Mobile Photo Shoot

Sweet Pea has had thing where he wants to wear "long" and "long". A long sleeve shirt and long pants.  It is a nightly struggle when it comes to pajama wearing, but lately it has been somewhat of a struggle during the day.  Our solution?  If his ears start to turn red or I feel sweat on him, he changes clothes to "short" and "short". So far, it has worked well and he knows that when we leave the house, that compromise is no longer valid. Mommy's rules.

So, today he decided he wanted to dress like daddy, which is not a new thing. Almost everyday he wants to wear a belt, just like daddy does!  It's cute, but sometimes the belt is tightened too much, so we're learning the difference between having it on and squeezing you in!

So, today, Sweet Pea and Monkey and I had a short photo shoot.  He wanted to see how handsome he was in pictures and Monkey... well, Monkey just wanted to be silly and be like her brother!  They LOVE having their picture taken!  I can't wait until I find my battery charger for our real camera and can take some better pictures! Until then, my phone will have to do!

He drew a picture of Monkey in her Minnie Mouse costume, which she put on between wardrobe changes for the photo shoot. 

 And this last one is of Monkey in the dress her Grams made her!

I love these kids!!

An early Thanksgiving

I believe we need to have Turkey crossing signs around our town.  One crossed in front (I almost hit it, but boy are they quick and it got out of the way!), one behind me and three were in the yard on the side of the road!

Almost had a nice Thanksgiving dinner tonight!

Sumos and Ninjas and Party Hats, Oh my!!

I really do have some creative kids who love to just sit and make things up. I am so blessed by their thoughtfulness, creativity and desire to explore their imagination and the world beyond them!

And then... 

they are sumo wrestlers 

 

and ninjas...

and put on "party hats".  Ha ha!

What am I going to do with these ankle biters??

(They are so going to kill me when they are older, for this!)

Some peaceful creativity

I needed a few minutes to get some stuff done, so I broke out the paints and posters I bought from the Dollar Tree... instant peacefulness!  The little cherubs painted, shared colors, were creative and enjoyed themselves for almost an hour!  I really should do this more often!

I love how into their creations they are! Definitely some concentration involved here!

Happy Birthday America!!

We had a pretty relaxing Fourth of July holiday weekend.  While we accomplished a little bit around the house, we mostly just enjoyed each other's company.  I was still pretty sick, so we didn't go to any of the celebrations around town, but I mustered up enough strength to go to one of our local fireworks shows on Saturday night.  The kids enjoyed running around and seeing all of the big fireworks.  It was a very late night, but all in all, it was fun!

Happy Birthday America!!!

Mornings with Sweet Pea

I was holding Sweet Pea at the table and noticed once again how tall he has gotten. The boy is huge, I tell ya!

Me: You are getting so big!  You are so long!  Stop growing!  

Sweet Pea: I can't stop growing! I'm supposed to get bigger. So I can drive a car, run on the road, tell children to eat over their plate, not have crumbs in the living room and not to watch TV on Sundays.

Wow! Some things really stick with the guy, don't they?! 

Swimming Lessons

The kids have been taking swimming lessons for a few months now.  When they first started, Sweet Pea was in a class with some 3 and 4 year olds, but since that was the only class they had available and it was his first time in lessons (last year at the Y doesn't count because both kids cried the whole time and hated taking lessons) they put him in the younger class to get better acquainted with the water.  Monkey was with me at the same time in a Mommy & Me class.

Well, this next session, they moved up!  Monkey is in Sweet Pea's old class and Sweet Pea has kids his own age and swimming abilities.  This last Monday, The Hubster had the day off, so he went to lessons with us and I had the opportunity to take some pictures!  My battery was dying so the pictures are hurried and blurry, so forgive that, but enjoy!

They love their lessons at their new place and even get excited about going!  I love that they feel more confident being in the water and aren't afraid of going under or getting their faces wet!  Plus, they look so cute in their little wetsuits!

Get out of my head!!!

I have so much running through my brain right now, it is manifesting itself onto my computer and the gazillion tabs I have open. So, in order to remember what I have been wanting to look at and keep track of it (yes, I know I can just bookmark them all, but how often do I really go back and look at those bookmarks?), I'm just going to link them from here.

What's running around in my brain?  Healthy meals and snack planning, VBS, trip to GA, house closing, trip to WV, house painting and moving, MOPS planning for next year, birthdays, and oh yeah, keeping up with friends and family - including the ones that live in my house!!  I know there is so much more running around up there, but I've got to get it out somewhere.

Crafts:  I love doing crafts and activities with my kids!  Especially in these warmer, icky months when it is unbearable outside, it is fun to do some other stuff in the house.  Here is a great site for fun activities for the younger ones.
I want to make this!  Such a fun and beautiful way to display family rules!

Recipes: I am always looking for new recipes and lately with not having baked much, I really want to get back into it, but with healthier options.

Power Bar Recipe

Primal Magic Bar Cookies

Mediterranean Chicken - We don't eat much pasta or gluten around here, so I have to figure out a substitute for the pasta, but the flavors sound delicious!
Spinach Salad - I keep going back to this and just haven't made it yet!  Ooooh! It looks so yummy!

Resource for Paleo Recipes

Things to do:
Great resource for knowing some of the stuff that is going on around here.  Here's another!
Get rid of the fruit flies!!  Sometimes our bananas get really ripe and I just didn't take the time to cut them up and freeze them for smoothies, so nice little friendly fruit flies come to visit.  This has worked like a charm!

Phew! I feel better now!  Ten tabs down, only eleven to go!

Summer Sun

 I love to swim and while the kids have been taking swimming lessons these past few weeks, it appears that they love the water almost as much as I do.  Monkey would be a close second to me and Sweet Pea, well, he enjoys it once he's in, but it takes him a little while to get used to. 

Before I even married The Hubster, he knew that we would have a house with a pool someday.  So, we found a really great deal on a pool at Big Lots about a month ago, but ended up taking it back as we decided to get a metal frame instead of an easy set.  In the midst of all of these pool decisions, we found a fabulous house, so as we are packing and preparing to move in 3 weeks, we are so glad we didn't put up a big pool in our backyard.  Instead, we got two smaller ones for the kids (for those that like to splash and for those that don't,

 those that like toys in their pool and those that don't, those that want to swim or play in it and well, those that don't).  It has been icky, sticky, gross this week, so I filled up the pools on Tuesday and let the kids enjoy the water.

Oh the fun that they had!