better get this in here...

You know you've been on a blogging hiatus and life is entirely too busy when you're trying to just fit in an updated post before moving on to the next part of your way over scheduled summer.  But that's what I'm doing.  Just trying to update this ol' blog before leaving for vacation in a few days (which I haven't even begun to pack for... maybe I should be doing that now instead of posting this? Nah...).

Okay, so where did we leave off in the last post.... I think I mentioned that the girls were staying at my parents' house for a week, right?  Well, they did and of course they had a blast.  But we sure did miss them around here.  And Tate got extremely used to being an only child.  Chad and I loved getting to spend some quality time with our little man.

Chad took him out in his kayak and on some hikes while I busied myself getting ready for my first (and maybe last...) year as the VBS craft lady.

 And Odie just moped around, missing his girls.

 They finally did come back and then VBS started up in full force, with a race car theme.  (I know, right? My first year as the craft lady and I get stuck with a race car theme?!)

They actually drove a Mustang in through the church's front doors.  Oh, and I should probably mention that this was crazy sock day.

 VBS week ended with Father's Day!  And what a fabulous father this guy is!

 Just like my great dad (below)!

And my wonderful father-in-law too! Only wish he lived closer so we could see him on these special days!  :)

 My parents and one of my brother's family came over to our place for Father's Day.  The kids had fun swimming in the pool.

While us adults sat around shootin' the breeze...

Or just shootin' off some zzz's...

Hey, cut him some slack.  He's been working long days this summer!

(Sorry, Dad, I just couldn't resist putting this one in here!)  ;)

The highlight for the girls was having their cousins, Clara and Ruby, sleep over!

Seriously, how cute is that?

 And these two, they are just Ca-Razy fun! :)

Once the adults left, we got our dry clothes on and headed for Jester Park.

Tate kept a safe distance from those giddy girls.  A skill I'm sure will come in very handy for him in the future.  ;)

 We had a hot and sticky sandwich picnic.  We were hot and sticky, not the sandwiches.

Then we went on a short hike (shortened by the pesky mosquitos) and drove out to take a peek at the elk and buffalo.

 If you look closely you can see the buffalo in the distance.  Not a great shot, but they were there nonetheless.

 And we ended our outing with some good ol' DQ.

 Yes, we share everything in our family - even germs.

When we got back to our place, all five kids needed a bath of course, although it was two hours past their bedtimes.  I thought it'd be smart to start with Tate since he's usually the squirmiest.  I got the bath water just perfect (assuming I could wash Tate up in a few minutes and then put the girls right in), and had the girls ready to jump in when Tate was done.  As soon as I put Tate in the water, he decided to use it as his toilet.  Of course.  So needless to say, I had to drain the tub, clean the tub and start all over again.  We did eventually make it through bath time.  Just much later than we expected.  

But we did have a super time having our nieces stay over!

After VBS and Father's Day were over, I busied myself getting ready for my farewell jewelry open house.  Yes, I'm hanging up my hat.  I spent a good five years with Premier Designs and really enjoyed working for them, but with Chad coaching football and Addie being in school, we felt it was time to quit.  I was having a lot of mommy-guilt, not seeing Addie all day and then having to turn around and leave her in the evenings too.  We both feel very comfortable with this decision, although it will be strange not being the "jewelry lady" anymore.  And I'll especially miss my awesome discount!  :)

So, here I am at my Open House.  I was selling a bunch of my samples for 50% off.  Although, here I'm pictured with the jewelry I'm keeping.  I know it looks like a lot, but hey, I honestly did have more that I was selling than keeping!  :)  If you want in on any of these deals, I have a ton of my samples for sale on Des Moines' Craigslist.  Just search for "Premier Designs" and you'll see bunch of my jewelry.

I'll end with this random picture that I just love.

Did I mention what a good daddy he is?

Okay, now I'm off to do laundry so I can pack!  Or maybe I'll just wait 'til tomorrow... Yeah, tomorrow sounds good.  ;)

a late memorial recap

Yes, I realize this post is a little outdated, seeing as it happened well over a week ago, but I couldn't let our Memorial weekend go undocumented.  Especially since it involved some very special people...

Chad's parents came to visit for a few days, which was lovely!

The kids got all decked out in their red, white and blue for Memorial Sunday.

And then again for Memorial Monday.

Nana and Papa took the kids to the playground at Addie's school so she could show off her new stunts while Chad and I stayed back and painted the house.

Tate was so worn out, he actually chose to cuddle up with me without being forced into it!  That almost never happens.  (Please try to ignore my nastiness... remember, I'd been out in the hot sun painting all day!)

Later that day, when the trees were successfully shading our yard, the girls planted their garden.

And we found lots and lots of worms, which the girls actually liked even more than Tate!

We busted out the ladder ball (or blongo ball... whatever you wanna call it), and found that little Adeline is a pretty talented player, although Papa was a pretty tough one to beat too!

Then we made our dinner over the campfire.  The girls loved eating hotdogs that they had roasted all by themselves!

And, of course, you can't have a campfire without s'mores!

Ooey, gooey, sticky goodness.

And the girls got to camp out inside their hippo tent that night, which they thought was a real treat!

And that was our Memorial Weekend!

Now I'm missing these little sweeties like crazy...

They're staying at my parents' house this week, which they have never done for longer than one night without mommy or daddy, so this is a real treat for them and Nana and Baba! And it's the perfect week for it as I'm busy getting ready for our VBS next week.  I'm the craft lady this year, which was a job I took on before realizing all the work involved!  But it's coming along and hopefully next week will be smooth sailing.

But Daddy and I aren't the only ones missing those girls...

Tate's missing his wrestling partners and asks every day, "Addie go?  Millie go?" (translation: Where's Addie and Millie?)  He would've gotten to go too, except my mom has to work this week and the girls can go along and read books and color, but Tate wouldn't have done so great at that.

Looking forward to reuniting with them again in a few days! :)

our little beat boxer

Recently, while watching The Electric Company, Tate started bustin' out his beat box skills.  Completely self-taught.  He's just a natural gangsta.  Now he beat boxes whenever he hears rap music, and on command.  In this video, he even uses his Papa B's cane as a prop.