In honor of shark week...

While watching the news last night, they said the average temperature so far for August in Dallas was 107.5.  Seriously.  When the weekends roll around, we want something to do as a family that doesn't break the bank, but is also air-conditioned.  That's not too much to ask for, right?  Usually everyone else in Dallas has our same idea...but this time was a win!

We drove down to Fair Park to visit their children's aquarium.  The downtown aquarium is amazing...and it's pretty obvious some of the "outcast" animals made it to Fair Park, but Knox didn't notice or care.  He spent the first 30 minutes eating cheerios and drinking milk, casually pointing at the tanks.

In fact, at one point I thought Stephen and I were enjoying it more.  The entire place is eye-level for kiddos, and they are able to put their hands in and feel different critters, like this horseshoe crab.  We didn't so much touch this one, but you could if you wanted to!

The albino alligators were a personal favorite.  I think Knox was underwhelmed, as they didn't really move from this position.  But when they did move...CREEPY!

Then the little guys afternoon made a turn for the better.  He was able to get out of his stroller and enter heaven:  Sharks and stingrays.  This little guy came up to the window quite a lot, and Knox loved trying to touch him.

The tiger shark liked to roam around Knox's face, too.  Good thing we weren't in a cage, he would have lost his chubby arms.

Then out of nowhere this creeper popped up.  He was HUGE.  Much bigger than our 15-month old.  Crazy.

His presence led us to think it was ok for Knox to pet all of the smaller stingrays.  He was way more into it than most of the kids much older than him.  That's pretty typical, though.  He's quite the risk-taker.  He loved the slimy Irwin killers, but thankfully was ready to get back into the A/C!

Before we left, we headed to the gift store to see if he would try on this hat.  He left it on for about .032 seconds, and then went wild trying to get it off.  The picture is really blurry, but I couldn't resist.

Very fun place, we'll definitely go back!

Safari Park

Last week we went to Safari Park with the playgroup.  It was a HUGE success, the kids loved it and were worn out by naptime.  There are two locations, Southlake and Plano, and I highly recommend going.  If your kids don't walk yet, it's free!

Knox had a few favorites.

1) The ball pit.

2) Climbing the stairs like a big kid.  I'm thankful he paused to stare at the big kids so I could grab him before he entered the maze of craziness.  I would have been sweating trying to get him out of there.

3) Going down the slide backwards.  I would correct him, and he would flip over before the end.

All of the kids, walking or not, had a great time.  The only snafu was when the big kids came down the slide while the littles were in the ball pit.  We almost lost poor Kennedy (see below--well, her head at least).

Coincidentally, Knox and Mason were twinkies.  Cute boys!  I took about 7 pictures of them "together" and this was the best one.  Ha. 

The train tables were cute, and all had a different theme.  Knox liked taking the cars and trucks and running away with them. 

Sweet Molly.

This picture just cracks me up.  Emily was hanging out on the couch and Knox tried to crash her party.  About 10 seconds after this he tried to get a bit closer and she took off.  Poor Knox.  Not so smooth.

Safari Park was a hit.  We'll be back soon!

Project Life and Feeling Crafty

Project Life.  If you haven't thought about doing this...do it.  I love that I can capture Knox's life, week by week, in an easy and stress free format.  I can get creative, or simply place pictures in their spaces if I don't have time.  I love that I can put it off and list what we did and then go back to print pictures later.  I love it, and you will do.  It's easy...just do it!  Thanks, Becky, for making me a believer :)

One of my favorite things about this project is that it's easy to start whenever you can...so I "started" at Knox's first birthday party and then will chronicle his first year.  I thought it might be funny to open up with his birthday party, so I printed all of his yearly pics and made that the opener.

 I added an insert and kept all of his check-up "report cards."  I love that we can look back on these, and I would have lost them ages ago if I hadn't had this little pocket for them.

I then added our Christmas card, baby dedication, etc. pics just to catch us up to speed!

Then it was birthday time!  I added some of the decor (invitations, cupcake toppers, etc.) to have preserve them so he can see later.

I used Picnik to collage pictures to fit in the 4x6 slots...that way I could get all the pictures I wanted on one page!

