Movie night at the drive in! We went to see "Inside Out" and "Tomorrowland" - I figured the kids would pass out before the 2nd movie, but nope - they were up the entire night, and the drive home! Crazy kids. 

 

 Intrepid zoo explorers, Kansas City Zoo

Jonathan caught a teeny tiny frog in the grass at the zoo. As always, this was WAY more interesting to the kids than the actual exhibits!

Putting Duplos to shame with their massive size! Legoland was Super-de-dooper, and I didn't even step on a single Lego. 

 These best friends made excellent explorers as they passed of their scavenger hunt! Excellent day at the Prairie Fire Museum in Kansas City. 

 On our way to a family reunion! Can't drive through Kansas without stopping to look at the farm equipment. 

 This kid is getting a jump on summertime swimming! He's the king of freestyle cannonballs. 

Brag and gag

Patrick's last day of first grade was today! So of course he brought home PILES of stuff, dumped papers all over the table and the floor, then ran outside to ride bikes yelling "freeeeeeedom!" Within his piles was his final report card - not grades yet, but a scale of Unsatisfactory, Partially Proficient, Proficient, and Advanced. So... time for his mom to brag while other people gag... he got Advanced in every single subject! We've got a smarty pants on our hands.

done-zo!

I am so incredibly pleased at how the craft space turned out! It may not look like much to you but that's because I didn't take any true "before" pictures of the avalanche of crap... I mean CRAFT... that I had a managed to pile into one corner. One corner was taking over the basement in a mish-mashed kind of way. The new space is exactly what I needed. What I needed, so you know, is a functional space with MILES of counter space to spread out my projects. Got it! What I needed was a PRETTY space so I would be more keen on putting things away where they belong to keep it pretty. Got it! What I needed was a controlled space so my overflowing baskets of things would be purposefully reduced to the items I love, need, and use frequently (ok, I still fudge on that a bit but it is lots more controlled than it was!). 

The cabinets, refinished by Yours Truly, was a big confidence-builder for me since it included me using a miter saw without adult supervision. When it comes to power tools, I am NOT an adult! So I wallpapered the front and back, mitered all the rails and stiles myself, liquid-nailed them on using clamps (again, no adult supervision!), caulked the edges inside and out to smooth everything together, and painted white enamel paint over the whole thing for a nice durable finish. Basically I wanted to climb to the top of a mountain (or drive, I am lazy) and shout "I am amazing!" The countertop, installed by Joe Truly, is also the countertop style we installed in out master bathroom. I love the coloring of it, and the price was great. Now I have a really wonderful place to craft and, when I'm not crafting, it is a lovely space in our basement.

 Last day of Preschool, Sunset Park Elementary. Eli loved every darn day of it! 

 Is 9 years too late for a #latergram? Happy anniversary to us!