our henry loves to read.

and he will read just about anything!

mason candids.

just hanging out on our porch.

always in a hat.

snoozing with daddy.

when my sis came in early august.

can't remember if i mentioned how my truly awesome sister surprised me and came down for my baby party, and then stayed 2 extra days and cleaned my whole house.
it was awesome.
she left on sam's 30th birthday, and she took all the pressure off of me, and made cupcakes (delicious cupcakes) with the kids.

mason was very excited, and we learned that mason cannot be left alone if there are cupcakes remotely in the vicinity, we lost several to her mischievous fingers.

campbell emptied that whole sprinkler container on one batch of cupcakes, but they did look cool.

overseeing the magic.

baking is so much fun.

my beautiful sis!

and finally- my school room.

or i mean, the kids school room.
either way, i think this room in our house has had the most transformations. it started out being our dining room (where we still did our home-schooling)



and then the table got moved because we needed more working space, oh, and i needed to have my sewing in there as well.


well, this room was definitely working mainly as our home-schooling room and as my sewing space (because i tend to sew in spurts when the kids are busy with a project- but in my eye-sight) and the table we had was bumming me out, because it was big and taking up unnecessary space. plus, we never eat at the table all together because this room is just to tiny for that.
i imagine that after the remodel and we have the huge long rectangular table of mine and Sam's dreams that family dinner together will be a cherished thing.
but until then, this dining room is now my home-schooling room.
and my dad did a fantastic job making it feel wonderful!

yup, that's a huge chalkboard- courtesy of chalkboard paint! oh and my dad and my sister applying coats of it :)

my dad and sam's dad built this little table together. 2 shelving units which house the day to day home-schooling supplies and games and such, with a board cut for the top.

we aren't doing end of times studies- we are trying to learn to write the number 6.

ahhh, an organized closet.

i really, really, really, love this room.

and our family room.

when the kids and i went up to Washington for 2 weeks in June, Sam and his dad (Paul/Papa) worked hard at giving us inside access to our laundry..... you don't realize what an extra chore laundry is until you have to go outside, down some stairs, and into a garage before you realize how much you hate laundry.
so they built stairs that go from our kitchen into the garage. wonderful. and they enclosed the garage (remember it is a duplex, so we have 2 garages- Campbell's new room is in the 2nd garage) and gave us a family room.
This is a before shot.



and after my Dad got a little bit of primer, creativity, and a fantastic quilt i found for 2 bucks at a yard sale.





isn't it cozy? eventually we will tile the downstairs, and then have some area rugs. And see the top curtain that is open there- behind it is Campbell's door, and eventually (this fall) in front of the curtain will be another doorway to another new room.
ahhhh..... projects.

and another room.

with everything being shifted around and new rooms created, it left a pretty big gaping hole in what used to be Henry and Mason's room.
so while my dad worked hard to finish up Mason's room, I fiddled around in what is now Henry's bedroom.

seeing that this bed is pretty much AWFUL to take a part and put back together, we decided to leave it up, with the idea that Henry, who cannot stop climbing, will most likely be sleeping in it (its a top bunk, but really low to the floor) and the new baby, regardless of gender will be sleeping in the crib in this room within the next 6 months (which is probably when the new baby will finally decide to arrive)

but for now, the space under the bed- which was where Mason's little bed used to be- needed to be filled, and what better than a special little toy and book nook for Henry?

he loves it.

we went to the fair.

and at the fair, we played with legos.

building a wall.

a lego helper helped mason build a little house.

which she inspected with while channeling her Papa.

then we went to the kids corner, and we colored.

and while no other kids where there, all 3 got to play in the tumble area (henry's favorite part of the fair trip)

and mason played with bubbles.

we ate (but no one needs pictures of me and sam salivating over job's daughters corn dogs) or the kids stealing our orange julius's.
we rounded up our trip by heading to see some animals.
campbell really wants a chicken.

i think mason would like one too.
we didn't stay very long, but we had a great time. mason really wanted to go on the huge rides- like the ring of fire. with her weak stomach not sure if she will ever be able to do that, and the outrageous prices at the fair for rides makes disneyland a cheaper option :) but i tried to subdue her requests by telling her she wasn't big enough.
she then proceeded to tell me every 10 mintues:
"i'm bigger now".