Summer

Just so you know, there are a lot of pictures here. Some you may have already seen, but oh well. This is a variety of things we have been doing over the last couple of months, dating back to the beginning of May. So here you go:

An apron I made for Jesse out of a dish towel! We used it often

Charlotte thinks she wants this whole juice container to drink. Think again!

Jesse putting his cute little apron to use while helping me make cupcakes. 

Charlotte was eating her lunch outside and this hat was too adorable on her!

I have been keeping myself occupied by crocheting. This particular pattern my mom bought for me and I thought it was perfect for both Oliver and Jesse. Won't they make cute brother pictures?

Jesse in his hat

Charlotte in an experimental bonnet type hat. Didn't make it big enough but I thought the pattern was pretty cute. 

The kids passing time by helping me wash the table. They are always such eager and good helpers!

Another project, but this time for Charlotte. LOVE it!

Andy was in a crafty mood so he decided to make candles with Jesse. He loved it!

Going to the library- this is about the only kids section they have and my kids think it is like their personal playground. So here we are taking shoes off so they could stand on the cushions. I'm sure the library staff just love us...

Somebody got a hold of my camera on my phone again. I always look at this later and have such a laugh!

A new play structure we got from our neighbors. Thanks Feddersons!

Kids cuddling on the couch. Charlotte didn't last long- she is not all about Jesse being her in space. 

We got a new bunk bed for the kids room. They LOVE it and love sleeping together on the bottom. Jesse sleeps better than he ever has and charlotte does well too. Thank goodness! One less hurdle to jump before Oliver arrives. 

A mini-vacation at the beach. 

4th of July with Auntie Anne and Uncle Matt was fun- we just had a little bonfire and enjoyed some fireworks in the evening. 

Jesse doing his sparkler. 

Grandma came to visit and the kids always have fun and get away with more when she is here  :)

She gave Charlotte some peas which she loved taking out of the shells!! 

And going to the park together was fun as well. Charlotte always insists on walking up the slide. If I didnt help her she would have a fat lip and bruised face. So I just help her...

They CAN play cute together!

The four of us having fun!

We usually end up outside in the afternoons to play in the pool. Charlotte just dives right into the cold water while Jesse is usually the timid one. 

Don't even ask. 

Being goofy in Jesse's costume.

Some rare cuddle time before Jesse was up. 

I recently did a makeover of a baby bouncer. This is the before fabric. I cannot believe how easy it was. The most time consuming thing was unpicking all of the old fabric off.

ta da!!! A new, simple bouncer. With soft fabric. 

We were bored one day and found some foam sheets and decided to make some fishing poles and fish! What fun for a summer day :)

Another crocheted project. I love this pattern more than any other simple girls hat that I have done. It is really purple if you can't tell. 

Andy's birthday was this weekend and we made him a strawberry cake. It turned out to be so lovely and perfect (see last picture). 

We also slept in the tent that evening. This was the only picture that I got of Jesse in the tent. This was our view just waking up in the morning. 

And here is the moist, delicious cake. See here for recipe :) SO worth it!

And that is what we have been up to! We have a few lazy weeks coming up with not much going on. Andy's little brother returns from a mission for our church this week. We won't be able to see him until October but we are looking forward to seeing him on skype. In a couple of weeks we'll go camping to the Oregon coast so that is the next big event we have to look forward to. Hope everyone is having a good month and that the summer is not going too quickly for you, like it is for us!

It's all about Charlotte

This blog contains an assortment of pictures for the last couple of weeks. Most of them are pictures of Charlotte (notice title) because she LOVES to have pictures taken of her and is constantly fighting to get into the spot light.

This first picture is the only picture I have from my birthday. Well, the day after actually. I had quite a surprise when two of my sweet friends cornered me as I pulled up to tutoring and basically kidnapped me to go with them. I was willing after I heard we would be getting pedicures, dinner and dessert with a movie at the end. What a nice treat! This doughnut was the from the famous Voodoo Doughnuts and is a peach fritter. It was pretty delicious- but there isn't much there that isn't. 

 Next is a picture of Jesse's Sunday stations. We have been staying home a lot due to sicknesses and I really want Sunday to be our day of worship so I have tried particularly hard with Jesse to keep it that way. If anyone has any suggestions in this area for a four year old, it would be appreciated! We do a sunday puzzle book, sunday pictures to color (printed off LDS.org), reading the friend, and a craft if I can think of one. I think he seems to enjoy it. 

 Making faces together. She is such a ham!

 So happy to see herself!

