A GLIMPSE...

into our everday life...no special occasion, no trip, just our ordinary every day life...full of ups and downs and moments that take your breath away :)

Okay...first I have to brag about my flowers. NEVER in my entire married life have I been able to plant flowers and keep them alive, let alone have them grow!!! Seriously, this is no laughing matter, I've tried a lot but they always seem to slowly wither and die...but for this one summer I seem to have done something right! Hanging on the side of the flower pot is a wind chime I want hung up on the front porch, but for now it's just a box decoration :)

Our fish: Blueberry and Henry. Casey named them. Blueberry because it's blue and Henry after his red train. Every morning it's the same routine: " Casey, did you feed your fish?? " "Um...I don't remember..." me: "should I forget to feed you??" So then him and Brooke race to the fish tank while Brooke whines until Casey gets food for her to feed her fish, Henry :)
This is taken from our front porch. The house being built in the background is one that Peter is building. Every morning after cereal and feeding fish the next thing is "Mom, can I go see dad". Every day Casey rides his bike to "work" He remembers to take a water bottle and a snack in case he gets hungry. Even if it is really hot outside he still begs to go. Peter gives him small jobs to do or just lets him hang out. It is seriously Casey's favorite thing...next to riding his bike. He has spent more time on his bike this summer than he has on his feet. I swear he is always on it...visiting with neighbor friends and adults...he thinks he knows the neighborhood inside and out. Who lives where, what car they drive, where they are going, how to wave to them on his bike as they pass....

Also in the picture below you will notice we finally got a sidewalk poured. We got new front steps and poured colored cement borders along our driveway. I should have taken a picture of our modern art...aka our old sidewalk pile of rubble in our front yard. Lets just say it took over a month to get our new sidewalk in...and our old one is currently modern art, surrounded by dead and alive weeds in our front yard...it's awesome!!!

Sleeping arrangements: I am a very structured person when it comes to my kids. We have a bedtime routine...they sleep in the same spot, they sleep through the night...UNTIL.....Casey started having scary dreams. He wanted the light on and to hold hands....so then Brooke caught on...she wanted the light on and to hold hands. Casey was sleeping in the top bunk, Brooke on the bottom. One night I was standing there holding Casey's hand on top, and my other arm stretched to the bottom to hold Brooke's hand. I thought this is ridiculous! They should just hold each others hands for comfort...So I stuck them in the same bed and said hold hands...and they did.....

....This worked fine for about a week until Brooke decided to start crying a lot or asking for things...basically whining and crying in bed...because she can. So one night I threatened her, I said " be quiet and go to sleep or you are going to go sleep in the pink room by yourself on the floor." Well guess what she told me... "I want to go sleep in the pink room on the floor." Crap! Don't you hate when things backfire! So this is her sleeping in her bed in the pink room. She has since brought her "bed" back into Casey's room but she prefers to sleep on the floor. She actually goes to bed a lot easier, with no fuss and sleeps through the night like she used to...go figure.

Brooke can almost always been seen wearing these necklaces, carrying around a naked dirty baby!
I love our neighborhood! We all got together at a neigbors house across the street (that's our house on the right) to do fireworks. (if you look closely at the picture below you can see our "modern art" sidewalk pile in our front yard...but hey, we LOVE our new sidewalk...much better than the old)
This is a bunch of us...I can seriously say that we love all of our neighbors. We all get along, our kids all play at each others houses...or outside between them all...and we have so much fun together.
Here is a bunch of the neighborhood kids at a field trip we took them on...me and another neighboor were counting the other day all the boys that were within a year of Casey's age and there are 8! only counting the boys, add a few girls in there and a ton of other kids of all ages. In fact in this picture there is Brooke, and another Brooke and Addy who are all within a month of each other. It's crazy fun around this neighborhood.

Here is a picture I stole off of my friends blog. This is her son with his four-wheeler...obviously there was not enough room for all three kids to ride so they concocted this...These three all have birthdays within a month of each other. (thanks steph for everything!)

Okay, my little obsession with trying new do's on Brooke.

BEFORE

AFTER

A twist with a side ponytail.

TOP

SIDE

(this is actually one of my most favorite do's, this picture doesn't do it justice)

And when Brooke does her own hair:
Our life update: Peter is officially an EMT and volunteers with Wellsville City, he loves it, and I love that he loves it :) What I don't love is when he takes off for a call a 1/2 hour before church when he has to play the organ...I frantically tried to learn his song...he made it right in time to play it. Casey will go to kindergarten next year, until then I will enjoy my last year with him in preschool :) Brooke asks me everyday if we can take the baby out...everytime I say not yet she says, "it need grow big big BIG!?" I am getting big big BIG, just sweatin' out the rest of the summer and enjoying my last few months with only having two kids!