SUMMER TIME!

Theses are some of our favorite everyday summer things to do! Happy first day of summer!
Playing in the backyard


sleeping in

Anytime is a good time to be a princess

Sticky smores

A perfect reward after a beach day at Gun Lake

Eating popscicles right after getting up


Picnics with cousins

Picnics with neighbors

Picnics...inside and out

Planting things in the spring...and now watching them grow!

My silly planters

While the boys are away....

Last weekend they Koops boys had "their" weekend, THE golf trip to Arcadia. We made the most of being single moms while they were gone. Friday night we all met up at mom and dad Koops', we ate, played, hung out, and watched a movie. It was perfect and relaxing. It's such a blessing to have a family that you look forward to the next time you can hang out, and just love being with them!

I think we have maxed out space in grandma's tub. Lucy and Kady were pretending to be ho-ho's, and Joseph couldn't have been happier to be locked in the shower!

Saturday turned out to be beautiful, we hit Tunnel park in Holland for a day at the beach!

Miss Mya (mya pataya as Lucy says, my my per Kady)

Joseph

Lucy loves digging in the sand

Grandma helping everyone make a sand castle...the water was still a wee bit chilly

and a quick trip to Captain Sundae to finish off a great day!


So proud of getting his very own cone!


and we finished off the night with dinner at the Dattels

The deck

The very beginning of the project began in the winter of 2006. Our backyard started as trees and brush just a few feet from our back door. We cleared 6 huge trees and all the brush, and the summer Lucy was born we put in our stone patio and fireplace. We have gradually worked toward completion of this project, and year after year it has gotten better! and so in May some more work began.....

before

and after

The crew of builders and helpers (a very special thank you to Jeremy for bringing all your expertise and skill) THANK YOU

May 15 Jim had a crew of family over to help build a much needed deck off the lower half of the back. They worked pretty much from dawn till dusk (I was told--I fortunately had a great time away for the weekend--kid free) and the end product is amazing. In the last 3 weeks Jim and I figure we have spent more time out there than in the last 6 years combined! This and the swingset have now brought our back yard project to a close!

Happy fourth birthday Lucy-loo!!

I can't believe Lucy is four! She has been counting down until her birthday for a long time!

I'm trying to think of how much Lucy has changed since she turned 3. She no longer is scared of bugs....she squishes and squashes them all by herself, screams at them, shoos them away. She is still all girl. She would choose a dress everyday, loves to pick her own stuff. She often gets dressed before I get out of bed in the morning. She would much rather wear her dress up high heels than any real shoes, and if we would let her wear make up....she would be all over it. She is not afraid to tell me what outfits she likes of mine, what looks good, and what shoes I should wear with what. My little fashionista.

Lucy is very sensitive to others. She is very concerned about others feelings, and is a great big sister in that way. She is always teaching Kadence, showing her how to do things, and helping her to do it herself. She has such patience. She always has a smile and a laugh. She brightens up my world.

Lucy still is very inquisitive. She tells me stories about things I would think she would know nothing about. It will be fun to see how she blossoms when school starts in the fall. She has why questions about everything, and your first answer usually doesn't give her the info that she wants/needs. She is my morning girl. She goes from fast asleep to jumping around in less than a second. Her best stories come in the morning, she always can surprise me with what she comes up with. The other day Kadence was being a little rough with me, and basically pile driving my belly. I told her she needed to be gentle with the baby. "why?" asks Kady. I responded with the baby might cry....and then Lucy said "then the baby will have even more water to swim in!"

She has a great imagination. I love to listen to her play with her barbies or bears and hear the stories she comes up with. Everywhere she goes she is "making new friends". Her is a sample conversation from this weekend:

Lucy: Hi, I'm Lucy what is your name

girl: Hannah

Lucy: Where do you live? I live at east woodmeade Court

girl: charlotte

Lucy: do you have any sisters?

girl: no

Lucy: oh, do you want to be my friend?

It's so cute to try and be a bystander....pretend I'm not around, but really wanting to hear where this is all going. This is one of many "friends" she made just over the weekend. She is so excited to come and tell us all about them later.

What a blessing God gave us just 4 short years ago. Lucy can always make me smile, put life in perspective, and leave me waiting for what is next. Love you goosey!!

Family birthday party

Yesterday day invited all of our family over to celebrate both girls May birthdays! Lucy has been so excited about this "shared" party. We decided to go with a barbie theme...and my request from Lucy was a barbie cake with a purple dress. She was so cute when I showed her the final project..."thank you mom, thank you for making her dress purple, but I don't really like the shape of her dress, next time can you make it look like Kady's?" Let's just say the inside of the purple cake was pieced and held together with tons of frosting...I had my fingers crossed that it would be standing by Sunday morning. The day ended up warm, 87 degrees. We got to break in the new deck and put some water stuff outside for the kids to enjoy. Jim and I decided for a picnic menu and served pulled pork (his spicy, mine just plain good), potato salad, fruit, veggies, and lemonade. God has given us so much, 2 beautiful girls, someone healthy on the way, and a generous family that we love so much! We really are spoiled that we can all get together so easily to make these celebrations!

Two and Four

The girls with Grandma's (Lucy was so excited to have both of them in one place)

Happy birthday to you!!!

Blowing out the candles

Enjoying the frosting off of the barbies

an ode to a rainy day

Dear rain,

Thank you for giving me a day to shower, but not have to get ready. Thanks for cancelling swimming lessons, I couldn't deal with screaming in the pool today. Thanks for giving me a day to blog, do laundry, and clean the refrigerator. Thanks for giving me an extra day to take things slow and just enjoy being with my girls. Thanks for making it such a great day for napping!