Louisville Slugger Museum

We took a vacation last week to Gulf Shores and to visit Matt' family.  On our way down we stopped at the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory Tour.  The boys are on summer baseball leagues and we thought that they would enjoy it.  Actually, the whole family had a great time and it was an informative and entertaining stop!

Madeline posing with Babe Ruth with her souvenir bat.

Wyatt at the batting cage.

Luke admiring one of the Lego stadiums... I have no idea which one!

Laminate Floor B&A

Next month will mark one year that we began our laminate journey and I have shown some of the before and afters,  but I thought that I would put them all in one post.  I am still in love with the floors! We have had a few nicks and scratches, but nothing a Crayola won't fix! 

Adding laminate has been my favorite change since we moved here and I believe has made the most impact.  I get lots of compliments on the floor and most people are surprised to hear that it is laminate and that it is from Sam's Club.  I hope that when we have some cash to spare that we can add this to the upstairs hallway.  

One Living Room Four Ways

A friend of mine recently bought two new chairs for her empty living room and I love to play "decorator" so I made these to show her a few options.  The room is smaller and I thought two ottomans that doubled as seating was a good compromise.   The two chairs are from Overstock and the rest Target.  

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So which one do you prefer? 

Free Photo Collage {Summer Display}

Walgreens is offering a free photo collage until the 15th for Father's Day {DADCOLLAGE}.  I needed a new print for my frame and loved this one from The Rubber Punkin.  This is the first time that I have taken advantage of the free collage using only one picture.  I did not know that you could get away with only one!  I decided to add a coordinating border to the free print.  This is my quick and easy summer vignette.  Bright metal lanterns, a little chevron paper around the candle,  and I called it a day!

Usually this time of year I am taking pictures of the kids for their yearly Dad's Day picture, but since we are going to the beach later this summer I am saving my photo credits for a beach shoot.

Impromptu Photo Shoot

Before Josh's graduation I snapped a few pictures of Madeline and Luke.  Wyatt was at his first baseball game so he missed it.  He was not disappointed about that!

I know that I am biased, but this girl is beautiful.  I always dreamed that I would have a blue eyed, blond girl, which is crazy because I have brown eyes and hair.  I was going to name her Ocean Raquel...

Luke comes up with these poses and will not take a picture without them!

Again, the posing!

Living Room {Updated Pictures}

Woo Hoo! We installed the quarter round a few weeks ago and I wanted to update my house tour with updated pictures.  You can read more about our living room here.

Here is our living room  pre move in:

New paint and our furnishings:

Rearranged furniture:

And our current look with the laminate floors:

Summer Bucket List & Responsibility Chart

My kids are 8, 6, and 4.  We do not pay allowance throughout the school year, but I usually do something in the summer to cut down on the need {want} pleas.  This summer we are calling it "responsibilities" and the three kids are working together to purchase Minecraft for the computer (what is with this game?!).  I found these super cute FREE editable charts.

SOURCE

I made one for each kid and slipped them into a page protector to use with dry erase markers.  I would rather not print these off every week.  I added a "Mom's Choice" and that gives me a little flexibility (meaning I can throw a needed job in there to suit my needs).  We also have a mandatory one hour rest period because the days are looooong and this mommy needs a break.  They only get to mark this one off if they have a "good" rest time (not bugging mommy or their siblings).  And, yes,  my kids are doing summer school packets. I can't let go of the former teacher in me. As Madeline's teacher would say. "If you don't use it, you will lose it".  

Moving on to the FUN stuff! Our Summer Bucket List!  This year we used the big chalkboard to write our list.  Hopefully we will do most of them, but usually there are a few that we do not.  I am cracking up that Red Lobster and Cracker Barrel made the list.  My kids have the taste buds of seventy year olds.  Have you ever been to Red Lobster on a Wednesday night? I swear it is only cute little old couples!