Wordless Wednesday

Somebody had a lot to say last week while riding his bucking bronco...



Happy Monday, Friends!

A Boy and His Horse

Nothing comes between this boy and his horse.

...Except maybe breakfast.

Why are snotty noses allowed in June?

Newbie and I both woke up with the stuffiest of stuffy noses this morning.  And they didn't go away.  And I'm thinking we legitimately have colds. And it. is. JUNE.  Ugh.

The worst part?  We had to pass on a fun pool play date with our friends Miss A and Baby B this morning.  There's nothing I dislike more than having to pass on an opportunity to burn a few hours out in the sun by a chlorinated body of water with good friends.  Boo!

The best part? At 2:30 this afternoon I got a call saying I needed to get the house ready for a 3:30 showing TODAY.  Guess what state the house was in?  COMPLETE DISARRAY.  I cannot emphasize enough the "DIS" part of that array.  It was such a mess.  Laundry everywhere, half packed beach bags lining the halls, Opie paraphernalia strewn about.  It looked like a cyclone had blown through the joint.  So instead of crying like I desperately wanted to, I tossed a pile of crackers at Newbie, put on my big girl panties, and ran around the house like a chicken with my head cut off, cleaning and picking up and hauling and stopping every few minutes to guzzle a drink of water because it was HOT and a mama's gotta stay hydrated.

You're right.  That wasn't the best part.  It was another worst part. 

But somehow we got it all done.  I'm thinking it was God answering my constant prayer between when I got the call at 2:30 and when we (me, Opie, and Newbie) left the house at 3:07: "Lord, please help me get this house picked up.  Please help me not cry.  Please help me be a big girl and get this done."  ...and if you think that's not exactly what I prayed over and over again for 37 minutes, you are mistaken, sir!  It was exactly that, and the Lord answered with a "yessiree" because the house looks smashing, and I didn't even cry...until we got to the playground parking lot and I called my mom sobbing. But I'm counting it a win anyway. 

The funny part?  When I called to tell the Hubs we had evacuated the house and somehow got it all picked up he said, "Great job, Honey!  Go get yourself a Dairy Queen!"  And you know what?  I had been in the Dairy Queen drive-thru line for our entire phone conversation anyway.  I love that my man knows me so well.  And also?  I love Oreo Blizzards. ...especially when I'm pregnant.

In other news, I don't know what I'm making for dinner, and the cupboards are empty except for some granola and saltines and maybe some Craisens.  Hmm.... take-out, anyone?

Hope you all are enjoying a less hectic afternoon than us, and that you have something stellar planned for dinner.  If, in fact, you do have something stellar planned for dinner, do you want to come over?  I assure you, the house looks smashing.

Happy Father's Day

Hello, friends!

I wish I had some really cute circa 80's picture to post of my dad and me, but I've been a little lax in the photo department lately, so the chances of me actually getting my hands on an old picture buried in a bag in the back of my mom's spare room closet are a whole lot less than slim today.

Despite my lack of pictures, I'm here to send out a BIG Happy Father's Day(!!!) to my daddy and my wonderful husband and my father-in-law today!  I'm so thankful to be surrounded by such men of integrity, and I'm looking forward to watching Newbie as he follows in their footsteps.

Today Newbie and I are working through a mammoth to-do list involving everything from clipping Opie's nails to doing the laundry to napping and napping and napping again.  This little baby has me completely wiped out ALL of the time.  I remember having the same bout of morning all day sickness with Newbie and a good dose of dizzy with him too.  I spend a lot of my day feeling queasy and woozy, and I'd be lying if I wasn't counting down to the end of my first trimester.  Four more weeks to go, baby. 

In the meantime, I'm napping when Newbie naps, constantly snacking on whatever I can force myself to choke down, and trying to stay distracted.  Newbie helps a lot with the distracted part, as he is all over everything these days, and certainly keeping me on my toes.   Just yesterday, he managed to remove one of our plug covers.  You know, the kind that are suppose to keep babies from playing with the power outlet.  He just up and popped the thing right out.  So new and improved power outlet covers are also on our to-do list around here.  He is keeping me busy!

Another thing that helps me get my mind off of the blah feelings of the first few months of pregnancy?  I've been doing a lot of daydreaming, and my dreaming always takes me here:

Or here:

Or here:



Yum.  I heart vacation. 

