Labor Day Weekend

I wish I was here to tell you about the fun vacation we want on over the long weekend, but there was no fun vacation.  We were just home for three days with absolutely nothing we HAD to do.  Sometimes these are my very favorite weekends! 

I was scrolling through my phone pictures so I could at least give some kind of update, but I didn't do a very good job of taking pictures.  I guess we didn't really do anything interesting!  One thing is for sure, we slept in every morning.  Lately, this little girl has been coming to our bed in the 6 o'clock hour so we can all catch another hour or two of sleep.  I love snuggling with her, but sometimes she just outright takes over my spot in the bed!   Pictured on the right is Katie bug napping in her crib.  I can't remember why I had stripped her clothes off her.  I'm sure she had gotten into something!

Have I ever told you about how she loves admiring herself in the mirror?  #girlproblems

For the most part, Katie Wynn loves any and every kind of food we put in her mouth.  She has not really turned her nose up at anything, nor does she get over excited about any one particular food.  There is one thing that gets her kickin-her-legs excited, though...sweet tea.  Her Mimi usually always orders a glass of it and lets her have a sip or two from her straw.  This girl can't get enough of it!  I guess she really is a true Southern girl. 

Katie Wynn spent Labor Day in a new outfit her Mimi made.  The top is reversible and the bloomers are red with little white polka dots.  Too cute!  I've been trying to do a better job of putting bows in her hair since her bangs are getting so long, but she immediately tries to yank them out.  The picture on the far right shows the look she gives me when I won't let her grab it and she's tired of taking pictures.

Check out these monogrammed shoes we made her.  Almost all of it was done on the embroidery machine!  The very last step is done on the sewing machine, but that's it.  These pictures don't really do them justice; I think they're a lot cuter in person.  Of course, hers were practically black after crawling around the floors in them all day! 

I'm in the middle of a bunch of different projects right now.  I want to update you on all of them but most of them are only half-finished.  A lot of the weekend was spent on a woodshop project for KW's upcoming birthday party (!).  Dad and Matt spent a lot of time on it.  Mom and I are still working on the burlap door hanger tutorial for you. We, uh, figured out another way NOT to make them.  Third time's a charm, right?  I have a really good feeling about the method we're trying out now so hopefully a tutorial will be coming soon.  

I'm also in the midst of trying to figure out our dining room.  That deserves a post of its own.  But as of this weekend, I'm the proud owner of this pretty dining set.   

I purchased it at the Habitat for Humanity Restore for a whopping $122.  I only wanted the four chairs but they wouldn't split up the set.  I plan on donating the table to our fall church auction.  I have another set of four chairs very similar to these headed my way.  I hope to be able to pick them up on Friday, which means this coming weekend may be spent painting chairs!  Hopefully I can make them look better than they currently do...I don't plan on adding a plastic covering over the seat cushions! 

We ended our holiday weekend with a cookout at my parents' house.  Before dinner was ready, we walked over to their neighbors' for one last summer swim.  I had snagged this suit off the Gap clearance rack about a month ago, but hadn't had a chance to put it on KW yet.  I'm glad she got to at least wear it once before outgrowing it!  It should still fit when we go to the beach in a few weeks, so that's good.  Aren't those ears and ruffles just the cutest? 

Does anyone want to come over to play "Nail Salon?"  I think Katie Wynn is ready to start giving manis and pedis! 

Hope you all had a fantastic long weekend!  What'd you do?  Anything fun?  I'll be back with more soon. 

Recent Happenings

Here are some pics from my phone from what we've been up to over the past month. 

Fun times at the swimming pool!

Helping trim Mimi's flower beds for her birthday.

Happy times out at a restaurant with friends!

Llama, Llama, Nighty Night read by Poppy.

We have been so incredibly busy the last month with work and other projects, but we've managed to squeeze in some fun times too.  We had the big kids a couple weekends ago and they just play so well with Katie Wynn!  They adore her and she loves them right back.  We signed up as a 5K together and all did well.  Wyatt finished 20th overall!  I pushed Katie Wynn in the stroller and am just glad we finished! 

Before

After

I ordered this cute push wagon toy for Katie Wynn for her upcoming birthday.  The day it came in, I put it together to see how it looked and Katie Wynn grabbed hold of it and just took off walking!  We decided to let her go ahead and have it since she may be already walking on her own by the time her birthday gets here.  She LOVES it!  She walks behind it some but mostly she loves crawling in and out of it.  And if you're around when she crawls into it, you better get ready to give her a push!

Speaking of her new favorite toy, we had friends over for dinner one night and Katie Wynn did a good job of sharing the wagon her friend Addi Clare.  By "sharing," though, I mean she somehow convinced Addi Clare she should push her around in it.  

Another one of Katie Wynn's current favorite activities is making a royal mess.  I imagine this is an activity she will continue to perfect over the years.

While we were visiting my aunt a week or two ago, Katie bug found a horsie her size! 

One day while shopping I set KW down on the floor in Gymboree so I could skim the sale rack.  Next thing I knew, she was standing up going through the clothes rack too!  My job here may be done...

