Newport 2017 story

We love the beach.  So Much.  In fact, we let our love for the beach show by our exuberance.  There may be some little feet running through our rental because it is hard to contain our excitement when we are on vacation with cousins and sand and waves and ice cream.  It is TOO MUCH to contain.

And our neighbors know it.

Our downstairs neighbors that is.  We apparently rented the beach house with the only family in the world who can't tolerate toddlers pitter-patter.  I am not saying we are innocent by any means.  But you try telling a just barely turned 2 year old boy that running is not an option.  It doesn't work.  I know because I did it.  Several times.  I even started carrying him through the house.  Our neighbors have no sympathy.  After a few conversations that ended on the poor side, they finally called the landlord with their complaints.  Oops. I don't know what to say.

 But I can tell you this. After all their complaining, Dexton got ahold of a water bottle and flung it over the rail and right on their patio.  As they were sitting outside no doubt trying to escape the sounds of little feet playing tag.  I think it narrowly escaped someone's head. Oops. This may have been the incident that resulted in the calling of the landlord.  But I cannot say for certain as I am no mind reader.  Unfortunately for us, that was not the last incident.  The following day Dexton chucked a ball over the railing and onto the patio again.  Luckily no one was sitting out.  I quickly told Kendri to go retrieve the ball..... undetected if possible. No bueno.  She was caught and boy did she get an earful.  She tried to explain that her baby brother threw it over the rail. They told her they didn't believe her because "2 year olds can't throw that far."  Ahem.  I beg to differ ma'am.

Anyhoo.  The good news is we didn't get evicted.  And we still enjoyed ourselves.  I am not so certain about our neighbors however.....oops.

Our friend Amber Pitt took us beach exploring on Sunday.  We went to church with them and then headed out to see some awesome stuff. This is Laguna beach and it was beautiful!  It was especially green thanks to all the rain we've gotten this year.  The water was sparkling and blue and the moss made it feel magical. 

This tower was a big hit.  Obviously.  It felt like a beach right out of a storybook.

Happy summer!

Dexton turns 2!

The love for Dinos is real, you guys.  So real.  I slaved over this dinosaur cake and I have to tell you, there was a point when I didn't know if the dinosaur was going to make it.  

In fact, the head is a blob of cake mixed with frosting so I could shape it.  That was not the original plan.  But it became the last ditch effort before I scrapped the whole thing.  It's amazing what frosting can do.

Dexton is a joy.  He brings so much love to our family.  He keeps us on our toes and definitely makes us work for our hugs but we wouldn't have it any other way! He loves dinosaurs and Sadie that is enough for him.  We love him!

Happy Birthday Dexton!

Lexi School Project

Lexi and her group have been putting hours into their school project.  It is a puppet theater.  They made everything themselves and I think they did a fantastic job!

Sports Day 2017

We are nearing the end of the school year and with that comes Spirit Week.  We are known for always dressing in our Giants gear when "sports day" comes around.

Even little Dexon has a jersey.  And he is so handsome in it!

And this is just a random picture.  Dexton thinks he's hiding.  :)

Sibling Love

This post is dedicated to Sibling Love.....mostly anyhow.  We have been blessed to have kids that enjoy each other.  Don't get me wrong - we have a lot of bickering that happens too but there is also a lot of bonded friendships.  This post is nod to family.....

Lexi and Dexton got to sneak off with me for a starbucks treat. 

Shayli is so good to Dexton.  She's always helping him stay occupied until it's time for school.

We got to go watch Kendri in her school performance about US History.  She did awesome and Shayli got to come because it was before she was needed at afternoon kindergarten.

Menchies always gets smiles.

And this one is with Sadie.  These too hit it off immediately.  It amazes me how well they get along.  We are happy to have Sadie become part of the family!

Piano Be Gone

In an effort to continue to clear out the junk before the big move, (fingers crossed that everything goes through!) we have been getting very creative.  We are trying to get rid of everything we no longer need so when moving time comes there isn't a lot of unnecessary boxes being carted around.  The house we have put an offer in has limited storage.  I'm afraid we are going to be scrambling for space.  We decided that it was time to say good-bye to our old piano.  It no longer holds its tune and several things have just died on it.  Some of the keys no longer work, pedals stick, ivory has come off the keys etc. We tried to sell it for cheap.  Then we tried to give it away.  Now we are just getting rid of it.  And the easiest and cheapest way to do that is to take a chain saw to it. Hasta luego!

 

**UPDATE

It took a few weeks to slowly fit the pieces in the garbage can, but it's gone!

Happy Mother's Day 2017

Mother's Day is one of my favorite days of the year.  My family always makes it special and I love the effort they put into it.

Here we are just getting home from church. My little brood cleans up nice, don't you thing?

And the orneriest one of alllllllll - but even he was extra nice for me today!  And who can resist that smile? Happy Mother's day to all the mammas out there!