Saturday, June 25, 2011

The Things I Got Today...

...some much needed extra sleep while the girls played nicely together this morning
...haircuts for the girls
...sliders at Applebees *yummo*
...a chuckle over the misunderstood facebook status "heading to Super 8 with hubby this afternoon"
...terrible seats at the movie Super 8
...tears in my eyes during the movie
...Bambi, Backdraft, Lethal Weapon 3, Zombieland, and another movie I can't remember for $2.99 each!
...mosquito bites on my ankles from letting the dog in from outside


By the way, I really enjoyed the movie...if you have a chance to go I would recommend it. The perfect blend of comical, heartwarming, intense, and sci-fi...reminded me a bit of E.T....

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Summer Softball

Firebug and I have been enjoying youth ministry for about 8 (!) years now, and one of the greatest rewards is watching the boys grow from scrawny, annoying, cocky little 7th graders into young men of character....this summer Firebug has been having a blast playing on a softball team with a group of them. With 3 little ones, I've only made it to one game, but have heard positive gossip about the team from several sources in the church. I'm so proud of their team spirit, good sportsmanship, and focus on God...not to mention they are pretty darn good! Here's some pictures of "my" boys...I think Firebug blends in pretty well with those young 'uns (he smashed 2 out of the park last week!)


Giving thanks after the win






Wednesday, June 22, 2011

It's ok...

...if your kids spent the day in dress-up clothes
...if the laundry didn't get done
...if you drank an extra Diet Coke or two to get through the day
...if your baby slam-dunked his head against a pointy object-again
...if your dog is outside barking while you blog
...if your menu plan consists of a few scribbled meal ideas on a post-it
...if the house got cleaned only to be messy again 2 minutes later
...if breakfast consisted of cold cereal eaten in front of the television
...if your dog ate the rest of the pizza out of the garbage

Because you also....
...gave your kids the creativity to express themselves through clothing
...took the kids to library Summer Reading instead of starting the laundry
...promised yourself you'd drink extra water later
...cuddled your baby when he cried
...helped your dog learn it's ok to be outside alone sometimes
...resisted the siren call of McDonald's and fed your kids a "nutritious" lunch
..."messed up" your clean house by setting up the Hot Wheels city
...limited morning t.v. to the one show
...minimized household food waste!

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Catching Up

I have all these blog posts rattling around, but I'm too lazy to get the pics that illustrate them on to the computer, so upcoming posts will include...

-how I turned an old door into a garden chalkboard
-update on the pantry organization (all that's left to do is label the jars, yay!)
-detailed plans for summer "unschooling" plus our daily schedule
-summer softball pics

In the meantime, a little update on this crazy thing I call my life:

Summer is going AMAZING...I worried like crazy how I would handle having all 3 kids home (especially since the kindergardener is my challenge), but should have known God had it all worked out. For the first time in mommyhood, I feel like my priorities are clicking into place-for the most part-and I'm looking forward to every new day as a mom. The first week school was out I sat down and made a summer plan...what our days would look like, what events we had on our calendar, ideas to promote learning, etc....the biggest change is that the day revolves around the kids instead of chores and housework. Strangely, most everything is still getting done, and what isn't, I'm not stressing over. Our days are spent walking the dog, reading books together and doing themed projects, playing outside in the yard and at the park, playdates with friends, and lots of time at the library for Summer Reading. I'm still working out the details on growing Goldilocks' math skills, but we're trying to spend time a few days a week on speech, and she is having fun with reading and writing nearly every day. I'm looking forward to enjoying the rest of this laid-back summer and am so thankful that God is working on my heart and my attitude--my newfound enthusiasm has definitely translated into more peace in our home.

In other news, Hardware Hank is dusting the floors as I type, and will soon be full out crawling. His favorite destination is the dog's chew hoof....although he's been known to enjoy a rawhide bone or two as well. He's growing up before our eyes, hopefully adding on some poundage to even out the first percentile weight/80th percentile head size discrepancy. Curls are popping up in the humidity, and he is learning to say "mum mum mum" "dadadad" and "yayaya" (Amelia).