Lazy Days

I have so many pictures from this summer I thought that I better get them posted before I forget about them! Here's what has been going on...

We have a really pretty rose bush that the kids love to smell. I think this picture of Chloe is so cute!

The kids have been enjoying Mabel. She's starting to ease up on the nipping and she loves to play with them. Benny loves to lay on the ground and let Mabel wrestle with him.
Benny is our boy with many outfits! He is exploring all of his options. I'm not sure this is the best look for him! Our neighbor got a kick out of this ensemble.

We have been trying to hit the beach at least once a week. The kids can't get enough of the water and sand. They are so content just playing for hours. I love it too because they are happy and I don't have to hear them whining or bickering!

Chloe decided she wanted her training wheels off. I was nervous, but Bryan helped her and she had it figured out in about two minutes! She is a pro and has gone on lots of bike rides around the neighborhood already.

Bryan has been bonding with the dog too. I think he likes her more than he admits!

Niah lost her 3rd tooth! She tied it to some dental floss, tied the other end to the door and shut the door! It came right out and went down the A/C vent. It was traumatic for a moment, but after pulling out a few popcorn kernels and some other unidentifiable objects I was able to find it. Whew. I was almost in big trouble for choosing the door right by the vent!

So, there's what we've been up to. We are looking forward to celebrating Bennett's second birthday this week. It's hard to believe he is already two. My heart hurts thinking about how fast he is growing up. PLEASE STOP Benny!!

Summer and Trouble

Our summer is already moving quickly! Niah finished softball last night and had a great time playing. She learned a lot and made lots of new friends. She told me today that she already misses her team and coaches and can't wait to play again next year!

Niah finished Kindergarten with flying colors! Her teacher couldn't stop telling me how much she enjoyed Niah in her class and how much she was going to miss her. Niah was loved by her whole class. Every time I went in to help I giggled at how much her classmates loved her. It's not surprising though. Niah has such a sweet personality and is kind to everyone.





It's hard for me to believe that I will have a 1st grader. I remember being in 1st grade so well. It seems like it wasn't that long ago so I am in shock that I have a daughter that old!

We have also been dealing with some trouble makers lately! Mabel is in her terrible two phase right now and is testing us. While out in the backyard, Bryan discovered that she had chewed almost completely through the air conditioning cord. We had to call a fix-it man in our ward to come and take care of that for us so our A/C would work. Every backyard toy of the kids' has been chewed on at least a little bit. They don't seem to be too attached to anything so it hasn't been that catastrophic, yet! We had Mabel spayed on Monday so now we have to keep her mellow and dry so her scar can heal. That's a trick, especially with kids and rain! We love Mabel anyway. She really is a good dog. She is weighing in at 34.6 lbs. and is six months old now.
Her hair is slowly growing back in from her episode last month!

We have another child that's going through a terrible two phase too! He has been a perfect child from the day he was born, but now his mischievious side is coming out. He has learned to hit, say 'no', spit on his sisters and mother, and if he doesn't like his food he throws it all over the place.

That stuff on the floor is a PB&J sandwich torn into little pieces and chucked all over! I don't think he got any in his mouth.

The other day I came downstairs after fixing my hair and this is what I saw. Benny had on one of the girls tutus and a headband. What can you expect when he has two older sisters who love to dress up?!! This will be great for the yearbook when he graduates highschool. :)

Even though Bennett has had his moments recently, he is still the happiest kid. He just goes with the flow. He loves to give hugs and kisses. He is OBSESSED with baseball. He loves watching Niah's games and watching it on TV with Daddy. He is really into his hat right now and usually has it on his head. Benny is talking up a storm these days and can even sing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." He loves that song so much I'm thinking about putting it up on his wall with vinyl as part of his baseball room. We love our little man. I can't believe he will be two in a few weeks.

I love summer time. I love watching the kids try to catch lightning bugs. I love that we can stay up and play outside without having to worry about getting the kids in bed. I especially love that my kids have been sleeping until 8:30 or 9:00 every morning! Sometimes I sleep in with them or sometimes I get up early and exercise or get a few things done around the house. I had a goal of going to the beach at least once a week during the summer, but I'm not sure that's going to happen. We have had so much rain. I usually like the rain in summer, but it's kind of getting old now!

I am really loving my kids and just trying to enjoy them. They are in the best phases of life right now, in my opinion. I admit somedays they drive me crazy (I won't go into detail about the meltdown I had this morning), but I know that I will miss this when they get older and they don't think I'm cool anymore. I love being a mom and feel so blessed to have that privilege!

New Desk

It must be the time of year, but for some reason I get in the mood to do some projects! Last week I went to the thrift store and found a plain wood table. We have been in need of a new desk, so I thought why not turn this into our desk?! I forgot to take a before picture, but just picture a boring wood table.

Here is the finished product...

I sanded and stained the whole table a dark walnut color. Then I painted just the legs white. After it was dry, I got the power sander (I love that thing) and distressed it a bit to make it look old. I am really happy with the way it turned out! I can't wait to get it down in the office and see what it looks like. I have also painted the office so I will post some pictures when I get it all done. I'm kind of addicted to refinishing things and making them new again. It's really fun!

This and That

It's been a busy couple of weeks at our house, as usual. I have really been slacking on my blogging. About a week and a half ago, Mabel came down with a skin infection. It was the nastiest thing. Her skin was sooo red and very tender. She wouldn't let anyone near her mouth or neck. The smell from the infection was even nastier!

Our dog was once a cute fluffy lion.

I just threw this one in here of Chloe because I thought it was cute! We have had a few warm days here- I hope they come back soon.





Now Mabel is a skinny, shaved lamb! The vet had to shave her down where the infection was and then decided it would probably be best to shave the rest of her too to make sure the infection wasn't anywhere else on her body. Mabel looked really funny for a few days. Chloe even said, "I don't feel like that is my dog."





You can sort of see how red her skin was in this picture. It itched her so bad we had to give her pain killers and a sedative for five days to keep her from scratching it. Don't ask how much that cost! I get a knot in my stomach just thinking about it.

Luckily, Mabel is doing much better and her hair is starting to grow in a bit. I sure hope whatever she had never comes back. We still love her though!

I have started a few projects this week- actually too many, another reason for not blogging- so I want to post about those when I get them done. Bryan and I started P90X this week. I'm happy to say that I am still moving and not as sore as I thought I would be. It's a great workout! We are looking forward to Niah getting out of school and for Bryan's vacation time coming up. It's amazing to me that summer is already here. Wahoo!

Warren Dunes

Bryan had a rare day off the other day, so we decided last minute to head to the beach. We hadn't been to this beach yet and it was awesome! I want to go camping there next summer.

The sunset was gorgeous that night. I told Niah that it looks like a spotlight from Heaven is shining down on her. She giggled at that.

Bennett loves the sand. He crawls in it and then will lay down and put his face in it. He helped Bryan pat down the sand on their castle.

This is one of my new favorite pictures. The kids could play in the sand all day.

After playing in the water, we hiked the big sand dune. The girls made it all the way to the top. I was so impressed- it was a HUGE hill.

Bennett even did a little climbing!

The view from the top was breathtaking. We really lucked out that night.

Here's the sunset I was telling you about. The picture doesn't really do it justice. It was so pink, but here it looks orange.

I am very sad that summer is winding down. It has gone way too fast. So, until Niah starts Kindergarten in two weeks (boo hoo) we are going to live it up!!

Niah Rides a Bike!

Niah has learned how to ride her bike without training wheels! She asked Bryan to take them off and she picked it up in about a week. She's a pro. She loves to show off for anyone who is outside. She loves riding her bike. It's all she wants to do now.