Pergola Love...

I have an obsession...

Beautiful Pergolas.

Love them.

Especially rustic ones.

These pictures are a few that I found when we were in Austin.

Beautiful porches too...

This is the best one ever and I think it might be in our backyard before we know it.

It is at the Salt Lick BBQ in Texas.  

I LOVE everything about it.

LOVE.

Color...

I am the first to admit that most of my cleaver ideas for fun things to do with my kids come from Family Fun Magazine, blogs, curriculum's, or other mommies who more than amazing!  I did have ONE original idea recently...and I thought I would share it with anyone who wanted to give it a go.  It originated when I was working on my Three's Sunday School lesson, "God Made Color."  We used it that Sunday and it was a success, so I tried it at home with my kids.  

Sometimes it is warm outside, but not quite hot enough to fully submerge ones self in a kiddie pool that has just been filled with FREEZING cold hose water.  Other days, like today - the humidity is so thick that your camera lens fogs up!  Any day you choose, this is a fun wet and colorful activity for the kiddos.

I started by taking out all of those oversize snack containers that I held on to.  I dropped one colored bath fizzy into each container and let the boys fill them to the top with pool water.  Without my prompting, they were excited to see which color would appear as the water was added.

These are my favorite tub colors.  They are under $5 at Target and you get 100 tablets per container.  They are much cheaper than the crayola ones, and you get the same affect.  I imagine you could just use regular food coloring too, but I have yet to try that.  The tablets are so easy and go a long way.  There are three colors in each container.

I use the primary colors in our water buckets and ask the boys to mix me up concoctions of various colors!  I provide them with various small containers, droppers, turkey basters, and squirt bottles - and they go to town!  We have had HOURS of fun and entertainment...literally - HOURS, which is a huge accomplishment in our home! 

 As the main color buckets begin to empty - I just remind the kids to add another bucket full of water.

There are two challenges with this activity: 

1) Mommy does not like to get wet and the boys like to pour their creations on her and 

2) You have to try to keep the kids from dumping out the three main buckets.  

 

These are some of the "medicines" my little doctors cooked up for me.

  

I hope you get a chance to try this activity with your little ones...It is a great way to get a little wet, learn about primary colors and color mixing, do some fun science, and enjoy the beauty of all the unique colors God created!  Enjoy!

Cousins...

Our boys love their cousins.

It is so fun to see how they interact as Jude and Maddie get older.

Mitch often asks me, "Maddie humming over?"  

He also often requests to see "Dude's" pictures hanging in our cupboard.

Maddie is all smiles when she gets to play with the boys,

and Jack is very gentle to her.

Jude can keep up with my busy boys...

and even give the roughness right back.

I grew up with a lot of cousins and I loved it.

I love that these little ones are making lots of memories together.

Get Aways...

Did you have a happy 4th of July?

We did.  Mostly because we just got away and had fun.

This is my mom...doesn't she look patriotic?

We spent Saturday with her - swimming, golfing, and watching a parade.

On Sunday we headed up to our favorite destination - Lake Superior!!!

We were able to spend some time with my sister and her family.

Can you believe we all fit on one surrey?

Throwing rocks...of course!

Even the daddies had a little competition to see who could throw them the farthest.

I forgot who won...

I took some time soaking up the sun...or being a ham...I forget which one.  

I am pretty good at both.

Jude gets me...

These two cousins are so cute.
They took turns throwing in rocks...

Watch out...

The Dyers

The Bodens

Cousins having tons of fun...waiting for fireworks.

We decided to watch them from our hotel balcony this year.

It was great because the kids could play and be silly...

plus we had delicious Pizza Luce while we waited.

BOOM!

Mitch was a little afraid of the fireworks.  

He wanted to turn the lights back on.

He kept asking, "Can the fireworks see me?"

And saying, "The fireworks are going to get me!"

So, he decided to just go play.

It was a great weekend away - enjoying time with family.

We be Jammin'...

Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho...it's off to the Strawberry Patch we go...

Well, that is after two wrong turns and an extra 30 minutes in the car!

But nonetheless...to the strawberry fields forever

...or at least until we picked ten pounds of berries.

As soon as we got settled into our row, the boys got down to business,

picking and eating YUMMY strawberries!

"Mom, we should do this every year!"

It went very well...I think we might.

The strawberries were soooo good straight from the field.

Pink looks good on them!

And now for the best treat of all (according to the boys),

powdered sugar covered strawberry donuts...YUM!

And tonight, Jack and I set to making our jars of freezer jam.

I had never made it before...and neither had Jack.

My grandma made it every year - a treat we always looked forward to enjoying.

It was NOT as hard as I thought it would be.

We had a great time making the jam from start to finish.

And I am sure we are going to have a great time enjoying all seven jars of jam from start to finish too!

YUM!

Big Boy Bed...

Guess who is moving up in the world?

Mitch has graduated...gradually...finally...to a

BIG BOY BED!

And he was so excited that he did lots of tricks,

Yea Mitch!!

ps...did you notice the bed-rails?  We were not going to go without those again.  For some fun memories...read about Jack's first night in a big boy bed and Mitch's night in the crib: Transition

Monkey Nose...

Jack had three cavities. 

I am embarrassed to admit that.  Really I am. 

We brush his teeth twice a day, limit juice, etc...but nonetheless - three.

As we prepared to go to the dentist, we read the Little Critter book, Just Going to the Dentist.

I love Little Critter books, but this one is NOT a good choice for kids going to get a cavity filled.  Hindsight...

I also thought that if I brought a million distraction items, it would help him transition to the drill better.

Jack, want to watch a movie?

How about a dinosaur?

Would you cooperate if we gave you some floss???

I love floss, mom...but I won't comply.  

Ok, fine...I will try on the "Monkey Nose," but only so that you can snap a picture of me to send to dad - and really it is ONLY because you just promised me that we could go right to Target to get a skateboard.

This does smell like bubble gum.  

And these sunglasses are pretty neat too.

Finally the nitrous oxide took affect.

Does anyone know if they sell this at Target???

Jack became quite engaged in conversation with Dr. Greg...and then told me:

"Mom, I love going to the dentist..."

Finally (after 45 minutes of coercing and a 15 minute procedure) one side of the mouth fixed - 

one cavity filled and sealants of the rest of his molars.

It turns out that all of the distractions I planned just made the process longer and him even more apprehensive.  The book was awful.  It made him fearful of a shot and a drill.  He thought that our dentist was going to harm him and not bring him good.  I should have just left it in the hands of the experts. 

This was apparent at our second visit - for the other side of the mouth.  Jack was completely non-compliant.  He was truly scared and I was truly frustrated.  It was an appointment we had to reschedule.

 For the re-scheduled appointment - I tried a new approach. 

1. I talked with Jack about his fears...a drill, Dr. Greg, the monkey nose

2. I explained to him what would happen at the appointment and our expectations for his behavior

3. We talked about how Dr. Greg was really nice and he would not hurt him.  He was there to help.

4. We reviewed the rewards for a successful appointment and the consequences for disobedience.

(roller blades/clean teeth/good day vs. decay in mouth/no treats until it was fixed)

5. I left the procedure to the experts.  They did all the coercing and I sat back and watch!

SUCCESS

We see a pediatric dentist - and they truly know just how to work with kids.  Dr. Greg walked Jack through the whole procedure.  He told him all about the tools he was using (like his tooth tickler, flashlight, sweeper, Mr. Thirsty, etc.) and never caused him any pain.  He was kind and patient.  In all of this I learned that I just need to let the expert do their job and to better prepare my child.  

At least this has all been memorable...