Anchor for the Soul

The toy bins became boats this morning during our playtime and reminded me of a scripture I love:

"We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure."

~Hebrews 6:19

Cool and Cloudy

We had planned our 2nd trip (free!) to Busch Gardens for today since it was Daddy's first official day of summer, but the weather didn't look so good...but we decided to venture out anyway with a low chance of rain....When we got there it started to drizzle so we put rain coats on everyone...but it stopped as soon as we got to the gate and it was cool and cloudy all day...kinda nice and more like Spring than Summer!
Here is Mallory half way through our day...We saw a cool animal show and then we went to the other kid area in the park first which was way bigger and had a huge tree house and rides she could ride...so fun! We of course stopped by to see our Sesame Street friends on the way out...she was having so much fun she didn't fall asleep this time until...

The 2nd we hit the parking lot to leave at 4:30 we looked down and saw this....hilarious!

She didn't even wake for the transfer...can't remember the last time she did that! She was "plum tuckered out" from all the excitement of the day...

Carter enjoyed the day too from the comfort of his stroller (eating, napping, and smiling) and made my day by saying, "MaMaMaMa" for the first time...Can't wait until he can say it and mean it! :) What a fun family day!

Rainy Day of Play

We woke up to a downpour this morning (totally unexpected!) and it was my first time keeping a couple of kids from church again this summer (one day a wk). We had to scratch our "Swim Team" morning and did lots of fun stuff inside....very cozy! I brought down the rug from Mallory's room so we would have something to lay on in the Fam Room...(doesn't match, but will do til we find one for in there...)

I can't believe I got paid today! These kids doted on M all day long! So sweet! I even ventured to Chickfila for lunch (what a "Mad House"...but we had coupons for everyone...everyone ate for free, but me!) Got to see several friends there....And people kept looking at me and smiling and saying, "Wow! You've got your hands full!" Mothers of 4+ are amazing...it's a lot to keep up with! When they prayed for our meal they prayed for Mallory to have fun in the playroom there...she had never been and had a blast! I thought that was such a cute thing to pray for! Then after naptime we finally headed to the pool for a swim!

And here is an aerial view of our new room (it's almost done)....hope I can sleep tonight...def. too hyper to sleep last night! So much change! It's like the "Butterfly Effect:" change one thing change everything... :)

Short Straw

The guys def. drew the "short straw" today...thanks for all your work!!! Carter enjoyed his first real swim today...very pensive!

And half the floor is down in the fam room... :) It was a bit trickier than the salesman had us believe! Now all the furniture is on the laminate side for tomorrow...we really appreciate all of PaPa and MiMi's help and couldn't be doing this without them!

I'm just so excited to have a floor that will be easier to maintain...with our family and Before and After Care there is a lot of traffic for our carpets to handle in these 2 rooms...

When we got home for dinner the kids were excited to see the progress as well... :)

Demolition Part I

What a glorious sound to hear the carpet rip ripping! Demolition Part I has begun! The padding under the carpet said 1999...no wonder the carpet was a little g-r-o-s-s...it's 10 yrs old! Can't wait to see the floor redone! MiMi and Mallory have already headed over to the pool and Carter and I will head over too after morning naptime so the house will be kid-free for the men to work!

Splish Splash It's Summer!

Yay! It's summer! We scrubbed the pool this morning during Carter's morning nap and got all sorts of soaked so we jumped in with our clothes on! Then when Carter woke up he got to go take a dip in his jammies! (Since I hadn't dressed him for the day anyway!) He enjoyed his first swim and reacted similarly to his sister when she was his age. (Click here for pics.) We have been using the Bumbo for bathtime for him so we don't have to hold onto him the whole time...it wobbles a bit and you have to steady it sometimes, but it sure beats holding a slippery baby up the whole time! Bathtime is so much fun now with 2! And pool time as well! Mallory kept saying, "This is amazing Momma! and Splash me in me eyes!" Fun summer times ahead! :)

Fire Marshall Mal

"Let me tell you something!!!" (In Living Color) We went with our neighborhood friends today to a FREE class at a gym in the area...the theme was "Fire Fighters"...The above pic was when we listened to the story after making a fire picture during craft time...

After the story they hid Dalmatians and fire hats throughout the gym for the kids to find...

Carter enjoyed watching all the action as tons of 2 yr olds ran around the gym....and there were 2 Mallorys in the class! Craziness! :)

And here she is with her "fire hose" putting out fires around the gym...