Roller Skating... It's Not the Same as it was 20 Years Ago

Kayla and Macy have been asking to go ice skating for months. I don't do ice skating.  I tried it once when I was about 10 years old.  It was a miserable experience and I have no plans on ever trying again. Now roller skating is different.  We had school spirit nights at the roller skating rink and at one point I even owned a pair of skates and would skate around the neighborhood (at least I have some vague memories of that). So when Marc ended up with a note under his pillow from a sweet little 6 year old asking to go skating, we knew it was time to take them.  Plus, we had two free admissions. We made a plan and surprised the girls one afternoon after church. 

They were SO excited.

After practicing on the carpet a bit Kayla was ready to get on the rink.  She was surprised at how much slicker it was, but she was a trooper.

We rented one of these cool little contraptions for Brooke, and then we went back and got one for Macy.  Once Kayla got a hold of one she took off around the rink.  She did such a great job and had so much fun.  She hated to leave, but we promised to bring her back.  

Brooke took one step on the rink and decided that the carpet was for her. She was able to move around pretty well without the aid of the walker.

Macy hated the rink as well.  I can't blame her.  I finally did one lap.  I was holding on to Marc at first, but then Brooke wasn't happy that we left so he went back for her.  I did manage to make it all the way around without falling, but it was not easy!

Marc did get Macy to go around one time, but after that she circled the rink on the carpet.

It was a fun little adventure for the afternoon, and I'm glad we went.  Kayla absolutely loved it.  The rest of us girls could take it or leave it. I'm sure with some more practice I would get the hang of it better, but my balance and muscles aren't the same as they used to be!

Summer Days

Surprisingly we have kept ourselves pretty busy this summer. We have spent time at the pool, seen a couple of movies at the theater, and had some playdates among other things.  The next two weeks are a little quieter around here and then we head to the beach for a long weekend. School starts shortly after that so we have been trying to knock out as many projects around the house as we can before we leave for the beach.  The new kitchen table is getting coats of polyurethane on today so it should be in the house in a few days. The pantry has been cleaned out and reorganized, we have gone through the girls school uniforms and I ordered the few pieces we needed for the year, I am halfway done with the kids window treatments, and the master closet is slowing getting organized. I'm sure there are a few I am forgetting. But in the midst of summer projects we have also been having lots of fun.

 I rarely take naps, but on this particular day I was exhausted.  I think I hadn't slept well the night before, so when Brooke went down for a nap I took one as well. The girls are always super sweet when I am sleeping.  After Brooke woke up the girls got themselves a snack.  Poptarts and juice boxes.  Healthy, I know. And crumbly on my couch. But that's okay. Nothing a little dust buster couldn't take care of.

The girls caught some fireflies.

She was so excited to catch one herself - or it might have been given to her, but she came running to me saying "Baby Bear caught one!" (She often refers to us as Papa Bear, Mama Bear, Kayla Bear, Macy Bear, and Baby Bear.)

Macy had some birthday money to spend and she bought a slip and slide and a big ball sprinkler. We finally opened it all up this morning, but the girls had a little trouble figuring out how to get started.

 

After pondering the situation a little, Marc decided to throw them down the slide.

 

 

We later moved the slip and slide to go down the hill.  They would lay on their tummy and he would push them.  They flew down and off the slide, but Kayla loved it.  Macy was afraid at first, but as long as she was sitting or going feet first she had a great time.  Brooke wanted nothing to do with it.  Marc pushed her down one time anyway and she was NOT happy with him. I didn't get any pictures of that because I was holding the water hose over the slide.  There wasn't enough water coming out onto the slide to keep it slippery enough.

 

We have enjoyed lots of watermelon this year.

Daddy enjoys his afternoon naps.  Once he gets horizontal on the couch and the fan turns on he is gone.  Macy was sweet and gave him her rabbit to sleep with. 

I am thankful for these days. I'm thankful for my fabulous husband, my beautiful children, our wonderful home, and my God who loves me more than I can fathom.

New Kitchen Table

About six weeks ago I mentioned to Marc that I would like a new kitchen table.  One of the chairs is broken (and we can't seem to repair it so it stays together) and it is light wood while everything else in our house is darker wood. It's a perfectly good table, so I wasn't really in a rush. He took me to a furniture store one night so we could get an idea of what we wanted. Then we had sticker shock. $1000+ for a table and 6 chairs. Well that wasn't in our budget anytime soon.  Well one night I was reading a blog and someone posted about a kitchen table they wanted to make.  The picture was exactly what we wanted so I clicked on the link. The next day I told Marc about it.  He checked out the website and within 45 seconds decided that he was going to make us a new table. Our new table, chairs, and a bench should end up totaling us less than $200 for all materials. Unfortunately since this was our first big project (well other than building a house - ha!) we ended up changing directions halfway through.  That cost us a little more money, but we will be using the scraped section in the basement later, so it's not a total wash.

Kayla checking out the pocket holes.

We sure do have some precious girls!

Helping Daddy put some screws in.

So this is where we were when we changed plans. The grooves between the boards were deeper than we wanted. I didn't want them to be crumb catchers, and we looked into several different ways to fill it in.  Ultimately Marc decided that it would be less work to buy some different wood that fits together flush.  It is a little more expensive, but it would be less time consuming.  He took the table top off and we will just make a new base for it to go on in the basement.  Also, when we brought it into the breakfast room to check out the stain color in the house, I started getting paranoid at how big it was. We are just putting chairs on the long sides so the table can be longer.  When we decided to make a new top we shrunk it down by about 10 inches. Right now the new table top is together and sanded. We have a little bit of a busy week, but hopefully we will stain it Friday, poly it on Saturday, and it will be in our house early next week! I'll be sure to write another post with the final product and maybe another one as Marc does the bench and chairs.  I will be upholstering cushions for the seats, and I'm looking forward to picking out some fun fabric!

Vacation Projects

Marc has been off of work this week and we have so enjoyed having him home everyday.  I have even been able to sleep in a couple of mornings. :) The first half of the week was spent on the go, but today I had my relaxing day at home. We were supposed to get almost 8 inches of rain yesterday and today, but the prediction was obviously wrong.  While I didn't get to enjoy the sound of the rain beating on my roof, we did spend the day at home playing.  Marc spent some more time working on our new kitchen table and I finally got some curtains made for Macy's room. Kayla's room is my next project.

I still need to add a coordinating color fabric on the bottom of the panels to finish them off as well as find some ribbon to tie around the curtains, but I think they turned out super cute and add some great color to her room.

Fun with Cousins

The girls Alabama cousins came in town for a few days this week.  We spent some time playing tennis, swimming, and enjoying a Braves game.

Game treats of choice: icees and dip 'n dots.

This was Brooke's first game. 

Running the bases. She never did get the hang of actually stepping on the bag.

Macy missed the bag the first time she ran, so the second time she made sure to touch it.  :)

It was a fabulous night for a game.  The temperature was perfect and the Braves won 11-3. We couldn't have asked for a better night to spend at the ball field.

Pool Time

We are enjoying our pool time this summer.  It is so easy this year with two that can swim fairly well and a little one who can get around great in her puddle jumper. Sometimes I join them in the pool and sometimes I relax in the sun. We often have the pool to ourselves and we enjoy every minute of it.

Macy is fearless in the water. And see that little orange and yellow squirter? I'm almost regretting the purchase.  They tend to not realize where they are shooting it and how hard.

 And a water fight (or two, or three...) has broken out. Someone created her own little fort.

I was sitting nice and quiet on the edge of the pool, then BOOM! I was pelted with water. Game on!!

It's safe to say that pool time wears these girls out!