So this is what is looks like...

for me to hold a baby BOY.  I babysat little Dallas for just a couple hours today.  We were having such a good time cuddling on the front porch all wrapped in blankets.  Him with his bottle.  Me with my coffee.  Until Havanna woke up, that is.  I guess you can say she's a wee bit jealous seeing her mom hold another baby.  She just wouldn't have it.  She's been an only child for toooooo long I guess, and it's time to start 'trying' for the final Downey baby.

VBS

The big girls are going to Vacation Bible School this week, and it's pretty much all Talullah can talk about.  Those huge red t-shirts have just been killing me, so last night I did a little mending.  Talullahs shirt was so big, it's a size 10/11.... So, I cut down the sides and made it into a dess.  So much cuter.  Berlyns was not quite as big, but still just hung so frumpy.  I chopped off the sleeves and sewed in some ribbons to turn it into a tank top.  Now these girls are rockin'.  Today was mix n' match day.  I swear, I really did try to put them in crazy, not matching outfits.  My brain just doesn't work that way, I guess.  Can we also talk just for a moment about how impossible it is to get 3 small children to all stand still to take a picture?  It's absurd.  In the second photo, I have no idea what pose Talullah and Berlyn were going for, but boy were they proud!  And in the last photo, Talullah breaks out in this hand on the head, foot propped up pose.  Where does she get this stuff?  Berlyn gets so amped about getting her picture taken, she always just starts jumping in place, which is NOT as helpful as she seems to think. Put that camera in front of Havanna and she will, every single time, squint those eyes and flash you a real big smile and say "CHEEEEEESE!!!".

TOMS!

They came a day early!!!  I'm normally really frugal, but this WAS on sale... And I do NEED some new shoes.  I may have gone a little overboard by ordering three pairs... but eh.  I just couldn't decide!!!  I actually wanted ten more pairs, and I held back. I love my new Tom wedges just a bit more than I probably should.

It's how you get things done around here.

I had a job to do.  Havanna was having an emotional train wreck kind of day, and it seemed like nothing could soothe her.  I tried cookies.  I tried go-gurts.  I put her on the trampline.  I gave her a dolly.  Finally, I just strapped her on my back and got back to work.  This house is dirty, and I'm about to clean things up a bit.  Last weekend I discovered THE PRESSURE WASHER.  I called Nick and told him I've found my calling in life once the kids are grown and gone.  I. Love. To. Clean.  Well, I like to clean when it's easy, and when it's such an obvious change from yuck to amazing when you've finished.  I took to spraying the front porch... a bit over eager, I must now go touch up paint where the paint was sprayed off.  It's THAT powerful.  I love it.  I sprayed down the play structures, which now look brand new.  I'll be buying dirty plastic structures at yard sales now for the sole challenge of making them look new again with this handy tool.  Most importantly, I have destroyed about 90% of all spiderwebs around the house.  I can sleep much more soundly tonight, ladies and gentlemen.  Go build your nasty webs elsewhere!

Puppet Time!

 Talk about finding a steal.  While going to yard sales last weekend, we found this awesome Puppet Theater and bought it, along with 15 super cool puppets... for only $15.  My first thought: Nick is going to have a field day with this.  Sure enough, he has already put on several shows.  Tonight he did an amazing job behind the curtain with our Bert and Ernie puppets.  Superb.  Next it was Talullah's turn.  She literally did an entire copy cat of her daddy's play, which was heart warming and hilarious.  Then, Berlyn played puppet master.  What do you know... her rendition was pretty darn similar to the previous two shows... except for the Bee sting the Bird.  That was thought of all on her own.
While the rest of the family took turns on 'stage', aka our back porch, Havanna helped me sand down one of these little chairs I bought last year at a yard sale.  They were all pink, and my goal is to stain the wood and paint the metal black.  Eventually.  Once I started scraping/sanding away the pink, I realized that this project was much bigger than I had anticipated.  I'm beginning to think I may have bitten of a bit more than I can chew.

What a day for picking!

Nick came in this evening with this.  This HUMONGOUS box of plums and a big bowl of green beans.  The plums came from our neighbors tree that hangs into our backyard.  Seriously.  I've never seen such a large amount of fruit growing on one tree.  The plums are growing in clumps.  He said he could have kept picking, but it was late and he was tired.  Guess who gets to learn how to make jam during my free (haha) time this week?  The green beans came from our garden.  Not too shabby, eh?

This makes me wish I'd had a sister.

Summa, Summa, Summa time!!! I'd just like to sit back and unwind.

This week has been UNBEATABLE.  This is the kind of weather that just makes my heart happy.  I wake up, and there's sunshine.  I can throw the french doors open and enjoy my cup of coffee on the back porch while the girls eat breakfast outside.  It's amazing.  Heaven, I'm sure, will always have sunny mornings.  And it just gets better.  The sun STAYS.  All day.  We were out with friends in the yard until nine one night!  It's true!  On Saturday, our usual Papa and Nana day, we pulled out the sprinkler and the kiddie pool.  I plugged in the bubble machine.  And, I'd like to say that I relaxed.  I guess in my own way, I did.  I sat on a beach towel pulling weeds while my parents entertained the children.  There's nothing like soaking in some vitamin D and getting something accomplished to make me feel complete.

MEEEOW!

I heard Annabelle meowing from outside, so I had to go check on her.  It's not like her to just sit in the middle of the yard making noise.  It's certainly not like her to catch an animal, either.  But that's exactly what she did.  She sat in front of this tiny, itsy bitsy baby... thing.... just meowing to get my attention.  I don't think she caught it to hurt it.  No way.  I'm pretty sure my amazing cat found this lost little baby animal and was trying to bring it to the only momma she knows.  She wants me to save it!!!  I'm nearly certain.  I called Nick and he didn't know what it was either.  A newborn gopher, perhaps?  It's not a mouse.  Anyway, I had to go inside to wipe away my tears, but Nick assured me that Annabelle was going to go sniff a trail back to the nest where it came from so this baby could be back with it's family.
Nick wouldn't lie.

Can't get enough of this baby girl.

You won't believe this!!!

Ok, so maybe you will.  I was finally putting on the much needed 3rd coat to this cute chalkboard table that I've had in our living room for the past coupled months.  It was just a stunning day, so I took to painting the table on the front porch while the girls ran wild in the yard.  Annette stopped by for awhile.  She's been out of town for a couple weeks, and we were thrilled to get some special Grammy time since she just got home. She was hopping on her bike to head home, so I walked out to the driveway to say goodbye.  Wait.  Where's Berlyn?!?!?!
She was 'helping' mom again.  Honestly, I kind of blame myself for this one.  She'd asked to help me multiple times while I worked on the project.  I kindly declined her offer several times, when obviously I should have just given her a paint brush with a bowl of water.  Then she could have 'helped' me paint the porch and maybe she wouldn't have been compelled to turn my fifteen minute paint job into a thirty minute project.

Such a poser!

Where's  Havanna?  Oh, she's just kickin' it in the garage while her daddy's doing some work out there.  She's happy as a clam, climbing up.  Climbing down.  Climbing up.   Climbing down.  She's learned how to get in and out of chairs by herself, and boy what fun!