My mom was keeping Jett and Bren one day and KW and I came to visit.  We told the kids that if they behaved all morning we could go out to eat for lunch and they could even choose the place.  That's how we ended up sitting in a booth at the gas station McDonald's enjoying some fine dining.

I think that gets us pretty caught up.  It's been a busy summer but we have been enjoying every minute with this sweet little girl!

4th of July

Sorry for the absence this week...a certain dog I know chewed through my laptop's power cord so I've been stuck with a dead computer.  I'm borrowing my mom's power cord right now and crossing my fingers that my new one comes in soon. How about a quick 4th of July weekend recap?  We started our festivities on the third with some fireworks.  But, as you can see in the picture below, we started well before dark. :)

Love these two!

A little girl on a big country road.  How cute is she??

Bren is so sassy that she can't even pose with her sparkler without putting her hand on her hip.  Love it.

Girl cousin love!!

The boys broke rule #1 listed on the roman candles: do not hold them in your hand while lit!  They are so brave.  (Where is that sarcastic font when you need it??)

My oldest brother texted me yesterday to inform me that I was behind on the blog.  I didn't realize he was such an avid reader.  For calling me out on it, I give you this picture of him.  Maybe I had really good timing with my camera clicking, or maybe he had tacos for dinner.  Who really knows?

Doc started his fourth of July out on the golf course, while Katie bug and stayed home and made some treats.  These were s'more bites with a little 4th of July flair added on top.  They were pretty good, but the batch I made the next day was even better!

That afternoon, we all gathered at my brother Ben's house for some fun in the pool.  But, we couldn't jump in before taking a picture of the matching cousins in their fireworks shirts.  :)

Katie Wynn found herself in the middle of a game of water basketball between the guys.

This float was perfect for these two cuties.

All that swimming wore my baby girl out, and she passed out in her Mimi's arms.

As the final shot from our 4th of July holiday, I give you my first homegrown bouquet!!  I am so proud of all my zinnias...they are really blooming now!

It was a great holiday and we enjoyed having lots of time off work.  (I personally had a five day weekend...why isn't every weekend like that??)  I'll be back soon with more...maybe of the bathroom reno we knocked out last weekend!

Beach Weekend

The weekend before last, Doc and I loaded up Katie Wynn and joined my parents for a very quick trip to the beach house.  It was what I like to call a "maintenance trip."  We had lots of things to do around the house - mostly pulling weeds and minor repairs - but the biggest thing we wanted to accomplish was getting furniture for the upstairs balcony.  That was one thing we had never finished last summer so we really need to get it done. This was the first time we've traveled so long in the car with Katie Wynn since she was a newborn (and sleeping all the time).  I was not sure how it was going to go.  Overall, I'd say it wasn't perfect, but it was much, much better than it could have been.  She did pretty well.  We rented a minivan so that we could all comfortably ride together so that meant both me and Mom were in positions to entertain her.  And entertain her we did!

I managed to make her favorite monkey ("Orange Monkey") balance up on the back of her seat and she thought it was hilarious!

When the appeal of Orange Monkey (and a gazillion other toys) wore off, we started feeding her puffs.  Feeding herself still takes a pretty good amount of concentration, so it keeps her occupied and wears her out.

It also produces lots of bubbles and sticky fingers.

As soon as we made it to town, Mom and I left KW with the boys and headed out to run errands.  We wanted to get most of our necessary shopping done as quickly as possible so we'd have at least a day to relax and enjoy ourselves.  One of the things we picked up at Target was an umbrella stroller which was wonderful to have while we were in town.  We put it right to use when we got home.  The guys were starving so we walked to the Mexican restaurant that's just a block away from the house.

We had a little bit of a wait so we killed some time by the splash pad fountains.

I got her out of her stroller to see if she'd like the water but I'm not sure that she was feelin' it.

I put her hand in one of the sprays of water.

Not too excited about a spray of water in the face!

Pocket tee times three.

We were getting closer to our time to eat so we wandered in to wait.

Apparently we weren't entertaining enough for Katie bug.  She needed to see what everyone else in the restaurant was doing.

Then we got a table and ate delicious Mexican food.  We walked home and went to bed.  The end for day one.

Day two started at the pool.  Aww yeah!  We couldn't get in the pool, though, until we were completely accesorized.  Of course.

Our doodle bug's first time ever in a pool started out in this little raft I bought her.  Since it was early in the morning and kinda overcast, we opted to leave the shade visor off.

I mean, is she a diva or what?

Just acting like she owns the place.

Criss cross straps!  Also, I wanted to kiss those shoulders all over.  Sunscreen is the new chapstick, right?

We took off her shades and I'm sure I instantly became blindingly white to her.

After getting good and accustomed to the water, it was time to learn how to swim!

She actually kicked her legs a little!  Sorta.  Kinda.  Maybe.

Guess she approves of swimming in the pool.

Nap time was approaching so I got her out and put her in this super cute (and super too big) jellyfist shirt that I appliqued for her.  The tentacles are ribbons.  So cute.  My camera lens fogged up after going from AC back out into the humidity.  Darn blurry picture.

This one's a little less blurry I guess.

