Life Lately

We've been busy living the summer life!  

We are currently finishing up our third VBS and the kids are loving it.  We've gone to two different churches to do the Everest program and one other church where they "went" to the Outback. 

We start school in less than 3 weeks...yikes!  (But in other news...I can't wait to send them off and stay home for the first time ever!)

The other morning I asked Bubba to smile for me...obviously Toaster Strudels are serious business!!! 

And Bruiser tried to smile nicely...???

And the back to school shopping has started...and good deals have been found!  How cute are these for Sassy???

Weekend Wrap Up

We had no real plans for the weekend...and that made it lovely!!!

Friday night, the kids (well, Bruiser and Sassy) wrapped up another week of VBS...this time at our nanny's church.  Bruiser got to go on stage and share what they did on the third day...he did awesome!  

Bubba didn't find it all so entertaining...so we hung out outside for a bit (or a long while since his screeching was causing heads to turn!).

Saturday...

we cooked some freezer meals in anticipation of our vacation in September, did some laundry, relaxed...and then headed to our slice of Heaven on earth...

This beach visit was a milestone in our lives...all 4 kids went in the water!  Tater always avoided it because it irritated her eczema...but not today!  Bruiser overcame his irrational fears...and loved  it!  Sassy has always been our water bug.  And Bubba?  Couldn't be left out!  He was funny to watch...couldn't understand why the water came at him and then went away...he needed Daddy to carry him past that!

Sunday...

We ran some errands, made a family trip to Savers to explore, did some house projects and enjoyed an afternoon family game!  It was a perfect day!

Now we are back to work (well, Daddy is!), off to a new VBS, and tackling appointments and errands.  Hopefully this is the week the tree comes down and we can gain our backyard back!

Friday Favorites!

I'm linking up with Andrea, Narci and Erika today and sharing my favorite things from the week.

So many things to love right now!

One

I'm loving our relaxed summer days.  We've scheduled a few camps to keep the bigger ones busy and give Mommy and Bubba some one-on-one time.  I had hoped to use those times to get a few projects and errands done...but, hello!...two-year-old!!!  Oh, well!

Tater attended theater camp for most of July.  The director was a middle school girl who was holding the camp to complete her Silver Award for Girl Scouts.  Tater loved it...and just might have caught the acting bug!  I was so impressed with how well she expressed herself and how confident and at ease she was on stage (she DOES NOT get that from her mother!)

And while she was busy doing her thing, the middles enjoyed a week of VBS at our nanny's church.  It's always a fun thing for them and they do it so enthusiastically...just like everything they do in life!  This week's theme was based in the Outback.

We have one more VBS next week and then our summer starts to wind down!

Two

We've been busy prepping for back to school.  I've gone through the school supply lists and determined what we already have and what we need to purchase.  I sorted through all the clothing bins to see where we have holes in the fall and winter wardrobes...and donated 11 garbage bags of clothes (now, I did clean out all the baby boy clothes that I was sentimentally holding on to...so don't think I have hording issues!).

When Tater started kindergarten, I bought her an LLBean small backpack.  

She used it for K, 1, and 2.  Then we upgraded because she needed more storage space.  

We did the same with Bruiser.  Now Sassy is using Tater's original backpack!  I wash them at Christmas break and again at the end of the school year (just toss them in the washer and then air dry) and they have held out great!!!

This year we upgraded Bruiser to the bigger version as he is going into 3rd grade.  His original backpack's front pocket zipper had broken about mid-2nd grade.  He continued to use it and I waited until the end of the school year to test out the LLBean warranty.  Let me say...amazing!  Ordered a new backpack and returned the broken one for a quick exchange...easy as pie!  Now Bubba has backpack to grow into!

Three

We have spent the summer binge watching several shows.  Love snuggling on the couch (with the AC on full blast) after the kids are in bed and falling into a show!  So far we've watched...

And the during the day, while I'm completing boring house chores, I've been watching...

And the kids have been having marathons, watching...

Four

And my not-so-favorite moment of the week...

Early Tuesday morning (as in 6:30am!) a microburst blew through our state.  One of the paths tore directly through our backyard.  We lost half of a large maple (and our pool, trampoline, clothesline, and the neighbor's fence).  One neighbor was not so lucky and woke up to a tree crashing through his house.  We are now having the entire tree removed some time next week...we are lower priority because there is no damage to our actual house.  So, for the time being our backyard is off limits!  We are just happy no one (and our house!!!) was hurt.  It made for a crazy day!

Have a fabulous weekend!