Summer recap: May-June

Hi y'all. Uhm....it's late September...and I haven't blogged much about the summer yet...so here we go...thanks for your patience!

This summer was fun and busy and stressful and busy and fun. With two kiddos at home that are very active and want attention, some days were exhausting!  But, most days were fun.  We didn't do many "big" things.  We mainly stayed at home because one kiddos would nap, then the other, then the first one again - and well, that makes it hard to go anywhere.  Our schedule was pretty consistent from day to day. I even made a "Daily Chart" to hang on the wall for our sanity and so Bella would know what to expect.  Breakfast, get dressed, put JT down for a nap, water the garden, Sesame Street, get JT up, lunch, put Bella down for a nap, play with JT, put JT down for a nap, get supper ready while they napped (or sit down for a while...), get both kids up, run some errands, daddy comes home, supper, bath, bed, pick up the house, and sit down!  Whew, makes me tired all over again.   Here's some photos of our happenings over the summer.


MAY

I've already blogged about our quick trip to Tyler but I had to include these pics.  Here's a picture of JT sleeping...don't let it deceive you though. This was 1 out of the 45 minutes he slept for 12 hours straight.

Bella was a trooper with all the movies she could ever want.

Grammy read lots of books to Bella.  Bella usually only gets 3 a night.  Can you count how many are in her bed?

I took Bella to the splash pad in Tyler and we had a great time.  She made friends with some school kids that were there and quickly played in their games.

And ate their snow cones.

Bella became a pro at pouring tea at her tea parties.

We all went to the zoo on a very HOT Texas day. I love this picture of the Smith Family!

Grammy and PawPaw with their two biggest fans.

And mommy and daddy trying to get a picture. Bella look this way, JT quit looking at the monkeys...

Another tea party before bedtime. Look at Bella's face. She was so thrilled to do this!  Susy bought this set before she had grandkids specifically to play with when she did have grandkids.  So, it was so much fun to use the set now!

Back in NC, we settled into our routine again.  And, when they got moody I would put them in Bella's room and open up her toybox.  You would have thought it was Christmas every time!

Bella and I enjoyed picnics in her room with snacks and books.

We enjoyed the lovely weather to paint outside.

JUNE

We spent a LOT of time outside gardening or playing in the water while JT was sleeping. Little Bella became a pretty good helper too!

Jonathan and I enjoyed a day of shopping.  Nothing spectacular. Just shopping.  I am that mom that plays peek-a-boo in the store or lets her child scream when he's laughing.

We read and read and read some more.

We went to Daddy's work to eat lunch with him on his busy days. I love this picture!

This is at about 6:45ish when I got back from my run.  So cute!

Nearly every Saturday, we would go to the Durham Farmer's Market.  Sometimes, we would treat ourselves to a neat restaurant for pancakes the size of your face. yummo.

We gardened some more.

Our dishwasher had a leak under it, which meant not having a kitchen for 4 days, 3 large blowers and 1 air mover in the house, a new dishwasher and new tile floors.  It was a huge and LOUD inconvenience for those few days but it's so nice now.

We went to Duke Gardens when it wasn't too hot and always enjoyed our times there!

I ran. Next day, I ran.  Next day, I ran.  Next day, I ran.  Most days, I took both kids along for the ride.  A 30 pound stroller plus 60+ pounds of children equals a great, and sweaty, workout.  I love this picture!  Most of the time they would laugh, tickle eachother, or yell at anything that moved. Other times, I had to break up fights over the Cheerios.

Little Muscle man became enthralled with the pan drawer in the kitchen.

We made muffins for Father's Day for Daddy.

Jonathan learned to clap!

This is what my bathroom looked like when I tried to get ready most mornings.  It was loud and chaotic and I rarely got ready in silence or leisurely.  But, I knew I would miss those days when they are out of the house so I enjoyed it!

We gardened some more. Check out the loot!

We had VBS at our church where Mike and I did the skits.

We visited Daddy again and played his guitar.

Here's sweet JT looking for his Daddy.

We harvested our first, and only, bowl of blueberries.

We played more guitar.  What you can't see is Bella dancing all over the room!

We played in the water again...

and again...

Y'all stay tuned for the next post: July-August.