Monday, September 9, 2013

Fall Fun!

Fall is coming!  I keep telling myself that (even if it's supposed to be 97° tomorrow!) I'm so ready for fall temperatures, boots and sweaters!  Anyway, in trying to bring fall-like temps, I have started my fall decorating.  I really want to buy some mums, but I'm afraid I won't keep them alive for very long in this weather, so I'm waiting.  Here's a small glimpse of our fall decor this year :).

I also made a wreath for our front door.  I spent a good bit of time scouring Pinterest, looking for the perfect tutorial (meaning, one I could tackle).  Click here for the one I found the most helpful.  This one was inspiration too!  And this is what I came up with :).
I am a "use what you have" kind of girl.  So, when the tutorials said to get burlap ribbon, I thought; I have a lot of burlap, I'll just cut it!  And then it shredded everywhere...so I sewed along all the edges.  I still used it, but I'm pretty sure I quadrupled my time spent.  Also, the chevron ribbon is 'supposed' to be 4 inches wide or something.  I had chevron ribbon already...only it was 2.5 inches, but, you guessed it, I used it anyway!  Mine might be a little less fluffy, but it's mine :)!  I really wanted to make this a multi-season wreath, so I was trying to figure out how to make the decorations easily removable, yet still put them where I wanted.  I've tried safety pins in the past, but didn't really like working with them.  So...looking through my craft supplies, I came across some mini clothes pins!  I hot glued those suckers to the back of some flowers and, behold...easily removable decorations!
I bought a fall colored bouquet of silk flowers from the Hob Lob (40% off!) and pulled off the flowers to make my decorations.
Maybe I should get a cuter wreath hook... oh well, it works and I already have it :)!

Happy Fall Ya'll!!  Hopefully, it cools off soon, and I can get my mums and pumpkins to pretty up my porch!

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

1st Day of Pre-K 2

Ethan started his (last) first day of preschool today.  He is going to the same school he went to last year. (Find last year's post, here.)  He will go 3 days a week and he was definitely looking forward to starting.  We worked on the chalkboard yesterday during quiet time, so we were ready for pictures this morning!  Here's our big boy...
So grown up.
Goofy boy!
Nora couldn't stay out of the pictures for long... and this one was too cute not to share :)!
She's such a ham! Love this girl!
Getting ready to go into school.  Love this boy too!!
 We pray that he will have a great year and show the love of Christ to his classmates!  So proud of him :).

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Last Days of Summer

We've been soaking up the last few days of summer with a lot of water fun!
Last week was perfect for pool days!  A friend of mine was there and has a waterproof case on her phone, so these pictures are compliments of her!
Ethan and some pool buddies jumping in!
Splash!!
 This weekend, we went to Kullen's 2nd Birthday party (son of good friends of ours)!  It was pretty close to 105 degrees outside, so the water themed party was perfect (for the kids).  They had a blast!
Birthday Party Kids!
Ethan and Brennan racing 
Nora on the little slide...
Nora on the big slide 
Cake time! We are lucky to have such great friends!
  Ethan and Nora got water balloons in their treat buckets from the party.  Ethan wanted to use them immediately!  Sunday, my parents came up for lunch and to hang out, so we got the water balloons out after nap.  Ethan and Nora had a wonderful time.  It's amazing how long it takes to fill the balloons and how quickly they disappear!
Fill 'em up!
Uh oh! It popped!
She loved it!
He did too!
Grandma Terri, watching at a safe distance :)
Happy girl!
Giant water balloon!  (Yep, we have a naked baby...in the front yard)
Getting ready to pop the last one!!

Now...bring on the cooler temps and pumpkin flavored everything!! I love fall!!

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Back to School

Today we had Ethan's pre-school orientation.  He will be going to the same school, with the same teacher as last year, except in the 4 year old class!  He is so excited to be in the "4's class", the big man on campus!  He will start school next week and will go on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.  Here are a few pictures from today.
Carpet time
At his first 'center'...playdough!
Math center.  Sorting beads in the ice cube tray.
Practicing writing. 
This kid is ready for school!

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Southern IL Fun!

We packed a lot into Friday afternoon and Saturday!  We headed south to visit our family and we were busy!  Friday afternoon, we went to Jared's parents for the evening and dinner.  We had a great time helping Grandpa out in the garden and enjoying each others company for dinner.  
It's a big watermelon!
Cantaloupe is easier to carry
Nora and the 'water-loupe"
Ethan, Amanda & Nora taking a stroll
Helping grandma pick the peppers
Digging in the dirt...boys will be boys! {Check out those giant sunflowers}
Nora, helping with the tomatoes
Thanks for all the produce and for the great evening, Grandma Karen and Grandpa!

Saturday included some fun garage sale-ing, tree chopping, gator riding and a lot of kids playing!
Waiting for the tree to fall!
Crazy boys riding on the gator
Uncle Mike, Ethan, Josiah and Scout
Water table= soaking wet kids!
Since most of my cousins/siblings {we were only missing 2 families} were in town, we had a get together at the Squibb's house...complete with a bounce house!!  It was so much fun, and kind of crazy with 13 kids {out of 17} running around, not to mention all the adults!



Bounce House fun!

Ethan sliding down
Paige and Nora bouncing
Nora and Paige, riding in style!
Nora's turn to drive :)
Pop and Tyler going for a ride on a more size appropriate vehicle 
The epitome of summer! Barefeet, sweaty, ice cream cone and Cardinal shirt.
Here they all are!  Sweaty, but happy!!
Finley {5}, Paige {7}, Nora {22 mo}, Tyler {14}, Josiah {5}, Ethan {4}, Haley {5}, Katie {2}, Scout {4}, Callum {3 1/2}, Hazel {5}, Caleb {3 1/2}, Grant {22 mo}
What an exhausting day and a half!  But so much fun, and so glad we were able to make these memories with our families!