July, so far...

It's been a busy month! I can hardly believe we are halfway through the month of July...these past couple of weeks have flown by! It's been hot, humid and more hot, humid here in PA!!! I must say I'm starting to get a little sick of this heat, but I hate to complain because I much rather be too hot than cold:) Despite the unending heat, we have been having a busy and fun summer.

Fourth of July weekend, Jake and I had the opportunity to travel home to MA to visit family. We had some very special guest fly in all the way from London that we were so thrilled we had the chance to spend some time with. My little sister, Denise (who has been studying at Oxford University) and her fiance, Ross spent 10 days at my mom's house. They brought along with them Ross's parents: Ann & Jack. It was so good to see my little sister (who I haven't seen since last September!) and Ross and such a pleasure to meet Ann & Jack.

The newly engaged couple :)
Me and my little sis...
Connor, Chris & Renee...

The grill masters, Ross & Jake...

Digging in!

I just adore my Pepere :)

Connor had lots of fun entertaining us with these festive beads...

Chris, Renee, Jake, Nikki, Ross & Dee. With one couple in Massachusetts, one in Pennsylvania and one in London...these pictures don't happen often!

And of course we had to celebrate the birthday lady, Renee, who turned the big 3-0 in June! Happy Birthday Renee!

The next day we had a blast celebrating the 4th of July at Jake's Uncle Bob & Aunt Norma's house. It was an all American day filled with family, swimming, food & boat rides.

Tim & Dawn...

Burt & Christine...

Logan, Joe and Beezy enjoying the water...

Uncle Bob taking us out on a boating adventure...

Dawn & Larry...

Jake & his little brothers...

Logan & Luke had so much fun on tubing, that I decided to give it a try! Here I am on my very first tubing experience....

After I tried it out, Dawn gave it a whirl. She was a little more daring than I was...

....which ended her up off the tube and in the water!!!

It was such a fun day!

And back at home, we have been enjoying spending lots of extra time with the kiddos. We recently went mini-golfing...

Don't they look like movie stars?!

And have enjoyed one of our favorite summer treats....making s'mores! Yummy!

And that's what we've been up to lately.

We hope you are all enjoying your summer as much as we are!

Need a Smile?

I have 3 to share :)

Have a happy day!

Keeping it Fresh

Well, summer sure has gotten off to a pretty great start for the Marshall kids! The first week after school got out, they all had the opportunity to spend the entire week with their Grandmom, Pop-Pop, Aunt Judy, Uncle Ryan, and cousins Christian & McKenna. While there, they also had the opportunity to do VBS at the church they used to attend. And last week we had some of Jake's family come stay with us for a few days. Emma, Abby & Nate had lots of fun playing with Beezy, Joe, Auntie Christine & Nana. What special times!

It seems like things will be settling down here for a little while at least :) We still have lots of fun things planned for the summer. But as far as vacations & visitors go, I think we are clear until August. So this weekend, we began working on establishing a routine. I know what you are thinking, "A routine on summer vacation?!" Yes. A very relaxed routine, but a routine nevertheless. But don't worry the kids LOVE IT!

Jake and I have been very relaxed with the kids when it comes to doing chores and stuff around the house. Mostly because we felt like they spent so little time with us that we didn't want them to always be "working." But our schedule with the kids has changed drastically over the past year and they now spend several days at a time with us. So, we decided it was time to enforce the importance of helping out around the house. They each have a special chore that they do each day in addition to their typical responsibilities like making their beds and cleaning up after themselves. Each time they complete a chore they earn a pebble (thank you for this idea Christine, the kids LOVE it!) and they are working together to earn enough pebbles to get a reward. The kids are super excited about it and do their chores with great care and diligence. Yay!

In addition to all that, each day the kids all do some pages in their workbooks to keep their brains fresh for school in September. This has also had a very positive response!

Emma, working out some problem solving...

Abby, carefully printing her numbers and letters...
And Nathan, so proud of himself as he should be! Nate has not been overly excited about doing anything constructive or anything that has to do with numbers, letters or the word "school." I must say, we have made a LOT of progress with him in the recent months and we are so proud of him. I'm hoping doing his workbooks everyday this summer will help him even more.

