Sweet Summertime

I don't think we've stopped since we came home from vacation...but that's okay, because we are still having fun and making memories. We made it home just in time for the 4th of July and pretty much spent the day unpacking and preparing to cook dinner for the church that evening. But then, we were invited to view the fireworks in a way that was sheer genius! My aunt works in a building downtown and offered to let us come watch from their conference room. It was perfect...no crowds to fight, no struggling to find a place to park, no ear muffs for Noah when the fireworks were too loud, no heat, and no mosquitoes! I love fireworks!

I enjoy the time that I get to spend with my kids during the summer. I love staying up late and sleeping in. I LOVE drinking coffee while we watch cartoons. I love being able to eat breakfast at home and not having to grab something on the go.

Sister was so excited when I let her feed Deacon the other morning. Check out those VHS tapes...a therapy strategy from Mrs. Luann. They are used to help keep Deacon stabilized in his highchair. Works out great...until you take them on vacation, your condo has a VHS player, one of the videos just happens to be a home video that you made in middle school (okay, maybe it was high school) where you bust out rapping (or attempting to rap)..."In West Philadelphia born and raised, on the playground is where I spent most of my days..." (pretty sure you know the rest), and your husband so kindly puts in the video and embarrasses you in front of your friends! Yep!

Anyway...I was thinking that I had come up with something pretty clever getting her to feed him for me, until checked on them and she had eaten half of the jar.

 In the mornings after Deacon eats, I let him sit in his high chair and play with toys.

I love watching the kids work with him on their own. Deacon had gotten a new toy, and sister was determined to teach him how to use it. It thrilled my heart to watch her show him how to play the piano, and then for him to figure it out. She started clapping and calling big bro over to come check it out, Deacon was beaming with pride over what he had done, and I just wanted to cry!  Tears of joy...of course! (Nevermind Sister's blue streak of hair that she has been rockin out ever since she found it in her room.  I think she got it in a happy meal or something.)

Sister is a huge Pinkalicious fan, so the other day we decided that we needed to make some Pinkalicious cupcakes. I let her do most of the work, and she was so proud!

Her favorite part was getting to use the mixer on her own.

And of course, while we waited on them to bake we decided to play a quick game of Candyland. Gotta love Candyland!

Ironically, it was the cupcake card that sent sister back to the start almost, and she was not too happy about it.

Cupcakes were done and we added the Pinkalicious pink sprinkles...

And Voila! Who needs Buttercups?! We made some pretty darn cute Pinkalicious pink cupcakes..if I do say so myself!

And they even tasted yummy too.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that Big Boy was overseeing it all! :)

And then there was that night...that rare night where Dustin and I actually got the chance to go on a DATE! I had almost forgotten what that was. Our anniversary was in May, and we still had not had the chance to celebrate it, because he had a catering that day and we have just been busy or out of town or whatever. We had to go to the 4:55 movie, because we are like old folks, and if we go to dinner first, we would never make it to the movie after and would go home instead. It was so great to get to spend some time just the two of us. Thanks, Katie!

And while we were out, the kids told their cousin, Katie, that she pretty much sucked, because their old babysitter made them s'mores and built forts with them. So Katie had to step it up a bit, and earn back the Best Babysitter in the World title! And how do you like those tie-dyed t-shirts we made a few weeks ago at a church activity? I was pretty proud of how they turned out and even sported mine today.

The power went out in the middle of the day, and the best part about it was that Noah had to turn off the Wii and go old school with his entertainment. I dug out some dry erase boards that I used to use in my classroom, and they had fun drawing on them.

Noah said, "Mom, take a picture of this and Facebook it, or blog it, or something!" :) I love that boy!

We have frequented Barnes and Noble a lot here lately, because it is air-conditioned, they have all of the Pinkalicious books, a lego table, Starbucks, cream soda in a glass bottle, and they will be ever-so-kind as to heat up Noah's Reeses Peanut Butter cookie for him and sister's triple chocolate chip brownie for her.  I love everything about that place, and I especially love the smell when you walk in the door!

And then there are the birthdays...

We get to do lots of celebrating around here in the months of June and July.

It starts with Noah's birthday. And when it is your birthday, it is imperative that you eat off of the Pampered Chef Celebration plate! This is my sad attempt to make an M&M pancake in the shape of a 7.

This year he wanted a swim party at Aunt Mamme's house, and it was hot, but they had a blast!

We got so wrapped up in the party, that we completely forgot to give Noah his present. We probably still wouldn't have remembered if it hadn't been for the fact that we went to leave and found it hidden behind the tree where put it.

Then there was Poppa's party...

And then Nonna & Uncle Dusty...

I was pretty proud of my dad. He booked a suite at the Holiday Inn and invited us to all come, have pizza and cookie cake, hang out, and swim. It was a lot of fun!

I accidentally forgot to have my brother's name added to the cake. But I'm sure he was able to forgive me when he opened his gift only to find Season 1 of MacGyver.  Don't be jealous! Dustin was. I love the look on my mom's face when she realized that we gave her a big print wrap of the family picture we took in Florida.

Deacon had a good time even though the water was too cold for him to take a dip.

And with summertime comes camps...

I was not quite ready for that, but the time came today when I had to send my baby boy to camp for the very first time.  I cannot believe he is old enough to go to camp. I was not ready to let go, so I even drove him there...an hour away...just to buy a little more time. The whole time Dumb and Dumber was on my mind, cause I felt like Lloyd Christmas telling myself over and over, "BE STRONG!" 

I was proud of him. He was excited and not the least bit scared. He was so ready to get away from his sister for the week that he couldn't stand it!

So it has been pretty quiet around here this evening, other than the new little sound that I am starting to hear quite often. A sound that Sister is so proud of and has been working on for quite sometime now...Sister has learned to SNAP! And she doesn't just snap, she puts the attitude into it. I'm talking hip out, head twisted from side to side attitude. And tonight Sister is snapping in style with her new manicure she got this evening.

I go to take her picture and she says, "I'm sassy, and I know it!" That's her version of the song, because her Daddy won't let her sing it how it really goes. :)

He's so protective of her. He refuses to let her get her ears pierced and barely let me get her hair cut. And although it can be annoying, deep down I think it's really sweet! :)

I had to take a break from my blogging tonight, because there was something going on in my living room that involved a Thomas tent, three of my favorite people, and s'mores. 

And on that note, I'm going to go watch the Bachelorette and try not to think about that fact that my little man won't be home til Thursday. :(