Tying Up Loose Ends

We have been enjoying our last days of summer before preschool starts and life gets too crazy again. We have been going on lots of bike rides, swimming at the pool, and just hanging out at home playing and doing little projects.

 For Matthew's birthday, Koyle got him these little wooden train kits. The boys loved painting them and putting them all together. It has been a while since we did a real art project so it felt good to reconnect with our crafty side!

  I think Koyle enjoyed the painting, and playing with the trains more than Matthew, but it was a fun brother activity.

I also made homemade bagels; and if you have never had a hot, fresh bagel right out of the oven you are missing out. They were SOOO yummy. And super easy too. 

The brown ones are not burned, they are cinnamon sugar : ) 

 We also got our extra money for the year and since we had already budgeted our life without it we decided to get two things we have been wanting for a long time. Shelves for our garage, and....a DEEP FREEZER! We spent one night organizing our garage and it is so lovely now. We are especially loving the extra space from not having a million things lined up on the sides of the garage; it is all tucked neatly away on the shelves now.

And I have been working like a crazy lady filling my freezer with freezer meals! Everytime I cook a real dinner, I have been doubling or tripling it and putting meals away for a rainy day.

 One day we made a Rainbow fort and Matthew got to play Donkey Kong with his dad and sleepover in the fort. This time we let Koyle sleep in the fort too. It was more fun to have brother along (remember last time Matthew looked so forlorn all by himself in his fort?) It took Koyle a while to fall asleep, but that is pretty much par for the course these days.

The other day my friend gave me the heads up that Big Lots was having an awesome sale. So we went to check it out and gave each of the boys $2 to pick out whatever they wanted. Matthew found this awesome water slide for $2! We had a lot of fun playing with it, and even Mom and Dad got in on the slip and slide action.

This last project I LOVE LOVE LOVE. I got this old rake from Justin's Grandpa's shed this summer and after a few afternoons of scrubbing it down with baking soda, vinegar, and tin foil, I finally got it up hung up in the boys closet today. Meet my new tie hanger! I so love it, especially because I came up with the idea on my own. Maybe now the boys will wear their ties more that they are on display instead of shoved onto a shelf in the closet. 

Other than this I have been working my little heart out getting everything ready for preschool to start tomorrow. I am so excited, both because tomorrow means all my extra preparations will be complete, and because I am excited to see what this year holds and get to know all our new kiddos. I have also been getting my house cleaned and in order, and having lots of opportunities to serve through Relief Society! I think we are ready for life...at least we will be my 9 am tomorrow : )