Duke's Birthday

 Someone is turning five and it's his birthday eve! A per tradition we have to take a couple of selfies on his last night of being four!

 

 Gosh I adore this kid!

duke's birthday was a BUSY one! We started off by heading out to the orchard to pick some peaches with friends! 

 

 

 

 The peaches were BEAUTIFUL! 

 

 

 

 

 

And they tasted pretty good too. 

 

  

 I love this picture of our crew! So perfectly candid!

 

 Sprout was INTO eating as many peaches as possible!

 

 Duke and Jensen

 E and Naomi

 Myself, Brielle and Anna

 So tall my man!

 We got home, napped Sprout really quick and loaded up to go to the beach with Michelle and Piper!

 We love playing in the sand and swimming!

 E made a sand castle all by herself. 

 We came home and Daddy took Bear to go and pick out his birthday treat. As per tradition, if you're birthday doesn't fall on the same day as your party you get to go to the store and pick out whatever treat you would like for your birthday. E and I stayed home and decorated while we started on Duke's special birthday dinner. 

 I tol dhim he could have anything that he wanted and he picked eggs and sausage. Simple man to please. E made her very first batch of eggs. 

Bear came back with a donut that he picked out. 

Happy birthday to you!

Then we opened presents and he got a lot of goodies. E got to give him his dinosaur and she was really excited since that meant that she got to have her new bear too. she had been waiting patiently for quite awhile. Duke loved his dinosaur!

And here is our picture at 8:24 p.m. my boy is officially 5 and I can hardly believe it! Happy birthday Bear. You are so loved!

Nine Years

This year for our ninth anniversary Jakob had a cubs meeting he couldn't push back and I decided to take the kids swimming. It wasn't glamorous, but that is really the summation of our nine years together. Things don't always go as planned, but we know what is important. This year has just been so real and I am so thankful for it. Life is crazy and wild and distracting but through all of it Jakob and I did it together. I feel we balance each other perfectly, as though we have found a rhythm that works where one gives and one takes and then we switch without thought. Where we trust and support and have our own adventures together. And while most of those adventures do not happen in Holland or Australia but usually DO involve three kids and look more like a trip to the sun flower field or lunch at Costco we are so happy and so grateful for this life we have together. When I was 17 and I was imagining my life in the future THIS is what I saw. I saw children playing and laughing, I saw a husband mowing the lawn and I saw myself folding loads and loads of laundry. From the outside looking in it isn't glamorous but, for me at least, it is hands down my greatest treasure. This man, my rock, my safe place and this life that we have together. What a wonderful nine years it has been and I look forward to cherishing every blissful, wild, crazy and sometimes crummy moment ahead. I'm so lucky I'm in love with my best friend.

July Phone Favorites

And just like that July is gone! This summer is flying by I can hardly beleive it. Here is a round up of this months phone favorites.

We got a coupon for $15 off a build a bear. I thought it would be a good birthday gift for someone so I picked out a little bunny that was $12. When I got to the store there was still a line outside of the door. Crazy!

I love this little profile. 

The most beautiful cloud. the rest of the sky was grey but this could was stunning. 

Double fisting like a champ.  

As part of our summer bucket list I decided that I wanted to read a book. I went with the Throne of Glass Series per a friends reccomendation and it really enjoyed it. I blew through all 6 books and I think I'm hooked on reading. It's a love hate relationship. I am obsessed, but it is a huge time suck and it puts my crafting and other projects on the back burner. I've got to learn a good balance.

My friend Anna was really sick this month and so I kid napped her tiny humans and they played with us all day. The best part was I was able to fit ALL 5 kids PLUS CAR SEATS in my VAN!!!!!!! Words cannot describe how much I love my van. LOVE LOVE LOVE it! 

Rainy day crafts. We started working on Duke's birthday party favors.

Dinosaur eggs!

Good Job Bear. :) I don't really think he grasped the concept. 

Duke was part of a summer school program this month. It was three weeks long, half day, Mon-Thurs and it was awesome. Duke did a great job and really learned a lot! Plus he got to take the bus again and he was  pretty big fan of that! So proud of you Bear! 

I could get used to this... don't be fooled... it only lasted 3 seconds. 

Duke is not a big fan of the buzzers, in fact he is terrified of them. When it comes time to cut his hair he usual siting in someones lap while they hold him down and we buzz his hair as fast as humanly possible. So Gramma had the wonderful idea to let Duke cut his bears hair. He held the clippers and went to town. then Gramma cut Duke's hair without a problem. I decided to reenact the process at home and it was wonderful! Duke did a great job and sat so still and didn't shed a single tear. 

Sprout is obsessed with the slide. 

Where did my children go? It was a busy month full of traveling, visitors and projects and I am not looking forward to the summer ending so soon!