All before 11am.

Planted some more flowers.....got good and dirty.



Mowed and raked the overgrown lawn.
Did some deep sea diving in the pool.

And rode our bikes!

A productive day, no?

Good etsy mail, croquet and a movie.

I am finally posting about all the great etsy mail I have been receiving this past week. Okay, I ordered all of it, but it is still some great mail!

I ordered this from Creative Spring.

Thanks to my new bloggin friend, Lori, I found Susie Harris Designs. Do you love this tassel? I do!

Speaking of Lori, I ordered this from her shop, Too Silly Sisters. She sent this along with matching earrings. I really love them.
Another wonderful shop/blog I found was due to Lori. Artfulife. Do you love it or what? It is so sweet. Lindsey has already informed me that it is a picture of my 4 children. Thanks Summer, it is beautiful!

Saturday we enjoyed some croquet, Scavo style.

First, you need to make sure that you have not mowed your lawn in a week or 2.

Then give your small children REAL wooden croquet balls to use.

And wooden mallets....

Set up the arches(in our case, the giraffes) repeatedly because they hit the giraffes more than they hit the balls.

Oh, and you cannot to forget to do all of this barefoot.

Lastly, let your youngest sit at the finish...oh wait, you might not see her because the lawn is swallowing her.

Seriously though, they had a good time. I was surprised how well they behaved considering they were carrying dangerous weapons.

Also, on Saturday my Mom & I went to see Mamma Mia....it was good. Lots of fun and now I can't get any of the songs out of my head. Thanks Mom!

FFFNI

Remember when I mentioned we have FFFNOs? Yesterday we switched it up and had a friday night in for a change. Right before our movie(Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang...how bout that Lori) started this is what I found in the living room. Cute, right?

Hope your weekend is wonderful!

Brought to you today, by the letter C.

C what we have been up to lately?
Caught! Impersonating a super-hero.

Curls, curls, more curls. Could I do this post without showcasing them?
Child accessories...the next big thing. Tractor tires...the new headband.
Crazy. Riding their new bikes as soon as Dad brought them home. No helmet, no shoes, no problems.
Culinary expert at work....okay, who am I kidding. I just made some stir-fry with fresh vegetables(I know, I didn't even use the frozen kind!).

Candy corn of the Brachs variety is finally on the shelves here. Yum is all I can say.
Car placement. How is this car hanging on the wall with no string, no hook, no nothing? I guess I should add Crayon to this one too....notice the beautiful artwork below the Lorax? I just did. Magic Eraser to the rescue!Can she see? That is the question. She went for her follow-up of the mysterious nodule on her eyeball and an eye test.
Curiously, her nodule has not changed with the steroid eye drops he gave her. He thinks it is benign(thinks!) and wants us to come in if we notice any changes. He gave her a eye test and found that she is 20/40 and has an astigmatism. Because he is conservative he recommended that we wait on glasses until she really needs them. When she needs them is up to us!!!???!!! Huh? I always thought that when you need them, you need them. I don't wear glasses, have always had 20/20 vision(I am sure that will be changing very soon though) so I don't know about all of this. What do you think?

Channeling Grandpa Ralph on her way into school.

Cat boots~~~I know, I know...who needs 2 pairs of rain boots in the desert? Natalie does, of course.
Close-up of the smallest cutie. Look at those eyes.
Cuddling family.....washed out photo courtesy of photographer not paying attention.
Chocolate chip cookies homemade by Lindsey & Michael. They were really good and by some miracle, we still have a couple left.
Chopping up Barbie's hair while everyone is sitting at the table waiting for you to start dinner. Lindsey was not happy. Cashing in on Aunt Candi's mucho generous Build-A-Bear workshop gift cards!

Choosing the perfect friend....who forever shall be called Petri.
Cleaning up their new friends.

Carrying the softest bunny ever...aka baby bunny.
Clothing fashion show for her new friend, Ella the elephant.

Challenge photo that I forgot to submit. Take-out photo has monthly specials that I like to participate in. Last month's was a photo within a photo. I think this is a great example of that. We were downtown and about to go under an overpass when I caught this. It is black and white photos of people downtown 50 years ago. It is made of all tile. So cool.
Chuck E. Cheese was our next stop after Build-a-Bear. The kids had a great time. I have to be honest there weren't many opportunities for snapshots....my eyes were in 4 different directions. Now, I remember why we only go once in awhile.

Charles my handsome husband, cooling off in the pool.
Cozying up to his water thermos???

Carrying on in the pool with Tyler and Lindsey....

And don't forget there was a lot of crying, cleaning, coloring, and creating going on too. Oh, did I mention Crying? Yeah, that too.

Oh how could I forget? Caillou pose, an every day occurrence around here!

Operation Nice

I stumbled across this site yesterday and smiled all day long. It is pure genius. Operation Nice. The title says it all. Being nice really can make a difference. I wish I had thought of this. She gives nice assignments for you to complete, highlights nice stories that have happened in the news and just reminds us all that a little nice goes a long way.

Happened upon

a stack of photos...thought I would share.









*I wish I had this dress for Natalie...so cute.

















*I love the curtains and the toy car!

















*You know you miss that color shag...you know you do.





















All I have to say...he sure was a cutie.

Do you think any of our kids resemble us?

***I have alot to tell you all about, but this summer/back to school cold is really crampin' my style. Doesn't anyone know, I need...no I HAVE to blog?

Happy Anniversary, my love.

Seven years....wow, what a ride it has been. We have experienced so much together that I don't remember a time when we were apart. I am so glad you found me....

I love you.

Giddy from all the good mail!

While cleaning out the kids bedrooms(oh, the things we found), I was pleasantly surprised with a good mail package from Lori!
She sent me a cool candy corn bracelet from her Too Silly Sisters Etsy shop, a nice note and a gift card for a pumpkin frap from Starbucks! She is so sweet and generous! I can't believe she sent this to me after she sent such a big package of fun a couple of weeks ago! Thank you so much, Lori! I promise your fall swap package is on its way! Oh, and look what I found and thought immediately of you
I can't wait to check it out...it was closed when we found it. Really, thanks Lori for spoiling me!


So, as I was coming off my good mail high from Lori....I rec'd another good mail surprise from my friend, Cristina!


It was packed with all sort of goodies. B&W stationery, philosophy products, Kiehls shampoo & conditioner that she swears by, a beautiful book on our great state, and 2 of her favorite mascaras. I have been trying different new ones, but no luck....she was so nice to think of me! Cristina, you totally pampered me with your pamper package!!! You rock....really you do! Thanks again!


I couldn't believe 2 days of good mail...that doesn't ever happen to me.....what could be better than that?


Oh, I don't know, ANOTHER good mail package to add to all the wonderfulness I already got from my 2 blogging buddies!

Yeah, I know, 3 days in a row....it really is setting a precedent.

Jill A.K.A. The Good Mail Queen sent me some cool note cards, some fun good mail labels, a super sweet note, and a wonderful Mellow Mix CD for me. I love all of it, Jill. It really brightened my day!

I don't know how you all knew I needed these pick-me-ups in the worst way, but boy, am I glad you did. Thank you so much.

*****don't mind the header...I am in the process of trying to figure it out...wish me luck:)