This summertime left a little to be desired in the way of fun-in-the-sun... As much as we tried to make fun things happen on a regular basis, they just didn't. A lot of it is the season of life we are in, with Ivy just being born it just wasn't possible to get out on the boat much. And there was no pool time unless it was a birthday party. I have a lot of mom-guilt over this but I pray my kids look back to this summer as a good memory of when they got their baby sister.
All that to say I do actually have some cute pictures of the fun we did get into this summer. And some cute random pictures, too.
National S'mores Night! Who wouldn't want to celebrate??
This little girl became a little mama overnight, even wearing her play high heel shoes! I love watching her play with all things girlie!!
Another exciting thing that happened this summer is Mac has moved out of he crib and into her big girl bed! Full time!! Here she is waking up from her first nap in her bed. She was so proud of herself!! So far she has only fallen out once, and then one other time she got out but couldn't get back in and fell asleep on the floor! She has since learned how to get back in. I haven't moved all her stuff into her new room yet but that is my plan in the coming days...and then maybe even get it decorated!
She looks super cute here, and that's why I took a picture, but this is actually a picture of defiance. Maclyn threw herself down into the grass at Keagan's soccer practice and would not get up or do what I told her to do. Picture it: me, alone, nursing a baby while trying to get a toddler to comply with rules and usher the boys to where they are supposed to be. The nights Josh works are not easy...at least she is cute.
Speaking of discipline, Maclyn has spent some time in time-out this summer. She doesn't care about it at all and it is not the right form of discipline for her (we are still trying to figure that out). But apparently one of her babies needed to be reprimanded and was sent to the corner.
Our first night of Awana at church involved a presentation of wild animals. The presenter asked for several volunteers and Keagan (as usual) eagerly raised his hand without fully knowing what he was volunteering for. Well, he soon found out it was to hold a giant (3-inch) Madagascar Hissing Cockroach. Not.Kidding. He was none too happy about it and tried to sit down but I think he saw the girls still standing up there and went back up. And he tolerated it pretty well, but you can see on his face he was a bit stressed. And then he dropped the giant bug on the floor. He told me later he wished it would have died because it was disgusting!!!
Josh and I (and Ivy) went and ate lunch with our big boys at school the other day! They loved it and enjoyed showing their new baby sister off to their friends.
Bubbles with her brothers!!
This ugly face is because I told her to stop doing something. She stomped her foot and told me NO. Lovely.
One of the things that I enjoyed watching the kids do this summer was pile into the big wheels truck! With all that weight the battery didn't last long but they had fun. And Maclyn typically demanded running shot-gun.
A tiny Baby Ivy chilling outside while her big siblings play.
Maclyn LOVES when her daddy comes home from work. She squeals and covers him in snuggles and kisses. And she calls him everything except Daddy (Daya, Goya, Gaya)
Piggie Tails!!!
Maclyn's new thing is for you to play with her. Sit on the floor and play...usually it is with her Little People dollhouse or her Peppa Pig toys. But on this date she put a crown on my head and did my hair. With play dusting spray and an oven mat. Look at her face in these pictures...so funny!!
Maclyn found someone's goggles at a birthday party
Showing off her pretty bracelet that her Uncle Wesley gave her. She was so proud to wear it to church and kept it on the whole time!
We DID do a couple days out on the boat one weekend when it wasn't blazing hot. It was hard work and between Ivy and Maclyn it wasn't exactly relaxing, but the boys had fun and it was nice to get out in the lake for a little bit.
The mark of a successful lake day is all 4 babies asleep when you pull into the boat dock!!!
We boated to dinner at Thirsty Turtle one evening with Jeff and Maegan Moryl and their kids Maeci and Maddox. It was a lot of fun but we had to keep an eye on the big kids...Keagan likes to put the moves on Maeci and her daddy gave him a hard time all evening. It was pretty hilarious!
A nice little ending to this blog. One evening when Josh worked I was dealing with a typically fussy Ivy. Night time is not her best time. The other three kids were basically being ignored (remember my mom-guilt I talked about earlier...it is here, too) and it was bedtime for Mac. She wanted a book read to her. Luckily her big brother is awesome and read her and Finn a book, I walked past the bedroom and saw this. Tears. My heart. These kids may drive me crazy a lot of the time, and they may drive each other crazy too. But at the end of the day they love each other and I have to think I am doing something right somewhere to get this...
