New Years Vaca to Galveston

2014 started off with a bang!

My in-laws took the entire family on vacation to Galveston over New Years.

It was pretty awesome to walk out the front door and have a beach at your feet.

Even though the temps didn't get much above 40 degrees, it didn't stop us from enjoying the sand and surf.

In case you were wondering, 

Yes, Rowan is crazy for getting into the ice cold water.

And no, she did not get sick.

Since we still live too far away from our family, we also celebrated Christmas.

And got some family candids.

Here's a view of the beach house:

and a sunrise:

Summertime......and the Livin' is Easy

Summer is almost gone. 

And, like pretty much every other parent out there, I can hardly believe it went by so fast. 

Breck will be in 2nd grade and Rowan in kindergarten. 

All. Day. Long.

Part of me is looking forward to this, but an even bigger part of me knows there's no turning back.

Every day these kids of ours are getting a little older, a little bigger, a little closer to being an adult.

Just the other day Breck told me he doesn't want to go to college because then he'll have to leave home and he doesn't want to leave me.

I wish I could bottle up that innocence and keep it forever.

...and then use it on him in his rebellious teenage years. Maybe sneak it into his food so he'll magically turn back into a loving son.

That would be worth a Nobel Peace Prize.

Like I said....summer is almost gone.

But it's not gone yet.

We still have a couple more weeks of sleeping in and taking it easy.

And learning baseball!

Breck is learning the basics of baseball this month.

(it's not a team...more like a very short camp)

He's only had one practice so far, but loves it and seems to be getting the hang of things.

We may very well be looking into getting him on an actual team this fall!

Last week we worked on some crafts.

I must have goofed when I made the clay as it turned out very dry and brittle. Next time I'll make the kind of clay that calls for glue. Then maybe the snowmen heads won't fall off.

This week we tested several homemade versions of popular snack foods such as fruit roll-ups, goldfish crackers, and chips.

None...I repeat...none were given the thumbs up by either kid.

I thought the strawberry fruit roll-ups were awesome and the goldfish just needed more cheese, but they'll still make yummy croutons.

Despite my kids' finickiness and obvious lack of proper taste buds, I am determined to get the recipes to suit their tastes so they have much healthier snack and lunch options for the school year!

There's No Place Like Home

Much like Dorothy, Kansas is our home sweet home.

So we drove back for a visit over the 4th of July.

...we shot off fireworks...

 

...we met and snuggled our new niece/cousin...

...Breck lost his first tooth...

...we fed a cow treats and looked at all the babies...

...we went fishing at the pond in the pasture...

...and Rowan caught the only fish of the day...

...the kids helped with harvest...

...and I found some time to dust off my camera...

  

Summer - Day 20

How has your summer been going?!

Hopefully you answered "Completely Awesome!!!" or something similar. 

The kids finished up their swimming lessons last week. 

Both of them had fun and made progress, which is all I ask!

Breck learned how to dive. 

Although, I use the term "learned" loosely here...he was shown how to do it and gave it a few tries, but there just wasn't a lot of time to really get it down during class. 

Rowan went down the baby slide all. by. herself. This is HUGE! Last year she wouldn't go down even with someone holding her hand the entire way. 

~~~

I have been CRAZY busy with my shop.

In fact, June has been the biggest month I've ever had for sales!

Here are just a handful of things I've been working on...

Pomanders

 

Flowers for several weddings

(this is seriously a fraction of both orders...big wedding parties are very 'in'.)

Several extremely-custom orders

(as in the customer thought them up!)

 

I am probably most proud of this one...

I recreated a bride's bouquet using the couple's printed wedding vows.

(It's her surprise anniversary gift from her husband....aaahhhhh!)

 

I've also made a couple wreaths

and a bunch of these

~~~

Despite my busyness, I am making time for the kids.

Last Monday we made another trip to the library.

This time they had a snake guy there.

With snakes.

*cringe* & *shudder*

He started us out with a small one of those-things-that-must-not-be-named and worked his way up from there.

{I can totally hear Hermione in my ear: "Fear of the name only increases fear of the thing itself." 

Yeah, yeah, yeah, Hermione.}

...and then he busted out this bad boy...

Can you see the sweat beading off my forehead?!

Can you see me trying to touch it as little as possible?!

Can you hear the panic running through me like a 4 million volt electric fence?!!?!?

...maybe this photo will illustrate my feelings about it better...

Like a deer in headlights.

Breck, obviously, thought this was way cool.

The original plan was for him to touch it, so we got in line.

There was no way I was letting my child go by himself to touch something...like...that.

As we waited for his turn, I noticed everyone ahead of us in line was posing with that mammoth 'it-could-kill-you-and-eat-you-at-any-moment' snake. 

What a bunch of idiots.

And then it was Breck's turn.

And he really wanted to hold it and get his picture taken.

But he was too small to hold it by himself.

...because, you know, it could kill him!

So I held it.

Let it never be said that I did not sacrifice for my children.

By the way...Rowan was with us. 

See that green and purple striped thing by my leg?

That's her.

OH OH OH...we did learn something, too.

If you ever find yourself being squeezed to death by one of these things, rub a big handful of alcohol-laden hand sanitizer in its face. 

It makes them sick. 

And not want to eat you anymore.