Carpe Diem

This chair was painted for a retired English teacher.  She wanted bright colors and (of course) lots of quotes!

If you are interested in getting something custom painted, visit www.swirlsandstripes.com for details and pricing. 

Summer Wrap-up

Summer is over.  I know I'm suppose to be devastated by this, but I'm glad to get back into a routine and talk to adults.  I'm not excited about waking up early and I know I'll miss Nola, but it is what it is.  Here are some fun things we did this summer!

SWING SET: Remember when my awesome dad and husband put the swing set together?  Well, we made good use of it.  Nola's favorite thing to do was put a pool at the end of the slide and turn the sprinklers on.   My favorite thing to do was sit under the shade on the patio. 

We even invited friends to play at the "Danner Water Park".  Nola and Penelope are BFFs. 

FUN INSIDE:  We got quite a bit of rain in June, so we spent some time inside too.  We did crafts, baked, colored on the chalkboard, watched movies, and Nola even tried on my wedding dress.  

STORYTIME:  The library had storytime for kids Nola's age every week in June.  They read a book and made a craft then got to check out 3 books to take home.  Nola picked princess books 100% of the time.  Unfortunately, we didn't get to attend every week due to our Minnesota vacation.

BIKE RIDES: Nola got a bike the same weekend she got a swing set.  We rode it a little this summer, she's still getting the hang of it. 

DANCE CLASS: Nola had dance camp this summer.  It was only 3 days.  She was the only kid in street clothes, everyone else was wearing cute tutus, but I wasn't about to buy a dance outfit for 3 days.  This picture was taken before her last day.  I'm not sure why she's holding the bunny.  She loved dance class and has been conducting her own classes in her bedroom since then. 

 SUPER HERO PARTY: Nola's friend William had a super hero party.  It was so cute, and these picture are priceless. 

VOLLEYBALL:  One of my favorite things about summer is sand volleyball.  I've been on the same team for 5 years and we have so much fun.  These pictures were taken the day I brought my selfie stick.  I had almost 400 pictures from that night, selfie sticks are a lot of fun too. 

SUMMER ART CLASS: I held an art class for teachers and other adults every Tuesday this summer.  It was nice to get some adult time and hang out with new people!  Plus, we made some cool stuff. 

POOL TIME:  We went to the pool.  Our town has a nice pool full of people I don't know, so it's pretty perfect.  Nola loves water and I also enjoy the pool when it's hot, so it was a win-win. 

PAINTING:  I just had a couple of project this summer.  I'm planning on taking a break until the baby is born.  I got to paint some bats, a trunk and a table.  

GOT READY FOR BABY DANNER:  We found out baby Danner was a boy early in the summer thanks to a blood test.  I wanted to use the extra time to get things all set before school started so that I didn't have to use my very few days off (thanks to softball) getting ready for baby.  Some friends gave us their son's clothes so I got those all washed and organized.  I also picked out bedding and painted the nursery.  

And we got a minivan!  It's so nice, and has plenty of room for Nola, baby, and a bunch of other stuff. The DVD player has been amazing during long car rides! 

Halfway!

Last week marked the halfway point of my pregnancy with baby #2.  

This pregnancy has been very different than my first.  I don't have much of an appetite and don't crave anything.  I'm pretty uncomfortable already so I'm interested to see how I feel when school starts (the day after tomorrow!).  While this one hasn't been as "fun" as the last I have enjoyed feeling him move.  He moves quite a bit and Robert felt him kick for the first time this week.

We have the nursery pretty much ready- which sounds crazy early, but I wanted to get it done this summer.  It's still technically a guest room but I painted it and everything is stored in our unfinished bathroom so we can make the switch closer to the due date.  We have a few ideas for names, but nothing concrete.  I had pretty much named Nola before I even met Robert (luckily, he liked the name) so finding one from scratch that we both like has been a little frustrating.

It's been fun talking to Nola about the baby.  She has gotten use to the idea of a brother and got to come with us to the ultrasound appointment last week.  She was excited to see him on the screen but the sound of the heart beat scared her a bit!  The other day she came up to me with a straight face and asked me if she could fart on the baby.  It was hysterical, still makes me laugh! 

School and softball will be in full swing next week so I'm hoping the next 20ish weeks will be as painless as possible.  I have a feeling I will have to remind myself to be positive often and take a few naps in my car during my plan period :)

ODCS

My husband has a computer repair business and wanted some chairs for his office.  I offered to paint some old chairs he had lying around with his logo.  Now he has some new art that he can sit on!

If you are interested in getting something custom painted, visit www.swirlsandstripes.com for details and pricing. 

Fair time!

July= Fairs.  I never went to our local fairs before Nola was born, but I think it will be a yearly occurrence now that a kid (soon to be kids) are involved.  She was much braver this year than she was last year.  She loved the rides and threw a fit when we left.  She also played a few games!  The Platte County Fair is in Columbus.

The Butler County Fair was two weeks later and it's right behind our house!  We watch the fireworks on our couch :)

The parade was on Sunday.  She said she didn't want to go, but we made her (I deserve a mother-of-the-year award because it was HOT!).  She quickly remembered why she loves parades so much- CANDY!!!

Now's a good time to mention that Nola dresses herself now.  Pants in 100% heat, miss-match socks, and shorts under dresses.  Whatever, she's still cute. 

Week with Boca and Gramcy

Nola got to spend a week with my parents in Wichita.  She had a blast and did so many fun things!  Luckily, she tweeted about it so I could follow along:

She swam a lot, went to a movie, a trampoline park, played in my mom's classroom, went to a science museum, played dress up, went to the park and lots of other fun stuff.

While she was having fun, Rob and I were enjoying some kid-free time.  We went to dinner and a movie.  I had softball camp and Rob went to work so it wasn't a lot of downtime, but it was nice not to have to fight the bedtime battle every night.  I got some painting done- one project for a friend and started painting the nursery!

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It was a nice break, but I was excited to get her back.  This is my last full week of summer, I go back to school next Thursday!  It's crazy how fast time is flying!