Push Pops Are Good

We are still in the middle of cousin week with Hensley and Beau and Aunt Alisha has joined the pack all the way from the "humids" of Houston! Last night we had Taco Tuesday (which my children speak of with reverence--I'm not kidding), played in the sand box, drew with chalk (I think I mention chalk in every summer post) and got in a bit of swimming (duh). 

Lily Mae also had her first taste of a push pop and like any good American child, she was a big fan. 

Speaking of being a fan, I am a huge one of her little curly top that is suddenly showing off. Hello, that is CUTE! I cannot wait to play with/braid her hair (with hopefully some curl in it) when she is older.

May I never forget the sweet smattering of freckles across Parker's cheeks and nose. I don't often use the word delicious to describe children, but with those freckles....I want to eat him up. 

A good push pop = happy and silent children. Give me a few of those and I will gladly distribute them all the days long. We are still loving all things summer, and I still love some peace and quiet. ;)

Freeze Frame

Do you know that really awesome 80's song, "Freeze Frame"? I love that song. It reminds me of being a little girl at the Booneville High School football games. The cheerleaders and majorettes had it in a halftime dance routine and froze in different poses at the "Freeze Frame!" parts of the song. (This was when I started my quest to become a cheerleader, by the way.)

Anyway, I have that song in my head a lot these days because lately when I take a picture of Parker he very spastically shoots out a pose for each photo, differing in either body movement or facial expression, and usually accompanied with a Minion-esque type of sound. It drives me crazy but it's also hilarious. 

See examples below:

Our cousins are still in town so we loaded up to see a movie in the theater yesterday. (Lily's first!) Cars 3. So very girly! I didn't pay much attention to it because let's be honest, I spent most of the movie refilling drinks, nursing, and finding pacis, but it seemed pretty cute despite my limited attention. Nothing like a dark theater with many small children to make you feel nice and tired! These are the days, man.

We recovered afterward with some outside time (bubbles and chalk, always) in the weird PERFECT weather we've had the last few days. It's been like 80 degrees and I love it! Unfortunately this is Texas so we will be back to the 100's in the next couple of days.

Our life is full and filled with so many good things and people, and so many opportunities to make sweet memories as a family. We have such great family and so many friends. I love this time of year but am tired and get a little frenzied at the lack of routine right now. Here's to trying to soak up all the good and to "just go with it!" Gosh, I wish I was one of those laid back people. 

Have a happy summer day!

Sweet Summertime

I don't have a favorite season because each one has its perks. 

In no particular order, here are my Summertime Favorites:

1. Swimming

2. Seeing all our family during trips.

3. Watermelon

4. Smores

5. Water Balloons

6. Movie Nights

7. Baseball Games

8. Days spent in jammies

9. VBS

10. 4th of July

11. Fireworks

12. Grilling out

13. Popsicles 

14. Evenings outside with good food and good company (and maybe good music)

15. More excuses to go to Sonic happy hour and half price milkshakes.

I'm happy to report that this last weekend consisted of a lot of my list and so it was pretty awesome! 

Friday we stayed in our jammies until around lunch. I measured the boys because I finally, finally remembered! 

I hope I never forget how precious and kissable my children are these days. I so easily take it for granted, but truly...

They can't get much cuter than this.

Our cousins Hensley and Beau are in town for the next couple of weeks so we headed to Grammy's house and did what we do best in the summer: SWIM. Lily Mae was looking adorably classic as usual in her little flutter sleeve suit. I wish I had bought it in every size!

The boys did most of the showing off with their dives and cannonballs, but I will say that I did a flip into the pool last weekend and was fairly impressed that my post-baby body could handle that level of exertion. 

My children are fish and it is truly the best! Something about sitting out by the water and watching them be so brave and carefree is good for my heart and mind.

Popsicles and pushpops were the very obvious choice for a post-swim snack. Hayes is so into saying "cheese" and I find it utterly cute.

Grammy ordered pizza for dinner and then we stole Hensley for our church's movie night on the lawn. I really love this new tradition (it was our second year to attend). We loaded up blankets, chairs, and a sack full of unhealthy snacks and chilled out while we watched Paddington. 

I almost fell asleep a few times. I never realized until I became a parent just how exhausting all of these fun childhood memories are to actually plan and create.

In other news,  Lilybug started pulling up on Saturday because apparently she is grown and will be starting college in August. I really and truly still think she is a newborn. WHY does she have to go and get all independent on her mama?

