Catching Up

It's been a wild ride the past week or so, but things are finally starting to wind down. Yesterday was the last day of school - YAHOO - and now we have a little bit of a break until camps begin.

In the midst of all the chaos, I haven't been posting many pictures, so I am now playing "catch up" in an attempt to share our goings-on with our distant friends and relatives (and those of you not on Instagram). :)

So, here is a complete hodge-podge of photos from the past week or so...

Last weekend we went to our friend's Chuck & Monta's house for dinner. I am in love with their house. No, correction... I am obsessed with their house. It's my dream home.

The kids love visiting their house for many reasons, outside the obvious, being that they love to play with their kids. But they also love the second-story laundry shoot. And the fact that there are stairs. And their giant, lovable black lab. And now... their two adorable kittens. Oh yes, they were in heaven.

And while they were happily playing with the kitties. I was happily drooling over their house. Especially the kitchen. I mean, come on. Who wouldn't just want to live in this kitchen?!?!

Okay, now that I seem like a stalker, I'll move on...

The following day, we headed to Bradenton to spend the day with Brian's folks and their best friends (whom are also Brian's Godparents) who were in town visiting from Chicago. They are loveably referred to as "Uncle Ray & Aunt Sue" by the entire family. Probably because their friendship dates back to high school. Gotta love friends like that!

Uncle Ray & Dad

Aunt Sue, Parker & Dad

Once again, the kids had a ball playing with their cousin, swimming and getting loved on all afternoon by lots of family members!

Swimming at Grandma & Grandpa's pool. He said to me, "Mama, call me Super Guy."

Cousins playing the Wii and enjoying lollipops

To top off a fantastic weekend, we ceremoniously put the Diaper Genie out for the garbage. Yahoo!!!

Parker has been doing so good with his potty training. He has had a couple of pee-pee accidents, but for the most part he is doing better than expected. He even wakes up dry after naps and in the morning! I'm so thrilled with him... and even more thrilled to not change stinky diapers anymore. :)

Monday signaled the last week of school for Payton, which we are all excited about.

Every day this week was themed, and the kids had a ball doing things like "Wacky Wednesday" where they were encouraged to wear crazy clothes. Payton wanted to not only wear tie-dye, but have his hair spraypainted tie dye as well!

Sadly, we did have to say goodbye to our long-time crossing guard this week. She is retiring to stay home and take care of her ailing husband. It might sound strange to miss your crossing guard, but she was amazing. Always taking care of the kids and greeting them with a warm smile - rain or shine. We're gonna miss her!

This photo really shows off Payton's whacky outfit - even mismatched socks!

We were also fortunate this week to have a visit from our dear friends, Neal & April, who recently moved to Virginia. They were in town for a short visit and shared with us their exciting news that they are pregnant with a baby girl (they have 2 boys)! We were so excited for them, that we had to do a mini-baby shower when they came for dinner.

We also re-created a picture that we took a few years ago when April, Claudia & I were all pregnant together. This time, I got to be the one with the flat belly. Hee, hee! They both look beautiful... but man, I'm glad I'm not pregnant again. :)

It was really fun shopping for baby girl clothing though!

I have a slew of photos from the last day of school to share, but it's going to take me a bit to sift through them, edit them and get some from my friend Kristen. So, those will come later.

For now, I'm off to enjoy a relaxing Saturday with the fam as we enjoy our kick-off to summer weekend!