Dog Days

It's officially "that" time of year.

It's too hot to play outside (unless you're in a pool); and the kids are tired of playing inside.

It's definitely the "dog days of summer."

Good thing school starts next week (can you hear me smiling?!?).

But, I've been doing my best to get creative and keep the kiddos busy with all sorts of things. We've had lots of fun with friends and even managed to fit in a little science experiment for Payton and some scissor practice for Parker. I love sneaking in learning when they don't realize it.

We've got a few more exciting things planned this week including some pool playdates and an ice cream party at the neighbor's house. I think these kids should be nice and worn out come Sunday. Which will give them exactly one day to rest before starting school on Tuesday.

Until then, here are some recent pics of our everyday lives...

We celebrated the boys' half birthdays last week. They each got half a cupcake with a candle in it. Parker thought the candle was the most exciting thing in the world. Payton was just excited to get a cupcake with an enormous amount of icing on it.

I snuck in a little secretive learning on the kids. I practiced scissor cutting with Parker. We made a cute "back to school apple" picture using the cut up pieces of construction paper.

Just look at the concentration on their faces! Too cute!

And then we did a little science experiment combining corn starch and water. We researched why it turns from a liquid into a solid depending on how you hold it. Very neat for kids! Very messy for adults.

 

Our sweet neighbors had us over for swimming and dinner last week. Parker now loves to jump off of anyone's shoulders into the pool. He's a fish.

And I got to babysit for my good friend's 4-week old. He's just the most precious thing ever! I loved snuggling with him all evening... and then handing him right back to his parents knowing that I would get a full 8 hours of sleep that night (unlike them).

Parker wasn't too sure of baby Nicholas at first, but then he was quite intrigued.

Who wouldn't want to cuddle this bug all night?!?

We went to our dear friend's house for dinner on Saturday night. Parker was having such a great time playing with their two kittens...

And I may have had a bit of fun with them too. They're so playful, I love it!

So far, this week has been busy with a trip to the beach, Payton's last kickball game (which he did so well in; he caught two balls and made it on base several times, scoring twice), and today we went bowling.

I love the kids' expressions in this picture. Oh, the anticipation!!

They're so cute!

Best buddies.

And if that's not enough to wear you out, this is what my kitchen table currently looks like:

 It has 550 pieces to it. FIVE HUNDRED AND FIFTY pieces. Please God, let him finish it soon.

That's it from our neck of the woods. Hope you all are enjoying these final days of summer break as well. Or maybe you've already started back at school. If so, I pray that everyone's first days went smoothly and that very few tears were shed. As for me... I'll have the tissues in hand, thank you very much.

Okay, off to work on a puzzle...