Play Time

Tuesday a couple of Natalie's friends came over to play! We had a big time playing hide and seek, chasing the dogs, and my favorite....building a tent! This used to be one of my most favorite things to do with friends. We used to come up with some elaborate tents in our living room. So this one wasn't so elaborate since I was losing them fast in interest.

                                                                                 

Dog Days of Summer

Summer is officially here and it is nothing less than fiery! With multiple days of 100 + temps and it is not even July, we are in for it! We beat the heat with some grillin' and swimmin' as the country folk say. This is definitely my favorite parts of summer...........just being with friends.

 When all the spots were filled I threw out a towel for Natalie and I to sit on, and the crowd of girls followed. Natalie has that effect on people! These girls love her.

 Boys will be boys.... These are their silly faces in case you couldn't guess=)

 The big girls liked NJ's boat.

And just because we never get enough grilling, we did it again on Sunday with our Sunday School class Care  Group.  We really enjoyed ourselves! Thanks to Aaron and Lori for having us over to play in their pool.

 The guys: just sitting around like 3 old men discussing the price of gas

Say 'Yes' to 'VBS'

These are pictures of Natalie's VBS teachers. This was her first year to go, and let me tell you that her teachers had their work cut out for them. Three ladies and one baby is just not fair. I know they had to go home and take naps every day after being with her. Whew!

Seriously, these ladies were amazing. I had so much fun chatting it up with them each day. I mean, I had so much fun taking care of babies with them each day=)

Thanks Lori, Stephanie, and Susan

Big Weekend for Our Family

Wow, what a weekend we have had!
First, we kicked off our weekend with a date night out just the two of us. Some sweet friends from church, Alan and Melody, offered to keep her for us so we could go out. We were thrilled! We ended up at Fish City Grill in Firewheel Mall. Brian loves their fish tacos and I stumbled  upon an amazing Cobb Salad (tomatoes, eggs, avocado, bacon bits, ranch, yummy!). We stuffed ourselves too full to enjoy any yogurt which is what I was really craving=( Oh well.....I guess there is always next time.
While we were out, they sent us a picture of Natalie....

I think she was in good hands.

Saturday was spent hanging out at the house (I ran some errands without child in tow), and selling Brian's Jeep. Finally! Now we have some money to start fixing up our backyard. More on that later!  That evening Chik-fil-A was hosting a 'Daddy/Daughter Date Night.' Brian and 2 other friends signed up with all their daughters for 5:30. Since the Chik-fil-A in our town was all booked they had to drive a bit further but it was no big deal. The funny thing was that the invitation told them to meet at the Wal-Mart parking lot where a LIMO would pick them up and drive them a half-mile to Chik-fil-A. How funny is that?! I have never even been in a limo, and now Natalie has=)

They felt a little rushed at dinner because Brian was trying to feed NJ, eat his own dinner and deal with a child that really should have had another nap before going, if you know what I mean (we were dealing with Jeep drama and didn't get her down). He said overall it was fun, and he was glad they went, but it definitely wasn't relaxing.  They ordered their own food, but did receive a free slice of cheesecake, a goody bag with some coupons, and a framed copy of their picture with the Chik-fil-A cow! I was really impressed. Brian said NJ was the youngest one there followed closely by her friend, Bailey.

 Lyla and Natalie in the limo!

 Natalie and Bailey ready for some grub.

Daddy and Natalie's 1st Date on Father's Day weekend. Aren't they pretty?!

Aaron and Lyla

Well, this was also Father's Day weekend so today we celebrated Brian's 1st! Natalie and I worked diligently on a project at about 8 pm last night that I could have completed the previous two weeks with no problem. However, I never do anything early. It just isn't like me! So I told Brian to stay away, we were working on a project.

It's kind of hard to read in this picture. Father's Day is at the top, her footprints in the middle, and her initials with the year at the bottom. We surprised him by putting it in the landscaping this morning. Brian loves to landscape and has spent many, many, many hours perfecting his work so this was the perfect idea! Thank you Dad and Hobby Lobby for helping me come up with the idea at the last minute. 

We love this daddy! 

Splash Park

 I clipped as much hair as I could into that thing. There is a little twig sticking out!

Today we did not have VBS so we scheduled some time with friends at the Splash Park. I was excited because it is the one right here in the big RC, and I didn't have to drive 30 minutes for once! We totally took over the Splash Park with 5 adults and 14 kids!

This is a great crew of kiddos, and we are blessed to call their families our friends.

K is going to be our future Nanny. She is going to be a 4th grader and is SO very good with babies. She feeds, rocks, plays, and everything with her. She had a hard time giving her up to all the other little mommas today=) At lunch time, I asked NJ if she wanted to go see KK and she smiled and wrinkled up her nose! She loves KK too!

The kids had a blast, and the adults did too. It was nice to visit knowing the kids were doing great and having fun.

 

 Natalie's entourage were fighting over whose turn it was to hold her. At one point they were in a circle, and had her in the middle. I asked if they were about to play a game, and they said "No, we are going to see who she wants!"

 The adults were working hard here.

We stayed for about 4 hours before Miss Nat needed to take a real nap.