summer-ending

well..we spent the week having a visit to the pool, doing laundry, playing….just trying to get our ducks in a row for this coming week.

Before church last Sunday.  It's so funny…Nolan knows just what to do.  He'll walk up to the wall, turn around, and back up against it.  And then smiles!  Love these 3 so much it hurts.

And last Sunday was an extra special treat because Geoff was able to go to church with us.

We also did a little bit of this…..time out.  :)  These sisters love each other one minute and are bickering the next!

Sweet boy proud to have his shoes on.

And even sweeter when he sleeps.

Caught red-handed!

Geoff is so sweet to free-hand these Rainbow Rocks Equestria Girls for the girls to color.

Sisters sharing lemonade at the farmer's market.

this week

+after vacation and lots and lots of fast food…..there was a need for lots and lots of this this week.  :)

+the girls spent Saturday afternoon at my mom's…so this guy was my escort to the grocery store.  he really is such a good and sweet baby.

+sunday morning before church.  i know i take these a lot…but it's pretty much the only day the kids are bathed and dressed.  haha!

and also….they're getting so big.

 +i love (and probably take for granted a lot of the time) that we live so close to my family.  i've spent many an afternoon at my sister's…and on this particular day…it was no different.  all of us girls (the boy was napping)…hanging out.

+this boy is getting so big.  eating his own apples and corn on the cob.  and using a fork and a spoon.

and he's so sweet, too.  sharing his apple with me.

+after dinner frozen yogurt shenanigans.  

and these girls concoctions!  oreos, m&ms, animal crackers, skittles, sour patch kids.  gross!  :)

+relaxin' with gramma.

 it's been a good week.  one more week until a new season starts….school!  

and there's still lots to be done.  :)

another week

another week down.

it's funny…..before i sit down to do these posts…i literally think, "there won't be that many pictures because we didn't really do much this week."

and then i look….and we've done a lot.  just living life.

-backyard play time earlier in the week when it was still HOT!

-2 very happy sisters because we were finally able to track down Elsa dresses!

-our 3.  i look at this picture and just get this feeling in my gut…love them so much there are no words to describe it.

-we were missing daddy at work one morning and sent him a picture letting him know how much we love him.

-the kids and i ate dinner at my moms 2 nights this week…and for dessert i was going to run up to braum's for everyone.  well- i left my wallet at home and poppa was nice enough to treat us all.

 -our friend, gibson, came over to play.  we love him and can't wait til he comes back.

although his momma, amy, and i are already asking for prayers for fear that this is a 'flash forward' of what's to come in 15 more years.  these boys look like trouble!

-the weather turned unseasonable cooler toward the end of the week..and so we rode bikes/walked a couple of nights this week.  it was nice to get out of the house this time of the year, and for it to not be so unbearably hot.

i'm thankful for an empty school parking lot just up the street so that the kids can walk and ride freely and safely.

-our shadows

-one day..grace steered the car and nolan pushed her around…they made circles from kitchen to living room…over and over….for 20 minutes!

-eating spaghetti.  and just loving his faces.  his 'cheese' face.  where does he get this?  grace did the exact same thing.

"hey nolan….say cheese."  and i get this.  :)

-i've been promising the girls i'd take them to the farmer's market for a while, and today we finally made it happen.  they've been before with geoff, but this was my first time.  and i loved it.  if we weren't going out of town, i would have gotten a lot more.

the girls shared some fresh-squeezed lemonade sweetened w/ honey.  tasty!  they also shared a chocolate filled croissant.

we got a pint of strawberries.

-getting ready for vacation….we needed pedicures, of course. (these are 2 lucky little girls, that's for sure)

-i got the wild and crazy idea to make family vacation t-shirts.  i really like how they turned out for what they are…shirts we will probably wear once.  :)  the guys are thrilled. {enter sarcasm}  but they're amusing us and say they'll wear them, too.  :)

-and….we're mostly packed and ready to head out!

the girls are excited….we are excited….and nolan has no clue what's going on.  ha!

praying for safe travels and looking forward to some fun and maybe a little relaxing.

this week….

before church picture of my girlies.

 a tired boy after church.  he usually misses his morning nap on Sundays.

 the cutest little 4 year-old silverware putter-upper i've ever seen this year.

it can definitely be overwhelming at times to take all 3 kids by myself to a store.  but this past monday we headed to Target to do some school supply shopping.  and as we were walking up….i couldn't help but love our shadows.  loved that they were with me.  that it was us.

me and our three.

 never a dull moment.

i've mentioned before….but we put the girls to bed together (since they share a room)…and on some nights….we give Parker permission to 'sneak out' about 15 minutes later to have some time with just us.  the deal is….she doesn't quite need as much sleep as little sister….and the added bonus….one-on-one time with her.  so sometimes she plays on the iPad…and sometimes we play.

my sister came over for dinner tuesday.  we took an after dinner walk to the school playground.  love watching these cousins together.  i hope they're always close.

later in the week…my niece came over, and i took them to 'the big park', as we call it.  

ducks in a row.

they ran around chasing each other for 10 minutes (yes, i timed it).

then they were ready to go.  so i lured them to the swings saying they'd cool them off.   yeh- they didn't buy that either so we left after a total of 20 minutes.  I thought since it was 'only' 88 degrees it wouldn't be too hot, but coupled with the humidity….it was pretty hot!

we came home to put Nolan down for a nap.  then i played Old Maid with the girls.  this was Payton's (my niece) first time…and Grace had really only played once before.  anyways….Payton picked the Old Maid from Grace and the girls just thought this was so funny (well, obviously, Payton did not)…and Grace yelled out, "she got the Old Navy!"  the funniest thing about it…she had no idea she was saying it wrong.  and by the second game…they were all calling her Old Navy.

slumber party!

and this morning.  

3 kids playing by the open windows (in Texas) is July.  crazy!

the kids are spending the night with my sister tonight…..one night.  and it always seems like we pack so much.

but they're pretty cute.

i love looking back at the week and all the pictures i took on my phone.  when i do pull out my 'big' camera….it always encourages me to do it more because the images are really so much better.  but my phone allows me the convenience of pulling it out in a moment's notice and also not having to worry camera settings.  but as i've said many times and will continues to say…quality aside…these are my favorites.