Wishing all the wonderful fathers and father figures out there a very Happy Father's Day and hoping the rest of you are finding ways to enjoy your summer!  =)

Long summer days and late summer nights

I know its been awhile, but truth be told, I've been too busy this week to take pictures or hop on the computer to write. 

This summer has brought with it many reasons to sit back and slow down.  The sun hangs low in the sky longer than usual, and the cool summer breeze keeps us away from the computer and wrapped up in life. This week I've spent a lot of time in prayer and reflection and playing with Newbie and the Hubs. I'm thinking that's the way I'd like to spend the bulk of the summer- enjoying time with my family and with my Father and drinking in the long summer days and the late summer nights.

Just a note to say we're still here; we're just taking some time to step back and enjoy the blessings of the season. I'll be back with pictures one of these days. =)

Wishing you all a weekend full of God's goodness and grace.

Mason Jars and Lightening McQueen

To balance out the debbie-downer weekend recap in my last post, I'm popping in with a quick list of all the things that are making me happy today.

Ready?

Happy=

*a fever-free baby boy

*an eight dollar 12-pack of mason jars to replace our old drinking glasses

*a coupon to mail to my sister for a dollar off an eight dollar 12-pack of mason jars so she can get wicked awesome summer drinking glasses as well

*watching my baby master his rocking horse

*Opie didn't bark once during lunch today.  Not once!

*Heaven Is For Real by Todd Burpo...it's currently #1 on the New York Times Bestseller list for non-fiction, and it is incredible.  It was a super quick read that I was able to squeeze in this weekend inbetween rocking my sweet boy and trying to catch a few Z's myself.

*my dear friend from first grade finds out if her first baby is going to be a boy or a girl today...I can't wait to hear!

*we are so close to our family vacation I can taste it.  I'm counting sleep-agains and making a packing pile.

*the Hubs and his ridiculous sense of humor even in the midst of fevers and sleepless nights. I love love love that man.

*my summer reading list.  Somehow over the weekend I ran into a bunch of books I want to read this summer and posted them to the right sidebar. I've finished a couple and can't wait to start the next.  Hoping to add some more fiction to the list soon.

*my Mutte and Grandad.  In just a few short weeks they will be here for a visit, and I cannot wait to spend time with them and watch Newbie show off all of his tricks

*Lightening McQueen.  He makes my baby boy laugh and squeal, and for that, I love him.

*Netflix: Last week they sent me Tangled, and I loved it.  I decided I want a Repunzel birthday for my 26th birthday this year because who wouldn't love a day out on the town complete with a ridiculously good looking hairdo and a moonlit dinner on the water, surrounded by floating lanterns?  Yes, please! The Hubs even admitted it was "good for a Disney movie", and that, my friends, means a lot coming from that guy.

*my popcicle molds.  They are fun and delicious.

... and because there weren't any pictures in my last post, here's a winner with Newbie hanging out in his Huggies denim diapers:

Wishing you all a *happy* Monday!

A long, long weekend

Friday morning Newbie woke up with a temperature.  We thought it was a result of teething.  He's been trying to cut two top teeth for a couple weeks now, and we were thinking that Friday was going to be the day and his body was working over time so temps were rising.

We were wrong, and I knew it that afternoon when Newbie was crying inconsolably and refusing to eat much or play.  By 4:30 Newbie was clearly miserable, and I was desperate to get in to see his doctor before 5:00 rolled around and we were destined for a weekend urgent care center visit.  I'm so not a fan of the urgent care center.  I was starting to think Newbie had an ear infection in the works because he was so clingy and whiny- totally not himself.  Our doc got us in at the last minute, and told us he had a virus that would have him running a fever a feeling pretty crummy most of the weekend.  There weren't any meds he could give us, and I found myself almost wishing he did have an ear infection because at least then we'd have some bubble gum flavored medicine to give him to make us feel like we were doing something to make it better. It is the most awful feeling in the world to see your sweet baby sick and not have any way to make him feel better.

And so began the weekend.  Newbie and I were planning on sleeping over at Grandad and G-Mama's house that night anyway because the Hubs was working late, and I was never more grateful for my mom's help.  Newbie was miserable for the rest of the evening and into the night.  His forehead was beaded in sweat, and his fever barely went down.  He was restless and tossed and turned all night long, waking up every 45 minutes or so to cry and tell me how miserable he was.  I think we both ended up getting a total of maybe three hours of sleep Friday night. 

