Just a bunch of stuff

Hope you have on your 'decipher-Katie's-mumbo-jumbo' hat, cause this is just going to be a random update of a bunch of stuff :)

We have really been enjoying our summer so far.

Anna Kate and I have been swimming several times.


And every weekend we go out on the boat and play on the lake with friends.


Which apparently is the perfect place to choreograph this rad dance routine...

LOLOLOL!!!!

Then AK decided they needed more time to choreograph, so she spent the night with her friends. When she got home the next morning she climbed up on our bed and passed out for four hours.

Choreography is hard work!

While she slept I worked on new beach towels for us.

This is Anna Kate's


And this is mine

Jeff wouldn't let me put anything on his, so no need for a picture.

Anna Kate's desk has needed a paint job for some time now, so I decided to just do it. Don't you just love the monogram I painted?!


Every summer Jeff and I look forward to fresh tomatoes, baby Lima beans and peas. Today he came home with all of that minus the peas (they're not ready yet). He also bought some fresh sausage, so we made it a family affair to prepare, separate and freeze it.

AK chose to help with patting the sausage...ICK!






while I blanched the beans.



Two hours later we had a freezer full of pork sausage patties and baby Lima beans. YUMMY!!!!





That's all folks!

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Random Summer Thoughts

I forgot to post last weekend's Memorial Day pictures.....all two of them, so I'll just skip them :) Honest, they aren't anything special.

Anna Kate and I went to the pool this week. It was AWESOME! We had the entire pool to ourselves.


Mermaid AK was in pure heaven!


She insisted on bringing her own umbrella chair even though the pool provides them.

My paradise...


We will be going again this week!

Since everyone we know is either at the beach or headed down in the next few days (huff!) it got me to thinking ahead to our trip. What does our annual beach trip really mean for me? BEACH FAMILY PORTRAITS!!!! We do it every year and I always stress at the last minute trying to get outfits together. Well I already have it planned out :)



Jeff has a Columbia fishing shirt in the color blue that is in my dress. I think the colors will be nice :)

And, we are going to Gatlinburg the weekend of my birthday for a mini family vacation with my brother and his family. Since it will be July 4th, we (well really I) decided to do a photo shoot of the three girls together. I think red, white and blue will be perfect!



....okay, gotta go! The lake is calling our names!!!!

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Summer Activities

I can see already that it's going to be a long summer at home :) Anna Kate does not entertain herself very well for more than 15 minutes at a time. She HAS TO HAVE an activity to do. That means I am scouring the internet constantly for ideas. I've managed to plan at least one thing each day....so far. We've had fun!

Sidewalk Paint
- 3/4 cup of flour
- 1/2 cup of water
- food coloring









We have made numerous pieces of Bendaroo jewelry and food items, as well as painted cups and plates.

But I think this is AK's favorite activity so far:

Going to the library


She wanted to join the summer reading program - she has to read a minimum of 27 books by July 29th. She's well on her way at #12 :)


She's a proud reader!!!

What's up tomorrow? Well, I was thinking friendship bracelets or oven clay if we can't go swimming. Stay tuned....

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One Time

I don't think these girls will ever get tired of Justin Bieber. I mean, really. It's ridiculous.

Anna Kate had her BFF spend the night Wednesday since it was their last day of school. They wanted to make up dance routines to JB's song "One Time", but neither wanted to share the spotlight, so they each did one. Do you even know how hard it was for me not to bust out laughing?!?!!!!

Anna Kate's


Anslee's


Now you know that pretty dang funny!!!!!
But oh no, that wasn't enough. The next morning they came in the kitchen wearing this:

Aren't you digging Anslee's 'tuxedo'????

They even had various prom dances choreographed :)

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Tie Dying

Anna Kate loves to tie dye things, but her mama prefers to do the actual dying and let AK do the big reveal :)






Anna Kate wanted to do matching tanks for she and her BFF :)

I can see now that I will need an 'activity' of some sort everyday this summer or AK might die of boredom *insert rolling eyes here*.

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Church Choir Concert

These kids were so precious!!! They did better than any other age group! But before I post the videos I want to show you the pictures I took of AK.





I am in LOVE with these two!!!!


This one makes me laugh. She was laughing and had her squished down. It almost doesn't even look like her. Ha!

Music Makers (1st - 4th grade)






Love this song!



And the closing number

I see show choir in their future!!!

Weren't they great!?!!!

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Before I Get Disowned....

My dad actually asked me earlier in the week if I had changed the address to my blog. How sad is that?! It's been that long since I updated....sorry about that. One would think since I'm at home now (instead of working) that I would have a ton of free time on my hands. One would be wrong. LOL!

Field Day Fun Day
At the end of every school year the school has an activity day for the kids. Parents are asked to volunteer to help, which I have always done. This year I was assigned to the baton relay. Let me preface this by saying that it was honestly 98 degrees out and for whatever reason, our 'station' was the ONLY one that didn't have a tent for shade. Awesome. I won't go into a lot of details, but suffice it to say that between a water slide (that the parents didn't know about, therefore didn't dress our children appropriately), wet/sticky clothes and shoes, hot, thirsty and ill, it was pretty much a disaster.

I knew the minute I saw the water slide that if that was the first thing Anna Kate's class go on, she would be ready to go home as soon as she got off of it. And I was right. Our station was right after the slide, so putting shoes on wet and dirty feet to run a relay was not what those kids wanted to do....AK chose to sit out for the relay, so I took pictures of her BFF, Anslee.




She was so hot!!!

This was the only picture I was able to get of AK

Jumping hurdles :)

Between finding a snake, breaking up two fights, hauling one off to the principle and having two special needs boys wondering around without a teacher in sight, well, I was so relieved when my three-hour shift was up! AK and I bolted before anyone could stop us....

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Tuesday's Tally

Here are the projects I completed today (aside from demolding Jeff's bathroom and laundry) :c)

Matching Shabby Chic Dresses


Look close, because I even made my own bias tape, and trust me, that is a miracle itself!!!


Anna Kate was SOOO excited!


Now I have a request to make another one for Julianne (the Bitty Baby)....

As I was putting my things up I came across all my scraps of fabric. I did a quick Google search for ideas on how to use those scraps.

This is what I came up with


A new camera strap cover :)


I LURVE it! Don't you?


And that wraps up Tuesday's Tally :c)

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Pom-Pom Garland

How stinking cute is this?!!!!



I followed THIS TUTORIAL then strung them on a long piece of yarn to make a garland. I LOVE how it turned out!!! Gives just enough pizazz to the window.

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Mother's Day!

Anna Kate woke me up early this morning with a decorated folder full of gifts she made at school. SO.STINKING.CUTE!!!! After we got ready for church we did a mini photo shoot that I am SO happy with :-)











Following church and lunch we hit the lake. Honestly, I don't think there is anything more relaxing, other than the beach, than cruising on the boat.



It was a perfect Mother's Day!!!! :-)

**Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers in our lives. We genuinely missed spending time with each of you.**

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