Sprinkler!

Photos from our trip to the local park last week where the girls enjoyed playing in the sprinkler

 as you can see, they don't so much run THROUGH the sprinkler as they dare the water to come and get them :)

24

24 hours.  That's how long I lasted away from the girls this past weekend.  This is not to say that I didn't thoroughly enjoy my time with Scott; time with no little voice saying "mommy," no little hands and feet crawling on me all hours of the day and night, time to have adult conversations and move at an adult pace, time to breathe ...  It was all wonderful.  Amazingly, given the chance, we didn't sleep in on Saturday -- I was up at 6:00 as usual.  And I can't say I slept soundly through the night -- I woke up several times throughout the night.  I'm not going to lie, though, it was still a much more restful night than most around here as we are actively working on night-weaning with Merrill and it hasn't been an easy road.  And our night was definitely more restful than then one my parents had.  The girls had a blast playing with my parents Friday afternoon, enjoyed their dinner and bedtime snack, but bedtime was a bit difficult.  We all knew that would be the tough part of the night and given this was their first overnight we all felt that it went pretty well -- it just didn't result in a lot of sleep.  So, it was probably in everyone's best interest that we didn't try for a second night right away.  We were happy to be greeted with enthusiastic smiles and abundant hugs when we got to my parents house Saturday afternoon.  We'll definitely be trying more overnights soon!

Millie gathering a pretty bouquet in Grandpa's backyard

Merrill enjoying the water fountain

Fun in the tub

topping the night off with a bedtime snack

Our dinner at Cedar Lake Cellars

My handsome date

 

Perfect ride back to the cabin

a morning hike around the lake

A big thanks to my parents for making our 24 hour get-away possible!

{Simple}

 

Give my girls some dirt, water and a few containers and they will be happy (and very dirty) for hours.  

It's the simple things in life ...

Before and After

Remember our backyard project?  Well, it's actually come a long way and looking pretty good if I do say so myself!  I can't say it's "done," but I don't think it ever will be either -- I'll always be working on the soil, planting more flowers, killing more zoysia (really don't like that stuff!) and generally trying to get better at this whole gardening thing.  Much thanks to my dad for being my outdoor mentor this spring!

Before -- bare and boring

After -- beautiful and inviting!

Vegetable garden -- this summer may prove me to be the worst vegetable gardener in existence, but I hope not!  Hopefully we will actually have something to harvest at some point :)

That high-pitch sound you hear, that's the cicadas :)

more tomatoes up by the house

Sunflowers planted by the girls

 

awesome path built by my dad

I've really enjoyed the process of transforming this area, but have found there are some things about gardening/landscaping that easily frustrate me. 1) zoysia grass -- we have some in just one portion of our backyard, but it is very difficult to kill and even harder to dig up.  I do not recommend it!  2) weeds/grass -- I can already tell that keeping up on the weeding is going to be tough, even with the covering and mulch we put down. Huh, I guess those are really the only things.  Like I said, there is definitely a lot more that I want to do but I'm happy to have the big elements in place.  Now it's just a matter of adding color with flower and shaping things up a bit more every year.  And perfecting the vegetable garden!

Seven Years

Happy seventh anniversary to us!! 

We had the opportunity to re-create our "honeymoon" this weekend by spending the night out at my parent's cabin and taking a day trip to Hermann, Missouri to taste some wine.  It was a wonderfully relaxing trip and it was so refreshing to just get to spend some time with this wonderful man.  Lots of thanks to my parents for hosting the girls for the night (more on that later...).  This was the first anniversary in several years that we celebrated with more than an exchange of cards and a nice home-cooked meal.  In fact, it's hard for either of us to imagine where the past seven years have gone (or at least the past four ...).  Lucky for me, when I jokingly asked Scott if he had "the seven year itch" he replied that he only had an itch to spend another seven years with me.  He is the best and I am the luckiest!

Then and now :)

Self-Portrait

Millie's self-portrait at 3 1/2 years old.  I, of course, think it's great ... she commented to me that she thought she looked more like a spider.  A true artist at heart, always critiquing herself.  But then, that's what drives us all to be better, right?  Can't wait to see the next one :). 

Ode to Cicadas