When Saturday rolled around, the Hubs met up with us at Grandad's house and he and G-Mama helped soothe Newbie while this pregnant mama caught a cat nap to make up for a horrendous night.  When I woke up, Newbie was no better, and that's the way it went the rest of the weekend.  He was all tears and fever and chills with the occasional break when he would calm down and play but still wasn't himself even then.  His fever was still high, and he was incredibly congested and the whole situation was just pitiful. I can't remember ever missing seeing him smile, and this weekend I did.  My poor boy was not feeling well at all.

We spent the night at Grandad's again Saturday night, grateful for another set of hands to help, and wondering how on earth we were going to do this with two this winter if it was so hard with one now.

Saturday night Newbie was a fit of sobs when I finally grabbed a blanket and headed for the rocker on the front porch.  It was chilly and the sun had fallen below the trees, but the silhouettes of branches reached out into the sky, and a few clouds drifted in and out of what had become a dusky night sky.  We snuggled up in the chair, wrapped together in a blanket, and I quietly sang some of our favorite worship songs.  Newbie slowly relaxed and tucked into the warmth of the blanket and the steady rock of the chair.  His eyes were quiet, and we watched the bats swoop in and out of the silhouetted trees. I locked away that moment in my heart forever because it felt so wonderful to hold my sweet boy and see him calm and quiet and maybe feeling a little better for the first time in two full days.  I smiled when I realized I was rocking and singing to my two babies while we sat on the porch drinking in the last bit of the day.  It was a sweet moment in the midst of a horrible weekend, and I was so grateful for the gift of peace that evening.

Later we came inside and the Hubs and I hunkered down for another long night. Newbie was up most of the night again, catching a few short naps on his daddy's chest in the LazyBoy when we were able to get him to relax.  Sunday went about the same until the afternoon when I made a run to the grocery store for more ibuprofen and some vapor bubble bath and Vicks' Baby Rub.  Somewhere inbetween dinner and a vapor bath and pj's, and lots of cuddling, Newbie began to perk up, and though he slept in our room, he slept through the night.

I have never been more happy to see a Monday morning.  He's still not feeling 100 percent, evidenced by his sleepy eyes and snuggles today, but he's definitely past the worst of it. 

We're tackling laundry and house cleaning today between cuddles and playing quietly with Opie.  It's a slow Monday, but a fabulous Monday because it was ushered in with a full night's rest and greeted with a fever-free little boy this morning.  Thankful for the quiet and routine of home today, and looking forward to beautiful week.

The one post that should be 17 posts

We've been so wrapped up in enjoying the sunshine and our Baby #2 news that I've got some catching up to do on the blog-o-la.  In my defense, it has been 90 something degrees here with a heat index of 97, and my laundry has been eating my mudroom, and my son has not been napping well, and all of the above has scared me away from the computer this week.  Also, I thought Tuesday was Friday and I was kinda grumpy about the mix up for a few days afterward. 

But I'm back.  With a slew of pictures and a few updates to share.

Big News #1
For starters, BIG news in my family's little world.  Newbie is going to be a big brother, and I get giddy every time I think about it! ...Which is a lot because I'm tired a lot and slightly nauseous if I don't keep up on a steady stream of goldfish crackers or popsicles.  I'm so looking forward to this pregnancy and really feel good most of the time.  With Newbie the morning sickness didn't really kick-in until week 8 on our Caribbean cruise, (I still want to cry about that...a whole week with a 24 hour all-you-can-eat buffet floating on the gorgeous Caribbean Sea, and I couldn't even stand to walk to that side of the ship!) so I'm wondering if the yucky stuff is just lurking and waiting to knock me off my feet in the next week or so.  But I've been told each pregnancy can be so different from the next that I'm thinking maybe this one won't be a repeat of the 8 weeks of constant nausea I had with Newbie.  Keeping my fingers crossed. =) 

As soon as I found out I was pregnant, I spilled the beans to the Hubs by putting the positive pregnancy test in his cereal bowl for breakfast.  What I lacked in creativity I made up for in happiness.  I was just bursting with the need to share my exciting secret, and all I could think to do was toss that sucker in his cereal bowl while I made his breakfast.  Ha!  I set up a candid camera and caught it all on film.  Not exactly what he was expecting instead of Cheerios that morning, but he was thrilled, and Newbie seemed to catch on because he was giggly and smiley and wired the rest of the morning.  We are so excited to be growing into a family of four!

