the lesson of the day (including a tutorial)

we are out of preschool all week and i have a needy, unhappy baby and i have not slept through the night in more than a week. not to mention, that each child woke up several times last night. so, when we woke up this morning everyone was in a great mood. after getting doctor appointments for 5:20 this evening (yes, that is the earliest appointment they had and, yes,i called right when they opened), i realized there was nothing to eat or drink for breakfast. so, we headed to mickey d's in search of a nutritious breakfast full of the the healthiest ingredients. each child got exactly what they ordered. only one didn't through a fit screaming they wanted something different once we arrived home. so, as spencer and i ate our breakfast in peace and quiet, i had an idea. and, once the others collected themselves and ate their breakfast, we began.

i found this stick on the front porch a week or so ago and thought it would be perfect for a mobile.

we hung it with invisible thread. ideally, i would have used monofilament, but this was a in-the-moment project.

i've had this book sitting in the closet for years. any book about being thankful would work, but i love the way pk hallinan's books resonate with my children.

after reading the book, we traced some leaf shapes on leftover cardstock. while carter cut them out, i wrote what miller said on his leaves. then carter wanted me to write her things on her leaves. they both wrote their own names on the back of their leaves.

what they are thankful for is a complete reflection of their personalities. miller included "all the books we have at home" and "all the teachers (specifically ms. donna, ms. carole and ms. molly)" and carter included "stars" (it was listed in the book) and "ms. jennifer".

then we strung them on the invisible thread and hung them on the stick. and, we found an old vent to hang it from in the middle of the room.

while we were worked on this project, we talked about how some people don't have the things we take for granted (food, a home, clothes). after a few minutes, carter said, "it's hard not to whine." and, you know what, she is right. when you have what you need most/all of the time, it is hard not to whine about not having the things you want. it is even harder to teach my children to be thankful when they seem to have even less of an understanding of being in need. true need. 

so, while some tend to skip over the holiday that i often feel obligated to, i will try to put more of a focus on it and the lesson it teaches. because right now, being thankful has to be taught just as much as reading and writing. tell me, what are you thankful for?

but, oh, oh, those summer nights

with the combination of an infant and the sweltering heat and humidity that reeks havoc here each summer, activities outside have been limited for us. sometimes being cooped up inside all day makes my kids (and mommy!) a little crazy. (well, more like all the time.) being bored and somewhat inactive all day also makes for difficult to put to bed kids. so, one night i said put on your pajamas and let's all go outside. after josh got over the initial shock of spending the first couple of hours home from work sweating outside with no visible results in the yard, our time looked a little like this:

bright colors,

sweet drawings

and hopscotch!

we hopped,

tried to hop

and hopped some more.

we learned how to play hopscotch,

successfully hopscotched 

and dreamed of hopscotching. 

when one activity was coming to a close, we came up with another one:

we discussed form,

coordination

and sportmanship.

tennis has become a family favorite. of course, none of this tired them out like i had hoped, but short of running sprints, i'm not sure anything would. and, who knows, we may have the next maria or andy on our hands . . .

photobooth

we decided to add the photobooth as an option for wedding packages, but of course we couldn't do that until we tried it out ourselves. one night while spencer and i shopped for post pregnancy wedding photographer attire, josh and the big kids had a little fun . . .

her new pose anytime she sees a camera

she is definitely not one to shy away from the camera

the result of josh's request for props.

can you find miller?

everyone loves a popsicle!

like daddy,

like daughter!

once again, she tries to do it just like daddy!

funny faces!

love how he is looking at her!

these pictures make me want to leave this up in our house all the time. don't be surprised if it is at the next birthday party! it is seriously fun! 

things are still a little crazy around here, but i plan to start posting regularly again. so, if you are still checking, thank you! i have lots of plans-my reveal, a couple of tutorials, some thriftiness, a 6 mo photo shoot and more!

are you experienced?

the first week we were off from school was a little weird. first, that monday was memorial day and josh was home. then, the temperatures were in the seventies and low eighties. and, finally it was the weekend of the italian festival.

we decided to hit the zoo on that thursday because the weather was so nice and the kids wanted to see more animals. carter spotted this gi-normous flower and decided it should be hers. i am pretty sure that is illegal. or at least frowned upon. 
what do you do when your daughter hijacks a very large and beautiful flower from a plant at a public park? take pictures.
since the shaved ice station wasn't open at members night, we had to get our summer treat even though it was 69 degrees while we were at the zoo. carter complained she was cold after finishing her cherry sno cone. miller, on the other hand . . .
proclaimed he wanted to look like cookie (as in monster).
nice start, buddy.
the next morning, we were meeting friends at our house to walk to the italian festival. it has become an annual tradition. since moving to our house, we have experienced the italian fest whether we actually entered the gates or not. see, we live just a few blocks from the park where the festival is held. therefore, our street looks a little like this for three days & nights each may.
while they do their best to keep our neighborhood clean and the traffic issues to a minimum, there is still some chaos. i think most of it comes from the bitter, elderly home owners that typically reside in our area. they like to block off the front of their home with lawn chairs tied together with jump ropes and twine, or write notes on their cars that state "i live here" and, my favorite, sell drinks and popcorn in their front yard for festival goers to enjoy during their long walk to the park.
here we are entering the park-aren't they too cute!
we then must visit all the random booths and use our cute little faces to steal swings on the tire horse or collect bubble gum from the neighborhood association lady.
then, we hit the face paint booth where we pay tickets for my children to have their faces painted using stencils. yes, i said stencils. carter chose a tulip for her hand. miller wanted a car and the girl showed him a stencil of 1970s and 80s cars. who doesn't want a four door sedan on the side of their face?

how about a baseball? mommy asked. uhhhh . . . she said.
well, at least it didn't last long. i can't say the same thing for his search for the perfect prize.
meanwhile, the girls put on a show with the batons they won playing plinko. in an attempt to use the rest of our tickets, we headed for the sno cones!
miller confidently claimed again that he wanted to look like cookie. he's definitely off to a good start.
carter helps avery with her sno cone after spilling her own and finds it is much easier with a straw. now, don't you know this container was not created by a mom. every single time we buy one, at least part of our top heavy sno cone ends up on the ground. hell-o, why would you do this to me??
oh, seriously. guess where miller's ended up? yeah. his skin was blue. getting closer and closer to looking like cookie. we decided since miller was wearing more of his sno cone than he had eaten, we should head back to the house. somehow we ended up still having tickets left over from the day. when i told josh, he decided to take them back the next day and visit some friends' booths. so, he headed out with carter and miller just in time for naps.
this is miller after arriving at the festival.
carter's favorite thing to do right now-fill in application forms. here she is applying for the neighborhood home owner's association. when she finished, they took daddy to play plinko.


carter tried to help miller pick the perfect prize again. we ended up with tons of candy, 2 batons, an animal mask, squirt guns, and more. then, before heading home, miller tried one more time to look like cookie . . .
that's right, sno cones!
how come she looks like this after a sno cone and he looks like this . . .

really, buddy? what happened to your spoon?
i seriously think miller could stain his clothes if he was only drinking water. oh, well, i guess that is part of being a boy!

**oh, yeah, all the photos from day 1 of the italian fest i hijacked from jennifer's facebook page. my camera battery was dead. thanks, jen, for capturing miller's plight to be a hot blue monster.