Summertime

 We've been having a fun and busy summer! Having all three kids home all of the time has kept me on my toes! I go to bed exhausted every night, but am having fun in the process :) We started out the summer by visiting my family in Houston for Memorial Day weekend. We enjoyed having our whole family there together!

 Oliver also finished up his first season of baseball. He was able to be on a team with some of his friends from school so that made it extra fun! It was great seeing him actually enjoying a sport - other ones he's tried haven't really taken off, but baseball was a hit! He was on the Owlz and had an encouraging and supportive coach which made it such a wonderful experience.

 

 

They took turns in all of the fielding positions. Cutest position = catcher.

 

We are able to enjoy a more relaxed pace during the summer and have enjoyed our pajama mornings! Melia is talking like a pro now and is fiercely independent. She still loves to climb things and is often heard saying "Leelee do it."  She is slowly transitioning to a big girl bed with her sister (by slowly I mean she lays in the big girl bed for about 3 minutes each night before she gets out and we put her in her crib). She still loves her "Baba Lellee" (paci and elephant) and has finally started enjoying being in the pool.

We took a trip at the beginning of June to stay at a cabin in Oklahoma for a weekend with friends. We stayed there the whole time and enjoyed relaxing, roaming around outside, movies, games, and smores!

We stopped in Paris, TX along the way to snap this gem.

 On our "hike"

The Jones family (and Oliver)

An awesome fort built by Matt and Steve!

 

Ann Marie and I were there too - but I guess we were always behind the cameras! The kids entertained each other so well and we loved spending quality time with our friends.

 

Gabriella has really taken to reading this summer! She can read on such an advanced level for a 4 year-old. It definitely helps that she LOVES reading! It is a chore for Oliver, but enjoyable for Gabby. We often find her reading a book somewhere - out loud, to herself, in her cute 4 year-old voice. She has loved spending time in the pool this summer and is now able to swim on her own! She still loves time with friends and often asks to invite people over.

We have been enjoying spending time with our friends the Aarseths who are missionaries in Africa but have been home for 6 weeks this summer on a furlough.  Our girls are best friends and we have enjoyed spending time with their newest addition Hudson. We love you Aarseths!

Welcoming them home at the airport!

Melia turned two this summer on June 26. We had a water party in our backyard with a few friends to celebrate! She enjoyed having all of the kids around, wasn't too sure about blowing out the candles, and totally got into opening presents!

Gabby and Olivia driving the car through the "kid/car wash" that Matt built for the occasion! Way to go Daddy - they love it!

Hudson, Melia, and best friends Olivia and Gabriella!

 Our kids LOVE colorful food - waffles especially. So this year for 4th of July, I surprised them with red, white and blue waffles for breakfast! It was definitely a hit!

We all got to participate in our church's VBS program in July - Babylon! I was the director and all of my kids got to attend. My mom and sister Emily even came up to help for the week! It was a great time and the kids loved learning more about God's faithfulness to Daniel while he was in exile in Babylon!

Recently, the girls got to help refinish Matt's great-grandmother's bed into a bed they could share! They helped clean it off, Matt and I worked on painting it white, and we've enjoyed the resulting double sized bed for the girls to share!

 

 

We've still got a month of summer left and are looking forward to visits from cousins, a day camp for Oliver, and lots more time in the pool before school starts up again at the end of August!