 I had to throw this in because Jesse looks so grown up in this picture!!!! He has just shot up the last couple of weeks and I cannot believe that just in a short year he will be in kindergarten. (Well a little over a year..)

 Each morning my kids are GREAT sports to let their poor tired mama sleep in (who has battled with grumpy kids all through the night most nights) and they play together. Jesse typically gets into the crib with her. I am just waiting for the day when Charlotte learns to climb out of her crib. I don't think it is too far off...

 We went on a family hike one Sunday to go see a nearby waterfall. It is a short walk next to a river and is very pretty! 

 Here is one of the many sticks that Jesse found on his hike

 Charlotte likes to climb on everything.....

 Jesse by a blooming tree close to our house. I love this road during the spring time because all the trees along it are decked out in their finest. 

 Another day we went to the newer Vancouver Library that has an AWESOME children's section full of educational activities. This particular activity you have balls that you drop down and roll along a bath and then they fall on chimes to make music. They stay at this toy the longest of them all...

 At the same library, you can go up on the top floor and there are plants and trees and benches to sit and relax. The kids loved that too and we stopped to take a snack break. :)

 Andy is always exciting to use his new canning tools! He got a Victoria Strainer from his parents just a few months ago and this was the first time trying it out. We did so many tomatoes that he has a blister on his thumb still!

 My Charlie Bug

 Climbing again. We haven't made much progress in the potty training area but I'm not worried. She likes to wear her underwear but not to always want to do it. She is starting to get more and more irritated with her diapers when she has a wet or dirty one, so I think it is right around the corner!

 We have always had a booster chair with a tray at the table for the kids and I finally broke down and got a high chair for Charlotte. It is big, but keeps her contained, is easy to clean, and she LOVES sitting in it! She has sat in there up to an hour just hanging out and eating snacks the last couple of days. Charlotte sitting quietly is simply unheard of around here...

 And Charlotte again-she has loved for me to put "pretties" in her hair lately. I have a bunch that I made before she was born and now I can finally put them to use! And I made a frame with ribbons to hold them all! I thought I was forever destined to have a tom-boy who didn't ever want me to do her hair. Next we will try painting toenails sometime...

The week ahead looks pretty uneventful, but I am glad for that. In fact, all of May looks pretty low-key so I am hoping to have lots of time outside and crafting and other fun activities with my kiddos. So thankful I have my little munchkins! 

Catching up

We keep busy here at the Summer's house. Some days I feel like they depend 100% on me to entertain them- especially when the TV is off. But the nice thing is that Charlotte is finally getting to an age where she can play WITH Jesse instead of just scream at him. We are going to start cutting down our media intake. I have been doing this slowly over the last couple of weeks, and it has been nice. SOMEDAY I want to get to where we have one special day for that. We'll see. So here are a few of our happenings:

A black eye. Thanks to the couch.

Grandma and Grandpa decided to come visit AND we moved. Not many pictures there as you can imagine I had my hands full. But my MIL was VERY helpful as you can see from this picture and (thanks to her) Charlotte requests to go on walks everyday.

We made it to the park one of those few and far between sunny days. It has also been the only day I have put Charlotte in shorts. LOVE it!

Some days when they go to bed I can't help but go into their bedrooms so I can re-remember how innocent and sweet they really are. Bed times have been rough around here so when I can go into his room and see him so peaceful, it helps bring back a little of my own peace.

This kid LOVES to draw. Here are a few of his fabulous drawings.

a rocket..

Playing at the mall- we love the play structures for kids there, and sometimes it helps my sanity to get out of the house on rainy days.

Old news, but I can't help put our little Oliver into this post. He will officially be a part of our family in August, but we talk about him and think about him everyday. :)

Funny picture of Jesse (hair is WAY too long), but I had to show off the second black eye in two weeks. Thanks to the kids at the mall play structure.

Charlotte is talking more and more and in this picture she is saying "mo" or "more" in her little world. She LOVES to enjoy my smoothies with me each morning.

I LOVE this little bug! But if all girls all mischievous, independent, strong willed, stubborn, and screechy as her......lets just say I may be hoping for boys from here on out :)

She cannot get enough of the camera! She is always saying "cheese!" when I have my phone in hand knowing that that is what I take pictures with.

And most recently we have been trying out potty training. We're just kinda testing the waters and seeing how she feels about going. She hasn't actually been successful yet, but she sure likes to sit on the toilet, sing a song, and then get off. And she loves wearing underwear (who wouldn't after 18 months of bulky diapers??).

I love their cute little bodies when they start wearing underwear!