#suckyprocrastinator

that is the hashtag of hashtags right there…

but it’s summer, that’s my excuse.

many things have been placed on the back-burner, so to speak, one of them blogging.

the bathroom re-do is at a partially painted stand-still.

photo sessions have been a once a month event.

laundry doesn’t get put away in a timely manner.

anything to do with this old computer contraption is definitely not at the top of my list..

these have all been replaced with my girls.  we are living it up!!  swimming is at it’s best.  play is constant.  we are loving the sun.  I have actually said out loud that I *might* just be “tan enough”.

(but you’ll probably find me out in the sun tomorrow anyway.)

oh my heavens..  reading has even fallen a bit lower on the list of preferred activities!

(gasp!)

we are thankful that these summer days are passing by so slowly, but I do realize that these days are numbered.

before I know it, all three (ALL 3!!!) will be at school, and these days will be put on hold, and I will miss them violently.

making the most of it…

so, with the excuses all laid out there, here’s what I should have done before, but are done now:

week before last, liv fed my addiction for arrows.

(click on layouts for full list of credits + links to products used.)

then last week, she encouraged my obsession with chalkboard.

and this week, it’s more paintbrushes.

I also thought I would enter a little contest at pixels & company..

it is called “cropped”, and I was cropped.

oh, well, leaves more time to swim.

tagged for life.

liv’s newness today are these fabulous fabric tags.

(say that five times fast.)

as you can see, I am still incredibly in love with the woodoodled papers too..

(click on the layout for full list of credits.)

I am still just so in love with this pic!!

I did touch it up, just a smidge.  like removing the speakers that were in the background..  I am a little anal that way.  it was a spontaneous shot, I didn’t want it to be too posed or orchestrated, so those things that end up bugging me when all is said and done need to be dealt with afterwards.

it’s the way I am.

I have this relationship with photoshop that I thought I would never have.  I was SO AFRIAD of it!!  but I can tell you, that getting my feet wet with photo editing was what got me comfortable and excited.

I think we all know that I got that start at jessicasprague.com.

(and if you didn’t know that, well, welcome to my blog!!)

jess is doing her yearly free class, to help us all learn, for the experienced ones, it helps us to get excited, for the newbies, it helps show them that this is possible!!

I have signed up, you should too!!

among other things going on here..

I am up to my neck in soccer stuff.  I am the newest (insert title here that has to do with age group coordinating) with our region AYSO board.  my two youngest love soccer!!  it takes involved parents to make it happen.  seriously, in EVERY SINGLE AREA.  if you have kiddos who love something, get involved.  it makes their experience so much better.

we finished our last day of little laker cheer in prep for the parade tomorrow. 

yesterday, peyton wasn’t really much about the whole “participation” thing, aside from clapping. 

today I might have bribed her with a slurpee if she would just raise her hands!!!

she did.

lynn was selected to be the filer for their little stunting group.  she loves it.  all she has been doing for the past 24 hours now is cheering.

she is sad that today is the last day.

we’ve also had a couple of days of dam fun.

and the bathroom re-do has begun.

it is such a wonderful sight to look up, and have WHITE ceilings!!

that’s right, there is an “s” on the end of ceiling..  I decided that while I was at it, I might as well tackle the ceiling in our master bathroom too.  I mean, I did do our bedroom last summer.  it might be about time..

I only wish I dared (i.e. had the energy) to paint ALL of the ceilings white…  6 down, 6 more to go?

so we are saying farewell to “botany beige” (we won’t “miss” it, since it is ALL OVER THE REST OF THE FREAKING HOUSE.  (someday…)  and hello to “turquoise mist”.

we are having so much fun this summer!!  I am so happy with how slowly it is going.  I just love having the girls all home, having non-stop fun, and little drama.

we are making the most of it, and wearing ourselves out  most days..

(if this post seems a little dejavu-ish to you, well, that’s probably because you saw all of this already on instagram, and I would apologize, but hey, now you have the story to go with it, right?)

(you’re welcome.)

loving this summer a bit much.

being with these silly girls is what life is all about…

we are loving every little bit of our summer!

we attempted riding without training wheels, for like, 15 minutes..

they are back on, as high as I can get them to help her learn to balance..

best $20 spent this summer was on a slip and slide.

seriously..  this is awesome!

up next, we have a bathroom re-do coming up where I will attempt to board and batten one wall.  yes, just one.

until then, we will be outside, soaking up the sun, a laughing, a lot.

saw this quote on pinterest

and knew it needed a home on one of my pages.  I really wanted to put it on a canvas and hang in the house, but then liv came out with her latest creation, and it was decided.

her cut-out alphas are perfect, don’t you say?

so the pic is old, just a couple of years, but it’s perfect..

(click on layout for full list of credits.)

back to laying in the sun.

I will let you know about all the beautiful things I see later.

new scrapping goodies.

liv has a few new goodies out today.

first we have her “little dancer” kit.

I have been going through lots and lots of old photos, and all the while trying to bribe peyton to get in her little leotard and tutu, and bring her american girl doll along for a little dancer photo shoot.

nothing in the world can convince her.

but here’s lynn at 3:

(click on layout for full list of credits.)

I have probably said it before, and you might just be sick of hearing it, but I LOVE liv’s paint brushes!!!

and she has some new ones!!  my paintbox vol. 1 has a variety of brushes and some delicious texture to boot.

