#suckyprocrastinator

that is the hashtag of hashtags right there…

but it’s summer, that’s my excuse.

many things have been placed on the back-burner, so to speak, one of them blogging.

the bathroom re-do is at a partially painted stand-still.

photo sessions have been a once a month event.

laundry doesn’t get put away in a timely manner.

anything to do with this old computer contraption is definitely not at the top of my list..

these have all been replaced with my girls.  we are living it up!!  swimming is at it’s best.  play is constant.  we are loving the sun.  I have actually said out loud that I *might* just be “tan enough”.

(but you’ll probably find me out in the sun tomorrow anyway.)

oh my heavens..  reading has even fallen a bit lower on the list of preferred activities!

(gasp!)

we are thankful that these summer days are passing by so slowly, but I do realize that these days are numbered.

before I know it, all three (ALL 3!!!) will be at school, and these days will be put on hold, and I will miss them violently.

making the most of it…

so, with the excuses all laid out there, here’s what I should have done before, but are done now:

week before last, liv fed my addiction for arrows.

(click on layouts for full list of credits + links to products used.)

then last week, she encouraged my obsession with chalkboard.

and this week, it’s more paintbrushes.

I also thought I would enter a little contest at pixels & company..

it is called “cropped”, and I was cropped.

oh, well, leaves more time to swim.

tagged for life.

liv’s newness today are these fabulous fabric tags.

(say that five times fast.)

as you can see, I am still incredibly in love with the woodoodled papers too..

(click on the layout for full list of credits.)

I am still just so in love with this pic!!

I did touch it up, just a smidge.  like removing the speakers that were in the background..  I am a little anal that way.  it was a spontaneous shot, I didn’t want it to be too posed or orchestrated, so those things that end up bugging me when all is said and done need to be dealt with afterwards.

it’s the way I am.

I have this relationship with photoshop that I thought I would never have.  I was SO AFRIAD of it!!  but I can tell you, that getting my feet wet with photo editing was what got me comfortable and excited.

I think we all know that I got that start at jessicasprague.com.

(and if you didn’t know that, well, welcome to my blog!!)

jess is doing her yearly free class, to help us all learn, for the experienced ones, it helps us to get excited, for the newbies, it helps show them that this is possible!!

I have signed up, you should too!!

among other things going on here..

I am up to my neck in soccer stuff.  I am the newest (insert title here that has to do with age group coordinating) with our region AYSO board.  my two youngest love soccer!!  it takes involved parents to make it happen.  seriously, in EVERY SINGLE AREA.  if you have kiddos who love something, get involved.  it makes their experience so much better.

we finished our last day of little laker cheer in prep for the parade tomorrow. 

yesterday, peyton wasn’t really much about the whole “participation” thing, aside from clapping. 

today I might have bribed her with a slurpee if she would just raise her hands!!!

she did.

lynn was selected to be the filer for their little stunting group.  she loves it.  all she has been doing for the past 24 hours now is cheering.

she is sad that today is the last day.

we’ve also had a couple of days of dam fun.

and the bathroom re-do has begun.

it is such a wonderful sight to look up, and have WHITE ceilings!!

that’s right, there is an “s” on the end of ceiling..  I decided that while I was at it, I might as well tackle the ceiling in our master bathroom too.  I mean, I did do our bedroom last summer.  it might be about time..

I only wish I dared (i.e. had the energy) to paint ALL of the ceilings white…  6 down, 6 more to go?

so we are saying farewell to “botany beige” (we won’t “miss” it, since it is ALL OVER THE REST OF THE FREAKING HOUSE.  (someday…)  and hello to “turquoise mist”.

we are having so much fun this summer!!  I am so happy with how slowly it is going.  I just love having the girls all home, having non-stop fun, and little drama.

we are making the most of it, and wearing ourselves out  most days..

