July Phone Favorites

July!!! Where have you gone?! I seriously think that has got to have been the fastest month EVER! Here is a round up of our phone favs!

E has been stalking my pinterest lately and she was really interested in some food art. So here is what Pintrest and I came up with.

I love reading to this girl!

I cut a few inches off of E's hair. It was time (the last hair cut she had when she was 19 +/- months old.) It was hard to say goodbye to her precious locks and even though it still reaches down the middle of her back, the fact that it once touched her bum is mind boggling. 

Manny is super into his cars right now. I just loved his little train that he built.

And his house.

 That looks comfortable...

 So Duke's birthday theme this year is Young Wild and Three. So Mom and I were brainstorming ideas and she suggested we have thin wood slabs on the table for decoration and for plate elevators. GREAT idea! Go online to see home much wood slabs are.... $25+. I almost fainted... So then I started thinking of who I may know that would have a stump.... Our neighbour Greg. So I called. He said he may have something at the lake. I said great can I have approx 3 ft? So he comes back with this HUGE stump. So then I had to think of how I was to cut siad stump... It's 18" wide, walnut. Beautiful but HUGE. So I am driving down the road one day and I see a house that is COVERED in wood. So I go ring the door bell to see if I can have a chunk of not so thick and heavy wood... No one home. So I stole a log (not pictured). Yeah, I'm a bit risky like that! So I go on FB and ask friends if they have a chain saw. They do. So I set Jakob to work chopping up my logs. It was a project but I'm sure it will be totally worth it. Stay tuned to see how we decide to decorate with them....

 Love these two!

 I won at settlers... Actually... I destroyed at settlers! Woot woot! Poor Jakob does not enjoy looking to me. And since it happnes so rarely... I tend to rub it in his face a bit! ;)

 Since we are packing some of the kids items are beginning to disappear. One of E's dresses was one such casualty. She was pretty adamant that I had to go unpack this dress so she could wear it. poor creature. So I asked if she would like to wear one of Mama's shirts. This happens to be one of my tank tops and E is in love with it. I don't think I'll be getting it back which is fine because how often do I actually wear tank tops anyways. read: never. But it does make me a bit nervous that at 4 years old she is already trying to steal my clothes.

 E is back on the chore waggon... what is she trying to earn you may ask? A puppy. Yikes!

 Love her sense of style!

 I think we need to rockers. 

And finally one of my favorite E pictures so far! she worked really hard on this bad boy! Now bring on August! Anniversary, Duke's birthday, Closing on our house and my Mama comes to visit! It is going to be CRAZY!!!!

Golilocks

One Sunday morning we were getting in the car to go to church. Everyone was buckled I had started the car to get the air running and then Jakob climbed in. He went to put the car into reverse and it died. Just plain died. 

So we all unloaded and Daddy set to work. (With his little assistant.)

 8 hours later, she was still dead. So we decided to toe it to the mechanics. So thankful for Preston who towed the car with his truck. 

So our only car was dead... and who knew for how long. In my mind we would only have to wait until Monday morning for them to look at it and hopefully we would have it back in a day or two. I was wrong... for some reason, it took MUCH longer than that. We also were in the process of purchasing a house, so we couldn't get a loan for a new car and used cars are just ridiculously expensive right now. So I posted the news on Facebook and shortly after my friend Hattie called me up. They were out of town and did not need their car so they lent it to us for two weeks.

Once they had returned Barb called me up and informed us that they too would be out of town for a week and we were more than welcome to borrow their car. We had a BBQ and invited some friends over and Heather asked what had happened with our car. At this point it was just sitting at the mechanic's while they were waiting for a part that was no longer being made (let me tell you it was frustrating.) I told her that Barb would soon be home and then we would be carless again unless we rented. She happily said, well I don't need my van since half of my family it out of town, you're welcome to it! SERIOUSLY!!!! WE HAVE THE MOST INCREDIBLE FRIENDS EVER! We didn't go ONE SINGLE day without a vehicle! After just shy of a month, the mechanic decided that they had no idea what was wrong and they transferred it over to another mechanic, who fixed the problem within a day. We are so happy to have our car back, and working and we are so happy that we won't have to be purchasing a new car for a little bit anyways. Once again a huge HUGE thank you to our friends who saw a need and just volunteered to help without hesitation! Words cannot do our gratitude justice! We are so very very blessed!

