Snapshots of Summer.

Can you believe that it is August already? It is blowing my mind how fast this summer has gone. They say "time flies when you're having fun". I guess that's what it is.

Here a little proof that we've been having some fun...

sandy toes...

fun at The Cape.

ahhh....

little miss "A" was not a happy camper.

Palm trees in Boston...who would've thought?

Cooling off.

Fresh Air.

A couple of weekends ago, we made our way outside of the city to a Retreat Center in New Hampshire for a little outdoor fun. We stayed in a little lodge with beds and a bathroom, and there was a little kitchenette there so, it wasn't necessarily camping but, we were outdoors a lot.

The first night, we decided to cook our dinner over a fire.

Everything tastes better when cooked over an open fire.

Trader Joe's Nitrate Free Hot Dogs are the best!!

Oh, and we had S'mores for dessert, of course!

I love how their feet are propped up on the same rock in this picture. Like Father, like son.

Here's my little hiker with her walking stick.

We took a couple of nature walks. We even saw a wetland, which

was great for an impromptu science lesson taught by my husband.

I took several pictures of them all walking with their sticks,

this one is my favorite!

We had such a fun time. It was really nice to take a break from the hustle and bustle of the city and be in the peace and quiet for a couple of days.

It was like a breath of fresh air...literally. :)

When the Camera is Missing...

We were having an end of Semester picnic for church and a bunch of us were talking around the table when out of the corner of my eye, I see my son, with our camera, posing in strange karate-like positions, attempting to take pictures of himself. He noticed us noticing him and got all embarrased. Here's the evidence...

aww...look how cute and innocent he looks, then....

Watch out!

HI-YA!

This one makes me laugh. Not sure exactly what he was doing.

He was very impressed with himself that day.

Life with kids is never dull. EVER.

And I love it.

Besides, who likes to be bored?

A Princess Party!

So, my little girl turned 5. Yes, I did shed a few tears but, I'm over it now. K had his first "friend" party at age 5 so, naturally we did the same with A because we don't do big parties every year. She wanted a Princess party so, I obliged.

I feel like I need to apologize for these pictures, they are extremely candid and not that great but, they are memories captured. :)

We asked the girls to come dressed in their fancy clothes!

When the girls arrived, they made their own tiaras. I found a tiara template online and cut them out of yellow poster board. I put out glitter glue and sequins and let them go at it.

Then, they decorated their own cupcakes. Chocolate cupcakes with fresh whipped cream (A's choice).

We also played "stick the crown on the frog" for which there are no pictures, sadly.

I loved the look on her face when we were singing "Happy Birthday" to her!

oops! Out of order.

Reaching for the cupcake toppings. We had gummy bears, mini chocolate chips, various colored sprinkles, and slivered almonds, all A's choices. It was sugar overload but, you gotta live it up at least once a year, right? :)

(You can sort of see the frog behind A on the left. I made it out of green and white poster board.)

I also purchased plastic wine glasses from the dollar tree and used them for the ice cream.

A lot of the girls ended up "sprinkling" their ice cream, too!

I wish I had before pictures of the decorations. I had big, pink bows on the birthday girls seat and at each place setting was a fancy glass and pretty necklace. I got all of my decorations at the Dollar Tree! We also played musical statues, where I played music and the girls danced, and when the music stopped they had to freeze like a statue. I guess you could also call it Freeze Dance. We had a blast. Most importantly, A had fun. She said it was her best day ever!

All in all we had 11 kids and 7 adults. It wasn't too bad. I wasn't sure how it would go in such a small space but, we pulled it off.

Five.

My little A turned 5 yesterday *sniff*, and we had a big bash. 10 kids in a small space, it was fun and crazy but, mostly fun. Pictures will come soon but, for now we will carry on the tradition of the birthday interview. Here's how it works... I ask the kiddos questions, they answer and I share with you. Simple, fun, and sometimes funny! So, here goes.

How old are you today? 5

What is your favorite color? green and pink and purple actually.

Favorite toy? Disney Barbies

Favorite song? I like Disney.

Favorite food? Grilled Cheese

Favorite book? Green Eggs and Ham

If you could be anything in the world, what would it be? A dancer, like a ballerina dancer.

Why? I think they're nice.

What is the meaning of life? Jesus (as she points to the sky)

What is your favorite thing to do? going to the Library.

What is the sport you like to play most? Golf. (never played in her life)

Why, golf? I like it.

Do you mean mini-golf? Shakes her head yes.

You like mini-golf? uh-huh!

Do you talk to God? Yes.

What do you say to him? I love him so much and He's the best King ever.

