve and repost it**

IMG_8584 by RachSal
IMG_8584, a photo by RachSal on Flickr.


So a few weeks ago we moved Elizabeth and all her stuff into Jason's room.  It is a huge bedroom and thankfully even with all of their toys everything fits in there!  It used to be Jason's train themed room, but we are going with a more gender neutral star theme with some trains thrown in.
IMG_8586 by RachSal

IMG_8585 by RachSal 
IMG_8589 by RachSal
My biggest concern with all this was how would the kids do sleeping together and honestly they have taken it pretty well.  They do sometimes keep each other up later than we would like, but most of the time they are respectful and quiet when the other one is sleeping.  It was a huge change for Elizabeth because this was also her transition to a big girl bed.  When I put them to bed each night after stories and prayer and as I'm turning off the lights I normally tell them, "go to sleep, no chitter chatter."   Lately Elizabeth has been reminding me as she is going to sleep saying to me "no chitter chatter" in her sweet little girl way.  It doesn't mean she actually follows through, but she tries to be good.  They do seem to both like having a buddy near by at night and I think it has helped Elizabeth not be such a light sleeper.
IMG_8587 by RachSal

So what's happening with Elizabeth's old room you might ask:  We are actually turning it into a craft room for me and guest room when needed.  Originally I think Jeff was planning on me doing scrapbooking in there and I probably will, but I recently got the urge to get out my Mother in law's old Singer and try sewing again.  I have tried a couple of times and never go very far before I got frustrated and gave up.  For some reason most things worked this time (there was still a little operator error) and my first project was this simple skirt.  Then I couldn't find the right containers to put Jason's quiet boxes and the light dawned that I could make bags, and I did!  I am using every project as a learning experience.  I am really keeping it very simple for right now and maybe one day I'll be able to do the more complicated things.
IMG_8590 by RachSal
my very simple skirt

IMG_8592 by RachSal
Jason with the plate he made me for Mother's day

IMG_8609_1 by RachSal
The whole family on Mother's day

We have a lot of fun things planned for this summer and I will, as always, try to keep the blog updated with them!

Start of Summer

I'm sorry it has been a while since I have written.  It isn't that we haven't been doing anything to write about, I just haven't felt that inspired.  We have been keeping busy though, first Jason had his last day of preschool.  They had a graduation for the older kids in the class going off to Kindergarten and it even made me tear up a bit with how much quickly he is growing up.  Here was his first day of school and here he is after the last one:

IMG_8641 by RachSal

IMG_8617 by RachSal

For Memorial day weekend we headed way down to South Padre Island to play on the beach and we surprised the kids by going to Schlitterbahn water park there.  The kids had a blast, but we didn't get many photos.  I blame the lack of photos for part of the reason I don't feel as compelled to write the stories behind the photos. While we were at the beach we also went on a pirate ship and Jeff and I took a sandcastle building class.

 
Since we have returned I have been making a real effort to be engaged as a mom.  I admit that I had been phoning it in a bit the last month of so, but I have vowed for the kids to have a fun summer.  To accomplish that I made a schedule for our days and a pinterest inspired summer bucket list. 
 
IMG_8652 by RachSal
We have been playing hide and seek
IMG_8667 by RachSal
reading
IMG_8673 by RachSal
sitting in boxes
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hauling dirt
IMG_8705 by RachSal
building rocket ships
IMG_8710 by RachSal
flying rocket ships
IMG_8717_1 by RachSal
and reading to little sister.
 
At the end of May Jeff and I celebrated our 8 year wedding anniversary.  I was so surprised when I found this gift waiting for me!  He got me a beautiful Coach purse!  I don't think I matched him with just a new grill, but I also cleaned his truck. We are looking forward to many more anniversaries to come.
 
IMG_8656 by RachSal

 
We are looking forward to fun and visits this summer so keep checking back!