Mama Son Date Night

 For several days E has been asking for Daddy to take her on a date. So Saturday evening they were off which meant that Duke and I had a little at home date ourselves. Here's what we did....

 This kid and his selfies are just hilarious. We were having a good time!

 And who doesn't love a cushion fort?

E and Daddy returned from getting pizza at their usual place and then Daddy said that E insisted that they got to Wal-Mart to get band-aids. So random but they had fun and I love that not only do E and Daddy have fun but I get to have some 1 on 1 time with my sweet little man!

Pool Time

 Some friends that work with Jakob invited us to go to the pool! We were super excited. This community canter had an entire large section just for the kids to swim in which was PERFECT! it was shallow enough that I wasn't paranoid about the kids and we had a great time! E was super brave and put her face under the water! (This is a big deal people!!)

 Super proud of herself!

 They had a little scavenger hunt which was super fun!! The kids got  few fun little toys. 

 This picture cracks me up!

 Another big deal was E jumping into the pool!! Even if it was into Daddy's arms (we have trust issues lol.)

 Manny was fearless as per usual and my arms were pretty tired after awhile!

We were only at the pool for an hour and a half and Jakob and I both got pretty toasty. Mine wasn't anywhere near what happened to Jakob. The sun was just too much for his porcelain skin and he paid for it. Super sore, he was itching so bad he was convulsing and I have never seen so much skin peel off of someone's back before. 

He has vowed never to be in teh sun again at least not without a tub full of sunscreen!

Star Light Theater

 Jakob had gotten tickets to go and see Beauty and the Beast at the Star Light Theater! It's is an outdoor theater and it was so much fun! 

One of my favorite Disney Movies is Beauty and the Beast and this play did not disappoint. It was laugh out loud funny and they had some amazing performances. We especially liked Gaston's number which was choreographed with them clinking metal mugs together. It was really cool. Lumiere was hilarious but I think my favorite part (aside from the set which was just incredible.) was when the Beast was explaining how he was worried Belle wouldn't love him back. It was supposed to be an emotional moment everyone was quiet and the Beast said "What if she laughs at me?" Then all of a sudden a little child yells "HA HA" super loud. The entire theater burst out laughing and I felt bad for teh actors who I'm sure, were about to bust up. It was a fabulous evening and we are so grateful for Jakob's company who provides all of these wonderful things for us to attend!

Birthday Activities

 For Jakob's Birthday weekend we wanted to do something special with the kiddos. So we decided to go to the KC aquarium. We had some tickets where the kiddos got in for free but it was still crazy expensive for the adults. It was a cute aquarium but I don't think it was worth the money. The kidoos had fun and that is what was important. Plus, I love this picture of E!

 I think the best part was this touch and feel pool. 

 It was pretty big and there were lots of different things to touch. E kept trying to pick them up and then the guy told her off. She was really embarrassed. Poor peanut.

 Lego land is in the same building and we are pretty excited to go and check that place out another day!

It was a super fun afternoon!

7/11

 

 7/11 is a holiday in our house! I really should make a wreath or something. We had friends coming over so we all loaded up to get our free Slurpee's! The kids were pretty excited! 

 

 

 Okay Mama was pretty excited too! When I was preggers with Duke these we ALL I wanted. I love Slurpee's

 Later that day E asked if we could go again with Daddy. Unfortunately he had to work late so we loaed up again and hit up another 7/11. p.s. E's outfit literally kills me. LOL!

 It was a very sugar filled day and we are counting down the days until next year!