new house paint!!!

Old color...beige, shutters "country blue", door navy blue

New color...khaki, shutters black, door black...I think it would be fun to put one of those big rustic barn stars in red above the front door under the window...what do you think?

BTW...my super handy husband has been working hard on this project for about a month now, bringing the bucket truck home on weekends...so handy!

The fair!!!

This boy had a big weekend...it started with the YL sporting clays event on Friday afternoon, then on Saturday morning we went to the Snaketacular Day at the science center and then last night thanks to our neighbors we got to go to the fair for free! Here he is on his first ride...and you can see what's left of his snake that was painted on his face.

The fair was fun...this little one enjoyed it as well, she stayed up bright eyed until 8:30. Special shout out to my friend who most graciously gave us this outfit as well as two huge bags full of baby girl clothes for the fall/winter...we love hand me downs!

Some more highlights include...a boat ride, the carousel, shared a funnel cake (eaten way to fast to snap a pic) and I tried to win my boy a prize at the guess your age booth. I know I look super young...people never guess my age right, so I thought for sure I could fool this guy...he had to get it right within two years...and he guessed I was 30...only off by one year. I couldn't believe it!

getting it ready...

We're a working family...I'm not going to lie...it's been a tough adjustment getting up and getting 2 kids out the door...all by 6:45 am. So in order to make it easier, my brilliant husband suggested I spend some time on Sundays prepping for the week. So it takes about 1.5 hours to get our house in gear. I start by getting Ollie's lunch stuff organized, the baggies go in the fridge or in the pantry...for the whole week.

Then Sarah Claire's baby food gets sorted out...and the bottles, oh the many bottles, they get labled (color coded by day of the week,) and dated. Side note...she's a champ at taking the bottle now, thank goodness and has started drinking some milk out of a sippy cup at school!

Matt gets Ollie ready every morning...so he has 5 days worth of outfits downstairs on his dresser ready to go.

And I get the girl ready...silly band and all...j/k but she would look cute with one! Her clothes and diapers are ready to go on my dresser.

So far this plan has worked well...I'd love any other tips anyone might have to help this working family or if you know of a company that sells dinner cooking robots...well that would be awesome!

Holden Beach!

Smiles were all around this weekend as we slipped away for one more splash of summer 2010!

Sarah Claire got her first taste of sand at Holden Beach...she enjoyed the tidal pools as well!

So thankful we were able to get away with some friends for Labor Day...we rented a house on front beach! We ate yummy food, played fun games, took walks, collected shells, worked the summer reads, polished off our tans and just enjoyed being together.

Ollie had so much fun he tried to talk Matt into letting him stay...just 3 more weeks he said.

Missing the sand between my toes...but looking forward to a super fun fall!

Happy Half Birthday!!!!

6 months ago this GIRL...made her surprise appearance into the world!
What a day that was...we love you Sarah Bear!

garage shenanigans...

Sarah Claire's first jeep ride...so cute, seriously she sat in happy and content for like 20 minutes, who needs an exersaucer??

Then Ollie decided to pull her, this made me a bit nervous, but I'm just the photographer!

Then Matt decided to rig a pulley with a necktie to the garage door with our john boat anchor. So Ollie and Matt pulled the anchor rope with the jeep, then the bike.

Then the rope got hooked to the stroller, the helmet got put on and Ollie went for a fast ride over and over again...yet again I was a bit nervous. Who would have thought we could have had so much fun in our garage on a Monday night?

Sunday afternoon...

Now that the princess can sit up...I tell you the sky is the limit! So I let her frolic in the makeshift baby pool yesterday, the lid of Ollie's sandbox. She had so much fun, thinking she's going to love the water as much as him.

What a cutie!

Usually Ollie jumps right into water play but I guess he just wanted to watch, it was really hot!

Close up of his new "fall" Vans, thanks to Grandma! Gotta love a good Sunday afternoon!