Little Miss Artsy Pants

In keeping with my trying to be a better mom ... I am now trying to do a "craft of the day." The girls really love to color and do art ... so do I for that matter ... so I thought I would do little projects to try to keep them busy.

Friday's project was little foam hula girls ... they each got to do 2. First they had to glue all the parts on, and then today they finished them up with the glitter glue. After the glue dries, I'm not sure what we'll do with them, but they had fun making them.

This weekend's project was just new coloring books. They use the old ones so fast, and so get really excited when there are new ones to color in.

Today's project is coloring (using markers, which is rare here) wooden dolls. I bought them at Michael's on clearance (I think they were each $1 ... I bought 6) and they are doing just 1 today ...we'll save the others for another day.

They have a lot of fun sitting at the kitchen table coloring together. Unfortunately, Kate isn't old enough to really color, but she is old enough to want to be where they are. Lately, Kate climbs onto a chair, and up onto the table to try to grab whatever the girls are working on. They get seriously annoyed. Time will only fix that problem I guess.

Another One Bites the Dust

Linzi lost her 3rd tooth last night. She kept trying to pull it out and finally it came. It's the other bottom middle tooth .... so now there's a sizable hole. She was very excited! She thinks that the teeth on either side of the hole look like fangs now .... that's funny.

Luckily, the tooth fairy remembered to come last night ... she wasn't late and she didn't need to leave an apology note. That was good.

Linzi is now $1 richer.

Color Me Happy

Isn't that just the picture of sisterly love? They actually stayed happy coloring like that together for a whole 10 minutes.

After that, it was business as usual. Arguing, whining ... you know.

I guess you can't have perfection all of the time.

Journey Around the World

Well we all walked around the world last night. It took about 15 seconds. The girls thought it was pretty fun!

They also threw lots of rocks in the water and tried to skip rocks ... of course, none of them mastered that skill last night ... the big girls put their feet in the water. Tessa was actually scared of the water, but loved to throw the rocks in. She wouldn't get close to the water though, so she kept hitting everyone with the rocks she was throwing.Kate tried to pick up every dirty bird feather she saw. It was fun. The weather was perfect for a night at the park, and a journey around the world.

Ear Premier

We went to the mall this morning .... and Brielle had her ears pierced! She was very brave and only cried a little before the actual piercing. After it was done she was so excited. The rest of the time as we walked through the mall, she admired her ears in all the mirrors ... I think she is very pleased.

It's fun!!

tagged

My mom tagged all of her daughters ... so here goes.

I am - - - having a bad day
I want to be - - - a better mom
I need - - - more hours in the day and more energy
I wish - - - I had a perfectly clean house and great activities for my kids to do everyday
I'm scared - - - of ... um .... let's see .... the laundry pile in my basement
I will never forget - - - how laundry piles up the more you don't do it (that doesn't make want to do it any more though ... funny how that works. It's a vicious cycle)
What the world could do without - - - unrealistic expectations

So now I am supposed to tag someone. Well, I don't think I will. Lucky you! (oooh, I hate it when my bad mood seeps onto the screen)

Tower of Fun

I walked into the family room this morning, and found this. Linzi made it apparently. How she did it, without one of the little girls knocking it down is beyond me ... She must have been bored. I find it amazing that all the girls were just playing and doing things and this was sitting in the corner of the room with no one even trying to touch it. Maybe she threatened them with their lives ... or bribed them to leave it alone. Maybe she did it so quietly that no one even knew it was there.

Interesting girl.

Dance for the Sun

I found a great album! It's called Dance for the Sun by Kira Willey. It a cd of songs for kids ... half the songs are yoga songs, with instructions for doing yoga with kids ... and the others are just fun songs. This song on my play list, Colors ... is one of them. I like that it is music adults will want to listen to, with lyrics children will find fun.

Definitely worth the $9.99 on Itunes.

Book Review: New Moon

New Moon, Stephenie Meyer

Well I read the bulk of this one yesterday and just finished it. (again) I like this one the least out of all of them, but still like it enough to read it again for the, what .... 6th time. Obviously, if you read Twilight you will want to read New Moon as well.

I just find it amazing that Stephenie Meyer can come up with such an interesting story. Where does she get the ideas?

Anyway, on to the next. Eclipse.

Book Review: Twilight

Twilight, Stephenie Meyer

Oh, this is such a good book! Now, this is not the first time I've read it, or the 2nd ... I don't know, maybe the 6th or 7th? (is that pathetic?) I just really find this book entertaining. If you haven't read it yet, you really should. It's just such a good easy read. I am reading the first three in preparation for the 4th, Breaking Dawn to come out. I am excited to read the last one and finally have a finale to the story. I just hope it's the finish I want, and not some messed up, everything gone wrong version.

We'll see in 10 days I guess.

Fancy Free

Look at this! I think I was 19 or 20 in this picture. I have been catching up with Alexis (in the middle) after not talking to her for years, and it's been so funny to remember all the things we used to do. Life was so much easier then I think. Only worrying about myself. I guess I grew up and became an adult. How weird, I think I feel the same.

