baseball & science

Andrew just finished up his season of baseball and he really enjoyed it! 

We had taken a couple of years off since he didn't seem to really understand it back then, and I think it helped, because now he had fun!

Grace's daddy was the coach, which was really nice because he knows Andrew and Andrew really likes him.

We were so proud of him!

He did a good job batting!

And running the bases!

Kerigan loved hanging out with Emily.  She always had something for them to color, or they would play in the field, or on the iPad.  Emily is like having a built in babysitter!  My kids just love her!

I love this part!

It's so nice for Andrew to be part of a team!  We are blessed.

And this is totally random but I wanted to include a few pictures from Andrew's field trip towards the end of the school year.

I was so happy I got to go along with him and his class!

Watching themselves on the news!

Andrew's favorite part of any museum- racing lego cars!

He and his friends also enjoyed making and launching rockets!

The ball wall!

These boys were best buddies.  We are hoping they get in the same class again next year!  Andrew is so lucky to have made such sweet friends this year!

inside out

So when summer started I was determined to create a routine for the kids to keep them busy and create structure for them so our days would run smoothly.  We were going to do a summer bucket list, sign up for the reading program at the library, and schedule time in our day for working on academics.  

Yeah, none of that has happened.

I have pinned all of these lovely ideas on how to entertain kids this summer and all the fun things we should be doing.  But looking back, if I had to do it over again I still don't see where it would fit in.

For us, summer doesn't allow time for structure.  There are too many spontaneous things that come up, like vacations, fun play dates, last minute trips to the park, or just blowing bubbles on the deck.  All the other stuff gets squeezed in somehow.  And it's a lot less stressful, and just as fun!  And really, many of the things we end up doing spontaneously would have ended up on the summer bucket list anyway!

Andrew takes private swimming lessons once a week.  Kerigan sits and dreams about turning three so she can do swimming lessons too.  The first couple of weeks we had tears, but she's so excited to start in a couple weeks after her birthday!

Andrew has been doing so good and learning so much!

The one thing I struggle with being home with both kids all summer, is getting them outside.  Especially when it's so hot.  Also, it is next to impossible to drag Andrew away from the Wii, or to get both kids off the iPad.  During the school year we limit their time on those things, so this summer I decided I was going to do the same, and we were going to try to spend our mornings outside.  This would give me a chance to pick up the house which ends up looking like a tornado hit it when we spend all our days inside...

Lots of dress up... or undressing, goes on!  Ha!

And a lot of this.  She literally changes pajamas at least 10 times a day.  She empties out all her drawers and just makes a huge mess.

These new pajamas from Ga Ga are a hit because they match her baby.  Anything that matches her baby is a win in her book.  Even if they don't have a picture of Sofia the First on them.

And yes, dress up consists of Andrew wearing Kerigan's tutus.

One day I found him like this.  Reading to all his stuffed animals.  See, at least he's reading, right?  (Never mind the mess!  I just keep telling myself that!)  Not pictured are the 100 other toys strung out all over his room!  Ha!

This girl is a puzzle genius.  Seriously.  She was putting together 25 piece puzzles a year ago and I finally figured out I needed to get her the 50 piece ones.  She can put them all together within minutes.  I'm amazed by this.

The kids enjoy being outside, but only for short periods of time unless we are at a park or on an outing.  We have a great backyard with a playground set and tons of toys, bikes and scooters.  They should be occupied with this for hours.  But for some reason they love to go in and out and in and out.  It drives me nuts.  And lets about 25 flies enter the house. 

So one morning I decided to lock them out until lunch time.

Plotting their next move on Mama!

They stood at the door like this and begged me to let them in!  Ha!  Andrew was thrilled, as you can tell.  I kept checking on them and went out to push Kerigan on the swing and toss the baseball around with Andrew for a little while.  But they weren't allowed back inside until lunch time.  And they actually stayed out, and had fun.  No Wii, no iPads.  And I got some laundry folded and dishes put away.  It worked out beautifully for everyone.  Ha!

I learned that a small can of bubbles can give me at least an hour of free time.  As long as no one spills!

They just loved blowing them and popping them!

These cheap containers have been the best things I've found, and easiest for Kerigan to do by herself.  I just have a big container of bubbles and I keep refilling them as needed.

Pure joy.

We've been enjoying time outside around our firepit.  One evening Papa and Ga Ga were here for dinner and we grilled out and planned to have a fire, so Andrew went down and started organizing the patio all by himself.  He was so excited.

He was so proud of himself for setting all the chairs and the table up!

We've been having lots of fun play dates with our friends too.  One day Mandy watched the kids while I had an appointment and I came to pick them up and found Emily and Andrew having a camp out in the driveway.  It was so cute!

They've had so much fun outside with the waterslide too!  How can you not want to be outside with this thing in the backyard!?

So we've been having lots of summer fun... inside and out!

a royal tea party

Continued...

When the royal guests arrived, everyone had fun visiting and the girls each had a special paper they could pick out with Sofia the First or other princesses I had printed out on the computer for them to color and decorate with stickers.  They also read princess books in the tent while waiting for everyone to arrive.  I was so glad I had these activities for them to do at the beginning!

We started the royal tea party and the girls loved it!  They were so cute and felt so fancy.  Every single mom stayed at the party- I think because we were all having so much fun!