If you're wondering what to do on the weeks that you didn't take a lot of pictures, you can always journal more or print off facts, logo's, etc. from where you went, what you did, etc.  See the San Antonio post below for an example!

One of my favorite weeks was the Mavs Game 4 (and their ultimate win).  I added inserts of the newspaper clippings, and then stapled our ticket to the front of the inserts.

There were other things that happened that week, like swim lessons and MNO, so I just differentiated with colors.

Using Picnik, I'm able to add spaces to later journal.  See below:

Sometimes I'm crafty with color schemes...

And keeping things cute and in order.

Other times I try and maximize the amount of pictures...

and focus on the ones that make me smile!

With Project Life, you call the shots.  You can journal as little or as much as you want.  Just make sure you add the dates (see the top left of the below picture) so you can remember when it was.  Becky Higgins has packages that contain all you would ever need, but I started in between her releases.  Later this summer she'll come out with new stuff, so if you need more structure, wait for it! 

Don't be afraid to have a hodge-podge of info on one sheet.  This last week we had random backpack pics, birthday pics, a walk in the park and even a patio remodel.  It's ok!

This pic was taken with my iPhone.  You can use any pictures you have!

Just do it.  It's fun, it's creative and it's life...you can do it!

Now, onto my second obsession...Pinterest.  If you need an invite, just ask.  This website is amazing!!

I've been wanting something for my front door, so I started pinning different ideas. 

This one was ok, loved the flowers.

Loved the penant idea on this one, too.

So...I made a mish mash of the two.

And, you guys.  All of the materials, including spray painting the wreath, cost me $13.11.  I love Michael's and their random sales.  I had some left over letters, so I went ahead and made a "Knock and DIE" sign for the front, too :)

It's not perfect, but let's hope it does the trick!!

Now, get out there and start getting crafty!  Happy Pinning :)

Chalk paint

I keep finding all of these cute menus and fun walls on Pinterest using Chalk Board paint, and I've been dying for a place to do it in my own home.  After thinking about where I could put it, I decided on the kitchen pantry door.  Knox can draw while I cook, thus solving my "can't see the playroom" issue.  For now at least.  The little tube was $4.96, and I still have some left over.

I drew the monkey, though I'm not sure you can call it that.  He drew the rest.  Such talent seeping from the both of us :)

Choos?

I think "Choos" was one of his first words.  He would point to our shoes and want us to put them on.  It probably had nothing to do with the fact that at least 4 pairs are always laying around.  No, not that.  Then one night, Brian was over and he brought his flip flops choos to him and insisted that he put them on.  He gets upset if he sees choos and they are not on your feet.  It's that simple.  Today was no exception.

He got fed up with  me "pretending" to put them on, so he tried them on for size.

Which resulted in a spill...

When I left the room he ran after me, saying "choos?"

Upon entering the living room he found the other one...

I love my little retriever.

oh, and he got to pick out his shirt today.  Ranger it is.

Patio Re-do

Stephen's parents gifted us their old patio furniture when we moved in, so we'd have something on our back patio until we could decide what we wanted to permanantly place there.  Well, two years later we finally switched it out with something a little more permanant. 

This picture isn't really fair.  They had it for a long time before giving it to us, and we didn't so much take care of it.  It's been snowed on, rained on, and the dogs have basically lived on it.  We've put our feet on the rattan table, the squirrels have taken most of the stuffing out of the chairs, etc.  You get the idea.  But it was time for it to GO.  It's found a lovely home elsewhere...and we can move on to the NEW!

We originally went to Home Depot just to get an outdoor rug.  We left with a new patio.



I had a lot of random decorative things around the house that helped pull it together...and Hobby Lobby helped with the rest!  In our attic, we had a few different pictures we weren't using.  I got them out, removed the glass and pictures and simply hung the frames.  I like the way it looks for now.  I'll probably spray paint them later to adjust their colors.

I love the freshness it provides.  I feel like the patio is completely different now.  And yes, that is a water table across from the chairs.  I have a feeling it will be a "furniture piece" for the next few years, and I wouldn't change it :)