In this home...

 Okay, first off, I want to apologize that it's almost the end-ish of August and I've only posted one blog post this month.  We've been trying so hard to enjoy every little last minute of "non-school" life with the family.  We've been going to the pools, to the park, to the library, playing like crazy outside in the yard.

It has been so nice.
We even managed to squeeze in some family photos last weekend.  Of course, the one day we had scheduled them to be done, it was, once again, about 96 degrees outside.  Might not have been as big of a deal if I hadn't planned on all of us wearing jeans, not shorts.  Oh well, we all survived.

Our photographer was really nice and VERY affordable.  We got an hour long photo session, with 100 edited images on a CD for our own personal use (with copy right release to make copies on our own).  She posted some "sneak peek" photos on Facebook that I just adore.  I can't wait to get the rest of the pictures. I've got some outdated pics of the kids just waiting to be updated.

As I was saying, I start school on Tuesday.  I have 3 more semesters of classes left, then a bunch of comp exams (both oral and written), then I can start my dissertation.  That dissertation project itself should take about 1 year to research and write.  I know it will be all worth it, especially with the extra job security and such that comes along with a PhD title.

Here are some cute pics of the kids:

Don't mind Maggie on the counter, just notice what a HAM she is being.  

She really must get that from her Daddy :)

 Beautiful!

And big brother Colin, just being silly.

He still has the best laugh ever.

Colin is really starting to test our patience with his "non-listening" skills he has mastered lately.  

Hopefully this will be something he grows out of rather quickly, cause Brian and I have just had it with having to get after him all the time.  Good thing his bad moments are few and far between...

Oh, and one last project I have been working on...

I saw this "house rules" sign on Etsy that I just fell in love with.

Not falling in love with the price tag, of course ($65).

So, Brian bought me a piece of plywood on clearance for 75 cents, I used some tan paint we already had at the house, and I bought a sample of the dark brown paint at Home Depot for $3.

I printed off the lettering and transferred it on the board, 

then spent the last few nights painting away.

It's definitely not perfect, but I like it a lot!

Not bad, for about $4 compared to $65...

We'll probably hang it up in the front of the house, somewhere near the kitchen.  

It'll be nice reminders for those days when things get really crazy!

WE DO LOVE!!