Summertime and the livin's easy

I love the flexibility of summer. Throwing routine out the window on some days to have fun with friends. Last week, some work friends and I threw a brunch together through back and forth conversations on facebook about two days in advance and we were ALL able to make it for the first time in years. Usually, it takes a couple weeks of banging out a date and then at least one person is usually missing from the crew because of schedules. But, we were all there (with all ELEVEN of our kids!)



Swimming (which makes for worn out kids at bed time), popsicles, bath time to get rid of the sweaty summer smell, tan lines on kiddos... I love it!













I wish I could say I love the heat, but DANG, it's HOT! We pretty much stay inside and won't venture out until after dinner.

Summer brings later bedtimes for the kids, which is good and bad. Less time for Mommy and Daddy to chill out, but more fun with these guys.



Kate went to VBS last week and loved it. I think that will be a summer tradition from now on. We loved the two hours of being down a kid, too. Parents of the Year, right here!



We are planning a summer vacation for late August, but some of our plans are up in the air right now.

But, here's the best part... once summer is officially over, I don't have to go back to work!!!

I still get that pit in my stomach every now and then when I think about how fast the summer is going by. Then it hits me that August will NOT be spent working in my classroom, I won't be packing a bag for the kids each day, making my lunch each night, picking out clothes... I LOVED teaching, don't get me wrong. But, right now, this is what's RIGHT for our family and I am LOVING our decision.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful summer!!

Trip To Joplin

Right before the 4th of July, some of my college friends and I planned a get together. 4 mamas, 9 kids... a recipe for some fun chaos. The day we planned to leave, my friend's three month old came down with a case of pneumonia and was in the hospital for three days.

Megan and I were packed and ready to go, so instead of cancelling the whole trip, we got in the car, called our friend, Jamie (who was going on the trip with us) and told her we were headed to see her in Joplin. Megan and I figured we would just get a hotel, but Jamie wouldn't have it, and told us to stay at her house instead.

So, her poor husband, who thought he was getting rid of his wife and three kids for the weekend, instead got two more gals and three more kids staying with him! He SWORE he didn't mind, but really???



We had a blast!! Jamie is the type of friend that you can go for awhile without seeing each other and just pick up right where you left off. It's amazing. I loved staying up late talking with her about our crazy lives.



The girls (and Jack... the lone boy) all played really well together. Well, with the occasional tantrum, argument, and lack of sharing. Kate tends to "love a little too much" and likes to pick the girls up and give them really tight hugs. I'll never forget when the girls were going to play in one of their bedrooms and Jamie's little two year old turned to Kate, pointed her finger and said, "Now, don't pick me up." ha!

Jamie later told me that her dad hugged one of her girls really tight and she told him, "You hug really tight like Kate!" Haha! Poor girls!



It really was a great weekend to reconnect, let our kids run wild, and give our husbands some quiet time (well, Mark and Greg, at least. Poor Ryan!)



And, yes, we did drive around and see the tornado damage. It was super sad. The school where I did my student teaching is practically gone. There are parts of the town that you can't even recognize anymore. It was a very surreal experience to say the least.



THANK YOU to the Cochrans for being so flexible with your plans. :)

Crazy Jack

Jack is kooky. He likes goofy things like wedging a plastic hanger on his head and walking around the house.

Mark always jokes that he probably won't be our genius boy.

I can't imagine WHY he would say that??

Father's Day Questions

I do this with my students for Mother's Day, so I thought it would be fun to do with Kate for Father's Day. I thought it might be fun to do every year (and one day with Jack) and see how her answers change.

So, here it goes.

What is your daddy's name? Mark, but I call him Daddy.

What is his favorite thing to eat? I think pasta. I'm not sure, though.

What does he do around the house? He picks up. I mean cleans up.

What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy? Play games like Hi-Ho Cherrio.

What makes Daddy happy? Me being nice.

How do you know Daddy loves you? Because he says that a lot.

What is something Daddy always says to you? "I love you" and "Pick up."

What is something fun that just you and Daddy do together? Play games

What is something cool that Daddy has taught you about? How to fix cars (This one cracked me up because this has never happened! ha!)

When you grow up, do you want to be like Daddy? Why? Yep, because he does a lot of stuff I can't do.

The Things You Say

Kate continues to say the funniest things that I HAVE to write down so I don't forget. Like the last post on her little sayings, this will probably be a long one. There's your warning. You won't offend me if you quit reading now. :)

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She can just about sing every song on the radio. She can tell you when it's Zac Brown Band, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, and a few others. It's actually pretty impressive.

The other day, we were at the store and she saw a magazine and said, "Hey, that's Blake Shelton. He looks good there." haha!

The Zac Brown Band song, "As She's Walking Away", came on. There's a lyric that says, "You might fall down on your face..." Kate piped up from the backseat and said, "Yeah, if you walk too fast, you will."

Music, dancing, singing... she loves it all! She said to me not too long ago, "Snap to the whythm, Mommy!" (rhythm)



Conversations with her are always interesting:

Mommy: You promise you'll always love me?
Kate: Yep, and I'll never forget.
Mommy: Even when you're mad at me?
Kate: Yep, I'll still be your friend.

