Pacifier Fairy

Last week we decided it was time to get rid of B-man's pacifier.  It went pretty smooth, thank goodness.  We did the same as we did with Ava and got a couple of balloons.  We attached his pacifiers to the balloons and he let them go up in the sky to the "Paci Fairy".  She takes the pacifiers and gives them to babies that need them.
The first night without was a little rough--he went to bed easily but was up for about an hour in the middle of the night.  It has gotten better since then, though.  And I am so happy that I don't have to worry about giving it to him each time he lays down and taking it away when he gets up!
Here is a video and a couple of pics!

Theater and Dance

Ava finished up her summer session of theater and dance classes.  She did tap, ballet, read stories, acted out the stories and did crafts.  She had so much fun that she is going to take the class again in the fall!  Her favorite part was "being on stage" and doing the plays.  I love that she enjoyed it so much and hope she continues to do so because I think it will help her come out of her shell a little more.  Enjoy the pictures and videos!

Photo Dump

Some of these photos may be repeats but I'm too lazy to look back. :)  These are just a bunch of pics I downloaded from my cell. 

B's first time at the dentist.

At the library.

From Ava to me.  Love this!

Checked on Ava before we went to bed and this is what she looked like.

Ava and Devyn

Making mud something-or-other.

And Brecken put mud in her hair.

At Mort's, enjoying a drink on our stay-cation.

Modeling underwear.

Swimming

Love when he lays like this.

A green smoothie...breakfast for most of the summer.

Love this little lady!

Slip 'N Slide

We went to Mimi's this evening and the kids had lots of water fun!  Slip 'n slide, water guns, water balloons, popsicles and pizza!  I put the camera away before the water balloons came out (just in case) and it's a good thing.  I got Erick a little bit, but he felt better after he dumped a bottle of water down my back.  Nothing like driving home in wet clothes.  It was a great evening!

Glow stick bath

Sixty-One

We celebrated the July birthdays in my family today, which included my grandpa, my brother and my mom.  It was a great morning full of family and yummy food.  We seriously need to get together more often. 

My mom turned 61 last week and we contacted some of her old friends and many family members and had them snail mail or email me some of their favorite memories with my mom.  We wanted to make sure we had 61 memories (one for each year of her life, of course).  We filled 61 envelopes with the memories and she opened them this morning and read all of them aloud.  It definitely took a while, but it was worth it.  It was fun to hear the memories that friends and family had of my mom! 
From Granny's Cookie Day to peeing to having to drink before getting on a plane to always being there for others...the memories were awesome and she appreciated hearing from everyone that took the time to write. 

Some of the memories spread out on my living room floor.

In the envelopes.

 

My beautiful mama.

   

Wasp Stings, Bug Bites and More Randomness

We've had a pretty relaxed week this week.  We went to the park, library story time, a friend's house, and pretty much just played around the house.  We have been on the go so much this summer, I thought it was about time to have a week like this. 


The kids played with the costumes in the playroom.

My cute little ballerina



Eating snacks like a dog.  This was actually Brecken's idea.

I also rearranged the playroom this week.  We have way to much stuff.  It just lines the walls in the basement, but without making shelves and such, that's just the way it's going to be.  The Rhea Lana consignment sale is in September and a lot of these toys will be going bye-bye!  Shhh...don't tell the Littles. 

Here's what it looked like before they start playing.  The walls are bare.  I'd like to add some of the Littles' artwork and a pretend window in the "kitchen" area. 



Now on to the wasp stings and bug bites. 
Erick and the kids were outside last night while he was grilling.  This morning, B-mans legs are covered in bug bites.  I took pictures and of course they don't look as bad in the pics, but they are so swollen!  This kid attracts mosquitoes!  I counted and he has at least 11 bites just below his knees!  They are like welts.  Poor guy.

This morning I took the Littles to Erica's house so I could go to an appointment and Ava was really wanting to play on the playset (which doesn't get much attention anymore since Erica's kids are a little older).  We got there, I was talking to Erica, and Ava & Brecken headed over to the playset.  Ava sat on a swing type thing and Brecken started climbing the ladder to go down the slide.  All of a sudden Ava started screaming her head off.  And I mean screaming.  Oh my.  We looked over and there was a ton of wasps swarming around her.  She was moving except to scream.  Erica and I both ran over there--I grabbed Ava off the swing and Erica got B-man off the ladder (he was just standing there with no clue as to what was happening).  Anyway, we got her inside (with her still screaming) and put ice and baking soda paste on her stings.  There were four--all on the same leg--one above her knee, one that went through her sock on the front, and two right beside each other on the back of her leg.  Ouch.  Poor girl.  She cried, "Is it going to hurt foreveeeerrrr?"  And then, "I reeeaaaaly wanted to play on the playset!"  Thank goodness she's not allergic.  They swelled up a bit, but looked good by the time I got back from my appointment.  The event really got all of our adrenaline pumping!  I don't think I've been stung four times in my life and it happened to Miss Ava in about two seconds.

On a happy (I guess) note, I started working out again this week.  A high school friend of mine set me up with a workout plan and I was super sore after the first time!  She is a personal trainer and really knows how to kick your butt and get it into shape.  I took "before" pictures but will not gross you out with the sight of them. :) So my plan is to not have so much flab and run a 5K in September.  If you're reading this, you can help keep me accountable!    

I think that's about it.  Tomorrow morning we have a family gathering for July birthdays (my mom, brother and grandpa) and I need to go make a breakfast casserole to take.  Yum!