mid summer

Two things.

1. Walmart grocery pickup has changed my life. Winter was having a meltdown while I was talking to the Walmart employee who was bringing my groceries out. I just smiled and thought how nice it was to have her contained in the car and not pouting on the floor of one of the aisles of Target.

2. Hand sanitizer actually works to remove permanent marker. I haven't tried it with sharpie yet, however. A 7 year old that I live with thought it would be fun to pretend that her barbies were scribbling on the wall with a permanent orange marker. She said she thought it was the washable kind. After I flipped out a little, I remembered that someone recommended hand sanitizer after Angus's sharpie incident. So I tried it and it TOTALLY worked. There isn't even a trace of orange on the wall.

We have 4 weeks of summer left. Crazy. Dan is working a TON these days but I'm surviving. I went to see the Higerds last week with my four little people. They can't get rid of the Wags that easy!

5AM pre-breakfast snack and TV to keep 'em quiet while the other kids slept. Mari actually took this. I was still asleep. She's awesome.

Underwear air mattress diving party.

Mya had a playdate with a sweet friend from school. Now Winter and Mya have both had a summer playdate so we can check that off the list. 

Dinner at the pool.

First gaming lesson.

Hangin' at my mom's pool. She has to sell the house soon which totally breaks my heart because I grew up in this pool. So every time I see the kids swimming in it now I get kind of emotional. It's old school with a super springy diving board and when you get in the shallow end it's already like 5 feet deep. So many great memories in that backyard.

Refusing to look at the camera... stinkers.

Our next door neighbor built a giant fence between our properties. The girls were offended. =) I don't think it's going to keep the noise out, however.

Dan wanted to see how much taller Winter is than Mya. She just keeps growing. Addie and Angus came over because they don't like to be left out of anything. Addie and Winter aren't wearing jammies because there aren't any in their drawers. They didn't even check the dryer where I usually keep the clean clothes these days. And surprisingly Angus is fully clothed.

Okay I know this is totally random but I was thinking. I've always wanted to do nice things for people and rarely have had the time to actually plan something nice like take my neighbor who just had hip surgery dinner or volunteer at a food drive or feed the homeless or sponsor a child in a poor country or go on a mission trip. BUT you know, it doesn't take a whole lot to just do something nice in my everyday errands. Nice people are everywhere and they really inspire me to be intentional about doing little nice things when I can. Like letting someone pull out of a parking lot when I'm driving down the road and I know it's going to be impossible for them to pull out into traffic unless someone lets them out. Or letting a mom with a fussy toddler cut in front of me at Target when I'm by myself. Or telling someone I love their shirt, or hair, or whatever catches my eye. Or telling a police officer thank you for all he does when he's directing traffic in 100 degree heat in his uniform. Or giving my kids a compliment when they're doing a good job or playing nicely with their little siblings. None of these things take forethought and really can make someone's day a little better. And, when I'm in a bad mood, saying or doing something nice can really actually help me brighten up a bit. Just puttin' it out there... Happy Wednesday!