It's been nice being back in contact with Alexis. Old friends are good. (she's coming for a visit next week ... that will be fun!)

Do You Wig It?

So what do you think? Now we all have matching hair. Well, minus me, of course. The photographer never gets to have any fun! (That was by design in this case)

I told Matt he looked like one of the Jonas brothers .... it's just so stinking realistic ... except the color.

All of a sudden I am a mother of middle aged women with big hair! Look at this picture ... doesn't it look the same? Or this one. (pretty scary!) Well, we had a good laugh!

Berry Lovely

Don't you just love raspberries? I think they are the loveliest berry. Of course, I really like strawberries, and blueberries I can eat like popcorn, but raspberries are just too good. Why do you think that is? Maybe because they are only around for such a short time? Or possibly because they are so expensive? Maybe their fragile nature makes us love them that much more. I don't know .... I do know, however, that they make me smile.

These raspberry muffins are so good. It's almost like raspberry pie in a little package.

I didn't realize how many things you could make with raspberries. There is a whole website devoted to raspberry recipes.

I guess I am not the only one who thinks they are yummy. (I do know that some people hate them ... that is just so sad)

New Haircut

How do you like it? We had to lighten it a little, but don't you think it makes her look older? (The hat is just a new fashion statement for her)

Saturday at the Movies

The girls saw Wall-E Saturday. Tessa's been wanting to see it since the commercials started coming on. They thought it was really good. I was happy to have a quiet time with just Kate and me.

In the afternoon, I got to go see Mamma Mia with a friend. I really loved it! The music was the best, and I think we laughed almost the whole time. It was so hilarious! I would definitely suggest it if you want a good laugh and like musicals.

I guess we filled our quota of entertainment for the weekend. Poor Matt didn't do either of them. He had to work Saturday morning, and then watched the girls so I could go. Luckily, he gets to go to a concert next Saturday.

What's In a Name

Well, normally I don't really care what celebrities are doing...

However, Jessica Alba (you know her ... she's been in movies like Fantastic Four ...) just had a baby June 7th , and they named her ....

ready for it?....

Honor Marie.

Nice huh? So I was reading an article about it, and then glancing at some of the comments that people had made, and people were extremely angry that she was using such a "ridiculous" name. Some of them said things like, "celebrities think they can do the craziest things just because they're celebrities ..." and, "that's the worst name I've ever heard."

Really? Is my name that horrible? I just thought that was interesting.

Boredom Buster

Well, since I was such a bad mom yesterday, I decided today needed to be more exciting. I looked up a play dough recipe .... made the dough .... and voila ... happy kids! Seriously, it only took 10 minutes to make ... super easy!

Colored Play Dough (I doubled this batch)

• 1 cup water
• 1 Tb. vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup salt
• 1 Tb. cream of tartar
• food coloring
• 1 cup flour

1. combine water, oil, salt, cream of tartar, and food coloring in a saucepan and heat until warm.
2. Remove from heat and stir in flour
3. Stir until kneadable, and then knead until smooth
4. The cream of tartar makes this dough last 6 months or longer, so resist the temptation to omit this ingredient if you don't have it on hand
5. store this dough in an airtight container or Ziploc freezer bag

Easy, right? Can you believe that such a thing as play dough can cause extreme excitement? Linzi said "awesome" and Brielle and Tessa were grabbing at it before it was even cool.

Aaaah ... the simple pleasures of our youth! (I can remember feeling like the days during the summer lasted FOREVER .... and just having no cares in the world!)

Superland

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Miley. She was adventurous. She had long brunette hair. One day, she wanted to go adventuring. So out she went into the far woods. She saw bears, foxes, owls, frogs and fish. She kept on walking, walking, walking, and walking. After that she got very very tired, so she sat down under a very shady oak tree. She fell into a deep sleep. After she woke up, she saw a portal! She walked right inside, "wow!" she said. Everyone had a super power. It was either strength, laser vision, or flight. She met a girl and the girl took Miley to her house. After a couple of hours, it was time for Miley to go home. She said "bye" to her new super hero friend Lilly. She traveled back through the woods, past the bears, foxes, owls, frogs and fish. Before she got home she saw 15 eagles and hawks. When she got home, she told her mom and dad she met a super hero girl named Lilly. Her mother said "you have a great imagination!" Her father said "Yes, you really really do."

Written by Brielle Beecher

(I gave Brielle the "assignment" of writing a story ... and told her to write one about a girl who finds a land where everyone has super powers ... this is what she came up with. Very creative I think!)

Mama Called the Doctor

Poor baby! Yesterday evening Matt and I were sitting in our bedroom and the girls were playing upstairs. Normally, Kate is up there with them and everything is great, she goes up and down the stairs with no problems. So yesterday, we are just talking and hear this, "thud, thud, thud, bam, cry." I knew what had happened .... we ran over, picked her up and she was screaming! Oh, I felt so bad. I didn't notice until a few minutes later that she had the biggest lump on her head I've ever seen. It was instantly blue, and raised from her head about an inch. I called the doctor and they said to just really watch her ... heads have nothing to cushion against bruises and bumps, so they always look worse than they are. Luckily, she was acting normal again within 15 minutes. But man, she is going to have a gross bruise. (this picture really doesn't do it justice ... looks much worse in person)

So sad. I think it's hard being a 1 year old with 3 older sisters.

