goodbye, summer.

Today, September 22 at exactly 5:18pm- Summer 2009 will officially be OVER.

I was pretty much absent from my blog for the entire duration of my summer (as you can tell) because I was just having too much FUN. We had a great summer...

Hopefully I'll do a better job of keeping up with my blog now that the kidlets are back in school and we don't have any vacations planned for the upcoming months.

In celebration of these final few hours of the summer season, I thought I would wrap it up with a cute little Flickr slideshow featuring our Summer Fun! Hope you had a great one too!

Press PLAY.




I am tickled that FALL is almost here!!!

Musette Bracelet GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Musette Bracelet GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Just had to share this!

for today.

FOR TODAY
July 8, 2009

Outside my window... my dog is resting against the screen, trying to get as close as she can to us.

I am thinking... about which tasks are the priority today, I always seem to run out of time and forget to do the most important things when I get distracted by little things that come up.

I am thankful for... family life these days; things are calm and easy, and I love that.

From the kitchen... the smell of homemade waffles lingers. The vanilla scent is so comforting.

I am wearing... jeans and a t-shirt, no shoes-- as usual.

I am creating... a little this and that. Disney layouts (again) and a mini book... and so many ideas floating in my head. Wish I had the time to put them all together quickly.

I am going... to take the girls to swim lessons this morning.

I am reading... "Happens Every Day" -- a book I picked up from the public library last week.

I am hoping... that burdens I carry with me lately will lift off my shoulders soon and that I can find a peace I haven't felt in such a long time.

I am hearing... the pitter-patter of little feet, running up and down the stairs; the triplets are home for the summer, won't be back in school until mid-August.

Around the house... there is so much laundry to fold. It's my least-favorite thing to do.

One of my favorite things... is spending a lazy day at the beach. Gotta plan more days like that before summer's over.

A few plans for the rest of the week... include a couple more days of swim lessons and another trip to the library on Friday. If we can manage it, I want to go to the movies for a matinee with the little ones, too.

A picture to share...


-- our adorable dog, Daisy --

so long, june.

The end of June, already. Can't believe it. We're halfway through the year now. Wow.

So I'm looking back at my calendar... My Google Calendar, to be exact. Have you tried this amazing tool before? I use Google Calendar DAILY and sync it with my Blackberry. It is definitely an everyday tool I use to keep my life in order. With 5 children and lots of activities, classes, appointments, etc... it certainly makes my life easier and I can't recommend it enough.

So... the month of June rolled in quietly for us. We started out with laid-back weekends including fun stuff like a bonfire-- along with roasting marshmallows! The girls got a kick out of it, for sure. The big sisters passed on the fun, unfortunately...



No big events at the beginning of the month, and then... BAM! Everything hit us at once mid-month. The main event of the month was the triplets' Spring Dance Recital. The girls did a great job, adorable I tell you!

Here they are at the recital rehearsal... (cute)



... and on Recital night.



Then there was the visit to the cherry farm, followed by the beginning of swimming lessons...



Wrapping up the month was Kindergarten Graduation, but watch for those pics and story in an upcoming post.

June was a busy, busy month for our family and just the beginning to a busy, busy summer!

weekend.

We stayed home this weekend... Pretty much anyway. Yesterday (Saturday) we did step out to take the girls to a birthday/swim party. Although it was hot, they had a blast! As usual, they took the opportunity to glam it up a little for the party. Aren't they adorable?



Just a bit ago, we dug into more of those sweet delicious cherries from our trip last week to the cherry farm.

Is there anything better in the summertime than a little bowl of cherries in the afternoon?


I don't think so.

cherry farm.

We went to visit Riley's Farm last week, to pick our very own cherries at a REAL cherry farm.

It was the best time we've had together in awhile! Good family time!

Look at my sweethearts, checking out the orchard while we picked cherries:



... and this as we were heading out of the orchard back to the barn to pay for our pickin's!



If you have a cherry farm near you, our family recommends that you visit and pick some cherries... we had a great time!

bento catch-up.

We are soooo behind on bento Fridays! Well, here's a quick catch-up:

Here's bento lunch from 3 weeks ago... We actually made these for the girls on Saturday at home because I totally forgot to make lunches for school on Friday:



... and from two weeks ago:



... and finally from this past Friday:



We are a little over a week from the last day of school for 2008-2009, so we still have one more school bento lunch coming up this Friday. After school's out, I'm not sure how often we'll be making these adorable little lunches, but I'm pretty sure we won't be giving it up completely. There will be plenty of reasons to pack a pretty lunch this summer, I'm sure!