More Fireworks

Trace and Sarah visited this weekend so we swam in the pool, cooked burgers, and sat around the firepit. Lillian liked the sparklers and the other "kids" (Trace and Brent) did the big fireworks. Lucas, of course, was asleep. We had a great time and hope they'll visit again real soon!

Yum!

Look who we found taking a drink from the inside of the pool ladder...

A sample of this year's blackberry crop.

Swim, Swim, Swim!

Lucas with his friend, Kate.

At swimming lessons

In our backyard
Yeah, that well water is cold!
Swimming with friends

Baby "Jail"

This is how I get anything done around the house!

Lillian

Sunday photo shoot

Lucas

Train Table

Granddad Ernest made the kids a train/toy table and we finally picked it up this weekend. It has a drawer on each end for toy storage. One side says Lillian and the other Lucas. We spent Sat. afternoon setting up the train track.

A Little Bit of Everything

Popping Snap-Pops despite the brief rain shower

Bikes and trikes

It must be summer; fireworks are irresistible!
Duck... Duck... Goose!

I Want One!

I want a wallet like this... just not sure what book cover fits me best. Any suggestions?

Wallet Envy!

6 months

Happy half birthday, Lucas!

Weight: 18 lbs

Length: 28 in.

Lucas @ 6 months:
- sitting alone!
-still loves his toes, sucks on the right foot only
-started sleeping on his side instead of spread eagle
-thinks his big sister is the best playmate ever!
-eats and likes all baby food, has also tried Cheerios and cooked spaghetti noodles
-fascinated by TV and computer screens
-wants to hold everything you hold
-puts EVERYTHING in his mouth
-sleeping from 8p.m.-6a.m.
-loves to cuddle with his mama
-wakes up cooing every morning and after every nap
-is the delight of my day and certainly a joy to our family

Clouds

Are we living at the base of a mountain?

This one was taken at night and the lightning was making the sky look blue. If you look closely, there are stars and a lightning strike. The reddish orange light is from our street light.

How We Spent A Rainy Day

Since a deluge of rain cancelled swimming lessons this morning, I decided to load up and head to the mall. We checked out the new Forever 21 store- clothes I would soooo wear if I wasn't 30 with 2 kids. I was probably the oldest person in the store. We hit The Children's Place for some great deals and I found awesome steals at New York & Company. Dress pants in a size tall for $7.99?!?! I couldn't pass it up.

Lillian reading a book to Lucas while waiting to go to the mall. Lucas is about to take a big ole bite of the front cover!

Hanging out in the tent we made in the living room. Yes, it is coming down tonight.

Everyone came home happy!

Obligatory Father's Day Post

Here it is- after reading my blogging friends' posts regarding today, I decided to do the same. I am married to the most wonderful man ever; he is patient and understanding when I really want to rip a certain 4 year old's head right off her body. While Lillian is certainly a "daddy's girl", Lucas has a deep fascination with Brent that will one day mean father/son hunting and fishing adventures. He watches intently as Brent does things like read the paper or putter around. I may be his primary caretaker now but the day will come when dear ole Dad will get the glory for being Lucas's favorite. Lillian already gives Brent the title of "favorite parent." Like I said, he is more understanding of her 4-going-on-14 attitude. He is always willing to jump on the trampoline, play CandyLand, or swing someone around like a helicopter. As I type, Lillian and Brent are involved in a game of hide-n-seek. Here's to the greatest Dad ever- Happy Father's Day, sweetheart!

Our Father's Day gift

Ho-Hum

The kids and I were homebound for 3 days while our vehicle had some work done to it before the factory warranty expired. It's a long story(as it always is with car work) but the job took a day longer than necessary. Anywho, Day 1 (Wednesday) was fine and dandy. We were plenty busy organizing and doing laundry- who doesn't want to spend all day doing that?!?! Day 2 started to get hairy but we did some cool things like created Lillian an art gallary space outside the laundry room to hang her creations. Day 3 (Friday) we were flat out bored. Outside was okay for awhile, I had NO motivation to do any housework (what's the point? It just gets dirty again!), and there was general unrest among the tribe. Did I mention how much blog stalking I did this week? Check out Lindsey's new blog; she just kicked it off last week and it looks great! It is one thing to choose to stay at home but another entirely to be forced to do so!

All is right with the world... vehicle was picked up yesterday evening.

During the past week, Brent has been working on a MAJOR project in our kitchen (it involves electricity and late night cutting of drywall after the kids are in bed). I completed a MINOR project in the music room i.e. our formal living room. Pics will be posted soon!

Room Redo

In March, we celebrated 2 years of living in this house. In those 2 years, I had planned to paint and decorate Lillian's room. The project never got off the ground, mainly because Lillian wanted pink and red flowers; I wasn't on board with that color scheme. I got motivated to do something when I found these great polka dots at Target. For $16.99, we bought enough to cover one wall of her room. We moved furniture, cleaned, organized, and then spent 15 minutes putting up the decals. Lillian is proud of her "new" room and has started making her bed every morning to keep it looking nice.

It fits her- "The Queen Reigns Here"

109

Lillian has been stuck on the number 109 for awhile. She'll ask, "Do you wanna hear me count to 109?" She can count higher than that but continues to stop at 109. Today she said, "Mom, I love you more than 109 polka dots!"

That may have something to do with the surprise in her room... stay tuned.

