Happy 4th of July...

We had a fun 4th of July!  Max and Becki joined us for grillin and fireworks.

I saw on Pinterest this idea to cut a hole in the bottom of a cup to hold a sparkler:

Alex loved it, it was like being a pirate while not getting any sparks on his hands!

We are thankful to our Free Country and all of those who make that possible.  God Bless America!

Summer Day...

We had a horrible hot streak (well, for MN), so Alex kept himself busy inside. 

There was a war in the kitchen, complete with props:

 I got some paints out for him to decorate his shield:

He opened a YuGiO shop in the kitchen:

 I had to spend $1.50 to join the YuGiO club, then another $.50 for my cards:

 Getting my cards:

 Placing a reorder:

(Just when I was about to put the cash register and VTech computer in the garage sale pile!)

I just love the imaginative things Alex thinks up!

Sparkles....

Sparkles is loving having Alex home during the days this summer:

She and Daisy still don't get along, but they both LOVE Alex!

Twins...

Alex and I joined some of my coworkers went to a Twins game.  It was HOT, but we had a great time!

(Alex is holding a little hat that he had an ice cream sundae in!) 

It was so fun and the Twins beat the Royals, win, win!

Water Park...

We've been going to the local water park regularly.  Alex is such a little fish and swims in the pool with an occasional trip down the water slide to the lazy river.  I haven't gotten any action shots, but got these of my handsomes:

I need to get a picture of Alex with his super cool swim goggles that have his prescription in them - THE best investment, he LOVES them!

Psycho Suzi's...

We are big fans of Diners-Drive Ins and Dives in our house and finally went to our 1st triple D restaurant:

Psycho Suzi's was Alex's pick, he LOVES tiki stuff and was very excited for "tiki Saturday".

All of the excitement wore Alex out:

He's already talking about our next "tiki Saturday" visit to Psycho Suzi's!

Summer....

Summer's in full swing here at our home!  We are having relaxing, long mornings - Alex watching cartoons while I have coffee and some summer reading:

 My garden is coming up nicely:

Of course we are counting down the days until our beach trip (today's count: 9 more days!).

Silver Anniversary...

My parents celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary on June 20!  Alex & I are looking forward to celebrating with them next month, but for now, we sent them this card:

Of course, it got to them terribly late since it was returned to me needing more postage - goodness, I don't think I can do anything on time!

Precious Pitcher...

Alex has now played every position on his team:

He liked pitching, but we need to work on it, he walked 7 players, but he had fun!

Mapping Happiness

I have a scrap crush on Christine Middlecamp and love how she layers on loveliness, so when she announced her new tutorial, Mapping Happiness, I knew my scrapping hiatus was over! 

First I got a frame from Goodwill and took it apart. I added some Jenni Bowlen paint around the center (had a scratch/gash to cover, plus needed to take away from the stark white of the frame), then added an adorable piece of paper and some green ribbon from Hobby Lobby (oh how I miss HL!).  The result makes me happy:

I completed my first card of happiness:

I have my 2nd picture ready, I cannot wait to see what Christine has for us!

Playing Ball...

Up to bat:

 Cutest catcher:

He's still having fun and THAT's what counts!

Crazy...

It was crazy clothes and crazy hat day at school:

Alex had a pair pants that were too short, so we made them crazy/raggedy looking.  He LOVED them (actually wore them another day - he was NOT with me!).   Thanks Nanee for the crazy hair/UT visor, it completed the outfit!

I LOVE my job...

I have an awesome job - I LOVE the people that I work with and the kids that I get to help are the sweetest.  AND, they pay me to go to places like this:

This is the flower garden at the Como Zoo and when you open the doors, the sweet scent of flowers is amazing!

I was lucky enough to go the the Zoo with my 1st grade class.  We had fun looking at zebras, polar bears, tigers, lions, flamingos, giraffes, puffins, a stork, seals, penguins and had some chipmunks run around our feet during our picnic lunch!

One of the gardens that we toured housed spice plants (so cool!) and this cute lil pineapple:

It was such a fun day!  So thankful for my job!

Okra Please ...

Okra is hard to find in these parts, so I bought a seed packet and am growing my own!  They're ready to go in the ground:

I have 1 more pack of seeds, so I'll start them after these get planted.  At least when we go to the Farmer's Market, Alex won't ask EVERY vendor if they have okra (and of course they have NO idea what he's asking for!).

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

WWII Re-enactment ...

We went to the Dakota County Fairgrounds for the World War II Re-enactment and this boy was over-the-moon excited:

Alex LOVES guns and this bazooka immediately caught his eye:

I don't know if you can see the excitement on his face, he said, "OH MY, this is cool":

Time for the battle to begin:

And they surrender:

The excitement on his face was due to them letting him put on a helmet (he LOVES hats of all kinds!) and play shoot a gun:

He decided we should get one of these motorcycles with a side-car for him to ride in:

He explored all of the tents and declared he WOULD be a soldier in the re-enactment when he's an adult:

It was such a fun day - for me the best part was seeing his excitement over all of it!