Remembering Summer

I still feel as though it is summer. It sure is hot enough to be anyways! But with school starting and my due date rounding the corner I also feel like we're bringing this summer to a close.

This of course has me wondering where it went. Knowing. But also just wondering. Where is all of the documentation, where are the pictures, where are the blog posts about our fabulous summer? Understandably the summer has been less enjoyed and less documented than normal, but still... there has been joy.

And so I uploaded photos, found photos that had been uploaded forever ago, and basically, here is our summer in a nutshell.

And although it's been a crazy one, it had also been a fabulous one.

Here's to a good summer. Maybe not a perfect summer, but a good one none-the-less.

:: The back yard nail fiasco... They removed our old garage roof and replaced it. But the sunshine workers that removed it didn't put any sort of tarp down while pulling the old shingles and throwing them onto the lawn. ::


:: We literally spent hours and hours and days using super duper strength magnetic tools pulling every nail we could find from the lawn. ::


:: And there were a TON of nails. Cups and cups of old rusty nails. And this paranoid mama wouldn't quit until I knew for certain that my girl's barefoot sprinkler running toes were safe. ::


:: It was mostly just ridiculous, and Jordan and I were furious at the situation, but we survived never-the-less. ::


:: And then there was the summer reading program at the library. Back in the earlier days of summer when I was still willing to ride my bike with M to the library every Tuesday morning! Okay, okay, so that was just a few weeks ago, but still. ::


:: The reading program had us making all sorts of fun and random crafts and recipes and reading more fun things than we would have ever on our own. M LOVEd doing all the fun things and she loved even more getting to choose her prizes each time she went with another assignment accomplished. We will definitely be doing it again next year! ::


:: I mean, come on guys, who doesn't want a pretzel fairy wand, right? Or princess wand, or whatever! Actually they were kind of yummy because it was cream cheese frosting, and if any of you know me you know how big of a sprinkle fan I am... basically anything a 6 year old (or two year old) would like, I like as well! ::



:: Littlest Pet Shop. Need I say more? :) We were given a sweet LPS collection from a dear dear cousin who had outgrown the set and M took to the little critters immediately. She LOVEs all those cute buggy eyes. ::


:: So we have built our fair share of pet houses, and we have carried handfuls and purse-fuls of those little creatures everywhere with us. Thank goodness she is currently on a kick where she doesn't want to play with anything that will make her room messy because then she'll "have to clean up before bed" which she apparently hates. That means we've had a few less days of pet shop scattered in every room! ::


:: New IKEA wall art stickers, found at the local thirft store, unopened, score... ::


:: Oreos and milk... an ALWAYS welcome snack... that is of course until my crazy anemic self had to go off milk to try and get my iron to absorb better... whatever. ::


:: The Children's Parade, which our church group had a float in and I, yes even in my preggo state, stayed up until wee hours of the morning covering those beautiful colorful paper doll shapes in tissue paper and paint. ::


:: It was all worth it to see this shining happy face the morning of! ::


:: Local carnivals and festivals that brought lots of fun partying, treat eating, and fun rides! M freaked us out on this one because she kept leaning over the edge of the boat. She even grabbed onto one of the passing pillars once and I could just imagine her getting yanked from her seat and thrown into the water and then of course run over by the following boats before it finally slowed to a stop... talk about a heart attack! ::


:: The cutest little projects she brings home from nursery at church. These are her Scripture Spectacles, to help her see and read the scriptures I think!? So cute! She wore them for a good hour after church she was so proud of them! ::


:: A fun surprise from our new Indian family. My new SIL's family sent this adorable outfit from India and M LOVEs it, especially the little jingle bells on the drawstring waist. So cute! ::


:: We have had our fair share of summer picnics in the yard. Mostly on nights when daddy is working late, because those are the least planned meals, as you can see the lovely spread of apples and mac 'n cheese. Hey, can you blame a pregnant girl? ::


:: Unfortunately there has been WAY too much of this in the mornings. Mommy lies in bed while M busies herself with playing until she gets tired of hanging out by herself. Then she usually comes and tries to wake me up. I of course am so exhausted out of my mind I can't think straight and so I bribe her with almost anything. Fruit snacks, a movie, and of course, the beloved ipod. ::


:: I am trying to break the habit of giving in to her sneakiness in the morning, but I have to admit I think it may last a little bit longer... at least until the baby is a month old, I deserve that, right!? ::


:: Froot loop necklaces... ANYthing to keep M occupied where I don't have to be up and moving around, and let me tell you, it can take a 2 yr old quite a while to string a froot loop necklace, score! ::


:: Me lying in bed while M does her doll's hair pretty "for church". This little mermaid doll, which we got at a garage sale for 25 cents has provided countless hours of sweet sweet entertainment for the little one. ::


:: And I love the determination with which she will do doll's hair... and sometimes I get the pleasure of having my hair done fancy as well... which mostly feels great, except for the few moments where she decides to remove a barrette without unclipping it, yowza! ::


:: Following this particular hair do she proceeded into one of her favorite activities. Pretend play. This time we were at library story time, and she was the teacher. Ariel, little Dora, and I were the kids. She sure loves her pretend play, with Cinderella being the most popular story choice. ::


:: Soccer with dad in the back yard. We have had an occasional fabulous weather evening where we can enjoy the back yard without being fried or eaten alive by bugs... and we love it when dad joins us. Especially because then mom gets to sit in a chair and just watch the joy happen. ::


:: Lots of joy here, lots of love, and lots of patience from my little one. She really has been good to me in my not 100% state. She puts up with a lot of grumpy mom time and still loves me through it all. Love that about parenthood, not that I am saying it's okay to be grumpy, but currently it's just inevitable. ::


And so there you have it. Our summer in a nut shell. Lots of random fun things, also lots of lazy painful days that I of course did NOT document, and yet through it all lots of blessings and exciting new things around the corner.

Good times. Happy end of summer.

(I make no promise of any additional blog posts before baby comes... and yes I know that is weeks away yet but I still make no promise!)