That afternoon we decided to go to the outlet mall (um, duh).  The jellyfish shirt and shorts were so big she looked like a hoodrat, so I changed her into my favorite summer bubble.  I had overpacked anyway so I was trying to justify having so many clothes there.

Also, I really wanted to put this bubble on her since it matched the sunglasses I had snatched from Target's dollar bin.  I could just eat her up with all that cuteness!

According to Katie Wynn, the outlets are exhausting.  I've really got to work on her shopping stamina if she expects to keep hanging out with me.

We rewarded her shopping patience with another dip in the pool.  

This time she was really brave and would even hang on to the side by herself!  I think she's going to be swimming for real in no time!

Doc and my dad worked on putting together the new patio furniture we had purchased.  The box it came in quickly became Katie bug's favorite place to play.

Just playing with some cardboard.

And then of course we all had to try out the new furniture, wet swimsuits or not.

We played musical chairs so we could all sit on each piece.  :)

We ordered dinner in and ate it out on our newly furnished balcony.  Can you tell Katie Wynn is begging for table food these days?  She's worse than the dog!

Day Two ended with a walk to the yogurt store for some nighttime treats.  8:30 pm, still awake, and eating ice cream.  We break all the rules on vacation. :)

We woke up on day three - our final day - and decided to hit the beach early.  We spent about an hour slathering on sunscreen and then headed that way.

Katie's daddy picked her up and headed straight out into that big, loud ocean!  She gripped on to his shoulders for dear life.

I can't believe I'm putting this family picture, complete with bed hair and paleness, on the internet.  But, here ya go.

Little tiny toes in the sand.

Overall, I think this picture most accurately portrays what Katie Wynn thought of the beach.

Her Mimi rescued her from the sand while we picked up all of our stuff.  Nothing like a fifteen minute round trip to the beach!

Back to gripping on to Dad's shoulder for the walk through the sand.

We made the walk back and plopped her into her floatie, her new happy place.

That afternoon, Mom and I left the boys with a honey-do list and we walked to town to do some window shopping.  Our window shopping turned into real shopping - mostly all for my baby girl - and once again, she just couldn't hang.  Girl's a light weight, I tell ya.

One of the things on the honey-do list was to hang up a couple baby swings that I had purchased for the upstairs balcony.  I asked Doc if they were able to get them up and how they looked, and he said, "Um, you might want to go see for yourself."  Looks like we may have to buy some chains to extend them because they are pretty high up!

Katie Wynn says porch swinging is fun no matter how high up your swing is!

More playing on the patio. 

We went out to dinner again for our last night in town.  I couldn't take any pictures during the meal because I was too busy picking up thrown toys and napkins and straws and anything else my girl could get her hands on.  Here's one of her and her poppy (both with crazy hair!) after the meal. 

We got up and hit the road early again the next day.  We managed to shave at least an hour off our drive on the way back...Doc wasn't stopping for anything!  We had a good, quick trip there and I can't wait until our next trip that's right around the corner!  Hopefully she'll like the beach better by then...

Weekend Highlights

Here's a quick recap of our last weekend! My weekends always start early since I don't work on Fridays.  After running some errands in the morning, my mom and I stopped in for lunch at the Arcade.  It was so delicious!

Doc brought the big kids home with him after work.  The weather was nice so we all spent the afternoon/evening playing outside.  Katie Wynn and I sat and watched the boys play basketball for a while.  (I promise I have on shorts in this picture.)

We got out a blanket so us girls could relocate to the yard.  Anna is rocking some half-purple hair this summer.  You can kinda see it on the tips in this picture.

This is probably my new favorite picture.  Both of our girls...so cute!

And for every sweet picture, there has to be a silly one too.

Saturday morning we got up and got to work!  We spent the first half of the day mulching all of our flower beds.  Not really what I had wanted to do that day but I am SO glad it's done.  It was also really nice that the big kids were here to help watch KW so we could work interrupted.  My job was to soak the newspaper and lay it down (weed barrier) while Doc and occasionally Wyatt spread the mulch on top of it.  Four days later and my legs are still sore!  (I also still have "grocery store feet" from the black mulch...)

At lunch time, this little girl was SURE she was going to eat some mac and cheese.  Nope, not yet, sweet girl.

The biggest event of the weekend was Saturday night when I surprised Doc with a party for his half birthday!  There will obviously be a whole post about this soon.

Katie bug got up early Sunday morning and I got up with her so the half-birthday boy could sleep in.  We ate a quick breakfast and then hung out outside on the patio.  It was the perfect place for a morning nap.

The morning wouldn't have been complete without some splashing in the dog's water bowl.  She goes for the dog's bowls ALL the time, and since I knew she was about to have a bath and get ready for church, I just let her go at it.  It's a small mess to clean up compared to how much fun it is for her.

Sadly, the pictures stop there.  After church we spent the afternoon at my parents' house.  I worked on the embroidery machine while he stained some boards out in the shop.  We've got a new house project in the works so hopefully I'll have that to share soon.  We got home in the early afternoon so we could clean house before our cleaning lady came on Monday.  You clean for your cleaning lady too, right?

What was the highlight of your weekend?