Splash Pad

 For the first time this summer, we ventured out to the splash pad, but this time during one of these hot evenings we have been having.  It was great!  Hot, yet we didn't have to worry about sunscreen!

 Ethan catching the drips from the large buckets.  JP is in the background with the water canon. 

 The anticipation of the big dump!!  Matt (in orange) with Davy while the boys ran around.

 And the finale!!

 JP taking in the splash.

 Hmmmm.....should I try it?  Miss Naomi loved it!!  Well, just sitting on the edge of the mister and splashing was good enough for her.

 Ethan, giving a little brotherly encouragement.

 Cheese!

Bubble Bath

For extra fun in the evenings, the boys take a bath in our whirlpool tub.  A quick wash up, and then a little whirlpool action (maybe 30 seconds) = a TUB FULL OF BUBBLES!!!

 Peeking over the edge.

 Cutie #1

 Cutie #2

  Cutie #3 experimenting with the bubbles.

 And now for the taste test.  I didn't get a picture of what followed because I had to put the camera done.  Basically a lot of gagging and spitting.

 And a back shot of her "after bath" curls.

Oh my sunsets!

Last night, there was a gorgeous sunset.  A storm was rolling in and the clouds and colors were just amazing.  I snapped these from our front porch.

 

 

Summertime Visitors

 My dear college friend, Amy, came to visit with her darling boys--Noah and Aiden. 

 Aiden is 2 weeks older than Naomi.  It was cute to see them playing together.  Naomi might have been able to get around a little easier, but Aiden definitely had the upper hand in the number of teeth!

 One evening was spent playing baseball in the backyard.  Check out Noah, running the bases!

 And when you are tired of hitting the ball off of the tee, just hit the tee!  (Yes, the picture caught the tee in mid-air.)

 And others just got a little carried away.

 We ended with a fun, hot trip to the zoo.

 Complete with waterfalls.

 And gorillas.

Happy Wednesday!

 

 I get stressed.  Yesterday, I chose to go grocery shopping over taking a shower so that I could get it done during their morning joyfulness. I wish my house was cleaner.  I want to sit down and do more educational things with the boys. I won't cut their hair; I hire others to do that.  I wish I enjoyed reading but I don't unless the book just sucks me in.  Then I can't put it down.  I want to be holier. I want to lose about 15 pounds.

I could go on whining, but when I look at these beautiful faces, I see the vocation that God planned for me--marriage and motherhood.  Everything else will fall into place.

Naomi's Dress

After making a nursing shawl for a friend, I looked at the extra fabric, and thought, "I bet I can make a dress for Naomi out of this."  And so the challenge began.  I had made a similar dress for my niece to wear to our wedding--almost 6 years ago!  But I had some idea of what I was getting myself into.  I added a few embellishments, like some decorative stitching and the ribbon tie.  (Oh, and it did only take a day, but it took the whole day and I got nothing else done that day!)

The front.  Isn't this model, just precious?

The back

And another of the cute model.

Swimming lessons

 Ethan and John Paul have one week left of their two-week swimming lessons for the summer.  I was a little nervous signing them up for outdoor swimming lessons, especially after my memories of outdoor swimming lessons were freezing cold and at 8 in the morning!  Well, these are at 11 and it's a heated pool!

This is our neighbor, Brooke.  She had a hard time getting used to swimming lessons.  The picture below is of Day 2, and she wanted NOTHING to do with any of the male lifeguards.  I sort of felt sorry for him because he isn't going to just force her to get in there, whereas the female ones just grab her and get her in the pool.  And then she is fine.

At the end of the lesson, they take them off of the diving board.  I am really glad that I took pictures this day because the boys haven't gone off since!  Not sure what scared the bejeebers out of them on this day, but they only would go off the first two days.  Now they won't even jump in off the side!

I think it was because JP went under water just after this jump.  He tells me constantly, "I don't like going under the sea."

Getting Crafty

I have been in a crafty mood lately.  I went to JoAnn's Fabric store and bought quite a bit of fabric and stuff for myself to get crafty, but I will have to post about those projects when they are finished.  I digress.  But I spent enough at JoAnn's that I got a free $10 to spend the next week!!  So I took the boys and let them pick out a craft project. 
 After looking at all of the things that they could choose, they decided on painting bird houses--they are really into birds!

 Ethan's bird house is more of a swirl combination of all the paint colors that he had.

 John Paul's is much more deliberate and segmented.  Roof green, front red, trim white.

 It was really cute to see the methodically way that he went about painting his bird house.  But what was hilarious was the boys' conversation while painting.  They were holding a conversation about the birds that were going to come and live in their houses and whether they should put food in them.  It was great to just over-hear what they are thinking!

S'Mores!!

After a BBQ with friends, we thought it would be great to let the kids roast marshmallows over the hot coals.  Well, it works, but maybe not the greatest.  I mean, letting four excited boys under the age of four, hold sharp sticks over hot coals requires a lot of management.  But they had fun!

 

 Then you add the chocolate.

 And the graham cracker.

 And enjoy!!

Nomi, Nomi, Nomi, Nomi, Naomi

 Naomi is everywhere!!  She crawls great, pulls herself up to things and sometimes cruises furniture!  But I am LOVING her posing for pictures!!  She gets a great, two-tooth grin, and wrinkle her nose--and sometimes closes her eyes!  It is precious.