the 4th

Let me preface by saying I'm fairly certain this may be the most pictures on a blog post in the history of blogging.
Too many favorites, so much fun was had....I couldn't choose. Or maybe it's that I'm too lazy to edit?
Whatevs.

Our first 4th at our very own lake home.
{insert the happiest heart}

Jacks on the ski trainer...for being so fearless, he definitely has reservations when it comes to skiing.
And tubing.
And anything that goes along with the boat.

During a cute photo opp of jumping off the dock, we all got a bit of a surprise...

Kas and I on the tube....guess who the first to fall off was!?  Shocker.

My gorgeous little sisters.

They keep me young, I keep them from wanting to get old.

Prepping for the big day....

What we like to call Kristi toes :)

I wish the follwing picture was a video.

Jacks yelling "ca-chow" to me and pointing while he jumps off the dock.

Makes my Mommy heart smile.

Finny and her new trick...she could float All.Day.Long.

I guess Daddy needs a little more sun screen...

Happy 4th of July.
And God Bless Americurrrrrr.

Creepin'

Last year, we had our first theme party.
We decided we are turning it into an annual event.
This year's theme:
Creepy Denim.

The only requirement was denim.  Head to toe preferably.
I love that our friends and family have as much fun as we do, and I'm pretty sure we laughed every time someone new walked through the door.

The birthday boy and girl:

We set up a bit of a photo booth with my handmade backdrop.

If there were an award for the highest rise, these girls would take the cake. Hands down.

Darcy even had her sweet dance moves down with those Mom Jeans.

We decided to re-create a picture we had taken in college, and we did a pretty good job at it.

We were laughing so hard I'm surprised we got a decent picture!

Here are the culprits for the worst blisters I have ever had in my life.  But my word, they were worth it.

I can't believe they were selling them in a store. Horrific.

One last pose for us before her departure.

I haven't laughed so hard in a long time.

I'm up for suggestions for next year.  We have a few thoughts, but it's always fun to get more ideas!

some stuff

Wowza.

The longer I wait, the harder it is to blog.  I've gotta get my act together.

And looking through my emails and messages, y'all think I need to pull it together too.

So, here is my sad attempt at a few things going on...

This may be one of my fav pics as of late...while we were getting Jacks fitted for his tux, he was so pumped and kept telling us how handsome he looked. 

I posted this to facebook and said "Petey for President!?"

After spending a long 4th of July weekend at the lake, I took the next day off.

While unpacking, I couldn't find Fin's shoe.  Not that worried about it since I still had many more bags to unpack.

Not worried, that is, until I found her shoe AFTER it fell out of the dryer.

Apparently there is no possible way for a Croc to survive the heat.

New shoes ordered.

This, my friends, is the definition of multitasking for a 19 month old.

It's clearly been a while since I blogged since I have no pictures on here with my new hair.

By my new hair, I mean someone else's old hair.

Yep, extensions.

My adorable hair stylist asked if I would be a guinea pig for extensions, and being that I have never been able to grow long hair in my life, I decided to go for it.

Despite the fact that the first two weeks were spent strictly in ponytails, I have gotten used to it -

although sometimes I still don't know who I am in the mirror.

Here's a pic from part of my Vegas trip:

{I sent it to Brad as my "after"....you should have seen the sweaty "before" pic, it was immediately deleted}

 

Speaking of Vegas, I feel like the last couple of weeks passed by in a flash.

Last week alone I flew out Saturday morning to Vegas, worked my arse off, and got home late Thursday night to sneak into my kiddos rooms for a kiss.

{Thank GOODNESS for face-time and Skype or I would have gone bananas}

Friday night, we celebrated Marissa for her bachelorette party.

Saturday, a shower for Mar.

Sunday I hosted a bridal shower for my sister-in-law at our house.

Yeah, last night I fell asleep when Brad and I were watching TV at 8:15.

{because yes, both kiddos were sleeping too!}

Long week, long night's sleep.

So, I promise to get some blogging done this week, but this is my official plea to cut me some slack. :)

proving what i knew all along

So, once again so much to blog about....we've been busy with some really fun things, but do you ever feel like you've taken so many pictures that you don't know where to start?  'Cause that's where I'm at.  Too many pictures, too little time.

I do however have one. We've had some interesting days as of late.

Long days, long nights, lots of reflection, prayers, and appointments are ahead of us.

Longing for answers, searching for support.

A little man who has the sweetest heart that sometimes struggles to show.

On one particularly hard day, Jacks came to me and said "Mama, close your eyes...I have something to show you."

Typically, these are NOT the words I long to hear.  A spilled glass of milk, all of the tin foil unravelled into a space ship, Finley diaperless with pee underneath her. You know, the usual.

But not this day.

On this occasion, when I opened my eyes, I saw this angel drawn on the driveway.

To most, this may not seem like a big deal, but to this Mom, it was huge.

Number one - Jacks does not like fine motor things.  Drawing, coloring, writing. It's like pulling teeth.

What makes it better!?  The following statement...

"Mama, I know you're having a hard day, so I thought I could draw your sister, Dana, to talk to."

Yes. Seriously. That happened.

See, we've also been talking a lot in our house about the power of prayer.

Talking to Jesus, talking to God, and how I sometimes even talk to Dana.

Made.My.Day.

It may have even made my week. Or month.

Because even on hard days, even when I don't think he understands how much we love him and want to help him to feel better, 

he shows us that God is in his heart, just like I knew all along.

game day

Once a year, we take the kiddos to a Twins game.
You know, the one that is paid for by Brad's work!?
Because I'm sorry, but I kind of refuse to pay for four seats when we were in the for a total of 3 outs.
Yep, you read that right. Not even an entire inning.

We did have a blast though. This year was a bit different than last.
Jacks wanted to sit and watch.
Fin did not.
Oh, how times have changed.

Sharing some yummy treats with his favorite little gal.

And keeping some all to himself :)

backyard buddies

These two cutie patooties are Jack's favorite backyard buddies...Quinn and Nina.

These two melt my heart.  The sweetest, most fun little kids...we are truly lucky to have such great neighbors!

The one day it was actually warm enough to run around all day in swimsuits, we all took full advantage.

The boys don't just hop in the pool, it's a production!

Jacks, hiding from Q...

...didn't last long!

little gifts

This summer, we're lucky to have Liezel here during the days with the kids as our nanny.

She's been great with them so far {even if the weather doesn't allow for much pool time}.

Most days when we get home, we have a little gift waiting for us. A picture, play dough, or on this occasion...many little creatures.

And there were strict instructions not to take any of these apart.  Little man was pretty proud.