Summer Joys

I have a confession. Summer is not my favorite. I don't love the triple digits or feeling like I live in a sauna when I leave my house. I know everyone's all..."Pool days for life" but those people have never tried to take my crazies to the pool. So the last few weeks I have found myself on Pinterest beefing up my Fall board more than once. I love Fall and all the coziness that goes with it, but I know Summer is here for a bit so I'm trying not to wish it away. In an effort to embrace summer a little more I am trying to capture all the little joys that Summer brings.

Like staying up late to enjoy some outside time when the temp *might be below 100. 

Little boys learning to ride trikes, drawing chalk and lining up all the toys.

Red sweaty faces and dirty little toes.

Baby brothers hanging on blankets observing it all.

And trying to find our favorite sno cone flavors.

So cheers to Summer...and more sno cones than responsible parenting would allow!!!

A Dino-mite Bash

Let's get real...dinosaurs are not my favorite. I was kinda hoping this was a boy thing we would just skip, but who was I kidding I have three boys...there were bound to be dinosaurs. So when Grady vetoed my party idea with the request for a dinosaur party I had to concede, it is his party after all. Despite my initial distaste for the creatures they have kind of growing on me, and I don't mind too much when Grady corrects my pronunciation of their names or tells me that a certain creature wasn't actually a dinosaur. 

In all honesty the dinosaur party was fun and easy to pull together.

The chocolate rocks were a big hit, and actually pretty tasty. 

 It always makes decorating easy when you have all the books and toys you need to fit the theme!

 We buried dinos in the sandbox for the kids to dig up and take home.

 He told me after he blew out his candles that he wished to go to Mexico to explore for animals. Not thinking that will come true this year.

 Chris Kratt!

I can hardly believe that I have a dinosaur lovin' 5 year old. What they say is so true...the days are long, but the years are short! Happy Birthday to our biggest little bear.

Halloween Books

One of our favorite ways to celebrate a holiday or season is with books. I think it's a great way to build anticipation, and learn more about the holiday. Although Halloween it's my favorite holiday, I still enjoy celebrating it and making memories with my kids. That being said I am not into the blood and creepy side of the holiday, I'm pretty picky about our Halloween books and videos, so all of our top picks are pretty G rated.

 Little Blue Truck's Halloween is new to our collection this year, but it is in the top 5 because of the cute story line an fun flaps to lift.

 This is a simple board book, but it has a fun little twist that made my boys giggle. It's super sweet and perfect for littles.

 This is a funny story with the beloved characters from the Click, Clack, Moo story. 

 I avoided this book at first just because it had a witch, and like I said I avoid most of the "dark" parts of Halloween, but it is a really fun read. There is a dragon and a witch, but it has never bothered my boys.

This silly book is so fun, I love how it really cracks my boys up!!!

So there are our top 5! I love adding books to our collection...it's a sickness, really. So...what are your favorite Halloween books?

Cancun

Chad and I had the opportunity to get away this month. Chad earned a free trip to Cancun based on his production last year, and it was fun to see him rewarded for his hard work. It was really hard to leave the boys behind, but I did manage to relax and have some fun.

Easter 2016

We enjoyed celebrating the precious sacrifice of our Savior again this year. We are very thankful for the opportunity to celebrate with Family and friends.

 MDO egg hunt

 Egg hunt at Papa and Grammy's Church

 Marhall's first egg hunt

 We were surprised to find snow on the ground when we woke up Easter morning. It had almost all melted by the time we got back from church, but that didn't stop the kids and uncles from having a snowball fight with what was left.

What a blessed season!