photo journey

just me and my girls every july. 

this year a big 6 year old and 4 year old.

see where it started:

june

summer has been chugging along.

i wanted to girls to feel like they got a summer break,

so i have a sitter coming over to the house every monday

and they go to my parent's on friday's, so they get two 

extra days at homes. 

we've been spending our weekends at local fairs. 

i think we've been to THREE this month.

we signed brette up for t-ball and she kind of likes it.

it's hot, so she doesn't love that and she's not good. 

(i can say that because i'm her mom) 

but i like getting her on a team and trying new things.

not sure if i'll talk her into it next year though.

in BIG house news - we started on the exterior!
we hired cale to reside it.

no more vinyl siding and hello to a craftsman style.

i'm SOOO glad we decided to rip everything down. 

you would not believe what we found underneath. 

totally gross.

i love the new pergola we added over the garage, our new

garage doors, thicker trim and shutters. 

our painter fell through so now ronnie has decided we're

going to paint and caulk ourselves. 

we're done caulking and up next is paint!

i think we should have everything done in july. wahoo!

also this month, a little party for B and a few friends.

i'm throwing a family party for all 4 girls in july, but 

i wanted brette to be able to celebrate on her own too. 

she wanted an outdoor slide and rice crispy treats. easy peasy.

and lastly, we had a little adults weekend at the lake for 

all the families who go campering together. 

it was so nice to go out to dinner, stay up late, take the 

boat out to the bars and not worry about the kiddos. 

i hope we do this yearly because i seriously had so much fun. 

(there are no photos to protect the innocent)

and that pretty much does it for our june. 

coming up - ronnie and reid's birthday, the 4th of july and

the rest of summer! 

may

may was crazy. 

lots of plans and lots of rain.

i started off the month with a little 

girls night out to see new kids on the block.

it was heinous and i think i'm too young to enjoy them, 

but we had a ton of fun on the party bus and going out 

to dinner so i'm glad i went...

even if it was on a tuesday and i almost died 

getting up the next morning for work. 

the following week, we went actual camping (not campering)

with the turnbow's (it's kind of an annual trip.)

the girls had lots of fun playing in the tents and roasting 

brats and smores over the fire. 

unfortunately, it started raining in the middle of the night, so

we couldn't stay around for our campfire breakfast and fishing.

we're going to try again next year. 

and can i just say, that knob noster state park is beautiful and i

can't believe its only 15 minutes away. 

i kind of wish our camper was parked there. 

brette went on her first school field trip to a hatchery and went

fishing so i took off work so i could go with her.

it was such a pretty day and i loved that i was able to be there. 

she actually caught a fish (her first ever!) so i consider this a success.

then over memorial day, we headed down to the lake.

it was the first time the EVERYONE went down.

the other times, it's just been us a couple other families,

but this time was a ton of fun because there was like 20 of us.

we plan our meals together, the pool was ready, the ice cream

shop was open and the kids had a blast. 

we even took a little boat ride - the water was cold and gross so 

no one got in, but i love being on a boat, so it made me happy. 

we were also SUPER tired by the time we got home on monday,

but it was totally worth it. 

i'm pretty sure my kids live for going campering. 

and finally,  today was the last day of school. 

brette made it through kindergarten and i

feel like it went super fast.

i'm so proud of how well she can read and

its my goal to keep it up all summer long. 

ronnie and i took the girls out for donuts to celebrate and

reid had her first water play day at school, so 

everyone is in a great mood. 

tonight there is a fair in knob, so we plan on meeting up with

some friends and taking the girls on the carnival rides.

gotta start summer out right!

we're headed into summer - my favorite time of year.

and june looks just a crazy busy as may. 

i'll keep you posted.

april

so besides a trip to mexico early in the month,

we had a few other noteworthy events happen in april.

first - we (and by we, i mean my dad) planted an actual

garden at our house so we are going to be enjoying

all things vegetable. 

the girls are really into it and ronnie loves the idea, but

my dad is the main caregiver because ain't no one got time for that. 

cross your fingers we're going to get some good summer eatin' out of it. 

also - we can't forget about easter!

the girls and i had matching dresses that i ordered

last year but it was snowing so we couldn't wear them.

thank goodness they still fit, although we do not have a great 

photo in them, which really bums me out.

we went to church with my parents and aunts and then

headed back to their house for a lamb dinner. 

we did three different easter egg hunts and everyone got the girls

candy, so i'm pretty sure we'll be eating reese's eggs until july.

(which i'm totally down with)

since we've had our camper we normally go

memorial day, 4th of july, labor day and maybe one more time in august.

this year, since we're at a permanent site, we've been going a lot more.

we've already been twice in april and we're going twice in may. 

it takes a lot of work to pack everything up and get all the food, 

but it's such a nice time to get away and the girls absolutely love it.

i think they're going to want to go all time once the pool opens up.

also, since this is a permanent site, we want to buy some actual patio

furniture and hang some lights. 

i'm excited to set it all up and spend our summer there. 

the last week of april i went to austin for work.

i was gone 4 days, which is one too many, but i 

really did enjoy myself. 

we road on a private plane (because that's my life)

and had nice meals out. 

we even went out one night to see an 80's cover band play

and it was so much fun. 

it IS nice to be the "career" girl once in awhile, instead of 

"mom, she said shut up" girl.

(some really good fish tacos)

we're hoping for nice weather and lots of outside time through this spring. 

we have a lot going on in may and it's all fun!