Brace yourself...

I haven't been able to get onto blogger these past few days, but here I am now, and it's going to be a long one!

What have we been up to?
Planting flowers - Our front porch is decorated with annuals. The kids love to water them and we had fun planting them. Next year we will invest both time and money outside. This year we are doing minimal outside so we can concentrate on the inside, which brings me to..

Finishing our family room - Yesterday I put the final coat on our fireplace. I still need to put all of the books back on and decorate, but the paint needs a little time to cure. Here is what it looks like for the time being...
Now go easy, it hasn't been decorated yet! I need to go back and pull a 'before' photo. All of that ugly dark brown wood is so gone! It looks so different! When it is complete I'll post the before/after.

We've been to the park - I took my camera to play group this week. We have been loving the weather and the kids play outside everyday, as it should be. Here are some favorite photos...












Matt has been taking care of the kids! - I have had something going on just about every night this week. Matt has been great taking the kids so I could go do my thing. He is great that way. Love him. Tuesday I went to practice a little musical number that I'll be singing with my good friend Mindy. We'll do that on Sunday at church. It's a beautiful song and I'm excited to sing it with Mindy before she moves. Wednesday we had a girls night out. There are so many gals leaving this summer we had to do a night out before they left. Funny, only one of the 'leavers' showed up! We still had a great time. Love laughing and eating! Great combo!
And tonight I am going to a dance recital. I am excited. Afterwards I'll be meeting the owner of this studio to see about teaching modern. I'll let you know about that. With all that I have going on, my only concern is how often she is wanting me to teach.

Making meals - I have been cooking again. We have a menu folks and it is working! It's nice.

Running - I've been taking my kids out with me. Sometimes I run because I know it's good for me, I know I'll feel better after I do it. Other times I go to feel refreshed and energized and in a way relaxed. This week running has been refreshing.

Making plans - This weekend will be busy. Tonight I'm going out. Tomorrow we are going to the temple as well as on a date later, it will be a good day! Sunday we are having the EQ over for a dinner. Saying goodbye to one and welcoming in another. I still have to get my lesson ready! Oh, the things to do!

Purging - I have been going through things continuously. I love getting rid of things we don't use. I need to make a stop to the Salvation Army, I have another load.

My brother Kendal and his wife had their baby. Congratulations you two. I'll be calling soon! What a slacker I am! I'll be calling today!

That's all for now! I have a gal coming over to place a jewelry order... and... it just started raining. I love warm summer rain.