Hi!


I'm Shay! I’m a cookbook author, lifestyle blogger, travel agency owner, wife and mama who loves making every day special for my family.

Read more

Mix & Match Mama

Ashby, Everyday Life ·

Ashby is 9 PLUS it’s our Summer of Fun 2021!


Oh my goodness, there is so much happening today!

The MOST important thing being that…

…Ashby Shull is NINE YEARS OLD!!!!!

Oh my goodness, we can hardly believe it!

…nine is SO BIG!!!

…it seems like yesterday that Ashby was celebrating her 3rd birthday with us (our first to get to celebrate with her), and now, she’s nine.

…oh my heart.  Babies just don’t keep.

Sweet Ashby has just grown and blossomed and truly become such an amazing big kid.  Andrew and I are so proud of her and cannot wait to see how much she continues to thrive at nine.  We are going to have a family dinner tonight for Ashby and then she has big plans for the rest of the week.  She picked out what she wanted to do to celebrate and that’s happening tomorrow (more details to come!), and then this weekend, she is getting to have an extra fun sleepover with Lovie and Papa Jay to celebrate too…so lots of partying and celebrating is in our future.  Today, I’m going to get in as many kisses and hugs as I can.  I cannot believe this sweet baby girl of ours is NINE!!!

Today, we also have our monthly…

…Let’s Look!

If you don’t know what this is, once a month, Erika and I do a little link up where we “look” at different aspects of our lives (and then if you blog, you share and link up too!).  It’s often a random little assortment of topics.

In January, we looked at our coffee bar areas.
In February, we looked at our love languages.
In March, we looked at a perfect night in.
In April, we looked at our fridge and pantry.
In May, we looked at our outdoor organization.

And today, we’re looking at our SUMMER BUCKET LIST !

In our family, we’ve always called it…

…our annual SUMMER OF FUN list!

Except this time…Summer of Fun 2021 really has a great ring to it, so I’m extra excited. 😉

If you’re new around here, every year since 2014, I sit down with my kiddos and we come up with a list of things we want to do over the summer.  Some of it’s free, some of it costs money, it’s all a little random, but it’s all a lot of fun!  Each year, we really do check these things off this list all season long, and it’s especially helpful on those days when you wake up and just don’t know what to do.

If you have younger kiddos and want to see what lists my kids created in years past, here are links to them all…
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020: Last year, we didn’t create a list…I’m blaming COVID and loooooooots of time at home 😉

So, here is our list for this year…but if you have other suggestions, PLEASE SHARE TOO!!!!  It’s always so helpful to have ideas in advance!!

One of my rules is that this list needs to be things we can ALL do together.  That being said, I’m pretty sure you can tell what suggestion was specifically Smith on this list…and even though the other three kids said they would comply and touch a snake, I.AM.OUT.  No thank you.  Not going to happen.  I’m really hoping I can’t find any snakes for any of us to touch 😉 .

Okay, now it’s your turn!!  What are some SUMMER OF FUN 2021 suggestions from your family?  Please comment and share!

Next month on Let’s Look…

…it’s all about Bathroom Organization 🙂 .

Okay, I’m off to celebrate Ashby all day! If you blogged along with us today, don’t forget to link up at the bottom.

Happy Birthday, Ashby!!!!!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter


Print Friendly, PDF & Email

You’ll Also Love

Lucky Me
Ashby update
Dinner with Friends

Comments

  2. Jami says

    Happy Birthday to your sweet girl! She looks so happy & joyous ◡̈ many prayers always. Xo

  4. Beth Millar says

    Special birthday wishes for the most dynamic and determined girl-from Ottawa Canada! ??

  5. Erika Slaughter says

    ASHBY SHULL is NINE!!! HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to one of the sweetest girls I know! She’s strong, she’s so happy, she’s easy going, and she’s one of my FAVORITE people! Ashby Shull we love you BIG, sweet girl! I hope you have the BEST day today!
    XO

  6. Melissa Terry says

    Happy birthday, sweet Ashby! That picture of her in her bathing suit on her 3rd birthday will melt your heart for sure xo

    We call it the Summer Fun List in our house and have been doing it since my rising Junior son was in preschool. It’s my favorite and something we all look forward to each year. This year we have 2 of the same activities-making homemade ice cream sandwiches and watching an outdoor movie. I love seeing what other families do for this each year.

