Some Random Summer Photos

In no particular order and with no particular topic in mind, I thought the family would enjoy some of these summertime photos of the boys...

I set up a scavenger hunt for Payton & his buddies a few weeks ago. They loved running all over the house searching for post-it note clues! (With Parker in tow of course.)

 

 The final clue led them to little baggies of candy!

 

We've been doing lots of sidewalk chalk this summer. Payton drew this picture of me:

 Which of course I had to counter with another nice drawing for him.

Parker has become quite good at "stealing" the laundry basket when I'm doing laundry and climbing into it. He usually only falls a few times. :)

 

 

 

The boys have made countless forts!

 

 And enjoyed lots of bed cuddle time as well as playtime in their new pool (thanks again Grandma & Grandpa for the great gift!).

 This is what I get from Parker when I say, "Say Cheese!"

Parker made this Olympic medal at his little in-home daycare place he goes to once a week. They had an Olympic themed day where they made medals and had Toddler Olympics (think sliding competition):

 In honor of the Olympics the boys wore their USA flag shirts and I actually snapped a photo of BOTH of them looking at the camera (that's a miracle in itself!):

And this picture of Brian holding Parker with the Chik-fil-A cow cracks me up! He had a "boys day out" recently and went to the mall for lunch. I can't tell if Parker loves the cow or is terrified by him!

The boys have also been enjoying lots of popsicles in the good ol Florida heat.

That's it for now. I'll be posting photos of our trip to the Glazer Children's Museum next. What a fun day that was! Until then, happy last-few-days of summer everyone!

What's Making Me Happy Right Now...

Thought I'd share some random things that are, collectively and individually, making me happy right now.

My house is appropriately decorated for one of the most important holidays of the year.

 Love the American flag. All that it stands for. All that it says about being proud to live in this country and enjoy the freedom that we have.

Parker loves those twirly yard ornament things. Several houses in our neighborhood have them and he always wants to stop to twirl them. So... I got him one. He loves it. Sometimes it's the little things that make me happy.

I also changed out my Spring banner in the family room. As much as I loved it, it was time to say goodbye until next year and break out the red, white and blue.

 I downloaded this "Freedom" banner for free here. You just have to print it and assemble it yourself. I put mine on a long piece of red satin ribbon using hot glue. 

Voila! Instant Pennant Banner! (Insert happy dance for both free and easy banner!)

You can download the subway art that I have framed by going to Google Images and searching "Memorial Day Subway Art."

 I'll save my real homage to our Veterans for my Memorial Day post. I have a lot of thankfulness to write about. Stay tuned.

Another item that is making me very happy is...

 The Carter's Store.

Almost everything is on sale. I can usually find good clearance deals, and they have matching clothes in both 7T and 18 months. I can't wait to see my two little men sporting their new duds this Memorial Day weekend! I love matching outfits. Call me lame. I don't care. I think it's adorable. And until Payton protests, I'm gonna do it. So there. :)

Fresh baked cookies waiting for Payton when he comes home from school.

 I guess it's one of those weird Mom things, but I want him to have a memory of coming home from school every once in a while to the smell of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies. He gets so excited when he comes inside and sees them on the counter.

It makes me happy watching him stand over them debating which one is the biggest, has the most chocolate chips, and will taste best.

BOGO at Publix.

I love it when something that I really don't want to buy goes on sale BOGO because then at least I feel like I'm getting a deal on it.

Apparently these muffins are a hot-ticket item in the cafeteria this year. Payton has asked me to buy them for several weeks now, but I hate spending money on such highly processed, sugar-filled, junk food.

Then I decided, hey... it's almost the last week of school... let the kid enjoy a little treat and feel like he's the King of the lunch table for once.

Stickers.

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Such a small thing. It only cost $1, but man, these stickers are going to make Parker so happy. He loves his Pooh Bear and I have grand plans for these babies. Makes me happy just thinking about it.

What's making you happy these days? Please share in the comment section. I'd love to hear from ya!

Ramblings

We've had some cute moments lately where we've "caught" Payton and Parker playing together. It's absolutely the cutest thing I've ever seen and melts my heart every single time.

Parker is really getting into books now and loves to read the same ones over and over (and over and over). The other night, Payton put their two chairs together and made a little bed with his blanket and read Parker his favorite book. It was so precious!

 Of course Payton, being the avid reader that he is, wanted to read the book page, by page. Parker on the other hand wanted to hold the book and flip the pages back and forth at random. I guess that's just part of being 6 years apart. At least they had a few minutes of special reading time before the book was wrestled over and tossed onto the floor. :)

I caught another cute "older brother" moment the other day when we went to the library. Payton and his friend Avery took Parker by the hand and walked him all the way across the parking lot and into the library. Parker couldn't have been happier!

In other news, Payton just finished up his final project for 1st grade. His class is studying habitats and each child was assigned a specific habitat to research, write a report about it, and then create a diorama.

Payton's habitat was the rainforest. I think he really enjoyed learning about all of the jungle animals and strange little critters that live there. He wasn't so keen on writing the report, but I must say, he did most of it without any complaints. I was very proud of him!

Here is the finished project... complete with 10 rainforest animals and real tree branches!

(Can you spot the flying scarlet macaw suspended in the air by fishing line? Nice touch, eh?)

 

 

 Yeah for Payton completing his final project! Yeah for doing it with an excellent attitude! And YEAH for no more projects till next school year!