(if this post seems a little dejavu-ish to you, well, that’s probably because you saw all of this already on instagram, and I would apologize, but hey, now you have the story to go with it, right?)

(you’re welcome.)

loving this summer a bit much.

being with these silly girls is what life is all about…

we are loving every little bit of our summer!

we attempted riding without training wheels, for like, 15 minutes..

they are back on, as high as I can get them to help her learn to balance..

best $20 spent this summer was on a slip and slide.

seriously..  this is awesome!

up next, we have a bathroom re-do coming up where I will attempt to board and batten one wall.  yes, just one.

until then, we will be outside, soaking up the sun, a laughing, a lot.

saw this quote on pinterest

and knew it needed a home on one of my pages.  I really wanted to put it on a canvas and hang in the house, but then liv came out with her latest creation, and it was decided.

her cut-out alphas are perfect, don’t you say?

so the pic is old, just a couple of years, but it’s perfect..

(click on layout for full list of credits.)

back to laying in the sun.

I will let you know about all the beautiful things I see later.

new scrapping goodies.

liv has a few new goodies out today.

first we have her “little dancer” kit.

I have been going through lots and lots of old photos, and all the while trying to bribe peyton to get in her little leotard and tutu, and bring her american girl doll along for a little dancer photo shoot.

nothing in the world can convince her.

but here’s lynn at 3:

(click on layout for full list of credits.)

I have probably said it before, and you might just be sick of hearing it, but I LOVE liv’s paint brushes!!!

and she has some new ones!!  my paintbox vol. 1 has a variety of brushes and some delicious texture to boot.

(YAYNESS!!)

you can get these on sale through sunday night at midnight!

on the summer front, we have been hiking, spent the day at the dinosaur park, and have had a negotiable bedtime.  I thought I would wake up early every day and get a head start, but I’ve been staying up too late (see the “negotiable bedtime” mentioned above), reading..  so I decided to let myself enjoy a week of sleeping in.  you know, just to reward myself for a hard school year of waking up early.  and stuff.

the back yard is almost all together..  and by almost, I mean about halfway there. 

summer is looking good around here and we are praying that it goes by slooooow.

and this is summer..

historically speaking, it seems as though the first week of every summer here, it rains.

I mean, thank you nature for giving us an awesome memorial day!! 

the nice thing about the rain is that it helps us get our summer kicked-off all nice, clean, and organized-like.

seriously.

we spent the day yesterday cleaning.  not the weekly dusting, vacuuming, clean the glass variety (although that did get done too), but the go through each room and purge, then organize.  the girls’ rooms look amazing!  well, lynn’s always has looked that way, that is just her personality..

it’s kind of nice to have the cool weather, the relaxed days, girls playing nicely together inside..  logging plenty of reading minutes, but we are excited for some summer weather.

summer!!!

it’s finally here!!

I cannot convey how happy I am in this moment, and how sad I am at the same time.

I love that I will have my girls all to myself for the next three months!!  I love that there is no more homework.  I love that the drama and crap that comes home with my girls from school will end (temporarily).  I love that we can sleep in, if we want, and stay up late (but not too late).  I am happy to see growth.

I am sad to see the good things of this school year come to an end.  I am sad knowing that when I send them back at the end of the summer, they will advance a grade, and therefore, be growing..  even though I beg them to stop or at least slow down.  in a way, I am sad to see the changes.  they are not little girls anymore..

more has changed than just age, height, hair length, and what they have gained knowledge-wise.  some teeth have grown in too!  for some reason seeing the side-by-side makes me tear-up…

but we are celebrating, you better believe it!!

thank you pinterest for the inspiration!!

there were long hugs, cleaning-out of backpacks, and those things are packed-away, out of sight!!

it’s summer!!!!

Say it isn’t so…

Summer, over, really?

I don’t like the idea of this.

So I am going to proclaim that it isn’t over, nope, not really.  Not yet.

We still have stuff we want to do.  So much more fun to be had!

