Crazy About Silly Bandz

These things are all the rage right now and our kids are loving it! They started collecting them last week when some friends gave them some during VBS so I bought them a few of their own to trade and they are hooked! Normally, we don't get sucked into the "latest thing" but these things are everywhere and really they're just plain fun. I even bought some for myself to trade with them. That seems to be their favorite part is the trading. A couple of nights ago, I was tucking Nicholas into bed and he told me that he'd had the best afternoon ever! I asked him what made it so special and he said it was because Todd and I sat down and traded silly bands with them. It's always the little things.

Happy Birthday Nicholas!

Today, our little Nicky turns eight! We had planned a little party for him, but when Todd came down with strep throat, we had to cancel. Nicholas took it well though. He told me that it was ok because he'd get more time with his family ;) So sweet!

He's enjoyed his day so far starting with building with Legos: (his shark)

Then some video games:

He did this while Megan and Brandon were at VBS this morning.

He chose pizza for lunch and then he opened presents. One of his favorites was this Lego board game, Minotaur. I love the expression on his face :)

After cake they had to play that Minotaur game!

They're now checking out his new video games. It was a great birthday for that little guy :)

A Lazy Afternoon

Yesterday, we got together with my cousin and went to my uncle's house for a swim! The weather was perfect for the water in my uncle's pool....it's not heated ;) The kids had a ball! We got there shortly before my cousin and her kids and had the pool to ourselves for a bit. When I say ourselves I mean our kids because I'm not usually in the water. Cold water and I don't mix ;) Plus I wanted some time to visit with my aunt, uncle,  mom and cousin!

Megan loved this inner tube! That is until it nearly drowned her! She got in the water to try her new floaties while no one was looking. All of a sudden we heard screams. Megan was in the inner tube alone and had slid off enough that it was going over top of her pushing her under. It's so big that she can't keep herself hung over the edge of it. And apparently the stupid floaties didn't work. Kristen and I both ran up onto the deck and jumped in. Fully dressed. With cell phones in our pockets. Not that we cared. Getting to her was, of course, our only thought. Little stinker! Scared us silly! Anyway, she's fine. Maybe a bit more nervous about the water than she was before. Maybe we need to do the swimming lessons thing after all?

Before the drama:

I think she is in the inner tube in every picture I have! The other occupants came and went. She'd share it with anyone as long as she could be in too!

After the drama, no more inner tube. Just the safety of her sister's arms.

Other silliness:

Brandon has to climb this tree every single time we visit. Little monkey :)

This one cracks me up! Nicholas had those big goggles on the whole time!

All in all it was a great way to spend the afternoon!

Portrait of a VBS Teacher

After our friends left, Kristen sat on the couch to chat with me and Megan curled up next to her. Next thing I knew, she was fast asleep! Guess teaching a bunch of kiddies wears even the young out!

The Start of a Great Week

This week, the kids are at VBS. All of them. Without me. I'm not teaching this year and it's weird, BUT also, it's nice to have the time to get a few things done without interruptions.  Or distractions. Because let me tell ya, those little cuties are distracting!

Kristen is teaching this year with Jessie and lucky for me they are teaching Megan's class! Megan is LOVING that :)

Monday was the first day and we had friends over afterward for some playtime. It was a loud and rowdy afternoon, but all the kids played so good together!

Tent building:

Playing in the sprinkler:

After that, the boys went into our messy basement to build and the girls headed upstairs for some girly fun. Megan was thrilled to have someone here who likes to play with dolls! They all had so much fun!

My wonderful helper:

Kristen, you were a big help! Thank you for taking your bothers and sister to VBS this week! They treasure this time with you :)

Fireflies

Lightning bugs only come out in June. When I read that this week, I knew if we wanted to catch any then we'd need to get on the ball as June is more than half over (GAH!). So last night for family night we made our own pizzas, also made a scrumptious fruit cobbler, ate outside on the deck, played games, took a walk, then at dusk, we headed out to catch us some fireflies ;)

Excuse my blurry pictures, they are precious anyway ;) One of these days I'm going to read the manual to my fantastic camera!

We watched them for a bit, then we released them. Megan wasn't too happy about that. She's very much in bugs-are-my-pet mode. She had named all the ones we caught

It was a gorgeous night. I hope we get a chance to get back out for another round of catching lightning bugs soon!

Home with the Little Ones

So, a couple of weeks ago (GAH! I'm always behind!) Brandon had a boyscout campout and Kristen was spending the weekend at her dad's. That left me with the two youngest family members and a raining weekend! We had fun anyway :) but can you believe how much rain and nastiness we've had this spring?!? I'm so glad to see the sun!

Anyway, just days before, I had seen some cute crafts done on my friend, Angi's, blog and decided that might keep our gang entertained on a rainy afternoon. While Todd was getting his camping things ready, I ran errands with the kids and stopped in at the craft store. They had so much fun just picking out what they wanted! I had already planned to get them these small, plaster, bobbleheads to paint so while they were busy picking out which ones they wanted, I scanned the perler bead section. We ended up with a couple of bobbleheads each and a kit of perler beeds with the ocean animals.

To say the crafts were a hit would be an understatement! I told them the crafts were for Saturday since I knew it would be raining all day long and we had plenty to do Friday night. They had me pulling those crafts out before I could even have a cup of coffee Saturday morning! They happily crafted the morning away :)

Megan's:

Nick's:

Then, it was time for painting.

I just realized that I didn't take any completed pictures of these cute bobbleheads! They really did a good job! I'll round them up today for a picture ;) They had so much fun! What else did we do?

Watched a movie and slept in the tent:

Spent some time reading (or napping, whatever):

We had so much fun! One thing I found out is that our kids love crafts ;) Brandon made one of the perler bead crafts on Sunday when he got home! And they've all made several in the two weeks since then. I'm thinking it might be time to up our creative time a bit!

Fashion Camp

This week, Megan had the pleasure of participating in a fashion camp at my friend, Jenny's house. Her oldest daughter, Adrienne, and her friend Nikki put on this little camp for the kindergarten-ish age girls in their circle of friends. It was wonderful! All things girly! Megan had a wonderful time doing the crafts these older girl put together for them. I was so impressed by how organized they were! They had all their supplies and were ready each day for the little "campers" to arrive. On the last day, there was a fashion show for the parents so we could see all the things they made this week.

The girls made this lovely banner welcoming families to the show:

The sweet camp counselors:

Megan was THRILLED to be a part of a real fashion show!

Her princess wave ;)

She made the tee-shirt, flip-flops, bracelet, and a cute little purse that isn't in this picture.

The girls each got a rose. Megan's is still on the kitchen table :)

And by this time, the boys were getting in the picture! Cute little Creux and there's Chas peeking over the banister in the mirror. I have no idea where our boys were at this time. I pretty sure they ran out ASAP!

I think she was stunned by receiving a beautiful flower. So sweet!

Thank you Adrienne and Nikki! You were wonderful counselors!