Saturday: Work and Relaxation (A Good Mix). We slept in, watched golf, did house projects, Bryan took the boys to Lowe's (which every boy mom knows is an actual play activity and keeps you on Good Parent status), worked in the yard, and I ORGANIZED OUR PANTRY. This is a big deal. I hate organizing the pantry but feel so good once it is done. 

Bryan grilled us some burgers and hot dogs for dinner and then we watched Toy Story 3 and roasted s'mores in the living room. Easily one of my favorite Pinterest Cool Mom hacks was buying those Sterno green cans so we can make s'mores whenever we please.

. 

I stayed up entirely too late to wrap Bryan's Father's Day gift and clean up the house but I just can't help myself. One of my favorite parts of being a Mom and Wife is getting to plan celebrations and holidays and Father's Day is no exception! This year the kids got him a new pair of Reef flip flops and some pecans and I got him a new golf hat and a gift card for a round of golf at Rawls. (Alright, I actually got him both gifts, but we can pretend.)

Lily and her friend (future beau?) Easton. I cannot believe that she is a week older than him or that they were due on the same day. Isn't that hilarious? Our little peanut. We joke that this will be in their wedding slideshow. (Which I'm crossing my fingers for--we love the Gillespie family!)

Bryan picked OTB for lunch which I believe everyone was happy about. Hayes could eat a pound of meixcan rice in one sitting and I'm a sucker for chips and queso so we are always safe with some Tex Mex after church. (Parker's only condition for restaurants is that there is a kid's menu with crayons. So typical and something that I love about him.)

We headed home and took naps/watched the U.S. Open on Sunday afternoon. "That's what I like about Sundays", yes? Sunday night was quite a treat because we were able to see Bryan's aunt and uncle, Doug and Lyn, who drove in from Gordon, and of course the rest of the Roberts family for a Father's Day celebration of BBQ, banana pudding, Texas sheet cake, and lots more swimming!

We also did water balloons. I feel this should be mentioned because they are quite possibly the highlight of my boys lives at the moment. A few weeks ago Parker got a hold of the last (filled) balloon and wanted to save it so we took it home and displayed it on our kitchen shelves like a trophy. Until Hayes climbed up there and threw it a few days later. You can't make this stuff up. Also, 2017 is getting super fancy with water balloons--we've been using these and they are just as fun to fill up as they are to throw. 

We ended the evening with some downtime (see also: Grammy's phone). Look how cute these little cousins are. There's nothing better than tired little ones with pool hair and clean jammies.

We got home and were able to FaceTime with my Dad and Mom for a good while before sending the kids to bed. It was a great Father's Day!

I am so thankful for the men in my life. After weekends like these, I can't help but think of how hard we all have to work and how intentional we must be to provide a life for our families that is happy, safe, and filled with sweet memories, and I know that the men in our family are the reasons we get to live our lives the way we do. They are wonderful leaders, servants, and examples for each of us!

From Lillie to Lily

You may have wondered why my the spelling of my daughter's nickname changed from Lillie Mae to Lily (sometimes Mae).

It's because I should never be allowed to name babies while super hormonal pregnant.

Totally my bad.

Lillian Mae was always a top contender when I was pregnant as Lillian is my beloved great-grandmother Isca's middle name and Mae is my beloved great-grandmother Ethel Mae's middle name. So the full legal name was easy but we wanted to give her the nickname Lily or Lilly or Lillie, because hello it's pretty and sweet and very vintage sounding which we both like for girls names.

Bryan pulled for the simple "y" version, because it was the most logical and meaningful way to spell it: both he and I have common names with the uncommon "y" spelling. (I am Katy not Katie and he is Bryan not Brian. )

In my hormonal, large, itrrational state (I cry a lot when I'm pregnant), I pulled for the "double l, i-e" version because it seemed the most obvious way to shorten Lillian, and since I'm the mom I won on the name argument. ;)

I like all spellings of the name. I do. But about a week after she was born and Facebook-announced I started to regret my resistance to use the more sentimental and flower-spelled "y" version, so in true Katy-fashion, I admitted my fault a little too late and we did our best to patch it up. We did a slow transition to the new spelling. I called her baby girl or sister a lot on social media in the hopes that people would forget how her nick name was originally spelled. (This was not entirely the case once I publicly switched to the "y" which is why I am offering this explanation.)

So there you go, blame the hormones!

Lily is currently not looking anything like the above adorable photo, but is crying straight at my face and I think it's because she knows I screwed this up. Bye!

