Five on Friday

I'm linking up with Five on Friday!

Here are my 5 things:

{ONE}

The girls had VBS at our church this week.

They had an absolute blast.

And, I had an absolute blast having uninterrupted 1 on 1 time with my sweet Luke.

I just adore that sweet boy.

He is so fun and happy.

And, also? Having 1 kid is SO easy. How did I think it was so hard when I first had Kate?

{TWO}

Today I am guest posting on Heather's blog.
I am talking about some party planning tips.
You know I love planning parties!
Check out my post {Here}
Speaking of planning parties, I am throwing my friend Jackie a Vintage-y Baseball shower in August. I made the invites yesterday & LOVE how they turned out! Here is a sneak peek:

I will be adding them to my Etsy shop soon!


{THREE}
Since Google Reader is going away on Monday, I decided to start a Facebook page for my blog, so you can get updates there.
Check it out {HERE}

{FOUR}
One of my sweet neighbors passed away & her memorial service was today.
I have mentioned how close our court is, so this was very sad.
Myself & 3 other ladies on the court woke up bright and early today to prepare all the food & salads for the reception.
Mary Ann was 83 and she and her husband (and kids) have lived on our court since the houses were built 40 years ago. She had heart faliure & hospice as been at their home for months, so we knew it was coming. She is with Jesus now. Her service was beautiful. She was a wonderful woman who loved the Lord. She was humble & kind. And, she was one of the best bakers I know. BUT, she never shared her recipes with anyone, that is until today.
 
 At her reception, she had told her kids she wanted to give out her most popular recipes to everyone who attended. Her daughter printed them up on Christmas paper (her favorite holiday) and passed them out along with her famous Homemade Caramels. Every Christmas, she would give everyone on our court a bag of her caramels. They are amazing, melt in your mouth. I can't wait to make them this year in her memory.
Mary Ann, you will be missed.


{FIVE}

Can you believe it...Monday is July 1st! 

That means it's time for the monthly Pin-Spired link up!

Link up your Pinterest Inspired Outfits with me, Sheaffer & Shay
I hope you link up with us!

Hope you have a great weekend.
We will be in the pool all weekend....It's going to be triple digits for the next 5 days!

We Love the Fair!

Last week the kids & I headed to the County Fair with my sister & Jack. 

I look forward to the Fair every year (and so do the girls!)

I love all the sights, sounds & smells.

And, it's so fun to photograph. 

Here is our day in photos:

 Trash cans disguised as Clowns:

 We checked out the petting zoo...my girls love animals as much as I do......they were VERY reluctant to go in there.....

We lasted about 2 minutes in there. Ha!

 Then we had to wash up at the Sudsy Barn.

Me & my girls....smiling because we were brave & survived the petting zoo :)

 Our favorite thing at the fair....The PIG RACES!

 In heat #1....bringing up the rear...the pig named Sourdough JACK!

 And, in the 2nd heat...in the lead, a pig named Luke Sky-porker.

 The girls (and my sister & I) thought it was hysterical there were pigs named Jack & Luke :)

Next up were the rides.....it was $1 ride day!

 Kate wanted to do this ride so bad., but of course it was the only one not for $1...it was $8!!!  No thanks.

  They wanted to go on this "roller coaster"....it looked like no big deal.

I watched from the side... Claire was verrrrrrry nervous the whole time.

 Each time it went by, I yelled to them...."Just hold on & stay seated"

 It had a decent little drop.....and it kept going and going and going around.....4 times.

 Should have gone on with them.....OOPS.

 We always end our day at the fair with a stop at the Dairy for a treat!

 Our time at the 2013 Fair is in the books!

It is one of my very favorite summer time traditions!

Do you go to the Fair?

The 2013 Summer List

For the past 4 summers the girls & I have created a Summer List of things we want to do!
It helps me be intentional with the girls and do what they want to do.
If we have an unscheduled day (like most days in the summer) and they say they are "bored" we can look at our list and decide on what to do that day!

I let the girls pick the items for the summer list, I have no input what so ever. 

I love hearing what they want to do.

Kate wanted to make her own summer "picture" list with pictures of everything she wanted to do.

 Of course, Claire wanted to make her own as well.

Here is Kate's finished list in pictures:

And, here is the official 2013 Summer List:

Here is my summer list of things *I* want to get done:

1. Finish Claire's 1st year Baby Book.
(I made an awesome book for Kate's 1st year and haven't finished Claire's yet...she will be FIVE in September and she keeps asking where her book is. YIKES.)

2. Start Luke's 1st year Baby Book
(Don't want the 3rd kid to be without one for 5 years like Claire. Ha!)

3. Finish my 40 bags in 40 days project
(Almost done, just need to finish)

4. Luke's Birthday Party & 1 year photo shoot.
(Can't believe my baby is turning ONE!!! Tears)

5. Read 5 books.
(I downloaded a bunch of free ones for the Kindle yesterday. Just search on Amazon!)


We've already crossed off making jam & going to frozen yogurt!
Do you have a summer list? What are looking forward to doing this summer?

Snapshots from the First Week of Summer

Our first week of summer was a fun one. 

Here are some snapshots.

Monday morning I had the girls "Summer Presents" waiting for them on the kitchen table.

 Every summer, I always buy them some fun things (mostly from the Target dollar bin) as a way to say "Happy Summer Vacation"

This year I got them each a box of their favorite cereal (we don't let them eat sugar cereal, so this is a fun treat)

I like to get them things they can play with outside, like water balloons, etc.

 I do a Summer Gift like this every year (Working Mom Guilt)

The first week of summer I always make homemade strawberry jam with my mother in law.

{Recipe Here}

 We make a year supply (for each of us) and some jars to giveaway as gifts.

This year we made over 40 jars!!!! The jam is SO good.

 We also had our babysitter's graduation party. She is going to TCU this Fall. We are going to miss her so much. Her mom babysat me & my sisters,  I babysat her & her siblings and now she is our babysitter.  And, her dad was one of the pastor's that married us. So excited for her new adventure. I loved college!

 Our garden is growing....lots of green tomatoes!

 Thursday I hosted the 2nd Annual Pioneer Woman Potluck Party (more on that this week!)

 

Lots of ice cream cones & swimming.

And, I got to continue my addiction to Candy Crush. It took me almost a week to get past level 65. Now I am stuck on 70.

Not documented was the amount of time we all spent in our pj's.

It was a great first week of Summer!