five for friday, again

five for friday seems to be a good fit for me right now since everything during the summer feels so miscellaneous and random. and it helps me document the little things, which is really what i want to get down on "paper" any way.  here goes....

1. allie and james (her cousin) have always had a great friendship, they seem to be a perfect balance for each other. maybe because they seem to bring out the super silly in each other - i love watching them interact at family gatherings, they make me giggle and wonder what they will be like as adults. i was surprised by these funny photos that appeared on my camera this week.

2. we have a few extra littles at our house this weekend while their mom and dad are out of town. i love it when ethan has other people in the house that aren't adults or teenagers to hang out with. they always have so much fun. what is better than coloring books, sprinklers, trampoline time, legos, polly pockets and pancakes for dinner? 

3. this little family snapshot (thanks lisa), makes me smile because i love seeing my kids so grown up. 

this little family snapshot makes me feel surprised because i can't believe my kids are so grown up. 

this little family snapshot makes my heart hurt a little because my kids are so grown up! 

this little family snapshot makes me feel...SHORT. good grief. it doesn't help that i'm the only one who took her shoes off. i'm telling you, hold onto your little ones ladies, it happens way too fast.

4. real men wear aprons. i LOVE seeing these boys in aprons. especially TIES and aprons. 

i don't know why but it makes my heart swell with pride. :) maybe because there's something so handsome about a man who's not afraid to be a little domestic. 

5. i planted a small garden this year. i wasn't sure what i could grow so i only put in a few things, but i've learned a ton. like, don't buy cheap tomato cages because they fall down and/or fall apart, plant tomatoes far away from each other so they don't start looking like one giant plant, label everything (at least one plant is going to be a surprise when it finally produces something) and....one squash plant is pleeeenty. 

it's been super fun "harvesting" squash because every day there's a new basket of it, but really, we can only eat it so many ways. i am super super excited to have a handful of ripe tomatoes! squash anyone?

the big green monster dream

eight or so years ago when rich and i took a little trip to florida without our children, i rode the best roller coaster i have ever ridden in my life - and i'm a seasoned rider so you can trust my judgement. in fact i rode it several times just to be sure, and yes, i was right, it was awesome. from then on i started dreaming my kids being little adrenaline junkies tall enough for any coaster. and about some day bringing my tall adrenaline junkies to florida to ride this big green monster. cheesey? ya, i know. but i'm a simple girl, so leave me my joy.
well, of course, it finally happened, why else would i be typing up this story?
there we are on the front row - we waited extra long to ride in the front, it was worth it.

even better, is that it's still as awesome as i remember, and the kids agree. best. coaster. ever.
however, this photo doesn't possibly do justice to the pure awesomeness of this ride - check out this video and try not to get sick.



seriously, tell me that doesn't look like a blast and half.
everyone, needs this on their bucket list.
lucky for me, i have one more little guy to day dream about taking him here some day.

tons more stuff to post about florida, and all the great stuff that happened spring while my dang computer was down and out. but for now, the hulk is enough.

every day life

i love the joy of every day life.

these last few weeks have been like that, just really great.

nothing grand or special occasion necessarily,

just regular every day life.

and after moving, and the end of school and busy-ness of everything lately,
i'll take it!
i'm sure the fact that it finally feels like summer has something to do with it.
here's a little looksey at things that made me smile:

grandpa turned fifty nine! 
and so he BBQd burgers and grandma made her famous potato salad.

grandpa knows how to appreciate a funny card.
we sure love this guy.

rich brought home our copy of his game, TS3, so the kids beg him to play it every night when he gets home. even the teenagers who were not necessarily, the targeted demographic, give it two thumbs way up!
good job dad!

we saw TS3 the movie and loved it. even if we were not disney employees, and even if our dad wasn't "part of the magic" of this project (that's what his t-shirt says), we still would have been one of the first families in the door. we have loved these movies since taylor was ONE and currently house the world's biggest fan, his name is ethan.

the end was a little emotional for me and the four year old, but over-all we thought it was great.

ethan and i hung out at the children's museum with cousins while the teenagers were at youth conference. texas cousins were there too - whoohoo! we love this place!

it was FINALLY hot enough to swim.

ethan wore his goggles around the house for about an hour before it was time to go, ready to jump in.

when we walked out to the car, he asked rich, "why is everything blue?"