Doing a Load of Laundry.

If there is one thing I have learned in my time as a mother, it is that you never finish doing laundry. (Well, I've learned a few other things--but all of them involve either mushy gushy love or messes.) I used to be pretty good at staying somewhat on top of the laundry but now that we have outnumbered ourselves with children, I am very, very bad at it.

Here is why:

Saturday: This is (supposed to be) the day that bedding gets washed. I wash the boys sheets and coverlets. Done.

Dirty clothes pile up.

Dirty clothes pile up.

Dirty clothes pile up.

Monday: (The day I'm supposed to go around and catch up on clothes laundry.)

8:00am - Hayes wakes up. He has pottied out of his diaper and all over his bed. Change diaper. Change clothes. Make breakfast. Forget potty on bed. Feed Lily. Take shower. Clean up breakfast mess. Feed Lily oatmeal. Clean up oatmeal mess. Do ALL the mom things (except for laundry.)

11:00am - Remember pottied-on bed. Strip down bedding. Put in washer. Add detergent. Kids fighting over chalk outside. Pick up random pieces of trash (mostly straw wrappers from juice boxes) around the house. Blow dry hair and put on makeup. Keep telling kids that "IT IS SUMMER, GO OUTSIDE".

12:00pm - Shoot, I forgot to turn on the washer. Turn on washer. Realize it's only an hour until Haysie naps and he needs bedding to sleep on. Strip Parker's bed to move mattress pad to Hayes' bed. Kids yell, they are hungry. Put Easy Mac in microwave. I have 3.5 minutes. Use the restroom. Return to boys room and but Parker's mattress pad and sheets on Hayes' bed. Microwave dings. Finish making lunch. Run back to bedroom. Finish making bed.

12:30pm - Walk to laundry room to switch bedding and hear Lily cry. Go feed her. Play with Lily and take videos for Instagram (duh). Clean up Easy Mac off the rug that Hayes has spilled. Clean up water that spills while I was cleaning up the Easy Mac. Start making my lunch. Remember to switch bedding from washer to dryer. Go switch bedding. Darn it the laundry in the dryer was never turned on and is still wet. Turn on laundry that should already be done and rescue Lily from her love/hate relationship with the door jumper. Send boys to playroom, realize it's a mess. Ask boys to help clean up. (I mostly clean up but Parker is a good helper!) Hayes is screaming and banging his hammer on everything. Time for nap--must find blankets, paci, and a fresh sippy cup of milk.  Tuck him in. Turn on sound machine. Hallelujah nap time.

1:30pm - Realize that I didn't finish making my lunch. Make lunch. Get Lily and eat lunch with her in my lap. Send Parker in playroom. Put Lily down for nap. Pull out finally dry laundry. Switch pottied- on bedding to dryer. We are almost there guys! Maybe by midnight I will have the lunch mess cleaned up and bedding that I literally washed (on time) two days ago back on the bed. Or piled in a laundry basket. Happy motherhood! ;)

---And this is why I'm tired.

Friday Favorites #1

I am always so thankful for any past blog posts that I have written that document the life of our kids and family, so I'm attempting to start fresh with a new blog in "scrapbook" style. Just family life. And my perspective on it. So...welcome!

One reason I stopped blogging as often over the years was because I naturally tend to be very wordy and want to describe everything....but that takes literally forever, so I'm going to try my best to condense my stories and my brain and my thoughts on it all and keep my writing time to 30 minutes. We will see if that works. I'm not so awesome at following my own rules.

I'm thinking I really want to do Friday Favorites!

I believe the concept of Friday Favorites is to list your favorite people/ items/ memories/ events from each week as a way to practice gratitude and to remember the good rather than the bad, which I like a lot, but disclaimer: THERE IS A LOT OF CRAP IN OUR LIFE, so please don't think we are ever perfect if you happen to read this post or any future post.

-------

This week was a crazy one but SO good. I could write about 500 paragraphs about it. But I won't. Rules!

May makes me tired. You will see why. There is a lot.

Last Friday, we had our last MOPS meeting of the year. I just can't. I love these girls I served on leadership with and our whole group. Favorites forever!

My Mom came and saved me Mother's Day weekend. That is for sure a favorite! She takes care of me, buys me flowers for my pots, and plays hard with her grandchildren. We do lots of eating out and exploring and shopping, and it is all awesome. We just need to make the trip between Denver and Lubbock shorter. Also, Lily's new cheeser smile is gummy and hilarious and a favorite because....hello, it's so stinkin' cute.

