the summer rundown

we are in full school mode now. but here is a summer rundown of what we did (for those who are still out there ;)

 

we sure went to the pool A LOT this summer. at least once a week if not more!

 i swooned over this chair and really wanted it but passed....outta my price range :(

 took a trip back home to SF in july. brandon has been wanting to go fishin' for a long time and we finally did. it was windy & cold. we didn't catch anything but the boys had fun.

 our main purpose for the SF trip--------to meet this little guy, evan, my brand spankin' new nephew! he weighed in at a whopping 11 pounds 14.5 oz!!! he was about 11 days old when i took this picture. he's such a cutie! thanks to my sis & BIL for letting us come to meet him and to stay with them so soon after his birth!

 the boys were super excited to hold baby evan! brandon even got to feed him!

 we got to have some time at the playground with big sis, jadeyn. she is super smart & super adorable!

 one treat i discovered while in SF was this flavor of it's-it. i was so happy to have found it at 1 grocery store back here in SoCal!

 back home & back to reality.....4 new tires for my car. we had some more maintenance done and it was costly!!

 added to our list of "improvements" this summer were getting these puppies out. brandon had severe over crowding in his mouth and after a ortho consult, they suggested brandon have 4 teeth extracted. OUCH! i was not looking forward to it thinking i'd have a very cranky kid after but he did extremely well---both times. they pull 2 teeth a visit. i am so proud of brandon for going though this. we were told after the 4 teeth gets pulled out, it'll make the teeth erupting out over the existing ones fall back into place and you know what---it has and his teeth are looking a lot better!

more pool time

 adding to the improvements this summer was replacing our tile. i cannot believe we ever had this! we had to be out of the house all day while they demoed & blasted out the tile so what do you do all day w/ 2 boys?

 have a picnic. and go to the library. and the bookstore. and drive around.

 caught some work in progress. the boys though it was hilarious having the toilet sitting outside in our backyard!

 looks SO much better than tile don't you think? and it changes the whole look of our house.

 random pics

 bryan is still afraid to take swim lessons but miss jessica noticed that bryan would just sit around while brandon had his lessons so she convinced bryan to come dressed in his trunks the following week and she said she'd take him in the water. bless her for taking him on her break time. she tried to make it fun but he still does not want to learn.

 the OC fair is a must for brandon every summer.

 super giant turkey leg and corn dog

 clowning around

 one of my favorite meals

 went into a store and bryan's eyes lit up and said, "what is this?" it's a rotary phone my dear boy....

 my plate would be the one on the left...

 and more pool time

 i convinced bryan to go on a big boy roller coaster with me. he was nervous waiting in line but he was brave--didn't back out. i could tell during the ride, he was silent and scared but after the ride ended, he said, "let's go again!" big bro brandon chickened out...

 summer treat and someone grew a goatee!

thanks for sticking around! hope to be back on track soon!

the OC fair & making simple flower embellishments

a few weeks ago, we went to the OC fair at night. it was also that night that we adopted a beta fish. someone had left or forgotten their fish prize and left it on the waiting areas outside. maybe they couldn't or didn't want to bring in to the concert. some lady saw us passing by and kindly asked if my boys would like a fish and of course, the boys answered yes in unison! [happy to say, "marlin" is still alive & swimming!]

we did not ride any rides BUT we did have some fair food. 1st stop---here for a ginormous turkey leg. i find fair food extremely over-priced.... $9.75 for the turkey leg. but can't complain....it was yummy and fed the 4 of us!

we also had some funnel cake before we left. delish!

little brybry ended up hogging the turkey leg that was as big as his head!i remember my dad taking me on a slide similar to this one at our state fair YEARS ago. look at all the yummy colors! fun!we stumbled across a literacy for children booth while at the fair. this nice girl read them a story and told the boys after she finished the story, they could then pick out a book to take home. there were new & used books and of course, the boys BOTH picked old, used books! maybe they take after their mama who likes old vintage stuff!

here is a card from a set i recently made. i don't have a lot of play moolah so making

my embellishments are a must sometimes. theses flowers ones were easy peasy. self explanatory....for you non-crafters, LMK if you want me to send you instructions. they were made from a vintage music sheet book.
here is the set of 4 cards i made. just changed up the color in the center of the flower.

speaking of vintage, can anyone help me out with finding an old (vintage) flower frog? i have been looking for over a year now at places like thrift shops and the goodwill. no luck. we don't have too many garage sales in my area either. i am looking for a tarnished green one or a silver one....not too big. something under $10. i would pay you for shipping too. thanks!

BTW, don't forget to enter for chicken poop!! see here.