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Friday, September 4, 2015

The 4th and the FIFTH!

Probably the biggest post of the summer will be about our fun week at the Outer Banks back in mid-July so before I get that one up, here are just a few shots from our 4th of July and Maelee's big FIVE  year photo shoot!  (yep, a little late...) Plus, several pics of the girls from the month of July in general.

Our 4th began over pancakes with my folks at our favorite diner in Shirlington Village, ended with poor Maelee practically passed out on the couch, and included a fun bbq with friends in between! Maelee played her little heart at the cook-out at one of her Pre-K friend's homes, and we enjoyed meeting several people there and pigging out on good food, but she literally crashed when we got home.  She ended up having a fairly high fever!  We felt so bad for her and the fever stuck around a couple days but she was thankfully back to herself into the next week with plenty of time to gear up for the beach trip.  And praise the Lord that none of us (especially Lilee!) caught it!

Here are some of the photos from the 4th:







Before heading to NC, we also managed to finally have our little "photo shoot" to officially mark Maelee turning five (at least we made it before she turned 5 1/2!).  The promise of a surprise scene at the end was enough incentive to get some pretty cooperative and sweet shots! 

(Not to be confused with medical "shots," as was accidentally but hilariously implied during a text exchange with my mom!  My dad even ended up praying that the "shots" would go well for Maelee.  Lol.  It worked!  They did!!!)


 Getting warmed up with some dress-up:)


 The annual shot of Maelee with "Buddy," the bunny from Mee-Maw



 And year 5 in the ladybug tutu :)




Plus some more cute ones in the "fancy" dress she picked out


And then...



She loved seeing the magic Steve was able to create post-processing!

More of the 5th year Photo Shoot!


And here are some more shots from July!  Starting first with our ornery, little Lilee :)

The picture quality isn't great on this isn't but that expression is priceless.  
She knew she got caught!!!  Marker all over her... 


This little lady does not mind getting messy!


 
My sweet goofy girl :)

 One minute she's happily painting...

Until I step away for a moment.  Sigh.

And now for Maelee and her friends! :)

 Impromptu dinner date with neighbor and good pal, Xavi

 Thrilled to have best friend, Laney, over!

 Adorable "concert" after a fun VBS week right down the street!

 Super fun lunch date to meet pals, Alli & TJ
and I was so excited to see my Cindy!!!

 More fun with Xavi at impromptu "pool party!"

 Gardening fun with daddy :)

Quite the get up one afternoon!


And some sweet moments of our two little ladies together :)
 Plus Gracie!

 So sweet when big sis reads to lilttle sis :)

 Just a cute pic

 Water table fun!

 Lilee was hysterically giggling and watching a fly buzzing around as we all were anxiously hoping it would land on our new "Venus Fly Trap" plant!

 Sweet seersuckered sisters!

And somehow, we are already in September with Maelee starting Kindergarten in just 4 days!!! July was a full month and already seems so long ago.  Something tells me this fall may fly by even faster...

Finally, here are more pics from July!

Sunday, August 16, 2015

The (somewhat late) beginning of summer!


Well it seems like these posts will just have to be a couple months after the fact. Better late than never, right?  My new mantra lately...


Anyhow, I am attempting to summarize the post-Disney/end of spring/beginning of summer madness that was May & June (and included our big move!) so will try to do that more with pictures than words.  Here goes!


Crossing over the threshold of our very own home!!!
First weekend of May, photo credit to Maelee :)




And found a bottle of champagne and sweet welcome note from the sellers!
With all the horror stories that are out there,
our home buying experience was surprisingly pleasant!

The girls were pretty excited to see their new place for the first time!


Later on that same week, we were able to see my Too-daddy and Mary Catherine at the Arsenal of Democracy Flyover by Reagan Airport.  It was a beautiful day and so special to be able to be there with TD.  He knew every one of those aircraft!  I got some sweet time with Maelee sitting out on the rocks and Lilee was a champ.  Such a fun afternoon!







Mother's Day was extra special this year as Steve and I got to see both our moms!  Nana & Pop-Pop came over for a short but sweet lunch after church, then Mee-Maw & Grandpa arrived in the afternoon!  We were able to enjoy two short but sweet visits with Steve's parents as they were leaving out of and returning to DC for a trip out west.







May was a hectic month getting ready for our move.  Between deciding on, then managing, the minor renovations being done to our new home and packing up the old home, I felt like that's all my life practically revolved around!  Except for the fact that I still had my two sweet girls to care for... Luckily, they handled it fairly well and I was so grateful for all the help I got from my folks watching them when they could!

Loved this shot of them "reading" in our rearranged living room with most of their things packed up!



Then the big move happened on the fourth weekend of May and boy was it a looong day.  All in all, it went fairly smoothly, but by the end of the weekend, we were beat!  We were so grateful for Nana & Pop-Pop being total troopers and helping us out with the girls so much and also so grateful for the chance to see Mee-Maw & Grandpa again for a quick visit on their return from their trip.



Also so grateful for old friends!
Our dear pals from NYC, Lauren & Nate stopped in during a road trip 
so that was so fun to see them.


Despite the insanity of May, there was still plenty of life as usual...



like sprayground fun!


And plenty same old, same old...
Here's a slideshow of May pics:




June also had a lot more life as usual with plenty of moving related busyness but also lots of fun stuff, and big events, too!!!  Starting with our little gymnast showing off what she learned this semester...





And a super fun afternoon at a carnival in Fairfax...








Plus more fun visits with special friends...

Including "Auntie Coop-"
Nana's college roommate and bridesmaid that we are all still close with!


Auntie Coop took in some kayaking at the National Harbor, we enjoyed the carousel, playground, and... sand!


This little one does not mind getting dirty!





Then so excited to see dear friend, Todd, from NYC while he and his friend visited DC!

The middle of June also saw the end of Maelee's first year of school at Pre-K.  What a year it's been!  She loved her class and we saw major improvements in her fine motor skills especially- mainly coloring, drawing, & writing!  Always her challenging areas.  And she has been keeping in touch with a few of her "best friends" through the summer.  Can't believe Kindergarten is only a few weeks away!

Adorable end of year "performance" by the class

Last day!


                                          First day                                                                    Last day


Last week of school pool party at a classmate's
with Lilee adorably photo-bombing...


Yummy Carlyle brunch to celebrate the many celebrations of May & June!



 Celebrating 12 years of marriage with a DC date, enjoying the Spy Museum, and a special dinner


Just a stinkin' cute picture of this funny lady.
In her beloved hat.

 Meeting Holland!
My cousin's cousin's baby girl- so sweet!!!


We were able to have Gracie for a weekend while Nana & Pop-Pop were out of town and the girls loved it!


Parker was a little nervous about the food scrap competition...
but they worked it out just fine.


 So sweet to celebrate Father's Day with these two amazing men-
couldn't ask for a better father to me, or a better father to my two girls 
than my own daddy and my hubby.

And so sweet to celebrate Too-Mom turning 80 at the end of June!!!
 With the adoring great grand-kiddos who love her!

Maelee was so excited to get to spend some time with cousin Caleb during the quick DE afternoon


June was another big, busy month but with summer in full swing, there were lots of sweet memories still.
So here's the slideshow of June pics:

And that just about sums up the summer pre-OBX beach trip.  Hopefully that post will be up before October!!! :)