August

We put our house on the market in June. After living here for 7 years (renting for 5 and owning for 2) we decided to try to sell our house and move to South Riding (a town about 25 minutes West of where we currently live) Although we had a few offers that were an acceptable price, we never felt quite right about accepting. Not sure why. It's been a good home, but we are ready for a new adventure. We've decided to take it off the market for a few months and try again in the Fall. We are currently trying to sell it "for sale by owner" to save the Realtor fees. Crossing our fingers it works out. We are all ready for a chance. The house, although great, was built in 1960 and is showing its age. The stairs creek so badly that we feel like prisoners when trying to keep the kids asleep. Russ has to tip toe on the side of the stairs and walk down like a sneeky ninja in the mornings and I can't do anything (on any level of the house) when the baby is asleep because no matter what I do the house is so loud that she'll wake up. Every time it rains it floods. I'm worried about mold due to past flooding. The back yard, although large, isn't really kid friendly so there's not any great place for the kids to truly run around and play (too many sticks and mud not enough grass) It's pretty tiny and we are all on top of each other non stop. The neighborhood is older and there are no young kids for our girls to play with. No sidewalks for them to ride their bikes on and we don't love the school. It starts at 9am so Jayda doesn't get home from school till about 4. That's just too late! Don't get me wrong - the house has been a huge blessing for us. We have loved our neighbors and it is a beautiful starter home, but it is time for us to move into something newer and in a super kid-friendly neighborhood. We are praying something works out soon.

Isn't it pretty, though? Russ and I LOVE that front bay window. The kids look out that window and the front storm door every night so they can rush to see Russ when his car pulls up after work. It's pretty special.

I became a certified Zumba instructor! My friend Jenn and I did the course together. I have LOVED teaching Zumba to the women at church for the past few months. It's been a nice service to offer (fun, free exercise classes) and I've lost 30 lbs! Goodbye baby weight! 

Bailey is so sweet and loving. We all adore her. Unfortuntly, the poor pup has what's called Demadex (which is a mite infestation!). These stinkin' mites live under her skin and are nearly eating her alive. That ended up giving her mange (which means she lost ALL her hair) and she looked like a disgusting hairless rat. Poor girl. Now she's been on medicine for months which is super expensive. Russ isn't thrilled, but he's been sweet and supportive so we can try to get her better. The mites live under her skin and are not transferable which is why I'm willing to do this because let me tell ya - if there were mites in my house or on my kids she would be taking a super long, permanent nap.  

Summer is tiring and it can be so hard sitting still while your nail polish dries! 

First ice cream cone. 

We spend a lot of time in the car going to and from therapies and dance classes! 

Limited hair but tons of cuteness.

Loves eating noodles by herself! 

Fun with daddy! 

Jayda had another major competition....and she placed! We were so happy for her! She earned her hair piece she'd been wanting! 

Jayda had crazy dress up day at camp. 

I just enjoyed having a 1 year old in my arms. 

Irish Dance camp performance. 

Truth alert: to get through my mornings - this is often what my breakfast looks like. 

I do love looking down my stairs and seeing this...

...and this...

...and this...

This is a great example of why we don't put her down. Lils was sobbing because her mosquito bites hurt her so bad. So as she cried on the floor Bailey came over and snuggled her until she calmed down. It was so precious. I know dogs are gifts from heaven. There's no other explanation for their special, knowing spirits. 

Lilly looked in the mirror one morning and asked why her hair looked the way it did...

...I explained to her it was my fault. She got my hair for sure! 

This is not a staged photo shoot. This is just me snapping the various faces I get EVERY SINGLE NIGHT when I put dinner down in front of Lilly. These is the exact reaction I get for every meals unless it's top a ramin, spaghetti, homemade pizza, or pancakes. Man she's lucky she's cute. 

Me and my the man try to get away for date nights as often as we can. Here we are waiting for our movie to start and trying to figure out a feature on our new phones. And no, the camera was not what we were trying to work...we were trying to figure out how to get a "screen shot" and we actually never figured it out. Aren't our dates exciting? 

Since Summer was winding down we really wanted to make August as fun as possible. I tried to make sure the kids did at least one fun thing each day. This day was spent at the D.C. Zoo. As you can see - not everybody enjoyed the outing.

Having a 7 year old is so great. She loves to be mama's little helper and this mama is super appreciative! 

Another day was spent in DC. We went to the Natural History Museum and then walked around the capital building. 

One beautiful weekend we took a drive and got lost in Lucketts. It is the cutest, most quaint little antiquing town! We stumbled across a little county fair so we stopped for some horse rides, carnival attractions, and friend twinkies. What started out as a stressful day getting lost - turned into a super fun adventure! 

Jayda was asked to give a talk in primary one Sunday. I told her to start writing her talk by herself and then daddy and I would help her finish it up and get it ready. Well she came down about an hour later with this sweet message all written out. We decided it was perfect as-is. This is a picture of her very first talk she prepared and delivered ALL BY HERSELF. 

We took the kids to a small tent circus. It was really fun. Not quite Barnum and Baileys, but super neat to go to an open field and sit in a tent and watch performers. Very 1800's. 

Some days were spent trying to have fun at home. Here are the girls modeling their paper plate hats we made during craft time. 

And here are the girls at their lemonade stand we made lemonade and cookies for one day. 

Poor Bailey's mite issue keeps escalating. She's miserable (and were none to happy about it either)

I took the girls to the goodwill one day and they each picked out roller skates (so neat they had their sizes!). They immediately came home and started learning how to skate. Not sure how effective it is while holding onto each other on the grass - but super cute to watch! 

Sweet Lilly loving on her best buddy. 

Macey spends a lot of time in the kennel (by her own choice) :) 

We took the girls mini-golfing for the first time. They were both good, but Lils dominated! 

Another day - another dress up craft hat. 

Hair cut getting ready to start school next month! 

Jayda got to go meet her teacher and see her classroom. Her teachers name is Mrs. Coulter and she seems super nice. 

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Here's a picture of a super cute baby I made. 

One of our favorite days of the summer was spent at The Maryland Renaissance Fair

Of course when attending the Renaissance Fair one must wear the appropriate garment and ride their horses to the festivities.

We finally, after 6 years of being invited, made it to The Assur's cabin. It's a few hours away from home and it sits on a pretty little river. We had a great time canoeing, tubing, and eating. We finished the day off by roasting marshmallows over a fire in a rain storm. It was amazing! 

We didn't make it through the summer injury free. :( Poor Lilly, while playing Lava Monster with her daddy, had her arm dislocated. She cried and cried and couldn't move her arm. Lils is a pretty tough little girl so when she kept crying and complaining for over an hour we knew something was really hurting. A quick trip to the ER, a good doctor who popped it back in, and a Popsicle saved the day. We were in and out within an hour and she felt so cool for having had such an injury. Poor Russ felt just awful for accidentally dislocating her arm...but when you're trying to save your daughter from the evil clutches of the Lava Monster and you pull her out of the hot lava pit (read: wresting in the basement) injuries may occur! 

Jayda had another feis, but we accidentally arrived 3 hours early. We weren't very happy about that...

...but she ended up winning so it worked out! 

Isn't she the cutest? We spend a lot of time together cuddling in the car while we wait for Jayda to get done with Irish Dance class. It's kinda boring sitting around for so long, but it's also super special to get to cuddle and sing with this little 4 year old.