And time for the big surprise!!!

Princess Rapunzel!  I wish you could see Kerigan's face here, but her jaw is definitely to the floor.  Rapunzel's arrival was my favorite part of the party.  There is a princess party company nearby that you can choose from and hire a princess to come.  I knew this was what I had to do and that Kerigan would just go crazy over it.  They didn't have Sofia the First, so I picked her next favorite... Rapunzel.  It worked out perfectly because she is also a "purple" princess.  And on several episodes of Sofia the First, one of the Disney princesses makes an appearance.  Rapunzel will be on the show this fall, so I felt like it fit perfectly to have her come!

She was just amazing.  From this point on, she completely took over the party.  She organized the girls into a big circle and went around and talked to them all.  

I'm so sad this picture is blurry but it is my favorite.  Kerigan had been so shy the whole time.  She took Rapunzel's hand and walked to the circle with her, but she wouldn't talk to her, and would just stare at her.  I think she was so mesmerized and in shock!  But when Rapunzel pulled out these beads, she did this!  It was SO cute!

She read them a princess story...

And my favorite part was the presents.  She had all the girls go get the present they brought and sit back down.  I had Kerigan sit up on this chair so no one could "help" her open her gifts!  Rapunzel had Kerigan choose friends to bring up their present one by one and sit by her while she opened them.  Rapunzel read the card to her and interacted with her while she opened them.  It was unbelieveably amazing.  Ha!  For a mom who usually gets stressed out at this part, I was loving it!

The best part was the child who brought the gift got to sit right there by her to watch her.  I feel like sometimes it is just chaos, and such a mess and lots of kids can't see when the birthday child opens their gift.  This was perfect.

Kerigan was so funny to watch.  She loved everything!  We had "practiced" ahead of time saying thank you and acting like you love the gift.  I think the practice worked!  Ha!

She got so many nice gifts!  No duplicates and nothing she already owned!  Ha!  And I loved how everyone picked out something special they knew she would like and lots of the items were princess related but very practical.  Like a Sofia CD and Princess Candyland!  How perfect!

After gift opening, Rapunzel led the girls back to the dining room to sing happy birthday.  She had a beautiful voice!  What a special treat to have Rapunzel sing your birthday song!

Rapunzel even passed out the cupcakes!  Then she sat right down and continued the tea party with the girls.  It was straight out of any little girl's dream.

She took pictures with each individual child, which I am using for the cover of their thank you's.

Group picture with Rapunzel!

The place we hired her from made this picture their facebook cover photo!  Pretty awesome!  I used her "Best Day Ever" banner from her 2nd birthday since it was Rapunzel themed, and purple!  It fit perfectly with this party too.  Plus, my kids birthdays ARE the best days ever to me!  Other than Christmas, they are my favorite days of the year.

Watching Rapunzel walk down the street.

Kerigan and her little friend Annika from day care.  She has made more special friends at day care and we have been so blessed by them.  I was so worried moving her away from her little friends last year, and all she did was gain more.  I just love all her little friends and their mamas!

I sent the boys (Craig's 2 brothers and their sons, Grandpa Huegel, and Craig and Andrew) off bowling during the tea party.  We had planned a family BBQ after the party so they came back and we had a great evening!

We got out the water slide and the kids had a blast!

Our niece Brooke found this baby frog!

This is my nephew's little girl, Lucy.  She and Kerigan are only 2 months apart and such cute little girly girls!

Cousins Evelyn and Brooke!

The boys didn't want me to take pictures of them!  Ha!

I have to mention what an incredibly beautiful evening it was.  For July 12, it wasn't hot at all!  It has been a very cool month, with only a couple of really hot days.  Perfect grilling weather, and we have eaten on the deck pretty much all summer!

My amazing friend Mandy made Kerigan this beautiful Elsa dress and shoes!  Kerigan just loves it and never wants to take it off!  She has made so many adorable outfits for Kerigan and this just tops it off!  She even pulled off surprising me, which is hard to do!  Ha!  I love that it is unique, and so well made.  I hadn't wanted to buy her the Walmart ones because they just rip and fray around the edges so much.  It was the perfect gift.  

Kerigan with Grandpa and Grandma Huegel

Another birthday song!

My friends daughters... Emily and Piper.  I had Mandy and Angie bring their families back for the BBQ, too.  I just love friends that are like family!

After everyone left and the kids were in bed, we broke out a bottle of wine and celebrated!  They wanted to toast to a successful party, and us being in our town for a year now.  I also got a new job for next year that I will update about later.  I love these girls so much!  It is amazing for me to think that I barely knew Mandy a year ago (we were acquaintances through our heart support group, and she just happened to live in the town we moved to!) and Angie I didn't know at all.  She is a teacher in town and it honestly feels like we are twins separated at birth.  We have pretty much everything in common, and I just can't believe how fast we have become friends.  She has the sweetest family too (like Mandy's!) and we all love getting together.  Her husband is one of Craig's coaches on staff so they love hanging out together too.

I was laughing so hard at this picture of Craig with his wine.  I gave him his wine in a glass from our financial planner, as a joke because we were toasting to my new job!  Ha!  He is thrilled that I will be working full time again.

Cheers to the best day ever!

Happy birthday Kerigan!