July Insta Catch Up

So these will really be out of order, and with large chunks missing... since July 1st-5th we were in Oregon and July 14-18th we were in Texas.  But I really want to keep up with this insta catch ups because I feel like it's the only way I get updates done.  

These boards are well known to me as hand and foot boards.  They hold your cards for you and make it easier to organize.  Grandpa made a ton of these back in the day, and it seems as though everyone had some, except us.  So this last trip Grandma sent home some with us and they are one of our most special things we brought home.  We've been super busy and haven't gotten to use them at home, but they are put away with our decks of cards ready to go.  

Got my hair did, and I had her cut bangs again.  I haven't had bangs in ages!  Of course since that day I haven't been able to style them like she did so they just don't look as good!  ugh. 

Charlie and I had a competition basically over which shoes look the best.  My polka dots won.  ;) 

If you didn't know, I have a thing for polka dots.  I saw similar shoes on pinterest ages ago and have been on the look out forever.  Finally came across some and they spoke to me.  

Sprinkler/trampoline fun with their cousin

Her short hair makes her wild bed head that much crazier 

Recognizing his reflection in the oven and then giving himself kisses.  It's seriously adorable, and I love it

Super rare to get a picture of the three of them together without them fighting or without Quinton pissed off at his sisters ha ha.  They were just watching a morning cartoon and totally happy together it was so cute. 

Lydia's wild dress up and imagination at work.  she wears that lady bug hat all the time and it's so stinking silly but cute.  She also has the Cinderella dress up crown and then the dress and shoes from the live action Cinderella.  Plus various jewelry and sock just made the outfit.  Then I asked her to pose and smile and this is what I got. 

It was the day before we had to leave for Texas and they wanted to play with Cypress of course, and then they wanted a tea party of course.  

I was doing laundry and washing some bedding, they were hiding behind the drying rack.  I asked what they were doing and they said they were riding a  roller coaster. 

Cousins slumber party with Cypress.  They wanted to swim after dinner, thought that was a good way to wear them out before bed so we went with it.  

Of course Quinton wanted in on the fun.  he seriously loves being out with his little pool and water table. 

We also set up the tent in the toy room for pretend camping.  At first they thought they would sleep in there, but in the end wanted to sleep in Natalia's room.  So we moved Lydia's mattress onto the floor in there and they all slept together. 

The weather was awesome last week for about two days.  It was only around 70 so I told the kiddos we could go to the zoo after lunch/quinton's nap.  It was the perfect weather and they did awesome for me at the zoo.  Lydia even went down the big green twisty slide like she had never ever been scared of it to begin with! 

Last Monday my grandma was home with kiddos so I could get errands/grocery shopping done.  It was getting late so I grabbed myself some veggie sushi from Albertsons for my lunch on the way home.  I'm not the biggest fan of sushi, but their veggie one is really good.  I was using chop sticks to eat them and the girls thought it looked like fun.  Natalia would just stab her food but Lydia kind of got the hang of it.  Her expression in that top left one is hilarious.  She said something along the lines of being big enough and almost four that she can catch her food with chopsticks. 

Lunch date with the Evermans.  These two actually interacted a little and it was super cute.  We met at Carl's Junior for food and we were the only ones in the play area for a good two hours it was awesome.  

I came home from our lunch date with Crystal and the boys to a nice clean kitchen.bathrooms and shiny wood floors.  We hired a cleaning lady a few months back because I was drowning in house work and I was seriously overwhelmed.  It was affecting my anxiety and my over all mood.  It has helped immensely.  That morning I had actually forgotten it was cleaning day and we were still in jammies and I hadn't done dishes to prep the kitchen for her to come.  She didn't care and just went to work anyway.  She unloaded my dishwasher and did the dishes.  We were supposed to go meet Crystal and the boys for lunch anyway, so I hurried and got us all dressed and then just ran a couple of errands before lunch to get out of Teeocka's way.   

He's teething again.  One of his premolars broke through and so now he has eight teeth.  He's slow to get his teeth ha ha.  So we went from the awesome consistent sleeping through the night to waking 2-3 times a night and hardly napping during the day.  Add to that the grump and the wanting to be held... it's been a hard week.  We were all snuggling on the couch and he was still a grump but we did pictures anyway.  

Some goofy girlies right there.

We're back into the triple digit weather.  Fan freaking tastic.  UGH.  so in the morning while it's still cool enough we try to get outside to do something.  We ride bikes a lot.  Natalia's just about outgrown hers and we've been working on her to ride without training wheels so we can upgrade her to a bigger bike without them.  Lydia has the hang of pedaling and has been getting better about getting momentum once she losses it.  She's just a touch slower than Natalia so I have to walk with her.  Once they both get good then I can hop on my bike too.  

This insta catch up was definitely short and it was easier to bust out than the rest have been!

August is here, and in seven days Natalia will be back in school.  I'm totally freaking out.  I mean really freaking out.  What's she going to do all day?  Will she make friends? Will any of her old classmates be in her new class?  Who will she sit by at lunch?  Will she know what to do and where to go? Will she have friends to play with at recess?  We have her meet and greet Friday afternoon.  So we'll take her to see her classroom and meet her teacher.  I'm hoping to maybe see some of her classmates then and maybe introduce her to some to get them acquainted.  I just remember how hard elementary school was for me and how I was friends with everyone but no one at the same time.  I got made fun of a lot and picked on a lot... I just don't want that for her.  I'm glad she's kind to everyone and she played with everyone in Kindergarten, but it would be so nice if she made some friends that she kept and could play with outside of school.  She was only invited to one birthday party out of her whole class last year... and I'm pretty sure more than one student had a friend party, I heard other parents talking.  And that one friend moved away last March. =(   I'm hoping to be able to volunteer in her class again this year too.  I'm sure we'll get some info about school lunches Friday too.  She says she wants to bring lunch the first day just to see how it goes.  Then after that we'll do what I did as a kid and look over the calendar and she can choose what days she wants to buy her lunch and what days she wants me to pack a lunch.  And thankfully the big kids walked her class through lunch one day at the end of last year so she should have some idea of how to do it.  But, you know me.  I worry.  I stress.  And I don't want to pass these worries or paranoias on to her so I keep them to myself... which only makes it that much harder.  She seems excited and I'm going to just push for that.  =)  **she also learned to tie her shoes this week!  I was determined to get her tie shoes for school because I wanted to be sure she knew how to.  She picked it up pretty quickly.  Anyway, I just want a good year for her.  Lydia starts preschool in September and she is so stinking excited for it.  She talks about it everyday.  It'll be so good for her to get to go and be around other kiddos twice a week.  I can't believe how quite it'll be with just Quinton and myself Tue/Thur mornings!