...and july...

I'll be the first to admit, I am not the best at keeping up with my blog. Four kids, one husband and one dog really keep me busy. Plus, I try to make that "me" time by exercising & getting a shower everyday. Hopefully that will buy me some sanity from the craziness of my days.

Even though I am most of the time still changing diapers, cleaning floors, doing dishes & folding laundry, I really do enjoy my job. It may not give me the rewards of a 9-5 job, like money or benefits (haha), but my rewards are my children's faces when I say, "let's make cookies" or when my sweet girl wants to have a tea party with me. :) They are priceless. They {those kids of mine} are the reason I get up everyday and try hard to do what I should. (Plus, that cute guy that I sleep next to is pretty fun to have around too. wink wink!)

And, let's be honest, not every day is sunshine & rainbows. The majority of my days are very long. I often play referree between kids, clean up poop off clothes and the floor more than I would like, and quite often my feet hurt. But, I think about those that cannot have kids or have lost a child to an illness, and my heart breaks for them. It reminds me to savor these little ones while they are little. So, I'm trying to do more of that...

Anyway, on to the month of July!

This month was packed! It seemed like it flew by. If you are planning on reading, grab a chair, it's gonna be a long one!

For the 4th, we headed up to the cabin in Greer. Thankfully, our cabin was spared from the Wallow fire. But, when we pulled up it was hard to see how much of Greer was burned.  The line of trees that we can see from the porch of the cabin is a sad sight. It's all burned. Now all you see is charred tree-lines. It was an eerie sight to see how close the fire got to the cabin. This is about a quarter mile away. A special thanks to all those fire fighters and volunteers that helped fight off the fires and save beautiful Greer. We are so grateful!

On the actual 4th of July, we attended the Eager Days Parade. The floats were sparse because the town was evacuated for the fire but let back in about a week prior to the 4th. Can you imagine having to leave your home within minutes only to wonder if it might burn down? I'm so thankful that so many homes were saved. 

This is the best shot I could get of all the kids. 1 smiling out of 7. Awesome. :)

The night before Grandma Cook made these cute bandanas for the boys & necklaces for the girls. Gunner wore his proudly and wnated Bode to join in the fun. Bode is such a pretty boy, I think if I stuck a flower to the bandana, people might've thought he was a girl!

Although the town didn't have much time to put together floats for the parade, the kids didn't care because there was still CANDY!

Sweet Grandma Cook. This woman is aMaZiNg!!!

Breezy proudly wore her red, white & blue. Isn't this dress adorable? We bought it last year and this year it actually fits!

Thank you to all the men & women who have fought or are fighting now for our beautiful country!

Grandma Cook made a yummy cake for the 4th. Delish!

Bode did a lot of bonding time with Grandpa. 

Breezy found a soft spot & fell asleep. Grandpa has the magic touch. :)

Gunner had so much fun this weekend, I could barely catch him to snap a picture. 

This might be one of my all time favorite pictures of Bode so far. The kid is pure joy. 

In other news, July was a hot month. I snapped a picture of my car's thermostat one day while waiting for Gunner to finish one of his dive practices.  Isn't this ridiculous? It's waaaaay too hot!

In mid July the kids all started swimming lessons. Caleb was even able to do a 1:1 special needs class. His instructor was great with him and by the end of the 2 weeks, he was blowing bubbles and moving his arms & legs through the water. He still can't quite swim, but at least is catching on to the idea. :)

Gunner loved his lessons. Before lessons he could swim ok, but after he became a fish. This made him really excited for swim team next year. :)

Breezy took lessons too. She was very timid at first and didn't like to get splashed with water or dunk her head, but by the end, she at least would put her face in. Progress I guess?

This is how I found Bree at the end of every lesson...clutching for dear life to her coach. Notice her hand. It's practically turning blue. :)

Also this month, I finally put some frames up in Bree's room. I've had her room painted for quite some time, but just never found what I wanted to put in her walls. I found these cute frames at the orange blossom shop. And I LOVE them. :)

Then on July 25 to be exact...(yes, you read that right)...Caleb & Gunner started school again. Caleb's in 3rd and Gunner in 1st grade. They were super excited. Bree started another round of swim lessons...which I'll post about later. 

I love how handsome they are. Why do they have to grow up? 

A quick pic with Mom...

....and Dad...

This year I didn't feel those nervous jitters for either of my boys. Caleb has the same teacher and classroom and Gunner's teacher moved up with him from Kinder to First. It's made the transition really easy! :)

I was 50/50 about them going back to school. I love having them home and us doing our own thing like swimming, summer movies, visiting family. But, on the flip side, I was also suuuuper stoked that they had routine again. The fighting and bickering was starting to drive me crazy!.... So, happy day, school's back in!!