What does He say to you? I'm the best ever and he says he loves me so much.

How does that make you feel? umm...good.

How does it feel to be 5 years old? Really good, it's like I get to relax and play games.

Any last words? nope. bye!

Stay tuned for all the details on the Princess Party!!

Superheroes.

"Mom, do I look like Clark Kent?" He asked while donning his daddy's old sunglasses, sans lenses. "Yes, exactly like him." I replied.

We are at the age of superhero obsession. A week and a half ago we had a mother-son date and we discussed alter-egos and how each superhero got his powers. Here is all that I knew.

Bruce Wayne is Batman

Peter Parker is Spiderman

Clark Kent is Superman

and

Bruce Banner is The Incredible Hulk

Not too bad, right? Well, that obviously was not enough for my curious little 1st grader. He wanted to know how each of his favorites got their powers and the only thing I knew was that Superman was from the planet Krypton and Spiderman was bitten by a radioactive spider, and that was just because of the movies. After doing a little research (thank you Wikipedia), I found out that the way things originated in the comic book series are not how they portray them always in the movies. Should've known better.

Turns out, Spiderman's web slinger-thingy that comes out of his wrist, really wasn't in his skin. In the original comic book series, Peter Parker invented a web slinger that he used.

Also, in the hulk movies and tv show, Bruce Banner was exposed to gamma radiation of some sort, making him turn green whenever he became angry. But, in the comic book it says that he was exposed to a gamma bomb explosion...or something like that.

I figured with all of this research we were doing, we should put it to good use. We are going to turn it into a writing project for school. I though we'd pick a couple of his favorite superheroes,

and write mini-biographies for each one. This should get him excited about writing. (hopefully).

Well, Happy Monday to all. This week is a break week for us so, we will be enjoying the sunshine, (hopefully) and maybe even a picnic or two.

Any spring break plans for you?

my little artist.

He started with this...and ended with this...

This is called "The Colorful City." Here is how he explains it.

" It's a car hauling boxes to move and the people on the left are kids playing with yo-yo's inside of a building. And on the right are colorful windows and people are having dinner inside."

My son loves to paint. Actually, he loves anything to do with arts and crafts. He asks me to save boxes and cans and bottles so he can make things out of them. I love watching him

create. He inspires me to create.

This little work of art is now hanging in our dining room. Every time I look at it

I smile. :)

Boredom.

My kids get bored. Especially in the Winter. And to be perfectly honest, I have just plum run out of ideas. On days when they are really bored, and I'm out of ideas to entertain them...they entertain themselves which I am a HUGE fan of. They have been getting better at playing together without fighting which I am also a HUGE fan of. Other times, they will go their separate ways and maybe color or craft or whatever they are in the mood for. But on this particular day...

They used up all (well most of) "A's" barrettes and hair bows and went to town.

Yes, this was a collaborative effort and yes, I let her wear it like that.

We had people over that night and she received many compliments.

I mean, why wouldn't she, it's very expressive of her personality.

Honestly, If I could pull off wearing all of those accessories in my hair at once, I probably would. Maybe.

What do your kids do when they are bored? Maybe I'll borrow some of your ideas. :)

Dear Spring, I am waiting for you.

Well, I have not kept up with my 30 for 30 challenge, have I? At least I've been blogging a bit more than I was. I do enjoy blogging. It is therapeutic for me. I take a few minutes with a cup of coffee, sit down and type until my little hearts content.

I don't really like to write "sick" posts because frankly, when I read "sick" posts it makes me nervous about getting sick. Weird I know. But, that is life and this blog is about life. And that's what's been happening in my world today.

News around here is that the little one has the tummy bug. Poor baby. This morning she woke up with a tummy ache and didn't eat breakfast. All she wanted to do is lay on the couch. We were having a meeting at our house this morning so, I took her upstairs to rest in our bedroom.

During the meeting my son rushes down the stairs and announces that "A" has thrown up.

I'm sure you don't want to hear the details and I sure don't want to recall them but, she is now sleeping very soundly.

This has been quite the Winter for sickness. For everyone. I don't know about you but, I am ready for Spring. Like yesterday.

Hope you all have a great weekend. I'll be back next week with hopefully something a little more exciting.

{Life} A Little Bit of Crazy.

As you can probably tell by my lack of posting this past week, life has taken over. It is generally pretty busy in our neck of the woods with church stuff, schooling, etc... but this Winter has sort of handed us a double dose of crazy. Yesterday was a little example of this.

You may remember "K's " last emergency room episode only 1 month ago and then only two weeks ago, was stricken with the dreaded stomach bug. Poor kid has had a rough go of it in the sickness department this Winter.

