Sun catchers

Last Wednesday was very rainy, so Connor, Megan and I couldn't go to the pool. Megan, Kaylee and I made sun catchers instead. Megan was so detailed with her work!

Tony caught us in the act.

Megan used a lot of paint on those sun catchers!

I enjoyed a little arts and craft time.

Oh Kaylee. Quite the face!

Here are our finished products!

The Mandolin

If you know Tony, you know his mind revolves around music. It's his love and passion in life. He asked me about a month ago how much he could spend on his next musical instrument purchase: a mandolin. I responded with, as long as we can get new windows before winter, go for it!

We are now the proud owners of a beautiful mandolin. Tony, of course, has picked it up quite easily. I haven't had time to experiment and learn how to play. I hope to do so one of these days.

When Tony is playing, Sol likes to get involved. She keeps the case warm for the mandolin.

Both kitties have been quite curious about this new case. They are bummed that they can't climb it like they can my guitar case. 

Here's the proud owner! 

Cat Catch-up

I don't know if you remember, but after the 4th, we had a little cool down. Tony and I took advantage of the cool down and opened up our house. The kitties were ecstatic! They followed me from room to room as I opened up the windows and jumped up on the windowsills.

Here they are in the bathroom window.

We have had some low key air conditioned days this month. It's been hard to get outside to finish up projects that we had on our summer to-do list. The kitties have been taking it easy as well.

Sol usually doesn't slow down, but every once in a while we catch her on her breaks.

Luna has never been a snuggly kitty, but our Sol makes up for it. Put a blanket on your lap, and you also get a kitty there!

Megan has decided that Sol is her very favorite thing about coming to our house. She drags the kitty around everywhere with her. From the looks of it, Sol doesn't mind one bit. 

Sol and I love to lay around with the afghan Aunt Bev made us for our wedding. 

Luna doesn't mind if Tony holds her. Here he is with his 2 friends. 

Lack of Blogs

Hello everyone! It has sure been a while since I gave you some light reading...We've been busy busy busy!

I am writing this to promise new blog posts tonight. I'll give you a brief rundown of what you can expect later: Cute kitty shots, time with Connor and Megan, Jess and Michelle's wedding and Natalie's tee ball game.

Don't be expecting the posts too early in the evening. I have class and a meeting this evening...

A Weekend of Movies!

Yesterday, my cousin Michelle and I went to cool off at the Stewartville pool. While we were there, we ran into our little cousin Megan. She begged and begged to come home with us. So, we spent some time with Connor and Megan after swimming. Then Megan talked me into a slumber party. We decided to make popcorn and stay up late watching a movie. We watched Matilda last night and Annie this morning.

Then this afternoon Matthew and I went to the movie Brave in theaters. What a great movie filled with wonderful music. It's for the older kids, but still good. (PS there was a newborn sitting in the theater right next to us...crazy parents!)

Now even though it's nice outside, I have to be in doing homework. So Matthew and I are going to have a Transformers marathon while I study!

Connor and I are having a slumber party tonight. I wonder what great movies we'll watch together!

Melting on the 4th!

This year, the 4th of July was so incredibly hot, we spent way more time inside than out. The morning started with a visit from Jacque and Kaylee to borrow our grill. We have a giant picnic at Oma Kathe's, and Jacque was making some delicious grilled jalapeno and mushroom poppers!

We headed over to Oma's around 12:30, and the feast began! There was not enough room for all the food that people brought, so Oma had to switch out when a dish went empty. She decided that next year she's assigning 1 dish per person! We all sat outside under the nice canopy tents with sweat literally dripping off of us. It was so uncomfortable. The Smidt girl cousins walked down to Arts in the Park after we were done eating. They didn't have face painting this year, so we settled for some sweet patriotic tattoos. Jacque chose George Washington for her neck...

Laura, Michelle and I went back to my house for a while to cool off. Since there were so many people at Oma's and Grandpa's, the air conditioners weren't producing enough cool air. We laid around for a while, gathered up my friendship bracelet materials and headed back to Grandpa's. We spent the next hour or so grazing on snack food and making bracelets. I made one for Megan and told her she had to be my very best friend now. She agreed!

Then it was time for the parade. Stewartville has a very long parade. It lasts for about an hour and a half. We used to sit at Great Grandma and Grandpa Smidt's house, but since they've passed away we take over King's yard. They're very accepting of the Smidt/Schroeder bunch! Tony made it in time for the parade too!

There were a few Smidt's present on the parade route. Connor as a boyscout. Boy did he throw us a pile of tootsie rolls!

Matt on the tractor like every year. He had a bag full of candy that he only threw to us! It was great :)

And Tyler with his baseball team sponsor. He threw some candy our way as well. 

We had all the girl Smidt cousins there except for Autumn. What a fun day!

Rob and Amy brought a lot of fireworks and sparklers to Grandpas. So we were occupied before the real fireworks started.

I made a heart. 

and Jacque was a bit inappropriate.. :)

Tony spent the entire fireworks show taking pictures. He captured some really neat ones!

Summer Vacation!

Last Monday, Tony and I joined his family at Cedar Point Resort in Remer, MN. We spent the rest of the week relaxing on Big Sand Lake. Our agendas consisted of sleeping in, eating lots, swimming, playing games and enjoying quality family time. Here are just a few shots from our trip this year:

This is Cabin 1, where Tony and I resided again this summer.

Harvey and Uncle Tony and lots of fun playing around. 

Maya finally let me hold her once Brian and Kate hid around the corner!

Maya tried guacamole..yum!

This is the view from our backyard of the cabin.

Tony did some wind surfing (or whatever it's called)

Every so often, Natalie would have to get out of the lake to warm up. Can you see her blue lips?