summer time...

more pirates

we borrowed this ship from a friend for a fun day of pirates.

allie brought out the blanket and made the islands for the boys and then they played and played

they had a ball and i thought it was pretty cute collaborative play!

we found this set on ebay and hope to get it for the boys this christmas... we'll see??

What is going on?

we have been under the weather around here for a week. however, everyone is drugged up and on the mend. i hated not being able to update everyone on the happenings of our summer so here is a recap...

the kids are LOVING on our tomato plant and watching the fruit of their labor.

we surprised daddy with yummy drinks on father's day.

griffin is sitting up with a little help.

i got to make another cake because our sweet nanny celebrated a birthday with us.

we are knocking things off our summer list:
shaving cream...

and trying a new fruit. We called it UGLI fruit although i'm not sure if that was the name or a company?? but it was funky shaped and ugly. ha! tasted alot like an orange with REALLY tough skin.

i'm hoping to post more often this week. wish me luck!

my two guys

the first man in my life was my daddy. he has been there from the beginning to hold my hand, lay down the law, give the evil eye to every boy i dated, and review history facts with me until he was blue in the face. he has been there for the birth of each of my kids as a reminder that you will always hold your little ones close - no matter how grown up they get!

in God's sweet grace, i married a man that does the same for our kids. he is never short of hugs, tickle fights, and speaking identity into our little ones. he is full of fun... even last night, i had to shake my head as he got the kids hyper and loud in a restaurant by playing silly games with them. he loves them unconditionally and never grows weary of building train tracks, castles, and forts. however, most importantly, he is building strong kids for God's kingdom.

i am so thankful for the lord's provision of both of these men in my life. one showed me what a great father looks like and the other is carrying it on for the next generation of our family! love you both.
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

meet emily

through a crazy series of events, we had a nanny switch this week. emily or "when life gives you peaches, make lemonade" is going to be our nanny the second half of the summer, but she got an early start by filling in for claire this week. the kiddos call her peaches (although this week was funny b/c she answered to apple most of the week/ the kids were a little confused).

she has done an amazing job at being flexible, helpful, and even humble as the kids got use to a new person in our home. you'll be seeing more of her the second half of the summer, but i'm about to post a few pics from this week and wanted you to know this face!

THIS KID

Where did he come from???

yep, that's right... it's underwear

time with friends

bville means we get to see some friends as well. this time we got a little play date with several kiddos (13 to be exact). who could have guessed we could EVER have this many kids between us!??

here is emma, allie, jordan, and jace playing

remember the sweet hay boys?
(if not, click, here, here, and here)
well, they are getting sooo big! i can not believe it! this is micah

and this is noah!

and here is momma sabrina with big girl emma

my friend marcie is expecting her fourth kiddo next month.
this is her and her youngest, molly

this is caroline hay and her cutie owen. every time someone walked into the room he would throw up his hands and shout in total excitement. CUTIE!!!

our friend sara was there with her oldest, ashlyn, but they left before i got the camera out. sorry friend! :) i can not say enough how blessed i am to know these women and watch them as mommies. i have learned a great deal from each of them and am encouraged by their walk with the Lord!

griffin came to bville with fever. midway he got a rash from the antibiotic. so needless to say, he slept most of his trip.

two birds/one stone

it was time to make a trip to bville and we couldn't visit without hitting up the kiddie park too! here are some pics of our evening at the world's coolest little kid theme park!

the boys were big buddies on this trip and even rode the roller coaster together.

allie's partner? none other than her poppy! :)

caleb was so proud on the airplanes

you have to get pics of riley smiling when he's not looking and this was the best one of the night. he had a blast on the pirate ship!

allie finally gave the bumper cars a try and loved it. she learned that if you "bump" into one of the employees, you get your tickets back... well, this little firecracker did the bumper cars three times until she got her tickets back!

grammie and griffin watched everyone on the merry go round!

and we closed the park down!

visiting grammie and poppy is always a treat and the kiddie park just makes it that much sweeter! thanks for a good time... the kids are ready to come back tomorrow! :)

Rrrrr

we play alot of pirate around here...

all matched up

lance had extra small shirts left over this summer

and that made the kids pretty happy! :)