(She's WAY into saying "I'm so mad at you" when things don't quite go her way. We're working on it.)



On another occasion:

Kate: "I wish I was a mommy."
Mommy: "Well, when you get older, you'll be a mommy. How old do you think you'll be when you're a mommy?"
Kate: Well, how old are you?
Mommy: "29"
Kate: "I think I'll be 29."
Mommy: "Well, when I became a mommy, I was 25."
Kate: "Whoa! That's like Daddy's age!"

She uses big words like "frustrating". She'll talk about Mimi and Papa's dog and say, "Sam is so frustrating!"



One night awhile back, we were eating spaghetti for dinner. She said, "Well, I'll need a bib then." I went to get her one and she said, "No, not that one. Let me get one." She goes looking through the drawer and says, "Whoo, this is a long discussion!"

We pass by the firehouse, and she says, "There's the fire department." We pass by my gym, and she'll say, "There's Zumba at the gym." The girl doesn't miss a beat!

She was on a BIG Barney kick for awhile. She knew every one of the Barney videos on Netflix word for word. Now, she's really into Good Luck, Charlie.



When she gets really excited, she'll say "This is so 'citin!" (It's really cute!)

I'll say, "Why don't you go wash your hands for dinner?" and she'll say something like, "I was just thinking about that." (I think she wants to be a step ahead of us.)



Last time Brad and Vicky were in town, we were on our way over to see them and Kate asked, "Are Brad and Vicky going to be there?" When I told her they were, she screamed at the top of her lungs and yelled, "I've been waiting for that!"

The other day, Mimi pulled her hair half up and put a bow in it, and Kate told her, "This is my dream come true." haha!



She usually remembers to use her manners. The other day in the car, she was admiring her fingernails that I had painted the night before. She said, "My fingernails are beautiful. Thanks for painting them, Mommy." I said, "Kate, you're welcome. That was so nice of you. How did you get so nice?" Without missing a beat, she replied, "I just did at some place called Nice Kids."

She says sweet things like, "I wish I was like you, Mommy. You can do so many things." It's usually when she watches me write in cursive or something simple like that. So sweet.

I went to Chuck E. Cheese with two friends and their kids a couple weeks ago. I put Jack in the high chair and was going to go get our drinks while everyone was at the table. I asked Kate if she could watch Jack and make sure he didn't try to get out of his high chair. She said, '"Sure." Right as I walked away, she turned to my friend and said, "Can you watch him?" Ha! Way to pawn off responsibility!



She LOVES to be in charge. We were cooking awhile back and she said, "Can we pretend that I know what we are doing and you don't?" So, I said, "Sure." She got all prissy and started stirring the pasta saying, "Ok, we are making pasta chips." :)

Awhile back, probably during the month of March, when all of us were sick at one time, she said, "I didn't want to bring my toys out to the living room because they might get sick."



When she was sick, I said to her one morning, "You feel ok?" To which she replied in a peppy voice, "Yeah, I feel great!"

Before we went to Purina Farms in April, she said to me, "I can't wait to milk a cow one day. How many OUNCES (!?!?!) of milk does it get? I just want to know. Like 59, maybe?" (I have NO idea where in the world she learned that word or how to use it properly!)



One Monday night while watching Dancing With the Stars, one of the male dancers came out with no shirt on. Kate yelled, "Hey boy, um, how 'bout you put some clothes on?" Even though she was being super sassy, I couldn't help but laugh.

She can rock the sassiness pretty well. It's VERY frustrating at time. We are working on that, too.

I was talking to her during dinner one night and she said, "Um, how 'bout you just let me enjoy my food?" I about had a coronary. She got a quick lesson taught to her about table manners and being kind.

One day while driving on the highway, there was an exhaust smell like maybe from a truck or something. Kate says from the backseat, "Yum, someone is grilling. That sure smells good. Makes me want some." haha!!

She doesn't want to admit she's sleepy EVER, so instead, she'll say, "Can I west my eyes?" I love that she can't say her R's yet.



At the beginning of the summer, she got A bug bite and you would have thought she had broken her arm. The whole way home in the car, she whined, "I CAN'T believe I got a bug bite." I told her, "That's just what happens in the summer. You'll get a lot more this summer, honey." She said, "I know, like 15."

She wants to stay with us forever. We were in Joplin last weekend and drove by my old college. She wouldn't even look at it (she knows that you leave your mommy and daddy when you go to college). She said, "I'm NOT looking at it" and put her head down. She's a stubborn girl, too. Imagine that.



We had a conversation the other night about dogs. I was talking about how they are gross and drink out of the toilet. To which, she replied, "I want a dog." I'm a mean mom and I said, "Well, when you grow up and move out of the house, you can get a dog." Without thinking twice about it, she said, "Well, I guess I'm never getting a dog."

The thought of not living with mommy and daddy blows her mind. So sweet. Honestly, I am A-OK with her NEVER leaving me.



Even with all the sassiness, foot stomping, door slamming (already at THREE????), and bossiness, she's STILL my favorite girl in the whole wide world. Because when she's sweet... boy, she's sweet.