Phone Dump: B-Roll

Sometimes you just accept what is present to you, in which ever fashion it has chosen to present itself. 

#sister

Photo Credit: Claire Bear

Introducing the creepy puppets!

Creepster!

Creepy!

Creeper

Creepen!

Creepette! The eyes!

Beach!!

Summer Bucket List 2014

Who else is a bucket lister?

This gem has the hubs a bit nervous! I think he feels we've over done it this year, knowing there are also trips and summer camp to work around. This year the ladies were able to easily list off activities themselves and they were all reasonable! 

Week 1: We visited the castle for a day and played mini golf on the way home! 

Hopefully we can keep up the pace and cross everything off before we start school!

How's your summer going?

Strawberries

Just a quick memory before it escapes me. 

Two weeks ago now we went to pick strawberries. Thankfully it wasn't 4 Gazillion degrees out this year!

This little lady didn't have a meltdown over the temperature or any organic matter she came in contact with. Yay for growth!!

The berries were small this year, but tasty none the less. 

We left with three 1/2 bushels full of berries. 

We ate them all. No jam this year. 

Seriously, can we all at least look the same way? I honestly thought this would improve with age. At least when they were little I could shake my hand and get their eyes. I promise they weren't being tortured. 

Sigh.

Maybe we will go for cherries next week and get some good pictures. 

SssssSssss

C: Mommy! I saw a snake and his tongue was out.

Me: Uh-huh. That's nice.

C: See Mommy, a snake.

Me: OK.

Neighbor Lady: It is a snake!

Moral of the story: Kids don't lie.

We weren't out looking for snakes, we had actually gone to check on our tadpole friends and gather rocks to color. However, Seila made her presence known. 

Dear Seila was fairly calm, sunning herself on a pile of crushed asphalt.

Thankful there was a post of FB that morning, with pictures, identifying the two poisonous snakes in our state. Seila isn't one of them although she was considerably large than the little garter snakes I've seen in the past. The neighbor lady trusted my judgement of the internet and sent her daughter to touch it! Ha! 

So despite the water evaporating and losing our tadpoles, we still had a fine adventure. 

Trolley Trail Pictures

I love hiking. No surprise. I also love exploring with these ladies!

Picking wild flowers.

Finding new creepy crawlies.

Climbing trees!

Climbing rocks!

Finding pottery. 

And local graffiti. 

This is my happy place. With my happy people. 

Water, water everywhere!

Yesterday was hellacious! Whatever happened to Sunday Funday?!

It started when I decided to futzy with the pool before work. I had picked up all the necessary chemicals [and gave my husband a small heart attack at the register] and marched to the yard. 

Step 1: Add Water 

Simple enough if your hose isn't pushing two decades old and hasn't been through a terrible winter. The couplings are shot and water was spraying EVERYWHERE! I decided to disregard this and push forward. I conveniently left for work at this point. 

***insert abominable work day***

I return home to hear the pool has a suspected leak. Oh just great! 

I ramble outside, hear drips, assume its a hose leak. Never assume. Sometimes flowing water stops the leak, alteast for the night, and I certainly wasn't going to be fixing anything after 9 p.m. on a Sunday evening. So I turned on the filter.

I. Turned. On. The. Filter. 

I flicked the switch. 

I'm so stupid. 

KABOOM!

No that wasn't a bomb, just the filter exploding. It took a long 45 seconds to believe my eyes and for my mind to force my fingers into action. That harsh winter that killed the hose? It also cracked the filter housing. The pressure from the pump allowed that tiny crack to KA-BLEW-EY water all over the yard. 

Did I mention that I passed up a new filter last Thursday because the sale wasn't sale enough? 

One day I will check, double check, be proactive, not assume, and stop caring what other people think. That's the whole reason I'm rushing to get the pool open before we take our trip and Mother gets a chance to come judge my yard... A special thanks to Am.azon and my Pr.ime membership for not failing me!

How was your weekend?

June Goals

From May: 

• Finish shed completely; windows, paint, trim
• Register the ladies for school [gulp!]
• Finalize summer travel plans and budget
• Switch over wardrobes
• Cancel cable [finally!!]
• Make myself a weekly chore sheet 

What can I say? It was a rainy month but the shed is nearly complete thanks to some hard work under the hot sun. That chore chart was a pipe dream, I'll stick to my To-Do lists.

For June and the rest of the summer I'm focusing on personal and family goals. This is our reconnect time and I've decided to take on an extra day at work during the summer which has effectively wiped out my day off. This is not a horrible idea. This is not a horrible idea. This is not a horrible idea. This is not a horrible idea. 

Personal

• Catch up on PL (I've fallen a month behind thanks to all our goings on and exploring)
• Friend Date with Katie
• Blog make-over?

Family

• Family haircuts
• Dinner date with the hubs
• Schedule 5 year check-up
• Pull together summer camp stuffs

Summer is coming! 

Pool Is Open

Well the baby pool at least. 

I spent my Memorial Day weekend working, if not at work than on my shed. The big pool has been pushed aside and I was regretting that decision as I worked on the roof yesterday with the heat and humidity. The ladies are eager to get in and swim but this mama needs the water much, much warmer. 

In other swim related news: what is up with the girls swim section?

The ladies are supporting their 3T bathing suits from last year because they offer more coverage than the 4/5 I purchased in the girls section. WTH?! How is this possible?

I can assure you it's not a case of straps being too long or the suits being all around too big. Four suits that are worthless to me. Gah. I though shopping for myself was a pain, but apparently it applies to all the ladies of our house. Back to infants and toddlers I go. 

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Summer!

Today's accomplishment: Updating the calendar!

Slowly but surely our calendar is filling with summery plans. Sadly it's now June 3rd and we haven't finalized [read printed off] our Summer Bucket List. Since our summer doesn't officially begin until the Captain is finished with school I have given myself two weeks! 

I'm excited to relax and spend some time together as a family. It's our last summer before we release them to the wild, er, public school system. It's because of this upcoming milestone that I feel the need to cram in every bit of family fun, and values. So they can start their journey confident of who they are and know where they come from. This is a giant post for another day. 

We're off to ride bikes now, assuming the playroom finds it's floor before lunch. Hopefully I can ramble off my goals during quiet time and carve out a to-do list for Wednesday! 

Almost

I've almost completed the shed, FINALLY! We've been held back the entire month of May because of rain. It rained EVERY. SINGLE. WEDNESDAY. Guess what days I'm home...

Yesterday was full of sunshine and humidity, that last bit I could have done without. I'm happy to report that I'm 85% complete after my fourth working day with it. I just need roof shingles and trim paint! *Squeal*

I also feel the need to offer something to my children for neglecting them all day. Thankfully they are eager helpers and were so thankful for the "new blocks" they found. 

Hopefully by next Wednesday this nonsense:

Will have dissipated and returned to its normal shade of pasty. Sigh. 

Happy Birthday HAM

It's been quite the year Miss HAM! 

Happy 4th Birthday!