catching up

have you noticed? ive tried to be good and use proper punctuation and capitol letters on previous posts but alas sometimes i just dont care ;) i figured i should be in the practice since inevitably i always try to write a "professional" email for work and have to go back and rewrite it...correcting letters and adding apostrophes. 
i guess the shift button is just too much of a hassle for me at times.... ha!

i dont even know who reads this anymore, but seeing as i promised myself that SOMEDAY i will print it out in books for posterity sake, i blog at times for my kids...and attempt to give them a chance to see hard copy pictures of themselves since there is no way on this planet i will be able to print out and catalog and PHOTO ALBUM the tens of thousands of photos i have on my computer, external hard drives, flickr, and iphone.

digital world = blessing + curse

{and family, because i KNOW you read...the best way to see pics of the kiddos daily isnt the blog anymore, at least not consistently.  the best way is by downloading INSTAGRAM on your iphone...free app, you dont have to put any pictures on it, but you can follow who you want to and make your own profile private {if you care} and just check it when you need a "fix."  my "screen name" or whatever is nattyroe :)}

and now, our life through instagram and iphone pics! {with a couple big camera pics thrown in}
lets roll back to the fourth of july...

i dressed the kids the same for the second time ever, thanks to hand-me-downs from good family friend mellissa.  bennett actually loved wearing the "crab overalls" and while most john johns just dont look right on him anymore {sniff *} he and i both loved this one :) and emory will pick these out for both of them to wear since the fourth...she loves them matching!

jacobs outfit was actually bennetts from four years ago...also seersucker and crabs but just a different color

{much easier getting two to smile than three!}

{and here is bennett, NOT jacob, at his first fourth of july}

our fourth of july was quite tame and low key.  there were no complaints :)

stephen was down there with us every night, but generally had to spend most of his time {leaving at 5:15 in the morning and getting back at 7 or later} back at home working.  i spent much of my single-momming time trying to come up with things to do, and we ended up doing lots of art and legos and potato heads

i realized how little time i spend with the kids coloring and such so we have carried the art of....art.... home with us and its been fun watching their creativity develop....

bennett is obsessed with all things scooby doo...including underwear.

he watches it right before he goes to bed at eight and its silliness has helped our literal little boy branch out a bit and explore being silly for silly's sake

speaking of obsessions, bennett discovered legos a few months ago and has astounded his parents at just how meticulously he can put it all together and figure it out with no help from us.  i am all about encouraging it not only bc its good for him....but honestly it keeps him busy for HOURS! {woo hoo!}

{his prize after completing swimming lessons SUCCESSFULLY...thank the sweet Lord above our fraidy cat knows how to swim! and he loooooves it}

im still working every day to get this girl to wear something in her hair...it usually lasts about ten minutes on a good day

i have several fun projects right now ranging from consulting to kitchen renovations to my second full set of house plans...i promised myself i would never take this kind of work on again after having my hiney kicked by a previous attempt that i had to hand off and then the camp, but these clients had several examples of floor plans they liked and having examples to work off of made the layout and schematic phase fly by.  seriously had an entire first and second floor plus exterior elevation complete in a week and a half.  lets just say i LOVE clients who know what they want! i couldnt work on this scale otherwise...not nearly enough time to get it accomplished in a reasonable time frame! 

and last but not least, i dont know about yall but the fruit flies have been out. of. control. at my house as of late.  like swarms so annoying i swear the devil is attacking me every afternoon as i attempt to fix dinner.  the hardest part is getting RID of them...weve tried so many different measures and constantly keeping trash emptied and counters clean...but the ONLY thing thats worked and worked well is this:

in a shallow dish, pour small amount of balsamic vinegar as shown.  cover tightly with saran wrap, using a rubber band if needed to seal it off.  poke a few tiny holes in top of saran wrap.  voila! those pesky pests can get in but they cant get out = THEY DIE

sorry...very few things throw me in a murderous rage 

but the fruit flies, well i find way too much pleasure in watching them drown in a sea of oxygen-deprived vinegar.

go ahead, judge me

;)

happy tuesday!