Lately...

Well hey there August.

This time last year, I was freaking out stressing about our house sale closing, what we would need to bring with us overseas for two years, and worried about how it would all come together.

Has it come together like I thought it would?

Nope.

In some ways it's been better than I'd thought, and in some ways worse.

This time next year (the plan is that) we'll be back in Portland. Dave finishes up teaching next June, and then we plan to visit Europe a bit on our way back to the Pacific Northwest. In August of 2017, we'll hopefully be close to settling into our new house, getting ready for the start up of school and jobs in the Fall.

But for now, a glimpse at life lately...

I've said it a million times before, but it bears repeating.

Our girl is a crafty one.

Give her some paper, markers, tape and a glue stick, and she's content for hours.

She's currently working on a tree for our living room wall...

I sent this picture to David at work and apologized that the majority of his paycheck goes to groceries and scotch tape.

Speaking of our girl, she LOVES to help cook or bake. She'll abandon pretty much anything she's doing to come help out. 

I'll be honest...sometimes I struggle with this. Sometimes I'm in a hurry to get something made, and do not want to take the time to let her try and do it herself, or explain why we're doing each step. 

But most of the time I'm able to remember that she's only young once, and I'm grateful she wants to hang around me in any fashion. 

This boy is such a ham. He is nearly constantly in motion, and almost always looking to make people laugh. He's a charmer as well... 

Sister as Boba Fett...

A handful of the moms in our homeschool co-op had a Mom's Night Out dinner last week, and we had the best time laughing and catching up, sans kids. It's amazing how much conversation you can squeeze into three hours without little ones around =). 

I'm so grateful for this group. My kids have had some fantastic buddies, we've stayed busy with field trips and playdates, and I've made some lifelong friends...

And speaking of buddies, the twins got to play with these sweeties recently...

These four always have a great time together and play SO well. I love to watch their imaginations mingle and see what they come up with together...

It's still wicked hot here...

... and still beige.

Luckily we still have these cats to cuddle with as we hang out inside our apartment...

...and no shortage of dress up clothes and accessories...

I also hit up Pinterest for some craft ideas to keep us busy.

I found this adorable footprint butterfly project that I thought would be fun.

Sister was excited about getting out the paints...

I'm not gonna lie. This craft was a bit of a pain in the ass stressful to complete. 

The kids both giggled and shook as I painted the bottoms of their feet, which made for LOTS of crazy paint lines, paint on the floor, and paint on my hands and really all over my person as their feet and legs flailed about...

After the paint dried, I drew in the butterfly bodies and antenna...

...then I wrote their names and the year in a wispy like fashion as shown on the link.

The end product is pretty darn cute, and I love having their colorful little feetsies up on the wall! 

I may end up framing these and taking them home with us =). 

The kids were feeling a little puny the other day - we'd been out at a friend's house and then running errands, and I think the heat got to them! - so we had a lazy movie watching afternoon and evening. The kids requested all their lovies be with them.

Can you spot the cute boy face in there?

Our kids are not lacking in the stuffed animal department. 

I picked up some cheap coloring books at the grocery store the other day, in hopes of entertaining us, and was super pleased to find both kids interested in coloring for long stretches of time...

And lastly, when the kids are older and ask me what we did in the summer of 2016, my answer will undoubtedly be: "Swim!"

We have been swimming...

...and swimming...

... and then swimming some more...

And that completes life lately around here for our family in Kuwait, August 1st edition =).