I hope you all had a SMASHING FORTH!!!  I had a festive little post all planned out for YOU and couldn’t find one free moment to sit down at the computer! 

We’ve been splashing, frolicking in the sunshine and doing all that CRAZY-FUN-SUMMERTIME stuff!   

If you are local you’ve gotta take a trip to The Paris in downtown Niles.  They serve lunch in VINTAGE LUNCH BOXES!

Interview with Mason (five) about his daddy.  

How old is your dad? 14 years old.  No wait, 17 years old. 

How tall is he? About 17 inches.

How much does he weigh?  100 pounds!

What is your dad’s profession?  He is an Army man. 

What does he do at work all day?  He teaches and sometimes he camps out.

What are your three favorite things to do together?  1. Fishing  2. Sports  3. Swimming

What are his favorite foods? Pizza & Fish

What makes you smile about your dad? When he comes home from long days.

What do you do when you miss your dad? I think about him and make pictures of him.

How did you dad meet your mom?  uhhhhh?????

What is one BIG wish you had about your dad?  For him to never do work again. 

What would you do for your dad if you were with him on Father’s Day?  I’d give him a big hug and a kiss and a card.

What are you dad’s hobbies? [LOVE THIS ANSWER] He likes to play with the kids.  And he likes to catch big fish.

Randy, Dad, Daddio, Daddy, Dada-

You color our world with HAPPINESS and LOVE.

Happy Father’s Day to the man who continues to make all our dreams come true! 

We love you. 

[Blaise with our Peas & Carrots Cake.] 

This face seriously cracks me up.  Somebody likes PEAS!!!!  Guess that’s not too hard considering they are cake peas. 

You can find these adorable seed packets here—- Keeping Life Creative: Seed Packet FREEBIE. 

xoxoxoxoxox!

Sometimes I wonder why I’m so exhausted at the end of the day.

Could it be because I’ve

created 

explored

yelled

cooked

played 

and

cleaned up after these little monsters?

Perhaps.

Still the best gig in town. 

The person that coined the term, “lazy days of summer” did not have KIDS!

No lazy here.

But that’s okay, because I love sharing the energy, enthusiam and joy that my kids have when they are outside enjoying God’s playground. 

Who needs toys when you have DIRT!?

Check out this extraordinary MONSTER party my friend Kate {her blog here} put on this weekend!!!

Isn’t this ridiculously amazing???

Party perfection. 

And Kate claims that she isn’t “creative”!!! Ya. Ummmm…  if this isn’t creative brilliance I don’t know what is!

I think my favorite detail might be the family MONSTER TEES! OR maybe that wildly fun birthday-boy hat! Or possibly the monster mustaches!

No way, I can’t pick just one…  LOVE EVERYTHING!

Are you on smile OVERLOAD yet? I sure am.

 I only wish I could have been there to see all this delightfulness in person! 

Thanks for the INSPIRATION Kate. Can’t wait to see you in a few weeks!!!

[If my life wasn't already out-of-control chaotic I'd own of these!]

[If these were healthy, I'd eat one or two or TEN a day.]

[If I could get away with playing a practical joke every single day... I would.]

  I bought these for Randy’s birthday- he asked for some “good polarized sunglasses.” 

He didn’t think I was funny.  

[If I could take the boys putt-putting every weekend... I would. Okay, maybe every other weekend.]

 [If I could get their attention for ONE photo... I'd be pretty tickled.]

 [If I could put to words how simple things like these sparkly shoes brighten my day... I would.]

Sorry guys!

I couldn’t resist! 

 This post is dedicated to my friend, the fabulous & amazing Christy of Beach Brights.  Christy is one the most kind, encouraging and generous people I know. 

She’s feeling blue today and I wanted to cheer her up.  

So Christy it could be worse– 

You could come clean my kids AND my house!   

Answer:  Yes, yes it can!  BUT only if you are a kid!!!

Wash. Dry. Fold. Repeat.

Ya, it’s so much more fun when you PRETENDING!

This was Emerson’s santa gift! 

 Sadly, this poor laundry mat will soon be closing shop… cardboard can only last so long (not long at all in our house!)…  but it was fun while it lasted. 

–A Dazzling Nightlife–

–Amazing Food (although we think this dish gave us a touch of food poisoning)–

—Lots of architectural delightfulness—

 

 –Some hard-to-resist window shopping– 

—My gorgeous and lovely friend Lora—

And this is what happens when you let two crazy photographers loose in the big windy city… 

While most people were shopping we were photographing!

 

{These last four photos:  courtosy of Lora.} 

The only time you’ll ever find me in a photo is when I’m with my photographer friend! The first and last image is Lora catching our reflection in the BEAN. 

Imagine our thrill when nearly 200 SANTA’s showed up at Millenium park!!?  How does that happen?!

We also made the Renegade Handmade craft fair!  Believe it or not I only bought one thing. It was wildly crowded, but I enjoyed drooling over all the amazing creations.

What a weekend!!!! Hope yours was equally as wonderful!

Ohhhh and I almost forgot to add…

The one thing you WILL NOT find in Chicago is a cheap place to—

29 bucks for 2 hours my friends!