(YAYNESS!!)

you can get these on sale through sunday night at midnight!

on the summer front, we have been hiking, spent the day at the dinosaur park, and have had a negotiable bedtime.  I thought I would wake up early every day and get a head start, but I’ve been staying up too late (see the “negotiable bedtime” mentioned above), reading..  so I decided to let myself enjoy a week of sleeping in.  you know, just to reward myself for a hard school year of waking up early.  and stuff.

the back yard is almost all together..  and by almost, I mean about halfway there. 

summer is looking good around here and we are praying that it goes by slooooow.

seeing double.

sometimes, creativity urges changes in more places than just one.

as I was playing with amy tangerine’s newest collection “yes please”, I was getting the itch to spring clean the blog and make things pretty.

funny how just a few tweaks to a layout can turn out to be a fun new header!

this spur of creative energy (also brought to you by a couple of extra minutes I was able to rub together..), has me desiring some fun new candid pix of the girls.

well, as soon as lynn gets over strep.

blah.

(my 2013 tax folder is fatter than it should be.  hello deductions!)

anyway, in case you didn’t notice the above newness, here you go:

papers, border bits, camera, arrow elements, stitched heart circle, and brushes for the hearts, arrow, and “wonderful” from ac digitals amy tangerine “yes please”.

paint brushes, kraft tape, frame, staple, and washi tape from liv.edesigns.

“x” stitches from crystal wilkerson.

circle stitches from anna aspnes.

lace (with a hue/saturation adjustment) from kitschy digitals.

only one more day of school left!!

freeeeeedoommmmmm!!!!

(yell it like william wallace..)

our plans for this summer currently consist of:

- keeping in the habit of a decent bedtime, and me (ahem..) getting up early.

- going to the library a lot.

- read-a-thons and treats.

- living by the pool in the sun.

- buying lots of sunscreen.

- washing loads of towels.

- playing in our almost totally fun and finished back yard.

- hiking.

- playing as a family every chance we get.

- quitting the whole pop thing..  and I will be sure to quit at least 6 times a week.

hello again.

so it’s been a while.

how are you?

good.  good.

whelp, we’ve been busy.  we’ve been thoroughly enjoying summer, trying to live as distraction free as possible.  but, I have been making a mental list of things to note here.  and in some cases, I even have pictures!

- merrill loved his father’s day gift.

he also got a hammock, and that my friends, is a story itself.

(let us just say it doesn’t take as long to put together as it states in the instructions, when you have 3 adults and 3 kiddos.)

- lynn, ashley, and peyton, are amazing at their tumbling classes.

- ashley will not answer to “ash”.  she will either correct you, or follow up your “ash” by adding “lee”, or ignore you altogether.  oh, and a dirty look will  most likely accompany any of those options.

- I painted our room.  I also sewed curtains.  I even hung them.  no, there are not any pictures.

(yet.)

- I have been loving zumba.

(I am sure I am quite entertaining to watch.  sadly, I have no pictures of this to share with you.)

- we went camping for a week.  it was what heaven will be like, I am sure.

have you ever slept with a screech owl around?  neither have i.  they are loud.

who’s kid is she?!

we were unable to have campfires with the dry conditions but you know us, we mad the best of it.

- we have been swimming, a lot.

- we have visited the dam, and told “dam jokes” on our way there a few times too.

(what is a “dam joke” you ask?  well, here’s a dam joke for ya:  what did the fish say when it swam into the other fish?  “dam fish!”)

(I know..  you are laughing so hard it is painful.)

 

- merrill has been crazy busy at the hotel.

- we have set a record for number of popsicles eaten.  that record will surely be broken before the summer’s end.

- we had a couple of tenants we didn’t know about in our basement come out.

(no, they are not “bad” spiders.  just giant house spiders.)

(yes, we are all still alive, the spiders, not so much.)

- we visited “this is the place” a few times before our pass was up.

(why this picture you ask?  why, this is what I dream to have my kitchen counter look like.  that is why.)

- we had a lagoon day thanks to our sister-in-law britney.

- we almost died (according to ashley) when we jumped on our trampoline during a lightening storm.

(all 5 of us on an 8 foot round trampoline, touching the ground..  pretty sure the manufacturer would not be happy about all those rules being broken.)

- we have even seen a couple of movies, IN A THEATER!! 

(that is not common for us homebodies.)

- we introduced the girls to slurpees.  we are awful parents in that we didn’t do it sooner.

- I had a project launch in jessica sprague’s “project plaza”.  kind of exciting!

- have been reading like crazy!!  I have lost count of how many books I have read, but can tell you that my two favorites are:

“these is my words”

and

“the book thief”

(you are welcome.)

- we have also been trying to keep our yard alive-ish during our very dry summer. 

(that is not so fun.)

but my biggest accomplishment of the summer was earning tan lines in this pattern:

(I know, I know..  you are jealous and all.)

that is just a small sampling.  I didn’t want to bore you to death on your first visit back and all.

advances in swimming

it seems like every year, ashley “forgets” the fact that she knows how to swim.

this year she even took to screaming when we would try to take her to the deep end, just as a reminder that she knows what to do…

every summer, by the end of the summer, the kid “remembers” that she knows how to swim, is going down the slide and off the diving board no problemo!

last summer, sadly, she didn’t “remember”.

(but she would jump off the back of the houseboat at lake powell?)

i am happy to say, that this summer, she remembered.

(finally.)

lynn lives with goggles attached to her face…

and little peyton, who started out not liking the water much, has fallen deeply in love.

seems as if all my girls have grown gills and fins.