Bathtime Babies

Part of my goal for this blog is to capture the joy in the mundane. So, here ya go. This is where we are. Life these days isn't always glamourous, often times frustrating, but almost always filled with a little blessing if I just look for the bright spots in the day-to-day activities.

Molly has become quite the helper with Graham- washing his hair, holding his bottle, bringing me his diaper, etc.

We keep an old full length mirror in the bathroom so the kids can admire themselves :) It's the only way Molly will sit still long enough to let me dry or cut her hair.

CHEESE!

Me and Graham

Whatever-floats-your-boat

My mom taught me growing up that there was nothing wrong with an occasional "whatever floats your boat" menu for dinner. I recall it usually being on Sunday nights after church. Mom usually had hot meals on the table during the week, but these nights were pretty much about fending for yourself. I have embraced this concept thoroughly.

Often times we are satisfied with a big bowl of salty buttery popcorn. Microwave popcorn has pretty much become a "no-no" at our house. I received this wonderful little invention a few Christmases ago from my sister-in-law. If you appreciate a good bowl of pop corn, pick one up. Oh, and don't be shy with the butter and salt. This is NOT a health food. There are plenty of other recipes for that.

a sweet place to rest

For a while I thought that I would move Molly to a big-girl bed by her 2nd birthday. I already have the antique bed that was mine in college, and have planned to move her soon. However, I've decided to wait. I don't think there is a child who loves his/her bed any more than Molly does. It is her little sanctuary. Often times when she is sad, she asks for "blankie,monkey, lambie, night-night" even when I know she isn't tired. The girl sleeps an average of 16 hours a day, which is actually quite necessary due to the CRAZY amount of energy she uses during her awake hours. So, for now, the crib is staying put. Why mess with a good thing.

Style Your Sole

I was given such a fun and unique opportunity to represent local artists and paint some shoes on Saturday. Sachi, a clothing store in East Memphis, hosted an event that supported the TOMS One for One movement which provides shoes for children in Africa. For each pair of shoes bought, one is donated to a child in need. The cool thing about TOMS is that they are simple canvas shoes, which makes them perfect to paint! Kids, teenagers, and adults flooded the store Satuday and had the chance to either paint their own shoes, or have one of the four local artist paint a design for them. It was so fun to paint all afternoon and see so many people get excited about their designs and new shoes. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of my favorite ones. I brought 2 home to finish because we ran out of time, and took a few pictures. I am definitely picking up a pair of TOMS for Molly tomorrow, and will post some pictures of the shoes I paint for her.

Sum, Sum, Summertime

Our water plans were changed a bit today. Some friends were planning on going to the Collierville Sprinkler park to play, but with 2 little babies, we decided they needed a place to stay cool in the heat. So, we spent a fun morning at the Hill's house. The older 3 spent their time playing in the sprinklers, blowing bubbles, and eating pizza.

Pretty much a little Heaven on Earth for Molly.

I love watching these two since I know this is about how old Molly and Graham will be next summer. They are so sweet to each other.

Preston has started walking! Such a big boy!

Molly was quite enthralled with this little toy. Bubbles, Bubbles, Everywhere!

I'm thinking LL wasn't as impressed as the older 3.

We decided this will probably be a weekly event!!

After the Storm

Our backyard got hit hard by one of the storms this year. We have been spending the last 3 years updating the inside of our house, but have really done very little to the outside, other than screening in our back porch. So, in some ways it is great that the damage happened because it has spurred us along to get a lot of work done outside in time for this great summer weather. Here are a few before pictures. Hope we have some after pictures in a few weeks!

Fallen tree, knocked down fence, cracked concrete, and torn pool liner. A MESS!!!

We have now broken up the decking in order to start the pool repairs.

Here's our messy porch. We are looking forward to sprucing it up with some new plants and painting the table and chairs a fun color.

Canale Farms- a Kid's Dream

Memorial Day Weekend was kicked off with our church-wide picnic at Canale Farms on Saturday. What a neat place to spend the day! We were a bit nervous since it was right during naptime, but we had a fabulous time doing many fun things with our friends...

• Great BBQ
• Boat Rides
• Pony Rides (which Molly was way too freaked out about once we got up close)
• Inflatable slides and jump houses
• Basketball games
• Wagon rides
• Playgrounds
• unlimited snowcones, and more...