Sacred and Immaculate Heart Yummies: Version 2017

I'm pretty sure there is no way to officially prove this, 

but I originated the strawberry Sacred/Immaculate Heart dessert idea.

True story.

I could have made my millions off of it, but instead I just make a dozen cupcakes every year.

They are pretty, delicious, and still one of my all-time favorite feast day traditions.

Love, Us.

Backyard Fun in the Sun

We are definitely fine with the lack of humidity here, 

but we are still enjoying some good old heat in the summer.

It isn't too hot for us to be out enjoying it, though!

And, as always, moving to a new house means great box forts for a short time!

Love, Us.

Summer Cove: Our New Favorite Hangout

When we first moved onto "North Fort", it seemed to us that we would have to constantly 

leave "North Fort" to get where we wanted to go.

We were wrong!

There are so many hidden gems here, which we are constantly finding.

Summer Cove is one on the top on that list!

A HUGE playground, a beautiful beach, good shade, picnic tables, awesome parking... it has it all!

Love, Us.

Evangeline's Milestones

Evangeline has had a couple huge events in her life at the new house.

First... she finally wore her first cloth diapers!

Gotta love those huge diaper butts!

Secondly, she has always loved to try and hold herself up on her feet. 

Now, however, she can do it more effectively and is using her legs for new endeavors: STAIRS!

She now can climb from bottom to top (this picture shows 1/3 of them!) in less than a minute.

She does it over and over. They are definitely a current obsession.

There have only been a couple minor tumbles so far. 

Now to teach her how to come down!

Love, Us.

Father's Day

We had a great Father's Day here at our new home.

The main event was a Daddy-Daughter Dance here on post.

Both T and Dad went with some apprehension... neither of them being big "crowd-lovers". 

However, they cleaned up well and T enjoyed getting gussied up for the occasion.

And they had a blast!

I received word that, after an awkward start, they took the plunge and got on the dance floor... 

and cut a rug better than all the "competition"! 

As for our Father's Day at home, we had a nice breakfast, followed by live entertainment!

The kiddos had all rehearsed and prepared a collection of scenes from the Illiad and Odyssey for dad.

It was awesome!

The cyclops scene.

Odysseus back home...looking like a beggar.

One of the war scenes. 

Unfortunately, Romeo had to cross-dress once again... as the beautiful Helen!

The littles were just excited that this year's performance included weaponry!

In the afternoon, we opened a couple family presents...

Badminton rackets and birdies for the backyard and Hive: a new family favorite!

Love, Us.

SaveSave

Arriving, Unpacking, and Setting Up

Well, we have officially been in the new house for a month now. 

We have been settled for a while, but I have failed to get blogging into my regular schedule. 

Sorry. I intend to be better, because I know that both I and you guys out there enjoy it.

Here are some pics that I haven't shared from our move-in and set-up at the new place.

Evangeline was awesome on our move-in day.

She took a enormously long nap while be unpacked the entire truck!

Somehow, however, she was still totally zonked by evening.

And yes, you may think I just mis-typed evening. 

It actually is evening in this picture. 

We are just in the northwest of never-ending-summer-days!

We added some new elements to our home this time around.

We had gotten rid of our old bunk bed. It was too heavy and complicated to set-up and take-down again.

We replaced it with two storage racks next to each other... and we love it!

Also, I added an element I have always wanted... a gallery wall!

Lots of masterpieces and lots of family (most of which needs to be updated... but that is a future project).

We immediately loved our neighborhood, because everyone is great with kids at the park without DIRECT supervision.

With my big ones there with them, the littles can enjoy the park as I watch them from my window (which can be seen in the lower picture!).

And we found long "lost" goodies in our boxes!

We appreciate them that much more, since we have been parted with them for so long.

This picture is not taken in our new place, but I thought it fit here. 

We have also just simply basked in the goodness of being whole again.

Home is simply where we are all together... the bunk beds, gallery walls, and paraphernalia is all just excess.

Love, Us.