Moments in July.
Sweet Kira. She loves birds. She is getting into photography. I gave her my old camera. And she uses it to take pictures of birds. Can you see the little yellow bird? It was at the very top of our large pine tree. I love the excitement she has as she discovers something and then tries to capture it with a photo. 💜 She even had me print it off and then she glued it into her journal and wrote about it!
Isak did not want any help with this 350 piece puzzle. He was so proud of himself for completing it.
Nels's mom sent me gardening clippers. They are awesome. So sharp and they do a great job! I was so happy to receive this thoughtful gift.
My Kira got up early and made me a card and helped Nels make me breakfast.
My sister sent me these pretty barrettes for my hair. So fun!
Nels let me eat out by myself for lunch. I went to Buttermilk for lunch and read my book while I ate. It was perfect.
I made myself my own dessert. I made brownies with marshmallows and then a chocolate frosting on top. Here it is before the frosting.
I even put sparkly candles on it.
The kids loved my dessert and wishing me a happy birthday. My mom also sent me a beautiful card. It was a wonderful day.
Kira made this magnet maze.
We played musical chairs with the Alexa app. It was fun. Although, there was still some crying when some of them didn't get a chair.
One day, the girls wanted to make a treat. But they each wanted different cookies. So we made both kinds. Because it's summer and we can just take the day to make cookies if we want to. 😀
I also made my grandpa's enchiladas for my birthday.
Kira and I got to tie dye shirts for an activity day.
Kira chose chocolate cookies with M&Ms.
Sofie chose strawberry cookies.
Kindergarten eye exam for Sofie. No eye problems. Yay!
We went to Red Robin as a family for my free birthday burger. YUM!
I tried to play this Plan of Salvation game in the Friend with the kids. Maybe it was the timing, but it was awful and not fun...I was sad...but I'll keep trying...
Nels got a new lunch box. Yay. Celebrate the little things, right?!
One day, Isak spent the day building different projects with his snap circuit kit. We also bought another one on Facebook Marketplace. Because it's summer and we can drive to random people's houses to buy their stuff. Haha!
Lots of snuggles with blankets and stuffed animals.
Cute set up by Noah. Blanket, books, Mickey Mouse car, garbage truck. 💙
One week, we had a few rainy days in a row. So we bought Diamond Art kits for each of the kids...because it's summer and you can spend the whole day doing a craft.
Even Noah did it.
It was fun to see the kids work on it at the same time.
And of course, we had lots of fort building too.
And GAMES. Lots of games.
And building...
And reading...
Here's Jr. Monopoly.
Nels and I got to go on a date too. We picked a new place downtown Geneva-Bien Trucha.
Guacamole was amazing. The food was spicy but so good.
Then we went to Oberweis for some ice cream!
Isak did the 200 puzzles in this Kanoodle book. Then we bought him Kanoodle Genius so he can solve another 200 puzzles.
Here's Isak doing his Diamond Art while he listens to Harry Potter.
While the kids ate lunch, I enjoyed reading books to them. Here are some of the books we read.
Isak played Monopoly so many times and Jr. Monopoly with the kids.
And Puzzles.
And that's a glimpse of our summer. I loved spending time with the kids and watching them learn, create and grow these past few weeks.
I put aside many of my personal goals and just immersed myself in having the kids with me 24/7. It helped me to be present and enjoy my time with them. When I did get a few minutes to myself, I continued to journal and read.
I hope y'all had a wonderful summer.