Kid-Friendly

I've been a little wordy in my last few posts. This one will have pictures. We spent the weekend with friends, enjoying their pool and company. Kids were everywhere! At one point, there were 9 kids Lillian's age and under. Naptime happened in shifts!

Best pic of the weekend!

Lucas finds a shady spot (above) and meets a friend, Sydona (below).
First time in a pool
Lillian and the boys

Goin' Green

My conscience begs me to make this post today. I have become more environmentally friendly in the past year. We started doing little things around our house to contribute (in a small way) to the future of this earth. Yes, the hype now is to reduce, reuse, and recycle. I might add repurpose to that list as well. It is hard to imagine our world in 100 years and, most likely, I won't be around to see it. However, my grandchildren will be and I want them to enjoy the same beautiful world I see everyday. I'm not a tree-hugging hippie but here are the simple things we do.

1). Change light bulbs to fluorescent bulbs and save over 35% in energy costs over the life of the bulb. Plus, the heat put off by the bulb is less. Gradually change the ones that are in use everyday and watch your energy usage go down (check your electric bill to see!).

2). I bought a reusable bag from Wal-Mart for $1. I take it with me when I shop there and it replaces 2-3 plastic bags. I do love my plastic bags to line small trash cans and to bag dirty diapers but my house was being overrun. Now, I bring home fewer bags and the excess that accumulates in my pantry are taken back to Wal-mart and recycled. There is a green box by the front door that is the drop for bags. Check it out the next time you go. I noticed Target got on this bandwagon and has their own reusable bag. I think it's red. Target sacks are made of heavier plastic and are great for hauling books back to the library. I'm not sure if Target has a recycle program for their bags. Let me know if you have seen one. My next step is to find a generic shopping tote for shopping in other stores as well to keep from taking home plastic bags from every little stop. Some plastic bags are not able to be recycled. Look for the symbol on the bottom of the bag.

3). We practice conserving water by shutting off the faucet when brushing teeth. If I'm waiting for water to warm for a bath, I stick a pitcher under the faucet to catch the cold water and use it to water plants. I keep a plastic pitcher in the bathroom for just this reason. My next step with this is to put a water barrel under the gutter to catch rainwater and use for the garden on a dry day.

4). My school has a big green and yellow dumpster looking thing that is to recycle paper products. The school gets the money from the recycling. I put a plastic tub in the garage and put newspapers, food boxes (like cereal, etc.), magazines, paper towel rolls, and any other paper product in it then recyle when it's full. Our trash consumption has been cut in half by not throwing away boxes. Less trash= less landfill space.

Some of these things do save us money but, more importantly, they are helping the earth. I challenge all of my faithful blog readers to choose something to start at your house this month. I didn't even begin to list other ways to "go green". Find your niche and go with it!

$ Talks

For a couple of months, Brent and I have been tossing around the idea of starting Lillian on an allowance. She is constantly asking for things in the store and has to hear, "Did you bring your own money?" everytime. She has robbed her piggy bank now and again when she just "has to have it" but that isn't the point of her piggy bank. Finally, the timeless act of learning how to manage money has begun. We discussed the amount she would get every Friday for simply being a member in our household. That means picking up toys, taking care of the cat, and anything else we need her to do. She has 3 containers for her money labeled Save, Spend, and Church. Then, she can earn extra money by doing chores that are above and beyond normal 4 year old living. For Brent, that means paying her to do his dreaded chore of putting away laundry. For me, that means paying her to hold a bottle for Lucas so I can get ready. Yeah, she is learning something- Mom and Dad are suckers when it comes to finding ways to get out of our own chores.

Lucas Begs To Be Recognized

I realized that my last several posts were focused on only one child. Before anyone thinks I am playing favorites, Lucas is getting his own post today. He has been alive and well in our house, taking the day to day happenings in stride. Lillian continues to fascinate him and I can tell she is/will be a great source of entertainment for him. Our big almost 6 month old is almost sitting alone. It has made him much happier to be able to view the world from a vertical position rather than a horizontal one.

Lucas meets SpongeBob
Gimme a hug!

Pretty Picasso

Well, her medium isn't exactly like Picasso's but her talent is top notch. Lillian has progressed with her writing in the past several months. She practices her name, Mommy, Daddy, Lucas, and Ty. We are working on other sight words like cat and dog. I think she is an exceptional colorer (a real word?) for her age.

Nature Lesson: Part 2

In an earlier post, I took a picture of a nest on the ground in our backyard. We checked it fervently, hoping to catch a glimpse of a hatching bird. We were finally rewarded when Brent found 2 little birds waiting impatiently for their mother to return. Over the next few days, Lillian returned to the nest to check on the birds. Nature Lesson: Part 3 When she found the birds gone one day, her assumption was that they learned to fly and flew away (doubtful when only a few days old) but we went along with it instead of telling her that Elephant, the cat, was the probable culprit.

If Only...

Sanity Resumes... I Hope

We returned home today after spending 2 days with my parents. Brent rolled in around 8 p.m and the family is together again! I think Brent is the favorite parent because Lillian is a much happier child when he is around. Now I feel like the summer can officially begin- complete with to do lists, sunscreen, and trying to beat the heat. I always start a summer break with a list of things to accomplish. This year, I didn't make a list; I'm trying the mental approach. Judging by the brain dead things I've done lately, it may not be a very productive summer.