growing, splashing, playing, driving

Incase you haven't noticed... I've been neglecting my French Fridays this summer.  But I promise, it's just a summer thing.  I will do my best to resume my impartation of my French knowledge onto you again this fall.  Right now I'm just having too much fun doing other stuff.  Like...

Working on re-landscaping our backyard.  The previous owners had some strange stuff going on that we're trying to fix (notice the picture below... we're trying to grow grass where they had large areas of nothing jutting out into the yard).  And I had a very nice friend bring over some flowers that needed a home, so Adeline helped me plant them.

She's an amazing little helper.  She was especially good at finding all the worms.

Don't let her girly-girl facade deceive you.  She loves dirt and bugs just as much as any boy I know!

You may be wondering why she's wearing her swimsuit while gardening.  Well, swimsuits have been found on my children a lot this summer since the purchase of this big blue monstrosity:

Chad was shocked when I said I wanted one of these in our yard (that we're trying to beautify).  But I knew we'd all have a lot of fun in it and it's tucked away nicely in the corner of our yard, so it really doesn't take up much space.  And the best part is that all five of use can fit in it comfortably and splash around together, allowing for some great laughing, screaming family time.  Come on over and swim with us!  :)

Notice the partially painted house?  That's been another huge undertaking this summer.  That will be a post for another time once it's all finished.  I want to show the whole huge project at once so it will have a more dramatic effect.  :)

The kids really got into the 4th of July spirit this year in their red, white and blue - especially Tate.  He'd been begging all summer for a chance to wear his sailor outfit from his Auntie Lydia.

Hopefully my mom got a better picture of this, since they were obviously all looking at her and not me.

My parents had us over for a little 4th celebration (even though it was the 5th), and then kept Adeline and her cousin Clara there for the week so they could go to VBS at their church.  Addie had an awesome time, of course, since Nana spoiled them to her heart's content.  They did more stuff in one day then I do with them in a week, maybe even two weeks!

Millie missed her sister a lot, but had fun getting more of Mommy's attention and also doing stuff on her own.  Like setting up the world's biggest tea party:

Yes, nearly every single one of her toys was invited.  She didn't want to leave anyone/thing out.  Not even the kitchen sink.  Not kidding.  It's there in the lower right corner.  Mommy had fun helping clean up after the party, of course.  :)

And that's a glimpse of our life the past few weeks.

Oh, and did I mention that Chad and I are on our second honeymoon?  Yes, we are celebrating our 10-year anniversary this month!!!  And with the help of some generous friends, we're taking the week to finally get away by ourselves - for the first time ever for more than just one night (besides our original honeymoon which was quite a disaster - you can read about it here)!

We left yesterday and I fought tears while saying goodbye to my little sweethearts, and let them pour out after getting out of sight range.  My sweet Adeline is such the dramatic little girl.  When she was hugging me ever so tightly, she whispered into my ear, "You'll always be right by my side, Mommy."  I wondered how long she'd thought about saying those words, and in which Disney movie those may have originated from... :)  But I also know she meant it from her heart.  Oh, I miss those little cuties.

So, where are we?

Well, I'll give you a little clue...

Let's see if you can figure it out...