Summer. Is. Here.

There's nothing better for the soul than the sounds and smells of summer.

Precious babes playing in the pool and blowing bubbles and playing chalk, and giggling all the while. Those giggles are music to my ears.

My sunkissed darlings could spend all day outside in the water.

BBQ grills wafting through the neighborhood, a splashed in swimming pool, layered sunscreen on a cute little darling, fresh air from a warm summer breeze on a bike ride, a fruity snocone, or a freshly sliced watermelon just waiting to be eaten.

Summer is here and we're embracing it...embracing it by playing outside in the sunshine every chance we get.

Rockin' the shades.

There's nothing better than sweet, sweet summertime. So embrace it in every way you know how.

Splash in it. Soak up the sun. And enjoy the sounds and smells because it's here!

******

In other news, the girls are obviously still growing. Shocker, I know. :)

This princess is doing good on the potty. I never thought I'd be so proud of a three-year-old for going on the potty.

And her little sister is her biggest cheerleader.

She loves to sit in the sink!

And to leave you with a recipe that my kids (and hubby) absolutely love! :)

We'll call it...

Kiddie Mix

1 box honey-nut Cheerios

1 box Cookie Crisp cereal

1 box Cheez-its

1 bag of pretzels

1 bag of M&Ms

1 bag of mini marshmallows

1 container of party peanuts

Mix it all together in a huge bowl and be sure to store in a air-tight container. And there you have it, kid-friendly trail mix.

She liked it, why wouldn't you? :)

And who loves the blog makeover too? I sure do! But not as much as I love summer.

Xoxo,

Tanna

Introducing: Our New Home

Our new home has finally come to a state in which we are finally able to take decent pictures to share with family and friends. We absolutely love it here and I really finally feel like I belong in a world that I haven't always been use to. We've worked really hard to get our house to the place that it is, but we also bought it with many nice features. Although we still have a lot of work to do to make it our HOME, we love it! So, without further ado, here's our new home!

Front of the House and Front Yard

Back of the House and Backyard

Excuse the hooligan that's on the roof. :)

Matt's Garage

Livingroom

Please excuse the missing couch cushion..it was getting cleaned. :)

Matt's Favorite Part of the House :)

Kitchen

Bathroom-notice the tile work?

Our Room.

It is orange...but I'm adding teal accents. Romantic. :)

Aaannd, we do sleep with sheets but they were getting cleaned this day too!

Jaelyn's Room

Finlee's (very girlie and PINK) Room!

Our Stairs-that lead to a full, unfinished basment with laundry and bathroom.

And these happen to be wild strawberries that are growing in my backyard. :)

And I couldn't blog a post without sharing a few pictures of my two favorite darlings:

Enjoy the pictures!

Xoxo,

Tanna

Girls and Goodbyes

This little princess melts my heart every stinkin' time she smiles but she is quite onery too. And she just happened to wear this adorable little ensemble in public one evening and melted the hearts of everyone around as well.

And she happens to have the same ability. Don't you love them? I sure love them but hate the fact that they are growing up so quickly. They change so much even from day to day.

Lately we've just been finishing up with school and enjoying every single minute of free time that we get because the chaos of summer will soon begin.

We've also been spending our days with a handsome dude that's not our daddy.

You may remember him from his baby days. He's quite a charming young man and we love having him here.

Jaelyn thinks that it's great to get to have a friend over every day.

We attended a very special ceremony of someone very near and dear to us yesterday. This pretty girl just happened to be graduating from college. Oh, Allison.

I happen to remember when we were little and graduating from college wasn't even a thought at the time.

We were too busy playing witches and "don't step off the pillows" and sliding down the stairs on huge cardboard pieces. We'd sell lemonade and bean pods and drink hot tea with Hershey's chocolate. We would eat mint leaves and paint on rocks. And we would laugh and laugh and laugh until we couldn't anymore. Those were the days, I tell you. I have more memories with this girl than I can even put in to words.

And after graduating, her life just happens to be leading her in a different direction than where I am headed and it just happens to be tearing me apart that this direction is further away than I would like her to be. I have shared more laughs with her than anyone can imagine and I was very, very sad to see her go this morning. Even though I'm smart enough to know that she will always be my bestfriend and I'll see her often, it just won't be the same, at all. And the fact that we were always together, Logan, Matt, Allison and I, doesn't help. We're all bestfriends that have truly become family.

And my girls. They have shown so much love to them and I can't thank them enough for it. Everytime Jaelyn happens to see either of them-"Lonan or All-a-son"-she runs and jumps towards them, full of excitement. She loves them. And every time I look at my Finlee-girl, I will think of Allison, because when I named her Finlee Allison-Grace, I dreamed that she would someday grow up to be just like Allison and I still have hope.

Even though it's killing me to watch them go, we all have to grow up at some point and I am unbelievably happy for them and can't wait to share the future with them. With my bestfriends.

Here's to a happy and fantastic week!

Xoxo,

Tanna