Today

I think they are bored
bored beyond belief
they're sitting around
there is no relief
they've played out of doors
had too many snacks
done some of their chores
and even relaxed
we've had some good yelling
even fighting, it's true
there's been sitting and staring
it's hard to construe
how so much activity
makes girls be so bored
could it possibly mean
they are feeling ignored?
I guess I've been busy
doing the housework
folding and putting away
the laundry I didn't shirk
today was the day
I decided to get it done
and these poor little dears
aren't having enough fun
so alas it is my fault
as the mama I should see
that the boring escape route
is really up to me
I guess I could set down
the laundry for an hour
and play games or read
or just simply empower
these girls with some ideas
of things they could do
to make tedium go bye bye
and happiness pursue

Good Night, Sleep Tight

Kate slept in her own bed last night .... in her own room. In the almost 16 months since she was born, this is the first night she hasn't slept either right next to me in the bed, or right next to the bed.

Okay, so she did happen to wake up 3 different times during the night, so I still haven't had a full night's sleep since she was born, but I would say that part of the night was pretty good.

Hopefully, she'll catch on quickly and stop waking up during the night. I would love to be able to make a post about getting the first full night's sleep since she was born. That will be a momentous occasion.

Book Review: Inkheart

Inkheart, Cornelia Funke

This is a book found in the independent reader section of the book store ... with all the children's books .... but I really liked it.

Meggie is a 12 year old who loves books. Her father, Mortimer is a "book doctor" as she calls him (book binder) ... but one day Meggie finds out that he has a unique talent. When he reads aloud he makes the story come to life .... literally. Things jump out of the pages into the real world. 9 years ago Meggie's father read from a book called Inkheart and not only did some evil men escape the pages, but her mother was sucked into the story. Capricorn, a man so evil his heart is as black as ink, now wants Mo (Meggie's dad) to read from more books and release other evil.

This is an adventure filled with many great things .... fairies, evil monsters, fire eaters .... definitely a good book. There is a sequel which I plan to read called Inkspell .... and the 3rd book in this trilogy comes out this fall .... Inkdeath.

There is also a movie being made that looks interesting.

Sum-Sum-Summertime

What a hot weekend we had! The weather was so nice. We got to play outside and do water balloons (well, Matt and the 3 oldest did them). It's been beautiful weather. I just can't believe that the middle of July is already here. It's so crazy how fast this first half of the summer has gone. What I've loved about summer so far:

• The delicious fresh fruit .... especially cherries and berries .... it's so good!
• Not having to get up and get the girls off to school ... it's nice to have relaxing mornings
• The warm weather .... I love flip flops and short sleeves
• Grilling for dinner .... Saturday we came home from errands and grilled hot dogs and ate outside .... it was so nice.
• The kids can play outside all day if they want .... that's fun for them and quieter for me
• Flowers .... my front porch is in full bloom ... it's so pretty!
• Fresh air ... I love having the windows open in the morning with the nice breeze coming in

This is just a lovely summer! Matt has a week off in August and I can't wait .... we will be going to the ocean and doing other fun things.

Before we know it, summer will be over. (Fall is my favorite season though, so I don't mind it!)

The Golden Pool

We went to the Farmer's Market again this morning to get more raspberries.

They were almost sold out when we got there only an hour after it opened ... and the price was $2 more than last week.

I guess they're a hot commodity around here.

They are good!

We also decided to go get a little pool for the girls to play in on our back deck .... nothing big, but just enough to have some "cool" fun.

They definitely enjoyed it.

Brielle of course was drenched within 10 seconds of being in the pool. Linzi got wet but kept getting out and drying off ... and Tessa didn't ever get super wet, just kind of stood in the pool and laughed; she also thinks it is fun to climb up the outside of the upper deck and stand there ... I think it's a little dangerous ... but that's Tessa for you. Kate walked around the outside of the pool until Brielle pulled her in and she got wet (actually ... Brielle kind of accidentally dunked her) and had to get changed. She had a very concerned look on her face when she got out of the pool ... it was cute!

I guess our really late arrival of summer meant that we would have a hot one! I think it's 90 today .... too hot for here.

But perfect for the "golden" pool! (these silly girls thought it was so exciting that we were getting them a pool .... as if it was a treasure or something. Apparently we don't get out much)

Hmmmm ....

This is interesting.

Go here to see the newest development in the David Ragsdale murder case.

House of Pancakes

We had pancakes for dinner last night ... with strawberries and whipped cream. That's practically dessert, I think. The girls thought it was yummy!

How are they so messy? Kate smeared the strawberries on every reachable surface ... Tessa dropped pancakes with syrup all over her legs, and just look at Brielle ... she got it all over her face. Obviously, after pancakes, it's bath time.

At least they had fun!