What _____ Did The Most This Summer

 I thought I would just sum up what each person in our family did the most of this summer. 

What Wes did the most this summer.

WORKED

While I only have a picture of him working on his truck, he spent a lot of time at his regular work too. :)  

He is a hard working man in all aspects of his life.  

He works hard at work, he works hard at home, he works hard to be a good dad and husband.

What Brandy did the most this summer.

BOUNCED

 

You read that right, I bounced.  Kinsley prefers only Mommy to hold her and only while standing.  And so I spent A LOT of time bouncing around Kinsley while trying to shuffle the rest of life.

What Jared did the most this summer.

SOCIALIZED...sort of. 

This is the first summer that Jared has fully embraced having friends over to play.  He likes to plan to have friends come over, especially his neighbor friend Matthew.  But when they come over, he spends about 30 minutes with them playing toys or playing outside (because his annoying mom insists they do SOMETHING other than electronics) and the rest of the time is used doing (you guessed it) some sort of electronics.  

(Electronics kind of drive me crazy)

What Novalee did the most this summer.

LOVED

She loved her mommy and helped her about 95% of the time.  She loved her baby sisters and played with them so much.  

I should add that she got GOOFY and CREATIVE a lot too.  

She spent a lot of time at the table drawing, making necklaces, painting and playing playdoh.

Here's a goofy picture of her as proof. 

She said she was being a guard. :)

(She has on like four shirts)

What SADIE did the most this summer.

ENJOYED

 Sadie enjoyed the outdoors and getting dirty.  She spent the majority of the time going from the kiddie pool to the sandbox and back again, which made a lovely mess for mommy. :)

 What Kinsley did the most this summer.

SLEPT  

   

 I guess that is to be expected.

  I wish I could do a bit more of that...

And so, Summer is almost over.  While I feel ready to have the kids back in school, I'm grateful for this summer and the full days with the kids where I could just connect with them.  I loved having the time to learn more about them and how they think and what they feel.  

I don't want to get too sappy because I do that enough already but I just want to say I love my family so much.  The time I have with them is so precious.  Even though there are times when it is hard and times when I take for granted what I have, most of the time I just love them and am so grateful for what I have.  I love my calling as mother and wife.  

Well I guess I got sappy...

52 Hikes

Wes has this cool book that has 52 hikes you can do in Oregon.  We found one that was seemed easy enough and hiked it at the end of July.

It was pretty cool.  It was only a mile or two.  And it was mostly in the forest and would weave back to a little creek/river every now and again.  I'm too lazy to go find the book and name the hike or even discover the name of the river.  :)

We had such a good time hiking I tried to convince Wes that we should try to hike the whole book in our lifetime. 

 I got a lukewarm agreement to "try".  

Guess how many we've done?

One.  

That's right, we're off to a good start.  ;)

Here we are at the beginning of the hike.  

 Kinsley's somewhere under that little strawberry hat. :) 

For only being two months old she did pretty good.

 Sadie on the other hand, got sick of being carried around pretty quick.

 Novalee at one point discovered that the seeds of some sort of plant were sticking to her clothes and exclaimed, "I don't like the wilderness!"  :)

 Oh yes, now I remember the name of the Hike.  4 Point County Trail.  Why you might wonder.  Well out of 36 counties, this spot is the ONLY spot in Oregon where four counties touch.  I know, you are bored impressed!

 Sadie enjoyed throwing rocks into the creek. 

 Novalee made a fishing pole and set it up by the water.  Then she enjoy screeching and yelling at anyone who bumped it.

 

 Skipping rocks...

 or boulders.  :)

 

 

 

 I thought I should at least try...she didn't like it...obviously.

 Pretty Sadie.

 Could the vegetation in Oregon be more green and pretty? 

 Kinsley's pretty too.  :)

At the end of the hike all three kids jumped in the water.  Well Sadie fell in after trying to copy the big kids only to discover it was too cold for her taste and in a quick attempt to turn back fell all the way in. Poor thing.  She wasn't too happy about that.  But the kids had fun and it was enjoyable to just sit by the water and watch them play.

New Dress for Sadie

With it being so warm, I thought I would make Sadie another pajama dress with some fabric I've had for far too long.  So I just made a pattern using a dress she is currently wearing.  But when I finished the pajama dress I thought it was too cute to wear as just pajamas.  So I just added yellow ribbon and turned it into a play dress.

 I realize this is a goofy picture of Sadie but I just couldn't wait to have her try on her dress AFTER her nap, so I woke her up.  :)

 Sometimes when I'm making something by just winging it and I can see it's actually starting to come together I get so excited. I know, I'm a nerd.

 Sadie on her way to church in her new butterfly dress!

Polly Pea Pocket

My mom got a new puppy this summer.  She is the cutest little thing.  She is a mini schnauzer.  I kind of swore off dogs after our last experience but it's hard to resist puppy lovins.  :)  

  

How can you not love something so adorable?

My mom brought her over to our house so the kids could meet her.

 Novalee and Polly together.  Both tiny little things with large personalities. 

   The kids kind of love her.

 Maybe a little too much.

  I'm pretty confident she wouldn't last a day in our house.  

Kinsley's Baby Blessing

On July 1st Kinsley received her baby blessing.  It was a pretty great experience.  Wesley's parents and two youngest siblings flew up from Arizona to be here for it.  Both sets of my parents came as well as my sister and her family and our neighbor.

We were was so happy to have so many people we care about there for such a special occasion.

  

In her blessing outfit ready for church.  

Our sweet little family.

Another baby Kinsley picture because she's just so dang cute! 

 Grandma Crockett got this super cute outfit for Sadie.  

                                                                             ADORABLE!

Dad with Kinsley!  I bet you can tell that he loves her. :) 

 Aunt Emily and Uncle Justin.  They look scared.  

 The Whole Crew

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

Yes, I realize it is July BUT I finally got around to making a tree skirt for our future Christmas trees.

Previous years I just draped red fabric around the tree and listened to Wesley say, "'WE' should just buy a tree skirt."  To which I would faithfully reply, "But I want to make one."  Insert pouty face.

And so last winter I bought red fabric but the execution of how to make a tree skirt was pretty daunting.

But it turned out to be pretty easy to do and for just winging it I think it turned out great.  :)

My Downy Touch of Comfort Quilt

I just finished this week the quilt I made for the Downy Touch of Comfort program.  I first heard about it on the Make-it and Love-it blog found here.

It is a really neat program where Downy will send out all the materials except thread and batting to make a quilt that once made will go to children in hospitals.

If you are interested in learning more about the program click here.   The pattern is really basic too which is great for beginning sewers or for anyone with limited time.  I'm just saying all this because I think it is a really great program and am hoping others will give it a try.

Here is my finished quilt.