Another Ballerina

Mia has taken an interest in dancing since her sister's recital. She is such a cutie.

Summer Days

Being a stay at home mom is tough- I am cleaning and catering to the kids all day, but I have to admit, for the most part, I love it.  I love not having to be any place at any special time; I love browsing Pinterest for some crafts to do or some new recipes I can make with the kids; I love that storytime can last for an hour because we don't have to be in bed by a certain time (we are now reading chapter books at bedtime) and I have loved being outside. I have even garnered enough courage to take all three girls to the pool by myself.

Makaela and her friends making their own books. The books were animal themed because they used animal stickers for the characters.  It was fun trying to spell words for three girls'- they kept shouting them out at the same time.

We have perfected the Snickerdoodle recipe. I think I have been invited to more playdates as a result :-)

Before our trip to NY we had pavers installed. I wanted a flat surface for the kids to play and I am glad we did. I also purchased a small swingset for $100 on our neighborhood Swip Swap and it was another great purchase.  The kids use it as a playground and as a clubhouse.  

Our mornings: running around in PJs while I sip my coffee and work on my computer in the lanai. Madi loves being outdoors.



Picnic at the park

Carousel time- it's right outside our library, so we have been going often

Thanks to the MacDonald blog, I realized I had the instructions to make bubble snakes.  I have since learned to keep these homemade toys away from young kids. They inhale the bubbles which is no bueno.

7 months of Madi

Madi is still our little nugget. The outfit she is in is a 3-6 month outfit and it is swimming on her.  She is still experiencing a lot of reflux but she is still a great nurser. She is giggling a lot more.  She can sit if we support her, but she is still wobbly.

July 5th Party

There was nothing going on for July 4th- the fact that it fell on a Thursday and that the neighborhood fireworks show wasn't going to be until the 5th, made it a bit low key, so we kind of treated it like any other day.  It was Madi's first time in the pool (she has put her feet in it, but that was about it) and she loved it.  Candace and I made fabric flowers for the girls' clothes so they could have coordinating outfits and then hung out with some neighbors.

The following day, we got all patriotic though and headed over to the Durkees, neighbors who live directly across the street.  World Golf Village puts on an amazing fireworks show every year and the Durkees backyard faces the direction of the fireworks, so they hosted a party for our block. 

Madi looking all patriotic and flowery

Catalina, Makaela and Carley- the N Cappero girls

Mia's first time holding a sparkler- I was more nervous than she was.

The kids had so much fun and were exhausted by the end of the night.  Mia asked to go to bed so I went home a bit early, but Makaela stayed out past 11.

6 Months of Madi

I can't believe Madi has been with us for half a year already. She is still a tiny little nugget though and now fits into her 3 month clothes.  She loves to eat sweet potatoes, squash, bananas, apple sauce and any fruit mixed with strawberry (of course this is one of the fruits we were supposed to avoid due to allergies but luckily, no allergies at this point).  She loves attention and of course, to be held.  She does really well when she is around the girls because they are busy and she always has something to look at.  She rolled over while we were in PA, but doesn't roll over too much. She hates tummy time, but I think this is due to her reflux.  She still throws up quite a bit though. 

Her giggles are infectious

Maryland

We left PA and headed to Maryland, our next stop, to meet up with the Dewees, old friends we met while we lived in San Diego. Unfortunately Cecil is on a short deployment, but we did meet up with Laura and daughter Paige. They were in the middle of PCSing so we opted to meet up for a day of sightseeing and Laura suggested Butler's Orchard.  It was such a great suggestion. It was such a great experience for the girls (and the adults).  We had a picnic lunch and the girls enjoyed the homemade slides at the farm. Cherries and blueberries were in season so we got our fill.



Mia needed some assistance picking cherries

It was very hot so we had to keep the kiddos hydrated.

Makaela and I blueberry picking. They were delicious.  My mouth was blue by the time we left (one for me, one for the bucket).

Laura and Paige

We left the farm with two very full buckets of fruit. 

The farm also had a country store, so we loaded up on pies, homemade sauces, cobbler mix and apple salsa (yum).  When we got home, Candace made homemade cherry pie- AMAZING!!

After the farm, we went to visit Matt's uncle and aunt (Robert and Lori) and met their son Max for the first time.  Unfortunately, I don't have pictures, but it was a great time to catch up.  Max taught Makaela and Mia some logic games on the iPad and we had fun with his art blocks. 

 

Wewere supposed to head to the Outer Banks to meet up with the Steinmetzs and the Ducotes but there were a string of tropical storms moving into the area and we didn't want to make the long drive to the beach if we were going to get stuck inside and be an imposition.  We were also worried about driving back to FL in the rain so we opted to pack up the kids at 9pm and Matt drove all night until we got back to St. Augustine at 8:30am.   I have to say, our kids are great travelers.