At that time, Aunt Corndog and Uncle J were down in DisneyWorld, and desperate to spread our news outside of our four walls, we called them and told them.  I should mention we called at seven in the morning and woke them up, but they were good sports about it and were excited for us. Never let anybody tell you those two aren't troopers, because they were.  They squealed and cheered for us despite the fact that we woke them three hours before Mickey was planning on making any kind of appearance.

The Hubs' parents were out of town, and we really wanted to tell them in person, so we decided to wait until they got home, and we headed out to G-Mama and Grandad's house with Newbie dressed up in his Big Brother tee.  We found G-Mama first, and let Newbie run up to her on the driveway.  She just burst into tears, and then when Grandad got home from work, he read the shirt and hit the floor. Newbie knocked him right off his feet. =)

Big News #2
Before I tell you how the other half of the clan found out about Baby #2, I have to share some more BIG news in my family's little world: the Hubs accepted a job offer within the same company at a different branch, and we. are. so. excited!!!  This news came just before we found out we were pregnant with Baby #2, and we can't believe the amount of blessing the Lord poured out on us all in one week! 

We are thrilled because he'll be working closer to where we hope to move. We had a lot of family and friends praying for this job opportunity, and when we found out the Hubs was offered the position, I pulled together a little surprise party to celebrate his new job and to thank our family and friends for supporting us through the process.  We had hot dogs and ice cream and watermelon, and we definitely surprised the socks off of the Hubs when he got home last Tuesday evening!

My little family is so blessed to have such wonderful close friends.  I love my girlfriends.  LOVE them.  And I love that they all come with littles and husbands that are just as much our friends as my girlfriends are.  God has certainly blessed us with an incredible support system in our friends and family, and we are singing His praises for His goodness and provision in this arena. 

To top off the evening and share the news with the rest of our family and friends, we stuck Newbie in his Big Bro shirt and let him run through the living room.  Newbie was fried by the time we changed him into the "big news" shirt, so there was a lot of tears and protesting, but he still got the point across. =) 

Ever since we found out and shared the news, we've just been thanking the Lord for the opportunity to step further into parenthood as parents of two littles.  We are having such a blast raising Newbie, we can't wait to double the fun! 

Newbie's Latest and Greatest
In the wake of our big news, Newbie has been loving this summer.  We've stayed busy eating popsicles and going to the beach and preparing for our family vacation.  He's been growing by leaps and bounds the past month.  He likes to "mow the yard" with his lawn mower in the living room, and he's started filling it up with the little plastic gas can which is just an absolute riot because he is so precise and careful about the way he "fills the tank", and sometimes he gets the pretend mustard bottle and the gas can mixed up.  But it turns out his lawn mower runs just as well on mustard as it does on gasoline, so no harm, no foul there.

Over the course of the last two weeks, he has mastered the "stiff leg".  If we try to put him in his car seat when he doesn't want to go, he will take a deep breath and with all his might, he sticks out and straightens both legs, making it almost impossible to get his little self into his car seat.  Drat.  I could really do without that trick!  It always takes a little pep talk and diversion to get him strapped in, but by golly, we get there.  I wish he could understand his mama is only putting him in that hot car seat to get him to the splash pad!

His new obsession: books and Lightening McQueen.  We read book after book after book every day.  He goes to his little rain gutter bookshelves and brings me each book one by one and we read one before he goes back for another and another. It. is. adorable.  And the Lightening fetish.  Oh, the Lightening fetish!  I'm finding myself scooping up all kinds of Lightening McQueen propaganda because I just can't go for the regular mac and cheese when my little man will do the happy dance if I hand him the box with Lightening McQueen on the front.  We're talking bouncing in place-feet kicking-squealing happy dance in the grocery aisle, folks.  So I'm a sucker for Lightening now.  Newbie has a Lightening McQueen car at his Grandad's house that must have started the whole thing.  Now we've got Lightening sippy cups, a Lightening beach ball waiting in our to-pack pile for vacation and Aunt Corndog and Uncle Jake came home from Disney with a stuffed Lightening that Newbie is crazy about.  Newbie loves his Lightening McQueen stash like his mama likes her Oreo Blizzards. Borderline dangerous.