So what if they are “in school”.  I will just pretend that it is just a practice run until our summer fun is really over and done.  (Well, more like when the weather doesn’t shout summer at us anymore.)

Sunday night, we slept out on the trampoline, you know, one last “hoo-rah” before bedtime becomes nazi-ish again. 

(And when I say “we”, I really mean just me and the girls.)

We attempted this in July, the night of the 5th (really our 4th what with the real fourth being on Sunday and all..) but a little rainstorm somewhere around 3 in the am cut out night out on the trampoline short.

This time, I was going to have all our bases covered.

- good weather (check)

- mosquito repellant (check)

- plenty of cushiness (check, check, check, check)

- sprinklers off (check)

Or so I thought on that last one.

4:30 am I hear the combined gush of air and water and then one drop, that was all it took, right on my forehead.  I was up faster than I have been in a long time, running back into the house, out to the garage, and turned that water off!!

It was pleasant sleeping after that.

Well, until that period of time, right before dawn, when I would swear to you it gets its coldest.  I wasn’t sleeping too well then.  I wished I’d had my socks on then.  So instead, I curled up in a little ball, snuggled close to Peyton’s warm little body and fleece blanket, and all was better.

Yesterday evening was back to school night.  We knew exactly what we were going to get with Ash’s teacher, and we were ALL very excited about that.  Lynn was a little nervous about her teachers.  There was a last minute switch to her teaching line-up that left my already nervous daughter that much more.  I think some of her fears were put to rest after meeting them.

We came home and had family home evening.  We talked about prayer, that the girls can always go to their Heavenly Father in prayer, whenever they need help.  Even if it is while they are sitting at their desk and need help.  We also talked about the priesthood, how it blesses our lives.  Merrill then gave them each a father’s blessing to start their year off right.

Peyton was so excited, she even got one too.

That is a tradition I cherish.

Then there was last night.

Sleeping (or trying to).

In our own beds.

At a nazi-ish time.

I don’t know who slept worse..  me or them. 

Third grader..  times-tables and cursive?  Really?!  Good heavens, I had to buy her a flash drive as part of her school supplies.

And then there’s the first grader.

I will miss her terribly come 11:30.  She will have lunch, at school.

It is a happy time of life.  It really is all good…

But it sucks that summer is over.

A little warm on your winter day.

I was looking through old pictures, trying to sort through and better organize..  you know, my idea of fun on a Friday.. and I came across this pic.

(I edited it a bit, just for the sake of fun.  Kicks and giggles, all that sort of stuff.)

It’s from our one and only camping trip this last August.

It warms me in so many ways..

One night of camping? I’ll take it!!

Last weekend, we went with my parents to their ward campout.  It was held at the place I call “my second home”.  I did a lot of growing up there, and love it.

So when the question came, multiple times, “All of this (picture the Pilot all loaded up) and you are just going up for ONE night?!”

Yup. 

I’ll take what I can get!

And, I will love it!

It was hard on everyone, but the kiddos especially, that we weren’t spending our usual week up there.

It was still heavenly.

Just a FEW of my fav pics:

Promise with a sleeping Abby.

Ashley collecting firewood.

Mom and Lynn going for a walk.

Dad.

Peyton, so amazed at what rocks do when they hit water.

Scenery.

  

My niece Hallie.

Playing with trucks..

Vroom!

The Mayes men (-1).

Flowers for me?!

James listening to the campfire tell it’s story.

We sat around the campfire a lot longer, and later then we usually would, considering we only had the one night.

You could usually find Ashley, right next to Abby!

Finding bugs..

 

Sharing bugs..

Sophie.

Grandpa doing what he does best, buggin’ and teasing.

And how could you say no to either of these…

(The pictures, I mean.)

It was a great weekend, even though we ALL wished it were longer.  The girls also wished we had our hitch and bike rack so we could have brought the bikes…  maybe next year.