Project : Planting

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As a joint present for father's day and birthday we gifted Gigi and Haji with some landscaping while they were out of town. Not such great planning to pick the HOTTEST days of summer from 11-2 pm to landscape... we have learned and will be much more prepared next time.

Here are the two pictures that we put in their card. Meet their lawn care crew...

Luckily, the yard gets some nice shade on one side so the kiddos played there while we worked on the flowers. Hooray for swimming and Tupperware... BEST INVENTION EVER. (Gigi, if you are reading this I did wash your Tupperware before I put it back as I am almost positive that Gabriel peed in the pool :)

Apparently, Gabe thought the penguin needed to cool off too.

1/3 of the way through pulling weeds and three glasses of water later...

I am sure that Kelly is probably cursing my name at this point because he is doing all the work while I was taking pictures...but hey, we have to document our progress right?

Our pretty flowers that we were promised could handle intense direct sunlight all day...

Post weed/grass pulling we took a nice cool lunch break inside with a little bit of Aladdin for our viewing pleasure and some serenading from the youngest May child... nice finger placement Gabriel--- I like what I see.
Finally the almost finished product. I say almost because...

as it turns out you need to water new plants EVERY DAY in 100+ degree heat...again, things we will know for next week when we replant the whole back row. Why is it the expensive flowers always die first?

Stay tuned for round two of project planting!

The Magic Number

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Today I learned that the magic age for a child just might be 4 years old! At least after today---4 sure seems pretty awesome.

Molly might have inherited a little bit of bossiness from a lovely and important member of the family. Miss Bossy is known to show herself in full form when she is playing anywhere with other children...unless you are a baby. Then you are of no threat and the wonderful recipient of oober Molly love. Lucky babies.

Unfortunately, if you are in her age range you are often not as lucky. "This is mine please", "I don't want to play with ______” and "Are you kidding me?" often rings clear on the playground. Molly loves other kids...she just likes to make sure they remember where they stand in regards to her play. Bossy-pants I tell you.

Oh, but then there was glorious, wonderful today.

Molly befriended a very lovely 4-year-old named Angel today at the park. Angel too was a fellow princess lover and passionate swingster of the playground. Instant friendship. But... because Angel was four she was over this whole possessive phase. She would initiate play themes and keep Molly involved with constant communication and some wonderful dramatic play. And Molly ATE IT UP! Man, she had the best time EVER at the park. She would run and play and I actually had moments where I sat with Gabriel on the bench and we shared a snack. No running to put out fires, no 2 minute interest in an activity but true continuous play for Molly. Yes please.

Gabe didn't know what to do with all this extra attention on the playground! I think he is wishing for more encounters with four year olds too.

I did have a favorite moment at the park in addition to the overall joy it brought. When Molly first met Angel they were at the top of the tallest slide and I couldn't hear what they were saying. They were talking up a storm together so I assumed that introductions were happening.

(In case you do not speak little girl: Introduction means you inform your new best friend of your name, age, current panty character and what kind of birthday party you are going to have)

Sure enough several minutes later, Angel slides down, turns around and yells: "Come on Jasmine ---chase me."

I guess some things are the same no matter whom you are playing with.

The Hair

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Oh, THE HAIR. I still continued to be amazed by all that is possible with curly hair. Molly's Medusa locks have their own place in this family. In labor, Molly had so much hair that the internal monitoring device became tangled in her hair and I had to birth it out (sorry if this is a bit TMI). Her hair has always been a big part of her individual spunk.

We have weathered the bad days...

celebrated the victories...

watched it GROW and GROW in the bath tub...

only to have it shrink right back up minutes later.
Crazy I tell you. But for all of the insanity it adds to morning routine...we can't imagine our Molly girl without her wild curls! Amazing how hair can really match a personality isn't it?

Sizzling Schedule

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Wow. Talk about some Texas summer heat. On a scale of one to 10 how bad is it that I am already looking forward to the smell of 'footballs in the air'. It is really interesting that the week we choose to be the busiest ever happens to fall on the hottest days of summer this season.

I think it is safe to say we made the best of the hot hot days doing all kinds of summery things...

now tell me that picture above isn't the funniest thing ever. Go ahead. Take another look and have a nice little giggle. I know I will.

This week we played with cousins
snuggled with family

and celebrated one special GiGi.

We had play dates at the pool, visits with a granny and some great times with our friends...

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small friends...

and big ones!

I say I am a spring/fall person but this week of summer sure was a great excuse to swim, eat milkshakes, make smores, make forts, watch movies, plant flowers, happy-hour-it and take some much needed time from the sun to relax.

Hmm, maybe I am a summer person after all...

Daddy Day

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Daddy Day is the one day where Molly can sing to every 'daddy' she sees and Gabriel can plant kisses on random men poolside... well, I guess that really isn't even generally accepted for daddy day but there was no stopping our little love machine. Daddy days are glorious opportunities to celebrate the favorite daddies in your life... wow, we sure do have some great ones to celebrate.

Today was such a relaxing day of daddy love...we are talking about a celebration of Kelly and all so it seems a bit fitting that there is a comforting peacefulness about the day.

At one point in the day, Kelly informed me that becoming someone's daddy has been the best part of his life so far. I couldn't agree more.

Because being a daddy sure does seem the coolest...


especially if you have this guy for a daddy...

although Molly is coming off some pretty intense hurt feelings at the camera lady rest assured that she has nothing but love for her daddy in this shot

Happy Father's Day to all the great Daddies in your life!

Emergency?

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Didn't know this was actually possible but apparently if you are Kelly May then you are mighty enough to buttdial 911, hang up and then have them call back. I knew that I married a man with crazy talents but wow, even I am a little shell shocked.

Key lock... it is a beautiful thing.

Potty Humor

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Sharing a closet-sized bathroom with three other people and a million bath toys is often not so enjoyable. The opportunity to surprise victims in the bathroom with pranks and fun jokes are however quite plentiful...

and wonderful...

I was really hoping that Kelly would 'roar' with laughter but I settled for a substantial giggle.