Hollis and her favorite puzzle....

My mom and I found this shape puzzle at a garage sale/flea market type place and Hollis loves it. I catch her doing it off and on all day. She gets so excited when she does every piece. So today I got a video of it. The yellow triangle gets a little tricky and as you will see she can get a bit frustrated with it. :o)

100 0004 from Stacey Brednich on Vimeo.

Cousins Are Way Too Much Fun!

We went on a quick trip to Kentucky to visit family in between Burke's work schedule. We had SO MUCH FUN. Especially our girls. Seriously, I feel like I only saw them at bedtime because they played all day with the boy cousins. Marin was in heaven. Here are some pictures I got on my phone and then I stole the rest from Carolyn. They are all out of order but they still show the fun we had. 

Marin gave everyone a check up.
Then she did her best ROAR (repeatedly) and watched all the cousins fall in fear.
She thought it was the best thing on earth to scare them. 

Marin got to pick flowers with Reece and Chase. Here she is with Reece.
I love these boys so much. So thankful for how sweet they were with the girls.
They are going to teach them so much. 

These pictures are actually from a video that I will post soon. It is precious. 

The next day we went to an animal show at their library.
(I stole a lot of  librarian ideas from this library...loved it.)
But one thing I know to be true about our girls....they need sleep. And since we woke them up for the early flight, played hard all day with cousins, went to bed late.....we didn't make it long in the animal show. Hollis was asleep before we left the parking lot. 

Although Marin is in the red car now, Hollis was the main driver  for the week.
She had so much fun in the cozy coupe. 

And now some "power" picking with Chase.
(Not sure where her pants went but oh well.)

Where Hollis spent most of her time.....

 And then we tried to get a cousin picture. Ha! Marin was not thrilled with the idea but at least in some of the pictures the cry looks like a smile....sort of. :o)

This one looks like a smile...a little. :o)
Sweet kiddos! 

More "powers".

So much sweetness!

I love this one.
Reece is funny. Hudson is cute on the big scooter.
And Marin is in the background without half her clothes playing ball with Pierce. :o)

Then the races started.... 

So cute. 

And now some videos....

100 0144 from Stacey Brednich on Vimeo.

100 0155 from Stacey Brednich on Vimeo.

100 0156 from Stacey Brednich on Vimeo.

Puddle Jumpers and Rainbows

So Marin and Hollis have some floaty things called Puddle Jumpers. Some say they aren't good for them to wear in the water because it can delay learning how to swim. Others say they are the best floaties to use because it positions them in the water to "swim". Our little swim teacher thinks they are good to help them. Marin wouldn't wear hers for the longest time but once she did....she loved it!! She quickly figured out she could 'swim' by herself. So she will jump in and swim to one of us shouting "coming! I'm coming" the whole way. Precious. The girl really is a fish. Hollis as always liked her floaties. She will kick her feet occasionally and move but for the most part she likes to float, drink the pool water, and watch the crowds. :o)

100 0112 from Stacey Brednich on Vimeo.


And Marin got a little obsessed with the rainbow at the end of her Noah's Ark library book. The video got cut off but she turns every single page saying "Rainbow, where are you rainbow? "

MVI 5468 from Stacey Brednich on Vimeo.

Children's Museum

We got to go to the Children's Museum in downtown Houston yesterday with our neighbor buddies, Graham and Taylor. It was so cute but, of course, on a summer Friday...it was CRAZY BUSY. We will have to go back once school starts in the Fall.  Lots of pictures below. The caption to every single photo could be..."I can't believe how big our girls look!!" (Side note: Marin is over my shoulder talking about every single picture as I write this post. I love it. Makes me happy to be keeping this thing updated for them.)

And they are off....

Watching the ball drop!

Stepping into the ball container like its a ball pit.
BTW, it's not a ball pit. 

Looking so stinkin' big. 

Having a ball! 

Anything that revolves a button to push...Hollis will LOVE. 

Hollis was a fan of the red fire truck. I did catch her trying to pull out a little friend so she could ride. Oopsie. 

This little walkway had bumps and steps and a hand rail. Hollis went around and around at least a million times.
I really think the hand rails were her favorite.
She loves the rails to our stairs. But, of course, can't reach them unless you are holding her. And, holding her  while she is leaning over to hold the rails...well, it's not easy. You will need a back massage afterwards. 

Sweet Taylor found her reflection!

Cuteness.
(Marin just looked at this picture and said  "Ram!" aka Graham. )

Ruffle butt.
Cuteness.

She got a little feisty with this car too.
Something about automobiles...makes her a little possessive. 

LOVED the rocking horse. She would rock and clap her sweet little hands!

Oh my goodness. Way too cute. 

Craft Time

So I got a little crafty last week. Here are some of the projects I got done. :o) 

First, this was an old window from a door that my mom had "collected".  

I cleaned and sanded it some. I may paint it. But I used this new Mod Podge photo transfer stuff.
It was fun. You just use a photo copy of a picture on plain printer paper. Cover the picture up with the Mod Podge and place it on the surface. Leave it there for 24 hours. Then rub it off with a wet cloth. On Pinterest, they did it on a wood pieces and it looked really neat. I may try that next. :o) 

An old toy trunk turned ottoman.
Not sure if I like it or not. 

Our Summer bucket list garland on our mantel....

Our summer mantel (for you Betsy....)
The glass vases have seashells in them.
Come on beach time!! Can't wait!

I like the chalkboard printables floating around Pinterest.
 I had this red Ikea frame so this little prayer got framed for our kitchen. 

I recovered this little vanity seat.
I really like the fabric on this one. This fabric will actually be in both girls' room.
Hollis has fun bird fabric and Marin has cute puppy dog fabric.
But this fabric goes with both rooms. Eventually they will share a room so I like that they will have something already "matchy". 

I got 2 of these chairs for $10 at a flea market.
Then I ....

Put our striped fabric on it. I may paint them a funky color. 

I hate laundry.
Dishes and laundry are never ending.
But we are pretty good about washing and folding but putting away....um...not so much.
So....

Everyone gets a basket with their name on it.
When clothes are folded they go in each basket.
Then each person is responsible for putting away their clothes.
I think the girls are old enough to do this but still young enough to think its fun.
Hopefully it works. 

Then the girls got a package from Maye Maye and they got to get crafty with a painting project!! 

Skyping with Maye Maye to show their artwork.
They painted a piggy bank. :o)

Pretty proud of her pig. 

Hollis loved painting in the coin hole. :o)