Simon at Four Months

Whirlwind Camping Trip

We recently went on our first camping trip of the summer - a super quick one-night trip with my sister and brother-in-law.  Even though it was short, we had lots of fun and we're looking forward to more camping fun in the next few months! 

 

Someone was a little tired of the car!

I kind of love these blurry early morning pictures!  =) 

The (Almost) Beginning of Summer

The past couple of months have been kind of crazy around here.  Nothing major, really, just lots of little extra things on top of all the normal busyness.   Things are settling down, now, though, and I'm taking a deep breath of relief!
Even though it's not quite summer yet, it feels like we're at least a month into it.  We continue to have the most gorgeous weather.  Every day is hot and sunny; the kids are out in their pool and sprinkler every day, and I'm trying my best to keep everything watered.  I'm headed out today to get a new sprinkler - one that can do my watering for me and hopefully cut my evening routine down to a more manageable level!

Necklaces

I got this paper bead necklace for Christmas and I've worn it more days than not ever since.  I love it; it's simple but pretty and it goes with almost everything.

I loved it so much that I decided to try making one myself, and though it's not quite as perfect and delicate as the original, I'm happy with how it turned out!

I love the versatility of these necklaces - they can be worn several different ways, and now that I have more than one, I can even wear them together!

This was a fun project, though a bit time consuming.  =)

Clothesline Baskets

I discovered this idea on a blog a couple of months ago, and because I love baskets, I was intrigued!  Thankfully, I had some clothesline that was just laying around, so I made my own that very day!  I have to say, not only do I love the finished product, but this was the most fun project I have done in a long time!  It was really quick and easy, and it makes something awesome!  What could be better?  =)

I've made several now; some for me, some for gifts.  I love how versatile these are!  You can make almost any shape, and you can make them plain, add just a little color with different colors of thread, or you can even dye the clothesline like I did with the yellow one (I used turmeric).  All are lovely!  I've decided to use them to organize my linen closet, so I'm slowly replacing the plastic bins I originally had, and I love it!  

A New 4-Year-Old

Ezra had a birthday this week - he had been looking forward to it for months!  He spent the day enjoying some of his favorite things:  Star Wars LEGOs, hot dogs, the Children's Museum, a movie dinner (The LEGO Movie and orange chicken), and cake and ice cream!

Ezra is my introvert - the one who is perfectly happy to play by himself for long periods of time.  He is such a sweet boy; he loves to cuddle and give hugs and kisses.  But his favorite characters in movies are the bad guys!  We love you, Ezra!

Mother's Day

Seth works early Sunday mornings, and we spent the rest of Mother's Day with our mothers, so we celebrated my Mother's Day a few days late, on Seth's day off.  It was lovely, laid back and simple, just how I like it - and Seth made all the meals!  =)

With this group, we often get stares and comments when we go out as a family, and recently, we were in a nearby town where we were anticipating these a bit more than usual.  As we were walking through the parking lot, an older woman was approaching, and she gave us "the look" (anyone with more than the usual number of children knows this look - a double-take with a mixture of shock and disbelief and sometimes a bit of disgust), then said the standard, "Are all of those yours?"  I always try to answer cheerfully and proudly, "Yep!"  Then she surprised us when she said, "You're a lucky lady!"  

Why yes, yes I am.  =)