Four Little Ladies in July

July came and went before we knew what had happened!  Will gets the month of July off, but due to changes at his work, needed to go into work several times this past month.  Unfortunately, it was hard to feel like we were completely on vacation mode because of this, but on the other hand, I think it helped me transition back to him being at work again in August much easier than if I had completely gotten used to having two adults at home to manage and care for our four girls.  Here we are below, celebrating the Fourth of July at Will's aunt and uncle's house.  Lots of relatives got to meet Opal for the first time, and the girls had fun making rice crispy treat hedge hogs with Will to bring to the party.

We enjoyed several breakfasts outside this past month, and the most favorite item on the menu was homemade blueberry muffins.  Lucy also was inspired to make "s'more" based desserts for us as well.  Charlie loved all of the outside meals, as he is always happy to eat the crumbs that are inevitably dropped, and of course, his own wet cat food to keep him from getting too annoying.

The girls helped us in the kitchen from desserts to meals and Emma was even forced against her will to pick green beans for us.  I made several berry pies with our berries from the garden and even got some inspiration from reading a book about Butter and a biography about Milton Hershey this past month.  Yummy!

When the weather wasn't too crazy hot, we enjoyed painting, toad catching, butterfly watching and flower picking in the backyard.

Will puttered around with his summer to do list (see roof picture below), and we enjoyed watching the girls play in the sprinkler, slip and slide and kiddie pool.  There are designated Green Space areas across the street from our house that the city has been converting into a Monarch Way Station these past two years and we finally got to see the blooms of their efforts this year.  I can't believe that we are lucky enough to have a wildflower meadow just across the street from us in the middle of suburbia.  And of course, we have seen a lot more Monarchs this year too, which I attribute to the meadow across the street from us.

We had fun with neighbors and friends going for walks, playing in the sprinkler, having picnics and playing in a creek by our house.

 We enjoyed s'mores with neighbors, backyard games and indoor play with friends.

Will and I celebrated our 14th anniversary this past month.  We did a morning date where we hiked 6 miles before it got too hot out (it was still pretty darn hot by the time we were finished) and had a lunch picnic where baby deer came right up to our blanket and then we spent the afternoon and evening with our four little ladies at the park with a pizza picnic.

Will and the three older girls took his mom to the zoo for her birthday, and while they were gone, Opal and I realized just how much the three older sisters help us out at home.  I was reminded of the long days when it was just Lucy and I, and I ended up scarfing down my lunch standing at the counter while holding Opal and missing the conversation and distraction of kids that can talk and walk and play.  Don't get me wrong, Opal and I enjoyed our interruption-free snuggles, but I did miss my older girls too!

We had family eye doctor appointments, more park play, bike rides through the cemetery by our house, blueberry picking in my parents' backyard and - the photo on the right below - recreating with my girls a photo that I have of me and my middle sister in the same location probably almost 30 years prior.  I need to find that original photo and do a side by side comparison.

 My yard signs that I sell on Etsy went viral this past month and it was all we could do to keep up with the shipping demands.  This is a good problem to have, but did take us by surprise as spring is usually the busy season for our signs.  Will took over melting beeswax for me in our new solar wax melter, and the entire family helped me sell my products at a Homeschool Fair we went to.  It was Opal's first show, and she did great.

 On the days it was too hot, we enjoyed daytime movies complete with bags of popcorn (sponsored by Harding Honey) and juice boxes, as well as magnetic letter play and Lucy made some adorable felt donuts and cupcakes.

 Violet and I enjoyed "special time" in the play tent reading stories, the girls played together in their room, Play Doh was enjoyed and the girls put on several shows for us.

We have a very full and busy life right now with four little ladies and keeping gratitude and humor as close as possible is the only way to survive.  The photos in clockwise order from top left below: Violet showing me her nose ring, the pot of rice that I burned only after we made a special trip to the store just for rice, and Lucy helped me prepare it and dumped half of the bag all over the floor (yes, rice IS a four letter word), a feeling of gratitude that washed over me when I saw the four piles of little girl clothes I had just finished folding on my bed, what my ironing and mending looks like these days - fixing favorite dresses, shorts, stuffed animals and even Barbie dresses, a funny comment Will text me that Violet said, and finally, Lucy asking me to check yes or no for take-out while I am on the phone with my friend.  She sure knows how to take advantage of my distraction!  I checked no, but in the end, take-out (and my little ladies) won.

And finally, a selfie of us hiking the trail by our house in preparation of all of the up north hiking we were hoping to do on our vacation this past month!  A vacation post while be next!