One of my goals this year was to be more intentional about finding male friendships for my son. Most of the moms I know have young girls which is perfect for "A" but, not so much for "K". So, when we joined our homeschool Co-op I was happy to find out that there were boys his age and even a little older. Yesterday, we were invited to a birthday party for one of the boys at an ice skating rink in the City, "K" was beside himself with excitement. This was his first party he's been invited to since moving here. I was excited for him.

Long story short, one of my friends came over and hung out with "A" so I could take "K" to the party. This was only his second time ice skating and once he got out there, he seemed to do very well.

It was nearing the end where we were all getting ready to leave to go across the street to McDonald's to have lunch and cake and ice cream, and as we were getting ready to exit the ice...it happened.

I let him let go of my hand and he attempted to skate on his own for only about 5 seconds and..SMACK! He slipped, fell and hit his face on the ice. I'm sure you can guess the rest. I will spare you the details of this already wordy story.

Here he is in the ER wating ever so patiently for them to stitch him up. We arrived at the hospital around 12:30 and we didn't get a room until almost 4:30. Poor kiddo was a trooper. There was some screaming involved but, that was mostly for the cleaning and numbing.

There was a wonderful staff member whose title was Child Life Specialist. Her job was to inform and distract children during tough procedures such as stitching, surgeries, etc. She was wonderful. Her name was Hillary and I'm so thankful she was there. She gave "K" a game boy to play with while they stitched him up, and she walked him through everything.

Because he missed the rest of the party and lunch, on our way home we stopped at Wendy's and got him a burger and frosty. He was a happy guy. At 7pm and 3 stitches later, we arrived home.

Needless to say, he got a great night's sleep and so did I.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that I fell as well and have a pretty banged up backside so, I'm kind of hobbling around today.

Here's to hoping Spring comes sooner than later!

My Homeschool Journal...

In my life this week... busy, busy. Had my wisdom teeth pulled yesterday so, trying to recuperate.

In our homeschool this week... I'm not sure if I'm supposed to put everything we are learning but, I'll tell a few things. In Kindergarten we've been learning about the Water Cycle and the differences between liquids, solids and gases. She has also been learning to write the letter "W." In first grade we have been doing fractions in math and in our reading and phonics we've been learning that o sometimes says aw and kn says n. He has also been reading the story of Moses and memorizing Proverbs 3:5.

Places we're going and people we're seeing... Today was my husband's day off so he took the kids outside to enjoy this beautiful day and my son got to ride his new bike he just got for his birthday...he was so excited.

Tonight, a friend of mine is performing in an A Cappella concert and I'll be going to that, and tomorrow I get to meet up with a friend for coffee. Fun stuff planned. :)

My favorite thing this week was... Valentine's day and the weather. Can't beat it!

What's working/not working for us... I've been playing around with our schedules a bit. It's been difficult for us to find a rhythm this year. I feel I lack organization in certain areas and have been dropping the ball with things that are important.

Homeschool questions/thoughts I have... Hmm...where to start? I would love some advice on schooling 2 children at the same time, I'm really struggling with that.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share...

my son on his birthday with his new bike!

I'm linked up with The Homeschool Chick today...go check it out!

Thanks for stopping by!

You Can't Use Up Creativity...

Nothing that can be used as a canvas is ever wasted in this house. :)

“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” — Maya Angelou

{School} In our Library Bags...

*I was wanting to post this yesterday but, am just now getting around to it. *grin*

I decided that on Thursdays I would post about school. School is a huge part of our life and I haven't really talked about it much on this blog. I thought that maybe my family and friends might want to read about our school experiences.

Today we went to the Library. It is one of my favorite things to do. I think I like it even more than the kids do, and they love it a lot. One of our biggest issues with going to the library is the amount of books we come home with. A couple of years ago I saw an idea for giving their kids baskets to take to the library to fill with books but, only letting them fill it up with as many as they could carry themselves. I thought that it was a great idea but, instead of using baskets, I went and got some plain tote bags and let the kids decorate them, and that is what we use.

"A" can only carry about 3 books in her bag without complaining that they are too heavy and "K" will literally stuff his bag full and sling it over his back and act like they are not very heavy.

Sometimes I'll bend the rules and carry some for them but, I have the same problem. I leave there with at least 5 books of my own. When I go by myself, I usually come home with an armful of cookbooks and health and nutrition related books. I think I need to make my own library bag.

Just in case you are wondering, here's what ended up in our bags this week...

