The summer break that was too short.

Jake started his internship today at Harvey & Company LLC in Newport Beach, an investments and acquisitions company that deals mostly with private equity. I don't really know much about any of that but Jake is really excited about it! He's there T/W/TH of every week and it's a long commute and on top of the internship he's taking summer classes for his MBA in accounting and/or finance Tues and Thurs nights in Irvine. He switched to the Irvine campus for the summer because it's close to Newport Beach and he can go straight from Harvey & Co to class on those two nights.  Needless to say the weekends will be a treasured time for our family once again.

His internship is not paid this summer but could lead to a paid one next year. So for now I'll keep up with my slingin' ways and bring in some money any way I can! We always find ways though and feel very blessed by the Lord for that. We've been able to always do fun things as a family and enjoy little treats here and there. One thing's for sure is that I've gotten really good at finding deals! We have some traveling plans for this summer that include a jaunt up to Utah over 4th of July and my 10 year HS reunion in WA during August.

I'm so excited for summertime and can't wait for Cooper to get out of school!!! I like having my kids all day and have plans for lots of things for us to do together. Last week we took a spur of the moment outing to a splash park in Moreno Valley, about 20 or 30 minutes away. I'd been there once before but plan on going a few more times over the summer. Here are a few pictures from that day.

I just love her pretty face.

Mya (cooper's classmate that we babysit)

Cooper had a rough start and didn't get to play till the last 20 minutes or so. That boy can be so feisty sometimes.

waiting for the water buckets to dump

Jack climbing

This park has a sign that CLEARLY states that it's made for ages 2-12. Any kid's foot age 2-8 could easily fall through the bridge, design flaw!

She finally realized it was fun to run through the sprayers and get wet.

Cooper and Cameron (Mya's brother, who we also babysit)

Two pins, one stone and good news.

There are two pinterest projects I've had on my mind and I combined them into one today. I've wanted to make this pallet art for some time but let's be real, it's not gonna happen soon. I also wanted to do this project. So I put the quote from the pallet project onto the canvas one. Voila!

Bought the art at a thrift store for $2 and the vinyl letters at Target for $2.99. The paint I used was a left over sample size I had in my stash.

After putting the stickers where I wanted them I added some water to the paint to have a washed effect so I could still see some of the painting through.

I peeled the stickers after a few minutes (it dried quick out in the sun and probably quicker than straight paint because it had water in it). There was some mess to clean up so I grab some Q-tips then decided to use a wet washcloth.

Used the wet washcloth to rub away some of the paint and add texture to the edges of the painting.

This fine piece of art is going with all the others in the family room. It's a work in progress....Maybe I'll post a picture one day when I feel the time is right? whatever that means.

Also: my plants have started to bud this week(week2); peas, brussel sprouts and carrots. #Griffinthedog has been getting into the buckets a little here and a little there (DANG PUPPY!) but I think he's learning that's a big no-no. Time for more buckets and some new seeds in the next couple of weeks!

***Good news today, Jake's hard work pays off again; he just aced his mid-term for criminal law. When the professor started to talk about scores he said that this was the worst any of his classes had EVER done.

Over half failed, Jake got an A. WHAT A STUD!****

One week down

Well we made it through our first official week of law school and kindergarten! Jake had a whole week of orientation/classes before the first real day of school but he and Cooper shared their first day. We made pancakes and took pictures (which I can't post because the card doesn't fit in the mac :/ ). Jake left shortly after me and the kids. It's nice that we have him in the morning to have breakfast with and read scriptures and pray together. Me and the kids walked Cooper to school every morning. It's about 2mi roundtrip. Can I just tell you that it is SO NICE being able to count on walking out your front door every morning into the sunshine!!! I love walking to school in the morning. Luckily Cooper got AM kindergarten and goes from 8am-1130am. Once Jack, Adele and I make it home we have a snack, work on stuff, play, Adele takes a nap and then we hop in the car to go pick Coop up. It's still too blazing hot to take the kids on a 2 mi walk right around noon. We probably walk both ways come fall. I love getting the workout and I think the kids enjoy being outside in the morning.

Every day that Cooper came home from school he was a little grumpier than the previous day. By Wednesday I had to force him to take a nap. Cooper has never been a napper but he NEEDED it. He came home everyday with stickers on his hands from being a good boy, so I think he's fine at school but by the time he gets home he just emotional and whining about everything!! We also spent a few afternoons swimming at our new friends pool with them. Another reason I love Cali. (You'll read that line a lot... just a warning.) Cooper never seems to be able to remember any kid's names or what he did at school but he is saying that he's having a lot of fun and there haven't been any tears about having to go to school. He's been excited every morning!

Jake has had quite the load so far. But considering all the horror stories we've heard I'm surprised how much time we've actually had with him. We were able to spend some of Tuesday evening with him. Also a good chunk of Saturday. I'm sure it won't be like that every week but he's been super great at working really hard every day and getting the most out of every hour he spends studying so that when he is home, he's HOME. He treats this like a full-time (and then some) job where he decides on a daily basis how long he needs to be at school so he's ready for the next few days.

Although I miss seeing him, I understand he has to be gone a lot. I feel very blessed with how smoothly me and the kids' transition has been into life without him around as much. Me especially. It was a big change going from working a lot and having him around a lot of the time and being able to run errands without kids where we're at now. I know it's a huge blessing living with our friends too. They help me so much every single day. Megan goes running with me in the evening and it's some awesome end of the day therapy! We have some good talks during that hour. Brandon comes home from 12-14 hour days and plays with the kids. They are some awesome friends. We had a nice weekend to gear up for the next week and I am ready for it!