Friday Favorites

Today's Friday Favorites are from both this week and last week since I took a little blog break last week during the kids' camp. The link up is here! 

Goofing off and book quotes.

Evie took my just-in-case-they-have-the-air-conditioning-cranked-up scarf out of my purse and then looked at me and said 'Do you like my hat?' in the same voice and intonation that I used to read them the story Go Dogs Go. 

It not only cracked me up, it made me really happy remembering all the times we read this story. Every year this is still one of my favorites to read to my preschool class.

Swimming. We have had only one request repeated over and over this summer. 'Can we go to the Natatorium??'

Practicing diving...

Jumping off the high dive...

We have all been having contests to see how far we can swim in one breath. It was really fun until daddy swam ALL the way across the pool in one breath. That kind of ended the competition!

These kids can outlast both of us with their love of being in the water. 

Shasta and Ted Bear. I love her, so I let her borrow my Ted Bear sometimes.

GIFTS camp!

This year Evie's focus was Lego Workshop. Each day they had a building challenge.

Everett did Superheroes and Villains.

They each became a super hero. Everett was Pickle Man! He throws exploding pickles.

Evie rearranged her room this week after her dad converted her bunk bed to a loft bed. That child takes after me. I used to rearrange my furniture constantly. (Now I only do it occasionally!)

Here are the 3 girls relaxing in Evie's newly created space. Love hanging out with this girl!

My little Everett.

He switches favorite things faster than you can say 'I love that, too!" (Star Wars, Minecraft, Plants vs. Zombies, Cars, Angry Birds, Sonic). But, if you wait long enough, he usually circles back around.

And he LOVES donuts. Fortunately for him, we have a neighbor who drops them off occasionally! Neighbors who deliver donuts are one of our favorites!!

Sleepovers.

Everett and I stayed quiet as long as we could. These sweet girls are so good and we didn't hear a peep even though they reported staying up until midnight. 

They both had the awesome Wet Brush! I talked about it before here.

Friends and fun at Stomping Grounds.

The girls...

the moms... 

and the boys!

Full car on the ride home. Evie & her friend entertained all of us with a mash-up game of Would You Rather & Funglish. It was very creative of them and a great game to play on the drive. 

Hope you had a fun week too! Summer is winding down. Started school shopping this week. (Evie couldn't be happier! Everett & I are in denial.)

Moments in Life

Last week I was just suddenly struck with the desire to catch up with one of my friends.

 It just popped into my head and I started taking action. I contacted her.

I heard back immediately and it turned out she was on vacation just 45 minutes away! How's that for a connection?! 

Do you remember the commercials for those time life books? I used to LOVE this one. I found it and I still had it almost memorized! (My favorite part was always the mother who felt pain when her daughter across the country touched a hot pan).

You can watch it here and re-live the awesomeness!

So we got to meet at my house one afternoon last week. 

I had met her kids when I was able to visit her in Germany a few years ago (phenomenal trip!!). But, she had never met mine.

 

Her son came to meet my kids too and they had a wonderful afternoon playing Minecraft & Nerf Guns.

I hope this inspires you to pick up the phone and text, Facebook message, or chat with someone you haven't seen or heard from in awhile. It's really rejuvenating to see far away friends and pick up where you left off. 

Show & Tell Tuesday: Home Tour

It's another link up. This week is the home tour. You may want to head on over and get a look inside lots of peoples homes today. I know I will be doing just that!

Welcome! You know that song 'Little Houses'? 

I have always loved that song and I love our little house.

One of my favorite things is my front door. It was one of the first upgrades we made to the house. The entry used to be so dark with a very tiny window in the builder door. 

Shasta is here to welcome you! 

Eric built me this coat rack.

And here is where the kids hang their backpacks and I put all the papers I'm scrambling for on school mornings. Appointment reminders, party invitations, and currently some summer info.

The first turn is to the kids hall.

Everett's room.

Evie's room (in perfect Rater fashion, she has already made changes since I took this picture last week!)

You saw the kids/guest bathroom here. It's really almost too small for me to get any other shot in there!

The laundry room/garage entry point. You can see I just can't find the time/inclination to paint this room. Though I have tried many colors out in here.

Eric built me the shelves and hung some hanging racks for me which is VERY helpful. Still, this room has never truly had any kind of makeover. It's just too much of a catch-all.

And here is where I hang/drop my stuff when I come home.

Living room.

Minecraft station.

My workstation/desk area.

Piano.

Movie/TV couch awesomeness. We love our giant couch!

Shasta stole one of my ottomans for her backyard viewing pleasure. This is where you will find her most days. You can see the backyard here.

 Kitchen.

Our family table. Lots of 'best part of/worst part of the day' goes on here. This is where we display the kid's art, great schoolwork papers or projects.

When we replaced the floors we took it right through the kitchen. LOVE!

Pantry and hall closet. Standing at the back door, looking right through to the front door.

All the daily info and kid pics. :D

Our home builder called this the 'owner's retreat'. Well it has certainly been the 'mommy's retreat' often enough!

Eric made the headboard for me. He loves me a lot!

My wall of happiness! Visible every time I get into bed.

My reading/relaxing/watching TV chair. (I watch a lot on my phone)

View from the chair.

Master Bath.

I love my bathtub. Final relaxation before bed.

We took down the huge builder mirror and replaced it with two framed mirrors. Those brown beads are from our trip to Hawaii before kids and the small picture is of our engagement. 

I've tried to fill my house with happy memories and practical solutions to some small spaces. When things are picked up and cleaned up, I am super happy that we chose the house that was right for our family and our budget. We look forward to paying this baby off by the time Evie is driving. Things could change, certainly, but that's the plan for now. 

I hope you are just as happy in your home whether it is big or little!