A's Bag:

Ballet Sisters by Jan Ormerod

Princess Pigtoria and the Pea by Pamela Duncan Edwards

Fancy Nancy Poet Extraordinaire by Jane O'Connor and Robin Preiss Glasser

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst

Barbie Rapunzel

Fancy Nancy and The Posh Puppy by Jane O'Connor

K's Bag:

Marveltown by Bruce McCall

Berenstain Bears and the Wishing Star (Reader) by Stan and Jan Berenstain

Puppy Mudge Takes a Bath (Reader) By Cynthia Rylant

The Patterson Puppies and the Midnight Monster Party by Leslie Patricelli

Black Cowboy Wild Horses A True Story by Julius Lester

Once Upon A Cool Motorcycle Dude by Kevin O'Malley

My Picks:

Pigs will be Pigs by Sharon McGinley-Nalley (we are learning about money in math and that's what this book is about)

Eating Fractions by Bruce McMillan (again, for math)

Aesop's Fables

Games for Writing by Peggy Kaye

What Your First Grader Needs to Know by E.D. Hirsch, JR.

Cooking Up U.S. History By Suzanne I. Barchers and Patricia C. Marden

The Library to me is like a huge treasure chest full of any thing you could ever want to read or learn about....and it's all free. Amazing. I know, I'm a little crazy. *smile*

Do you like the Library? What are some of your favorite things to check out?

7 On The 7th!

K at 18 months. (I think)

Today is my son's 7th Birthday. My, how time flies. He is no longer a little kid. He is a big kid. Please excuse me while I bawl. *sniffling*

I started a little tradition on this blog of conducting Birthday Interviews/conversations. I try to ask the same questions each year because I really enjoy seeing how some of the answers change. It usually starts out with me asking a few questions and then it will often turn into more of a conversation. So, without further ado....K's 7th Birthday Interview.

How old are you today? 7

What is your favorite color? red and blue

Favorite toy? my motorcycles and legos

Favorite song? I like rock and blues.

Favorite food? cheeseburgers and hot dogs

Favorite book? Dr. Seuss books

If you could be anything in the world, what would it be? A motorcycle racer.

Why? because I think motorcycles are cool.

What is the meaning of life? God made us and we should do what God made us to do.

What did He make you to do? Worship God and love other people.

What is your favorite thing to do? Play legos.

What is the sport you like to play most? Soccer because I'm a really good goalie.

Do you talk to God? Yes.

What do you say to him? I just pray. I ask him if he has anything to say to me and He usually does but, sometimes he doesn't.

What does He say to you? He says....today He said he will never leave me and he will never forget me.

How did that make you feel? Good and I'm happy that I'm 7.

How does it feel to be 7 years old? It feels good.

Any last words? This is the best birthday ever! And thank you mommy for setting it up and for making my cake.

*every answer was his own and typed exactly the way he said it.

Happy 7th Birthday to our amazing son! We love you and are so proud of you!!!!

taken 3 days ago.

Cabin Fever...and a few links to help.

Cabin fever is an idiomatic term for a claustrophobic reaction that takes place when a person or group is isolated and/or shut in, in a small space, with nothing to do, for an extended period (as in a simple country vacation cottage during a long rain or snow). Symptoms include restlessness, irritability, irrational frustration with everyday objects, forgetfulness, laughter, excessive sleeping, distrust of anyone they are with, and an urge to go outside even in the rain, snow or dark. (via Wikipedia)

Yep. That's about how I feel right now. Except for the distrust thing and an urge to go out in the snow or dark. I'm sure you can relate. We've been on a lovely little spiral of sickness since after Christmas, it's really crazy. It has been mostly flu-like, with the exception of "K's" little episode where he just had a little of everything. I'm ready for it to be over...pretty much by yesterday.

We don't often get sick like this. In fact, last year we just had a couple of colds and that was it. I haven't gone anywhere except for the grocery store, and I'm pretty much going crazy. And to top it all off, my hubby has been gone for the last 3 days.

So, there's one thing that I do when I feel "cooped-up". I scour the internet for ideas!

Frugal Family Fun Blog has 5 Creative Ways To Beat the Winter Blues. I think the indoor snow blizzard looks like fun. I find myself craving comfort foods all winter long and this Baked Potato Soup from Smitten Kitchen looks like it would hit the spot. We read a lot around here but, especially when we can't go anywhere. The kiddos like reading by the fire. Kara from Simple Kids shares what they have been reading lately.

What are your ideas to cure Cabin Fever?

The Weekend that Was...

Well, it's Monday. All of my days have been sort of blending together lately. I'm surprised I know it is Monday. We have had quite the last few weeks since Christmas. Lovely whirlwinds of sickness have been passing through and have yet to leave.