    We also have horseback riding, family water balloon fight, visiting a local museum, sending soldier thank you cards (through Operation Gratitude) and a family book club selection along with a few other staples we repeat each year. Our list is a mix of free, inexpensive and splurge activities as well. So much fun!

  7. Sheaffer Sims says

    HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ASHBY!!!! I hope y’all spoil her rotten all week long. Goodness knows she deserves it!

  8. Amy Heinl says

    Happiest of birthdays Sweet Ashby…may you be showered with love and many happy moments today and this weekend. Enjoy your special day.

    We are doing a backyard carnival with another family this summer. We are renting all kind of carnival games and a bounce house and some other inflatables. We are also renting a snow cone and cotton candy machine and are going to make a day and night of it. We also have pool so we will be swimming.

    We are also going to rent RV and go true camping at a campground. We have never done this before but we got lots next to each other and the campground we are staying st had all kind of kids programs free so we are taking a long weekend to give it a try. There are 10 in our combined groups so very slimline to what you and Erika do. I think it will be a great new experience for us

  9. Kristine says

    HBD sweet Ashby! I have a 9 yo daughter as well…they’re the best! Also, love your summer bucket list! They are all things my kids would do! They also want to go to the water park and go to a Minnesota Twins baseball game. 🙂 I think a road trip (to Colorado?) would be fun too!

  10. Heather Hawkins says

    Happy 9th Birthday to Ashby! It’s her Golden Birthday….9 on the 9th!!! ?

  11. Taylor R says

    When I was reading the list I thought “Learn how to dive” said “Learn how to dRive” and was wondering when your kids got so big?! But then I re-read 🙂 Enjoy your super fun summer as a family!! We are currently enjoying our summer as well, ty Jesus! <3

  12. Carol says

    Happy Birthday sweet Ashby. Celebrate big! and Enjoy your day! Wow, seems like yesterday we were reading about Ashby becoming part of your family. It has been a joy reading and watching her grow. God had a plan and has great plans for this sweet little girl. He knew that she needed you and Andrew for her parents. She is truly Blessed having both of you, and a loving family.

  13. Anneka says

    Happy, happy Birthday Ashby! 9 is so big. I hope you have a fantastic weekend of parties! We’re doing our second weekend of 1st birthday celebrations for my baby this weekend too!

  19. Tracy W Doubts says

    Happy Birthday Ashby!! Hope you have lots and lots of fun this week!! Can’t wait until “Bathroom Organization” in July.

  22. Carly Day says

    Happy birthday to Ashby! Also, pretty sure you can touch snakes at the Fort Worth zoo 🙂

  23. Arika says

    I hope Ashby has a great day. FYI in case you haven’t seen it, I saw that Taylor Jenkins Reid has a new book out called Malibu Rising. Looks like a good beach read!

  24. Patty Anderson says

    Happy birthday, beautiful Ashby! May you be loved and celebrated extra hard today!

  25. Rebecca Jo Vincent says

    9… I honestly couldnt believe that. Growing up so fast! Happy Birthday Ashby!

  26. Ruth says

    Uhmm yeah, my babysitter texts me last week that she thinks there is a rattlesnake in my yard trying to catch a gopher and my cats were trying to kill the snake? long story short, it was not a rattlesnake, it was actually a gopher snake and it was still in our yard eating the gopher. No thank you! Have a very happy summer and Happy Birthday sweet Ashby!

  27. Julie says

    Oh Shay! I read too quickly on the list of your summer fun and thought it said ‘learn to drive” not “learn to dive” LOL! I was thinking, hmmm, they get kids started early over there! Too funny.

    I love making these types of lists with my kids even though they are older now-11, 13 and 15. Always so fun to see what they come up with! We re-did our kitchen this past winter and it’ll be ready any day now, so I’m sure a lot of their list will involve baking projects and I can’t wait for it all.