We went to Parker's t-ball game on Saturday. He got a hit and an RBI. My Mom was so happy to watch, and I was so happy to bask in the glory of another week of tiny t-ball uniforms. Favorite!

On Mother's Day, we woke up to lots of kids in the bed, lots of trains drawings, and lots of cinnamon rolls. A very sweet favorite. I loved the sermon on blessings on Sunday morning and took a photo to remember. 

We went to Albarran's for lunch and got a few pictures of Lily in an old dress of mine and me in one of those very frustrating off-the-shoulder dresses that never does what it should when you hold a baby. Still a favorite!

We headed to Grammy and Bee's Sunday night and Lily had her first test of whipped cream and her first dip in the pool. Super fan of both! I think her grandmothers are her favorites. 

Backtracking a bit, but me and Lily wen to celebrate our friend Ryan's 30th birthday last weekend at a place called Bush Hog's and it was SO fun that my Mom and I took the kids back the next night. The food was delicious (Three words: Brisket Cheese Fries), we sat outside under twinkly lights, there were lots of games and chances to run around, it was BYOB ;), and both nights I had the blessing of great conversations with people that I love!

(Dove Group girls that were present minus Mandy who left early. Obviously favorites!)

On our trip with Mom and the kids, we got the pleasant surprise of hearing some live music from a band made up of LCU professors, including one of my all-time favorites, Dr. Fehr. It was so fun to catch up and I thought it was just awesome and hilarious to hear them do a cover of "Tennessee Whiskey" (it was very good, too!) New favorite place and lot of favorite memories.

Monday was Abby's birthday (my sister-in-law), who turned 26! I swear in my mind she is still 14. We celebrated with steak and crab legs, watermelon strawberry cake, and swimming. We love our Aunt Abby! It was, as usual, a lot of fun.

The boys are fish and just got done with their first round of private swim lessons with Coach Rob, so Parker was showing off his skills sans life jacket (!), and Hayes cracked us up with his Tarzan-like chest banging before jumping in the pool. I love summer.

Another favorite of mine is Wednesday night church. We both grew up going every Wednesday night, and some of my sweetest childhood and high school memories are from these nights, so Bryan and I started making it a priority to go last fall for our kids. I really look forward to it each week. We get to sing a cappella and hear different series by great speakers and the kids are all in nursery/class. (!!!!) I have no photos this, but thought it was worth sharing.

Hayes' personality in a photo. Favorite.

I finally made it into Barque which is like the only boutique in Lubbock I had been missing out on and died laughing at this bag. It was a super cute place and definitely a new favorite.

Yesterday was the last day of SNS which is a favorite because it's officially summer, but also not a favorite because I seriously live for T/TH when Bryan isn't here as it is my only chance to run errands and breathe, and also because SNS is a bit of a social hour at drop-off and pick-up. We have so many sweet friends there and I miss it all summer every summer. The boys are so big now! 

I cannot believe how much they've gown and I am so proud of them and it breaks my heart and also partly prompted me to sit down and write this blog post because I realize at the endings of things how quickly life is changing. Deep thoughts, there!

Our teachers/friends are obviously our favorites! ;) Seriously though, these girls have our love and I got choked up yesterday during pick-up for Parker since we are saying goodbye to start kinder next year. I just can't talk about it yet.

These are the easiest (favorite) teacher's gifts if your teachers are good people and like Sonic like good people should. ;) I made the little tags was happy with how they turned out. 

ALSO: Bryan flew into the LBK yesterday, which is my most favorite!! We went to the Plaza last night with the kids and I was so giddy I got all dressed up and felt like I was in high school again. I also never use the word giddy and am not sure how I feel about it. But seriously, we are so SO proud of Bryan and the work he does for us. I am SO happy he is home for a few days. Our family is not the same without him here, for sure. The boys have been following him around like little ducks since he got off the plane and even made him a sign to welcome him home.

Let's see....Parker says the word "constructions" instead of "instructions", i.e.: "Mom, we must follow the constructions for the Lego truck", and also "nexercise", for "exercise". Favorite.

In the things department, I have been shopping just a bit. ;) I just got these earrings (the multi-colored) from Mrs. B & Company and they are awesome. AWESOME. I love them and will definitely over-wear them this summer.

I also have been wearing this dress with a denim jacket and an assortment of shoes and accessories all week.

Out of time! Katy out.