Summer on the Lake

We spent quite a bit of time on the lake this summer. For the past 4 years I have either been pregnant or had a small baby during the summer. Don't get me wrong, I have totally enjoyed these past few summers. However, I was looking forward to this summer. All of the girls are older and are able to enjoy the boat and the lake more. (After all the fun this summer, I am so excited about next summer).

We spent quite a few weekends plus three full weeks at my dad's house on the lake. It was wonderful! Peyton and Laila love jumping in the water and swimming like little fish. Laila even jumps from the top of the boat with her daddy. No fear.

Even I got to enjoy the water and the sun some. And Mika... oh that sweet girl.... she liked the water, but was happier with a Capri Sun and some Pringles. Love her.

So I thought to commemorate our Summer on the Lake I would do a Top 10.

Top 10 Things I Loved About Summer on the Lake 2011:

10. Sun-kissed skin.

9. Swimming with all three girls.

8. Watching Peyton find her courage in the water.

7. Watching Laila jump from the top of the boat with Jared.

6. Pizza on the boat for dinner.

5. Swimming with our lake friends.

4. Exhausted little girls on the ride back to the dock.

3. Just the five of us taking the boat out early one morning.

2. July 4th on the lake... all day. Ending in a fireworks show.

And the number 1 thing I loved about this summer on the lake is.......

1. Making memories with my family that we will always hold in our hearts.

We will always cherish our times out on the lake. We are so thankful that we are able to spend so much time there and we know what a blessing it is.

Love.

Lost

I have wanted to write a post for so long.... I feel so lost as to where to start. But I really want to get back into the habit of posting regularly because it is how I keep up with all the little fun things that happen with our family. So I'm jumping back in and hoping to get back into the groove of things.

We have done so many fun things this Summer and stayed so busy but it has been our best Summer ever! We spent two weeks at Pappy's house, a week with Whit at her house, went shopping in Branson for Fall clothes, another week at Pappy's, family reunion, preschool (at home), started playing our first organized sport (soccer), playdates, time with cousins swimming on Sunday afternoons, hanging out with Nana on the front porch, and so much more! I feel like I need to pick just one to share today, only I have no idea how to pick one.

Let's start with Preschool.

I decided, after doing some research on preschools and how much they cost and so on, that I would do preschool at home with my girls. My main goal is to get Peyton ready for Kindergarten (next year) and give the girls some structure and focus in their day.

I created us a daily schedule and we try our best to stick with it. The girls do 4-5 worksheets a day along with lessons and flashcard reinforcement. We play educational games, do puzzles, do arts and crafts, practice important skills like cutting and coloring inside the lines. They are learning to follow rules and hopefully they are learning how to behave in a classroom. Thankfully we have nearly a year until real school actually starts for Peyton.... I am pretty sure we will need every minute of it.

It has been really fun for me. I have something to organize and it not only gives the girls some focus for their days, but me too. We still manage to play and have lots of fun and I will say that I have seen some real learning happen over the last month!

In this process where I found myself becoming a "teacher" I have stumbled onto some really great blogs and websites. I have seen some really creative things and it has sparked some creativity in me that hasn't been let out in a while.

Now if I could just find a good place for us to do our school work and keep all of our school supplies, things would be just about perfect. Right now, our kitchen table has been taken over by workbooks, folders, crayons, paints, pencils, and countless other things we use each day. I have a grand plan in my mind for our school space.... but I have a feeling it may just stay in my mind. We will see!

I PROMISE I will try to post more often. In fact, I plan on putting post ideas into my daily planner so that I have no reason not to sit down for a few minutes and record my thoughts and the little things about our days.

I will be back!

Love.

Oh my....

We have been a busy bunch of bees lately and I'm SO BEHIND on blogging. I haven't been reading or composing or commenting. But we have been having lots o' fun, so I don't mind being behind. In fact, right now I'm typing on the laptop, in the playroom, on the floor, with a baby sitting in my lap... so don't expect much of a post!

I have no pictures to add, sorry.

The girls and I spontaneously decided to spend last week with my dad. It was wonderful and I will take the time to post much more detailed posts of that week asap! We got to visit some family and some old friends that I haven't seen in FOREVER! It was a great time.

I've been asked to make some shower invitations and a party banner for some people. I managed to get the invitations in the mail today! I plan on finishing the banner tonight so that I can open up my week for some future projects that I hope to be working on. :) As soon as I'm finished with the projects, I'll have some free time to get caught up on the blog.

And a final thought for today.... Is anyone else ready for Fall? It is a cool 100+ degrees here and while I love sweating as much as anyone else (ha!), I'm ready for a cool down! To make my longing for Fall worse, my sister and I did a little shopping last week and I picked up a few things for the girls for the Fall. Now I'm ready to do some serious Fall shopping (within a strict budget) and get them all set for the cooler weather.

Looks like the girls need a customer for their kitchen, so its time for me to "eat" some play food. Hope you all have a great Monday.

:)

Where Have I Been?

Well.... what started out as a week-long trip for the girls and I to visit my dad ended up lasting a little over three weeks! Yikes! Things just kept coming up with Jared's work and it seemed to make more sense for us to just stay with dad then come home. Boy, did we have fun at Pappy's house! Sit back, relax and enjoy some picture highlights from our time there!

Two little girls watching Pappy and Daddy get things ready to go out on the boat!

Pappy and two of his girls.... such sweet times.

Momma and Mika Lynn - my sweet little baby girl! She is growing way too fast!

Mika and Whit Whit!

Little swimmers - these two fish LOVE the water!!!

Daddy and his big girls!!

Love this face! 

Family photo - J, Mika Lynn, Me, Laila, Whit Whit, Peyton, and Uncle Brent

Nice Shades!

Pappy and his lake buddy - this may be my favorite picture of him ever!

Me and my sweetie!

This is how Laila spent most of her lake time.... snacking!

Laila Bean and Momma!

We had so much fun!!!

Uncle Brent was giving piggy back rides on the raft!

We got home Saturday afternoon just in time to clean up the house and yard for the annual crawfish boil and fish fry our family has. We started partying Sunday afternoon and it was a blast! I took some pictures of the girls playing with the crawfish (I never thought my kids would do that, but they sure did when I wasn't looking!) but the pictures didn't turn out because of some crazy lighting. I did, however, get one good picture of Laila after she ate the red ice cream cup that Belinda gave the kids..... can we say Bozo the Clown?! 

It has been a crazy month and apparently that isn't going to change anytime soon. J is still having crazy work schedules and we have birthdays and reunions and holidays all coming up. I'm looking forward to all of it but it is a crazy time!!

Happy Summer everyone!