So, in between having TONS of fun this summer, we will also be helping out around the house and prepping their brains for the 4th grade, 1st grade and pre-school:)

Special Guests

Last week we had some very special guests come and visit us here in PA all the way from MA. Nana, Auntie Christine, Elizabeth & Joseph came to stay at our house for a few days. And what a great time we had!! I have never had house guests before, so I was a little nervous (especially about having 9 people in a house with one bathroom and the fact that it was 90 degrees & humid and we don't have air conditioning!) but it all worked out fine and as usual I was worried for nothing:) I must say I am extremely grateful for our little inflatable pool and sprinkler which are just as fun for adults as they are for kids!

We enjoyed big, family meals all gathered around the table. This is always my favorite time.

Everyone had fun cooling off and splashing around in the pool...
What's a summer day without popsicles...

...and watermelon??

This yard sale find was worth every penny!

Can you say, "Victory!" Beezy can. And she did several times!

Can't get enough water...

Lookout girls...here comes Daddy!!

Friends.

Up until this point, everything was calm and relaxing. Well, as relaxing as it can be with five children present. And then something happened. I'm not entirely sure what. Exhaustion from non-stop action? Feeling revived from being in air condtioning while dining out? Too much sugar for the kids? Or was it the margarita's consumed by the adults? All I know is that at one point Nana, Auntie Christine, Jake and I were all playing nice game of Bocce, when suddenly a war broke out...

A water war!! Adults vs. kids and I don't think anybody won! We all ended up drenched! Poor Auntie Chris. In her kind effort to aid the children in attack against Jake, she wound up being tossed in the pool!

Once the water fight was finished, we settled down to watch a little fireworks display. Sorry for the bad photos, but you get the idea :)

Emma Ruth...

Nana & Nate.

The whole gang.

Then there are the good-byes. Obviously, Nate is not a fan of good-byes...or pictures!

Thank you so much for traveling to PA to visit us and stay in our home. It meant a lot to us that you came. It was our pleasure to have you with us. We all had so much fun! Can't wait to see you in August!

Love,

The Marshall's

Best Daddy Ever

*He is the kind of guy who will drive 14 hours in a blizzard to see his daughter for her birthday.

*He is the kind of guy who will drive over 2 hours to see his child in a 20 minute school concert.

*He is the kind of guy who works 6o hours a week and then comes home to take care of the four of us.

*He is the kind of guy who makes breakfast for us every Sunday morning.

*He is the kind of guy he bakes muffins for his kids after school snacks.

*He's the kind of guy who can fix anything.

*He's the kind of guy who can make you laugh even when we don't want to or think you can.

*He's the kind of guy who always has plenty of energy for tickling & wrestling matches.

*He's the kind of guy who has more patience than any other person I know.

*He's the kind of guy who goes on school field trips with his kids.

*He's the kind of guy who has an endless supply of snuggles, hugs & kisses.

He's just that kind of guy.

And just exactly who is "that kind of guy"? My husband...who happens to be the best Daddy ever to his children.

Some of you may read this and not think very much of it. You may think these are things that all dads do. And maybe in your life, in your world, your dad did stuff like this. But I can tell you from experience, not all dads do these things...trust me, I know! I love my husband for many reasons. And one of those many reasons is because he is a loving and dedicated father to his three children. Life has changed for Jake and his kids drastically over the years. But one thing that has never changed is his love for them and his dedication to being a part of their lives.

Happy Father's Day, Jake! We love you and appreciate you so much!

P.S. Wishing a Happy Father's Day to all you fathers and grandfathers out there! We hope you enjoy your day!

Memorial Day Weekend

I LOVE HOLIDAY WEEKENDS! Especially when they coincide with our weekend with the kids. Why? Because then we have the opportunity to make memories like these:

Celebrating family birthdays...

Happy 7th birthday Beezy!

Hanging out with our cousins...

Playing with friends...
Sharing a nice, cool, wet hug with Auntie Christine...

Getting a lift from super-cool Uncle Tim (which is pretty impressive I mut say!)...

Having some girl time with girls we don't see often enough...

Sharing a summer treat with new family...

Visiting with loved ones...

I love long weekends with Jake and the kids. I love them even more when we have the chance to go "home" together. I love the time we share with great-grandparents, grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins & friends. Our time "home" is usually short and hectic and exhausting....but is always worth it for the memories made.