Sardis Lake

Saturday morning we packed a lunch and our beach toys and went to Lake Sardis about 45 minutes away. We had a great time together and enjoyed our time in the water and sand. Mary liked showing us how she could go all the way under the water! Mary made a little friend named Zoe from Oxford and they liked swimming together. The weather was really pretty and not too hot. Rachel was all smiles in the water but only if we were holding her because she didn't like the sand or mud!

Rachel heading out to the water because she didn't care for the sand!

Mary is so playful she liked to fall of this floating alligator!

splish splash!

Daddy and Mary built a pretty cool sand castle!

Sitting in the muddy water!

Flower Beds

I have been wanting to relandscape the flower beds in the front yard for awhile now but I had no idea what to do or how to do it. We discussed what to take out and went to Lowes to check out what we wanted to put in. We kept four bushes and pulled out the rest. We pulled out the wooden barrier Murray built and brought the edge out in a curve that we made with the hose. We put in gardenias, lillies, blue buttons and some other perenials that are pink. They have all taken turns blooming and we are enjoying them so much! Mary & Rachel help me water and weed every day! Mary helps remind me to feed them on Saturdays (miracle grow). I recently picked up some pretty lights at Lowes that Mary helped me assemble and add in there too.

Before

After

The Kahuna

Our friends had this giant waterslide at their house for a few days and we loved getting to play on it. I went down with Mary a few dozen times and even though Rachel is way too young to be going down this slide she really wanted to, so I took her. When Murray came home from school he took the girls too. THANK YOU GREAR FAMILY!

Storage

We had a storage unit delivered to our house. It arrived just as we were getting home from swim lessons, perfect timing! The girls and our baby friend Nathan sat on a towel and watched the entire process for 30 minutes while I sat with them and read a magazine. I wish they came once a week!

Tie

My friend Savannah sells cute ties on her etsy shop. She came over and showed me how she does it. It was pretty easy and the fastest sewing project I've ever done! I chose this fabric because it reminds me of the eye chart. Finishing sewing projects makes me so happy! It is fun to create stuff!

Swim Lessons

This summer our friend Susan is teaching swim lessons! Mary loves it so much and is learning all kinds of good things. In class Mary is blowing bubbles, kicking with straight legs, walking along the wall like a monkey, jumping in the water and turning around to find the wall, practicing climbing out of the pool and putting her face in the water. My favorite part is watching Mary come up from under the water with a big smile, it makes me happy!

The Mall

I like to take the girls to Sweet and Sassy to get their hair cut. It is a cute salon for little girls. It takes 45 minutes to get there. This last time we went I foolishly didn't make an appoinment and found out we would have to wait 2 hours! I tried to think of what we could do to eat up two hours... across the street is a really big mall. I don't think I have ever taken the girls to the mall. We went over and we had a great time! We strolled through some stores. Mary helped me pick out some things to try on. Rachel found sunglasses and said "ooooo I want deez". Mary and Rachel each picked out a pair. I think we might have to do this again!

Finger Paint

Finger paint is a favorite activity for my girls. It gets on my chairs, table, dishtowels, floor, light switch covers, walls and several other places too. Mary and Rachel are typically wiggly one and three year olds so this is a natural consequence of finger paint. Even though it can drive me nuts they just love it! So we paint almost daily. Look at those grins! Paint comes off anyway!

Video - Mary Sings the Books of Book of Mormon

Mary is very talkative and loves to sing, but she can be quite shy also. We are trying to help her overcome her fears with weekly "stage time". It usually takes a lot of encouragement to get her to stand in front of the fireplace (our stage) and sing. This is a video of one of her performances. It is a children's song from church to help memorize all the books in the Book of Mormon. Below are the lyrics:

"1st and 2nd Books of Nephi, Jacob, Enos, Jarom, Omni, Words of Mormon, and Mosiah, singing this is so fun. Alma, Helaman, 3rd, 4th Nephi, Mormon, Ether and Moroni, learn the teaching of the prophets in the Book of Mormon!"

Video - Rachel Sings the ABCs

Rachel loves to sing songs. We sing children's songs with her all the time and she has her favorites. Usually when she sings it is difficult to understand her and you can only tell what she is singing by listening to the tune. I think you can follow along with her version of the ABCs. Enjoy!