allie made the best batch of texas sheet cake ever. EVER. this might be my new favorite dessert.

find the recipe at blogger moms cook by clicking HERE.

ethan learned how to cross his eyes with a trick from dad - just follow your finger.

i'm not sure our family has ever laughed so hard.

like i said, simple joy.

i got to hold this sweet new baby for about an hour at the family party.

there's nothing like a snuggly newborn all swaddled and precious.

making friends right next door!

ones who like to play hard!

we are loving our neighborhood.

i had don, the singing handy man back to put in some shelves in the laundry room for me.

i am aware that they are a tad obnoxious, but i'm so desperate for storage space that i don't even care!  it's just the laundry room anyway right? i'm happy to have some shelves ready for a few unpacked boxes.

two different days my awesome SILs april and andrea came to help me organize the kitchen and garage and help me keep my sanity - no photos yet, but soon. i am so lucky that they enjoy organizing so much, they were hugely helpful.

a lovely BBQ with friends, which is becoming one of my favorite summer traditions!

last but not least, yesterday taylor helped me hang some of my little plates.
(sorry about the blurry photo)

why these little plates bring me so much joy, i'll never know, but they do, so i'll take it. 

this week looks promising with fun activities planned, hopefully i didn't just jinx myself.

i love summer.

my space

 i thrive on peace and order, but for too long now it seems like i never have enough of either. we usually have it on saturday afternoon after we spent all of saturday morning doing chores and restoring order to our home, but once a week was not enough. it's a vicious circle really, life gets crazy, so house hold responsibilities get neglected, which makes for more crazy, which makes me run straight to the ice cream. we pray as a family for a good spirit to reside here in our home so that whoever comes to share our space (including us), feels loved and welcomed and safe. it's hard to have that spirit when everything is so chaotic.

so i really only set one goal this year, knowing it was kind of a big one, to not only find more order and peace in my house, but find a routine to help me keep it that way.

i spent about three solid weeks painting and finishing little projects hanging over my head, purging every closet and storage space in the house, making a million runs to the DI (good will), labeling bins and organizing.

i  had accomplished the "find more order and peace" part of my goal, but i knew the bigger job would be to keep it that way.

the answer has been simple, a list of small tasks, that have to be done, every day. period.

beds get made every day.

bathrooms get wiped down every day.

at least two loads of laundry get done every day.

the kitchen is cleaned after breakfast and after dinner every day.

spend twenty to thirty minutes straightening every night.

that's it. doing these five things religiously has REVOLUTIONIZED my life. i feel so empowered! i have more mental stamina and time to tackle the big chores and projects that need to be done because i'm not so overwhelmed by all the little stuff. it's a simple solution, i know, i'm kind of a slow learner. but it's working. when the kids get home from school and my second shift starts, things are in order and i can focus on them and their needs and getting dinner made. there is a happier, more peaceful feeling here in this space that makes me smile, and more able to grab yoplait whipped yogurt instead of ice cream.

so here is a tour of my clean, and organized space. why i am doing this? one, i would love to have some detailed photos of the different homes i lived in growing up, think of the memories those photos would spark! two, it's a sense of accomplishment for me, a reward of sorts after all that i have done. a pat on my back, as self indulgent as that may be. and three, who knows how long i will be able to keep this up, so i'd better take photos NOW while it's good. (just keepin' it real ya'll.)

welcoming space

 visiting teaching, music playing and pondering space

 gathering space

cooking, eating and laughing space

allie's primping space
(my next project is to paint these cabinets)

blogging, crafting and nerding space

sanctuary space

nose powdering space

ethan's little boy space

allie's uber-girly space

taylor and spencer's smells like teen spirit space

boys' too much cologne to impress the girls smelling space

play space

ahhhh. now i need to throw a party.

family date night

we got a little christmas cash from grandma and grandpa this year and decided that we would use it to take our family out to dinner. this is something we never do and thought it might be kind of fun. even in the snow storm, the restaurant was packed and of course we had to wait.

here's how my teenagers entertain themselves these days.

we ate steak and ribs at texas roadhouse and everything was great, especially the company, it was so much fun to have the kids along.

they must have put a little something extra in the big strawberry lemonades the kids ordered because photos were a little sillier than usual.

thanks grandma and grandpa for a fun night out!
we love you!