The Macs

Friday, July 30, 2010

thirty


Happy Birthday to the best husband and daddy around...
at least we sure think so.

Joel,
I love you even more now at thirty
than I did when we were young and twenty.
(Although I still think we are pretty young!)
I hope your thirties are the best.
Happy Birthday!

friday randomness

We've been doing some painting around here.

I have wanted to repaint my dining room and living room a lighter color for awhile.
Joel would tell you that the color is boring,
but I love how it turned out.
(He will love it eventually too!)

My brother-in-law, James, came over yesterday to help me.
We finished the whole dining room in the morning.
We are going to tackle the living room next week.

Levi was very cooperative and slept through almost the whole thing.
He woke up when we were painting the last wall.

He was happy to just watch his Uncle James paint.
I think we are getting these projects done just in time.
Before I know it little Levi is going to be mobile.
I don't think he will just nicely sit in the middle of a mess for very much longer.

Last night we were with Joel's family for a birthday party.
Levi's boy cousins have really cool toys.
Like tractors you can ride on.

We were celebrating Heath's first birthday.
Happy Birthday sweet boy!

During the party the rest of the cousins 
were working on a little surprise for Uncle Joel...
who is turning the big 3-0 today.
Henry has an ongoing joke with Joel.
It involves mustard.

These kids were pretty proud of their mustard message 
they left Joel on our car for his birthday.

We are celebrating Joel's birthday next week.
I am busy planning a party for him,
which is why I felt the need to get some painting done.
Parties always help with getting the undone projects finished, don't they?

* * * * * * * * *

This weekend check out Project Pillowcase. Cheryl is looking for people to join her in making dresses for children in Cebu, Philippines. Can you help?

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

vacation {rocky mountain national park}

Our last day together with Michael and Laura we spent 
driving through Rocky Mountain National Park.
We love going there when we are at the cabin.
The scenery is beautiful and there are tons of hiking trails.

We took Levi on his first hiking experience.
He even had a cool backpack to ride in thanks to
his Gramps and Grammy.

He really liked it.
It looks like he may have to grow into it a little though.

I say we went hiking...
really we just walked along some trails.
Nothing very hard.
We figured that might be all we could handle with three kids.


We stopped half way to have a little picnic.
And to stretch a little too.

Our second "hike" was around Bear Lake.
Every time we stopped for a family picture, 
Hunter wanted to be a part of our family.
He and Joel were buds.



Levi loved being outside and watching all the people.

His little hat kept falling over his eyes though.
It was really frustrating to him.

We drove all the way through over to Estes Park.

We walked around for a while and then stopped for dinner.


I think we were all pretty tired.


Here are the three boys at the end of the day.
We were sensing that they were ready to be done with the Colorado fun.

Michael and Laura left from Estes Park to head back home.
It was sad to say goodbye.
We always have so much fun together.
We went back to the cabin for one more night.

The next day we said goodbye to Grandpa and Grandma.

Levi didn't know what to think of Grandpa's beard.
It was funny how he kept pulling on it.

We wish we could have stayed longer.
We love spending time at the cabin.
Thanks for letting us come Grandpa and Grandma!

Monday, July 26, 2010

monday

Levi and I got to spend the day with my sister.
It was great.
We haven't spent much time together lately.
She is a busy lady.
I had a list of some things I needed in Wichita.
She was really sweet and just came along to hang out.

We started the morning off with some Starbucks.
So good.

I needed some new sunglasses.
I left mine at the park while we were in Colorado.
My sister thought these looked like me.
Nice.
She sent this picture to Joel...
who proceeded to send it back to me after editing it using his new favorite app...
Fat Booth.
Again, nice.
Let's just say that app makes me never want to gain weight.
It is not a good look for me.

We found some good clearance items.
That is always very exciting.

I tried on a bazillion pairs of jeans.
I really wish they made a length between ankle and regular.
That length would be perfect for me.

Anne and Levi watched me try on the bazillion pairs of jeans 
and told me which ones looked good.
Levi is getting his six month pictures taken tomorrow.
I am hoping to get a few family pictures too,
which is why I needed new jeans. :o)

By the afternoon Levi was worn out.
Poor guy.

Thanks for hanging out with me Anne.
Aren't sisters great??

Friday, July 23, 2010

vacation {winter park & grand lake}

Levi was a trooper on this trip. 
We spent LOTS of time in the car.
He never complained until the last hour of the car ride home.
He is a pretty flexible little guy.

We left Colorado Springs and headed up 
to my grandparent's cabin in the mountains. 
We even talked Michael and Laura into coming with us for a few days.

On our way we had to stop at our favorite pizza place in Winter Park...
Hernandos.
It is so yummy.
Can you tell we like to eat?

The crust is hallow around the edges. 
When you get to the end of your pizza 
you are supposed to fill the crust with honey. 
Have you ever eaten pizza that way? 
It is kind of like having dessert at the end.
I love it. 
Joel loves the pizza but doesn't care for the honey so much.

The next day we went into Grand Lake to eat lunch and walk around.

We had planned on doing a little hiking too, 
but it looked like it was about to rain.
We decided that being stuck on a trail in the rain 
with three small children didn't sound like too much fun. 
We made it to the car right before it started pouring.

We spent the afternoon hanging out at the cabin.
I didn't take a picture of the cabin, but it is beautiful.
The boys liked hanging out on the porch with Grandpa.

Levi tried to keep up with Hunter in his walker.
He is getting really fast.

One thing I love about Colorado is the weather.
You can be outside all the time.
A hot day in Colorado still feels so much nicer than a hot day in Kansas.
And the best part...
No humidity.
No wind.
No bugs.

There were hummingbirds flying all around us.

And wildflowers everywhere.
These daisies will always remind me of Cora.
We put one behind her ear when we were at the cabin two years ago.
Sweet, sweet memories.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

vacation {colorado springs}

Before heading to the mountains, we stopped in Colorado Springs to spend some time with our friends Michael and Laura. We love them. We hate that we live so far away though. It has been awesome to see them twice in just three months this year. And we've actually seen Laura three times. Baby Tanner has gotten so big. He is a sweetie.

We did lots of hanging out, went to HomeGoods, ate at Chick-fil-A twice, played with the little boys, ate lots of other delicious food (we are still talking about those yummy ribs Michael), and stayed up too late talking and watching movies. I think trips to HomeGoods and Chick-fil-A might become a tradition whenever we visit.

One evening we went to a park near Michael and Laura's house. The weather was beautiful. I love Colorado. Let's just say a July evening at the park in Kansas wouldn't be quite as lovely.



Since Laura and I have been best friends since fifth grade, we are trying really hard to make our sons be best friends...

and pose for cute pictures together...

and act like they really love each other.
Hunter was trying really hard.



We tried one more time.
One more Hunter and Levi picture.

I love how Levi is crying...

and I love how Hunter is looking at Levi like, 
"What is your problem?"
Funny.