    Happy Birthday to amazing Ashby! I hope she has a fabulous week celebrating.

  28. Ruth says

    Uhmm yeah, I prefer snakes over say, mice. I mean I’ve caught snakes, held them, etc. But then last week my babysitter texts me that she thinks there is a rattlesnake in my yard trying to catch a gopher and my cats were trying to kill the snake? long story short, it was not a rattlesnake, it was actually a gopher snake and it was still in our yard eating the gopher when we got home. No thank you! Now I’m on high alert every time I step into my yard. But on a much non-snake note, have a very happy summer and Happy Birthday sweet Ashby! Can’t wait to see all of her celebrations?

  31. Tonya says

    I saw tennis on your list. Have you considered trying Pickleball? The court is smaller and you play with a paddle and a wiffle ball. It’s the fastest growing sport in the country right now. I heard they were building a Chicken N Pickle location between Dallas and Ft Worth, not sure if it’s open yet or not. If not, put it on your list next time you’re in San Antonio. They offer indoor and outdoor pickleball courts, cornhole, throw an ax, giant Jinga, etc. I was there last night just to have dinner, the food is really good. I enjoyed watching others play while I ate but I love to play the game myself. Great family atmosphere, great family fun!

  32. Lindsay Bull says

    We made our very first ‘bucket list’ for the sunmer! I remember you posting yours before! My kids are younger, almost 5 and 3. They REALLy want to go out for donuts in their jammies!

  33. Deena says

    Happy 9th Birthday, sweet Ashby!

    I wish I had thought of the summer list when our sons were young. Pretty sure I wouldn’t want to have anything to do with touching a snake, though. Have a great summer!

  34. Ali J. says

    Not sure about your part of the country but where I live, just outside of Chicago in Northwest Indiana, we have this guy called The Reptile Guy. He comes to your house/library/party place and does a presentation on all his “friends” (some are not reptiles, like his tarantula). One year my niece asked if she could have this guy at my house and I said nope, I’d have to burn my house down if one of the snakes got out. Just a suggestion!!

  35. Joanne says

    We tried camping out in our backyard one year.. never again! LOL. I am just not a camper and both myself and my youngest son got eaten alive. It was definitely something they all remember and talk about though so it was worth the itching for the family memories.

  36. Ashley says

    Happy Birthday beautiful Ashby!!!

    I have Friday afternoons off this summer so I am going to be hanging out with my 5 year old nephew and 12 year old niece. Here are some things I have on our list:

    – Go roller skating (I bought him his first pair for his birthday)
    – Go to the Frisco Fair (ends June 13th)
    – Summer Lunch-n-Play at Legacy Hall
    – Visit the Heritage Farmstead Museum in Plano (there is also a petting zoo)
    – Visit Safari Run
    – Make ice cream in a bag
    – Squirt gun painting
    – Glow in the dark Easter egg hunt
    – Make tie dye t-shirts

  39. Patrice Bennett says

    HAPPY BIRTHDAY ASHBY!!! I feel like an old aunt but I cant believe she is nine!!!

  40. Robin says

    You mentioned making homemade ice cream. Your kiddos might enjoy making something called “Kick the Can” ice cream (I am a retired elementary teacher and I have made it with students in the past). You simply put the ice cream ingredients inside a small coffee can and place it in a larger coffee can with the ice and rock salt surrounding the smaller can. Then you kick it all over the place!
    Through trial and error I discovered that placing the ingredients inside a gallon ziploc bag and taping it shut made things a lot easier when it came to cleanup.

  41. Victoria S says

    I made a summer bucket list for my sister and I the other day, and we’re in our twenties! It’s just too fun to plan out fun things!! And, if you’re not intentional, big summer plans in your head can fall by the wayside. We have mani/pedis, hot yoga, and going to a drive-in movie on our list, to name a few 😉

Subscribe via Email

Copyright © 2024 Mix & Match Mama | Privacy Policy

svg{display:none !important}img{display:none !important}.pf-content img{display:block !important}.pf-size-full, img { max-width: 25% !important; } li svg.detail-icon{width:55px !important}svg{display:none !important} svg{width:55px !important}