Festival
Wowza.  If this isn't a purge it all hodge podge post then I don't know what is.  Last but not least, I've got to tell y'all that we went to the festival last week. The Festival takes up a few streets and the city makes a lotta hoopla about it and there are lots of live bands and tons of meat on a stick.  Seriously.  When people described the festival before we went they said, "Yeah, there's a lot of meat on a stick." And you know what?  They were right.

We went with Uncle J and Aunt Corndog because why not?  We're squeezing the life outta this summer, and it just didn't seem right to skip out on the festival.  I'm not going to tell you it was my favorite.  It wasn't.  Mostly because 80 degree weather and lots of people and meat on a stick just isn't really my best game, but Newbie enjoyed sharing shaved ice with each of us and hollering for an encore when the bands finished each song.  Mercy.  He was a loud one.  But we had a good time, despite the heat.  I like to think it was the good company and the shaved ice that trumped the heat and massive amounts of sweaty people pushing and prodding through the streets.

(Aunt Corndog equally as unimpressed with "meat on a stick" as I was, though her meat was in a bun. Not on a stick.)

(Newbie thinks Daddy-O is SO funny!)

Well, its time for me to go enjoy some time with my man.  If you hung in here this long, thanks for sticking around for the ultimate photo/update smorgasbord. Now the Hubs and I are off to catch a little TV. Last night we discovered Swamp People on Netflix, and I'd be lying if I told you we didn't enjoy it, and tonight we're going back for more.  It's a documentary style series that follows a few alligator hunters through the Louisiana bayou.  I had nightmares about alligators all night long, but the thrill of following the hunt is worth the hit.  Last night three guys hauled a 13 foot 800 pound alligator onto their boat and just cruised around the Louisiana bayou with him for a while. In.tri.guing.  I don't know if its the connection to the song my dad sings on the guitar  ("settin' traps in the swamp catchin' anything we can, gotta make a livin' he's a Louisiana man...") or watching the brute strength of these crazy-huge alligators that has me so hooked on this show, but you can bet your bottom dollar the Hubs and I are tuning in again tonight.

All caught up on the blog just in time for another fun-filled summer weekend. I'll try to stay on top of things this time, and maybe my next post won't be 17 posts long. =)

Have a fabulous Friday!

Our Itsy Bitsy Teeny Tiny Itty Bitty Secret

Newbie has a secret that he just can't keep to himself any longer...

Not sure you read that right? Need a double take?

How about a triple take?

(Hooray!!!)

We're thrilled to announce that Newbie is a big brother!  We'll meet his little sidekick in January, and we just can't wait!!!

The Perfect Summer Afternoon

I had a special date night with my little man today.  The Hubs was working late and Newbie and I had a long afternoon ahead of us after a mediocre nap time.  We're talking an hour and a half long nap instead of the three hour nap I was counting on.  I try not to wish the hours away while the Hubs is at work, but its always nice to have a good long afternoon nap to carry us through the evening when Daddy-O works late.  When 4 o'clock rolled around, things weren't lookin' good in the entertainment department. We were both getting cabin fever, so we packed up the beach bag and headed to the park- you know, the Best Ever Park with the beach and the sprinklers and all the awesome.

As soon as we got out of the car, Newbie spotted the splash pad through the gate and was squirming to get out of my arms and head inside.  The sun was hanging low in the sky, and there were only a few cars in the parking lot.  We had the place to ourselves.  It felt like the park was on the verge of falling asleep for the night, and we had slipped in together under the radar. Score.

Usually the beach is all sunscreen and kites and splashing and screaming kids and grumbling parents and abandoned swim diapers, which I love when the sun is high and hot and we're there to suck the life out of summer with everyone else, but it wasn't that way tonight.  Tonight it was calm and quiet, and the waves made a gentle sound as they timidly lapped against the shore, and somehow an afternoon that was headed for disaster suddenly turned into something wonderful.

We made our way out to the beach and found a spot right along the water.  We spotted some minnows darting in and out of the shallow water as we waded in to test the temperature, and Newbie cooed like he does when I say, "Look at that, sweetheart!  Did you see that?!"...His jaw drops a little and he coos while he squints his eyes and concentrates on what I'm asking him to look at, until he finds it and points with his finger then looks back at me and exclaims, "ma ma ma ma ma!" or "da di di dij dij" or a combination of the two. It. is. precious.

