How I Grew Up...

This is how I grew up...

 

Toes in the water, butt in the sand. Not a worry in the world, a cold pop in my hand. Life is good today. I think Zac Brown Band said it similar to that.

 

I grew up in the lake. We would walk down a few houses to our neighborhood beach, take our boat out. Living in the land of 10,000 lakes it seemed normal to spend any and every summer day at the beach. I love lake life. I love sitting on a boat, soaking up the sun, tubing, skiing, digging in the sand.

Although we have become more of a pool family, I still have a special place in my heart for lakes so it was really fun to get to share it with my kids the other day.

I think they enjoyed the change of scenery (and the pool is closed already!) and who doesn't like sand in their suit?

Poor Jett was a little miserable for a while because his mother got sunscreen in his eyes...

 Myla was the only on who wanted to be buried in the sand. She's such a good sport! 

 Her brothers thoroughly enjoyed covering her with sand!

 Rexy.

 Myla getting all rinsed off from being buried. She's got her daddy wrapped around her finger.

 It was fun digger rivers and building castles and just keeping cool on a hot day!

 Titan enjoying splashing in the sandy water. These children of mine are not afraid of a little dirt!

 Quinton loves anything having to do with water!

 Loving my three biggest swimmers

I always love family days and this was a memorable one splashing in the water and playing in the sand. Making the most of the last days of summer. Time flies, don't blink. I love these moments!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

All my children like bugs.

Rex, however, ADORES bugs. He has a sixth sense for anything that moves. He could spend an hour just wandering our front yard in search of a cricket, a caterpillar or an ant hill. As a parent you have an amazing opportunity to love things that your children love. To get excited about the littlest ant, the tenth cricket that they have spotted in ten minutes. Bug hunting is a very practical way of loving our Rexy. His incredible eyes just light up when Dan asks him if he wants to go hunt for grasshoppers. They grab one of our ten or more bug jars (any plastic food container) and start their hunt. I usually stick with caterpillars or being the spotter of the bigger bugs.  

It's always amazing to me how much my children retain about things that they are excited about. We have read many books and magazines about bugs, birds, plants, animals and they just soak up all the information like a little sponge and get so excited to share it with others. The great outdoors (or just our yard) gets their hearts pumping!

So you can only imagine my children's delight when we discovered that something was eating all our flowers! 

My first planted flowers in three years of living in our house (we've been a little busy having babies) were being destroyed and it was up to us to discover who was the culprit.

 

Every day when we would go outside to play we would discover more and more and more flowers that had holes in them or were eaten off all together. 

And then the other day we discovered why! Look very closely! 

Some very hungry caterpillars live in our flowers. 

They are quite the camouflaged little guys and require some sharp eyes to spot. It's funny how many times we have sat by our flowers just looking for them only to discover them right in front of us the whole time. They get so excited when they see flowers that have been eaten, "They just have to be in here, mom!" is usually what I hear as we search for them! 

And if you thought those little caterpillars were cool just wait until you see this guy....

He was the biggest caterpillar that I had every seen. He really gave me the heebie-jebbies!

My children did not share the same jitters about this big guy and all excitedly held him.
Isn't he crazy!

My flowers are looking quite sad as they continue to be munched on by our new green friends! But the delight on my children's faces is worth the chewed up flowers for sure! If you ever spot a cool looking bug snap a picture for this bug loving gang of mine. I never imagined I would know so much about bugs, thankful for the five fabulous reasons I have to learn new things!

Celebrating Titan

I love celebrating my children. I love making them feel special, I love buying them presents and thinking of all the ways to make their day wonderful. I love teaching my other children that it's not about them and that someone's birthday is all about making that person feel special all day long.

We celebrated Titan's birthday the day before his actual birthday. We went to the pool and came home to order pizza and celebrate with ice cream cake and presents. For our little 2 year old man it was a good day!

I'm not sure what we will get Jett for his birthday, I had a hard time coming up with ideas for Titan. With two older brothers there is not much this boy needs! However we did enjoy the sweet look on his face as he opened his presents.

 Dan and I always laugh when our kids are opening gifts, they bounce from one gift to the next.

 We enjoyed our first ice cream cake and it probably goes without saying but it was a hit!

 Love the look on his face!

 Titan enjoying his cake!

 I love Rex' facial expressions!

 Myla enjoying her cake. Staying true to herself she ate maybe 5-6 little bites and was done!

So thankful that we got to enjoy a day together as a family celebrating our Titan Timothy.

6 Months

My baby is over 6 months now and continues to be an absolute JOY! 

6 months is a fun age as they really begin to take in the world around them. It's been fun to have him sitting (fairly stable) on his own and able to observe the chaos around him. I love watching as he reaches for specific things and strives to reach for toys or anything around him.

Jett and Titan are officially roommates as of a few weeks ago. It seems to be going well. I can't say that they haven't woken each other up but I think that's just the nature of sharing a room. I love walking in there in the morning to Titan talking to him and Jett just rolling around smiling. Titan is quick to tell me when Jett woke him up or if Jett was sad.

Jett's been a funny guy with naps lately, some days are an hour some days at three hours. Regardless he is usually content as long as he's around everyone.

I am always amazed as to how he barely bats an eye when someone lays on top of him and how he gets smothered with kisses and hugs and thinks it's completely normal.

On a little different note my sister Dana and brother in law Ryan are expecting their first baby in January. I am extremely excited to have another niece or nephew. Can't wait to pass on clothes and baby things to them!

He's my littlest love, my smallest reason for smiling. I feel truly blessed to have had this little guy glued to my side all day long.

Enjoying every day being his momma! We love our Jett Abell!