"A" started off with a perpetual cough with no end in sight. Just a dry cough, nothing more. Then, on Thursday, she had a fever. All day Thursday and Friday, she was feverish then, Saturday the fever was gone but, still coughing. "K" started coughing on Saturday but, woke up Sunday morning coughing more with a high-normal temp of 99.8. Kent left for church at 8:15 and shortly after that, "K" started complaining of a tummy ache. After a little while, it got worse. He started crying out in pain that his tummy was hurting really bad. At first I thought, "Maybe it's a bug, we'll wait it out and see."

Kent got home around 1 in the afternoon and Kole's crying would not stop and he had not thrown up or even gone to the bathroom. I started to get a little nervous. All of the questions started flooding my mind "What if it's appendicitis....what if it's something serious?"

Kent and I decided upon calling the Pediatric Urgent Care and talking to a nurse to see what we should do. I thought surely if he was going to be sick, it would have happened by now and the amount of pain that seemed to be happening was abnormal. He also was barely able to stand up or walk because he said it hurt too much. Another red flag.

I talked to the nurse and explained what had been happening. She asked me several questions and she suggested we take him to the Hospital. Yikes. She was so helpful and kind and she said that even if it is nothing, it is better to be safe than not, especially with the pain he was having and the fact that he hadn't vomited.

So... "K" said he wanted Daddy to take him (he is a HUGE fan of daddy). We got him all dressed and ready to go and just as they were walking out the door....yup. He puked. Not a lot but, he puked nonetheless. Now what? I made a quick call back to the nurse and told her what had happened and she said "if he's still having the pain, just take him in. We don't want to mess around just in case." Off they went.

I will not bore you (any longer) with the rest of the details but, 6 hours, an x-ray, a blood test, and an ultrasound later...nothing. Must have just been a bug I guess but, the weirdest case of the stomach bug I've ever encountered. He never threw up again, he's been able to keep food down. He's better today, a little sluggish and still coughing but, better.

I feel confident in our decision to take him to the hospital just because I never want to take a chance on something being more serious, especially since the nurse was encouraging us to do so. I felt a little silly afterwards but, the way he was acting was so uncharacteristic and strange compared to what I've seen in the stomach bug so, it concerned me.

In the end "K" said his hospital experience was fun because he got his very own can of ginger ale. "Who knew the hospital could be so fun?" he said.

Here's to hoping everyone gets well and we have a better week than the last 4 days have been.

Needless to say...I'm pooped.

P.S. I'm keeping the giveaway open for another day or so. Hopefully we'll get some more entries!

Crazy Snow!

Yesterday morning on the news, they were calling for 1-2 feet of snow for today. Last night, all of the schools were closing in anticipation for this blizzard, even though there was no snow yet.

Well, this morning I woke up to this...

this is what it looks like out my front door.

This is the view from the back door. You can see how close our neighbors are!

There's actually a house directly behind us, too.

So, it's a snow day. Our homeschool co-op was also cancelled so, we're staying home. I know my kids are dying to go out and play in all of the snow. I'm not sure I'm ready to brave it but, we'll see. On days like this I feel like curling up by the fire with a cup of tea or coffee and take a nap. But, the nap part rarely happens. We will finish our school work and see what the rest of the day brings.

Maybe we'll make some snow cream later.

What do you like to do on a snow day?

skating on thin ice...

I dislike winter, it's just way too cold. I've decided after living with cold winters all of my life that if you can find fun things to do in the winter weather than it makes it a little better. So...we decided to introduce our kids to ice skating.

I think I was just as excited as they were when we were planning to go!

They had no idea what to expect. My son had ideas of getting out there

and speeding like a hockey star!

Of course, that did not happen. There were lots

of falls but, no tears. Only laughter and smiles.

We skated for over 2 hours. We didn't

want to leave we were having so much fun.

my arms and back were sore the next day from trying to hold the kids up

and keep them from falling but, thankfully I did not fall.

We really had a good time. It made the wintry day just a little more bearable.

Pint-Sized Fashion.

My littlest is a girly-girl in every sense of the word. She loves to dress up (mainly as a ballerina), to wear jewelry, the occasional lipgloss, must always have some sort of hair accessory on, and asks to wear dresses or her tutu almost every day. I love it. :)

One day before Christmas, I told her to go and get dressed in something comfy and this is what she came up with...

If she can't wear a dress, it's leggings. She also prefers jeggings over regular jeans. She only has one pair of those but, believe me they are getting worn. a lot. :) She has a personality all her own, and style to match...I wouldn't have it any other way.