The water was the perfect combination of warm and cool- just like tap water.  It was as if the ideal water temperature gave us permission to get the party started.  We crouched down to play in the water, making sure we brought the coveted beach pail.

Then Newbie planted himself at the water's edge and splashed to his heart's content. 

He scoured the shallow water for seaweed (lakeweed?) (eww!) and sampled the sand while his mama was busy pulling up his sinking swim trunks.

He went running off across the beach and came toddling back when I shook the chocolate Teddy Grahams. 

We pulled out more of his beach toys and made his first sand castle...Then we demolished his first sand castle before we put away his toys. 

We went back to the water to wade in just past his knees, then darted back to the sand for more Teddy Grahams. 

When we had our fill of the beach, we scurried over to the splash pad and froze our hineys off while we dashed in and out of the sprinklers.  When Newbie's lips had turned purple and his four teeth were chattering, I wrapped him up in his towel and we waved goodbye to the sprinklers while we headed for a bench where I changed him into dry clothes and he caught his second wind. 

More Teddy Grahams, more running across the park, more Teddy Grahams again, some waving at beach goers who must have decided to stop by after dinner, and then more Teddy Grahams.  We ran ourselves ragged until I finally decided man cannot live on Teddy Grahams alone and we should probably head back home for dinner.

Newbie took his time getting back to the car, picking up sticks and banging them along the tall black steel gate that outlines the perimeter of the beach portion of the park.  I savored every moment watching him toddle along the sidewalk and tucked it away in my mind because I don't know that Newbie and I have ever had more fun together just the two of us. We rallied well after a less than stellar nap situation, and the day turned out to be such a wonderful memory. 


Now he's all tucked in bed and snoozing away and I'm headed to the kitchen to scrounge up the perfect post-dinner snack.

I'm so thankful for a quiet night at the beach with my little boy, and I love summer.  *Love* it.

Wishing you all sweet dreams!

What Blizzard?

"Do I have something on my face?"

Last night Newbie and I went to the park before dinner and met up with some friends to feed the ducks.  While we were waiting at our rendezvous point, we split a blizzard. 

And when I say "split," I mean split.  Each time he took a bite, I would scoop a spoonful for myself and before it even hit my tongue he was signing "more". 

On an entirely unrelated note, I cannot emphasize enough how much I love chubby baby hands.  Yum.

While we shared the blizzard, Newbie was really hamming it up for me. 

Here's just a few of the many faces of Newbie I captured while we were hanging out:

When our friends arrived, we headed out to find the ducks. Once we found them at the pond, the boys went crazy chasing the ducks and tossing eating the bread. It was Newbie's first time getting out of the wagon and really getting after it.  He was so excited!

And don't let this little lady's sweet smile and adorable sundress fool you: she was all over those ducks too.  The best part?  The soles of her shoes had little squeakers in them, so as she chased after the ducks she squeaked with every step.  The faster she ran, the faster she squeaked.  It made for some great entertainment.

Newbie loved running after the ducks, and when his buddy got crafty and ran towards him from across the grass, they managed to corral the two ducks and were within a hands' reach from them.  I adore little boys.  They are SUCH fun!

Another thing I'm adoring?  This little Zutano jumper Newbie's great grandmother, Mutte, got for him.  It is so cute and easy breezy for summer.  I am going to have to keep my eyes peeled for more.  He's sporting a navy and teal striped one today.  He was sneaking around the corner of the kitchen table to play peek-a-boo with me before breakfast this morning:

See? Adorable.  The baby and the striped jumper.  ...and the sleepy morning eyes. *LOVE*

When we got home from the park last night Daddy-O was home so we grilled up some phenomenal kabobs (Thanks, Mom!) and some mac and cheese.  Newbie + mac and cheese = a really good (and messy) time!

(This is what Newbie does now when we say "oh no!" He came up with it on his own, and it cracks me up every time!)

We're off to see what kind of summer we can find today.  June is here, which means every day we are on the search for some sort of summer adventure.  It could be playing in the water table on the porch, eating some watermelon in a diaper, checking out the splash pad, chasing some bugs...you know, anything that screams "Hooray!  It isn't 40 degrees outside!  And hey, look!  The SUN!!!". 

Happy Friday, friends!  Here's hoping you find your own bit of summer to enjoy today. =)