Weekend update...

We had a great weekend, did you?  

It was beautiful here.  We finally made it through a bunch of rainy days and were rewarded by a beautiful weekend.

I finally finished both princess dresses that I planned this winter.  I wanted to make them cotton, princess playdresses for an upcoming vacation.  I think they will be so much more lighter and less itchy than a traditional Disney costume.  These will be washable, of course, and easier to pack.  

I finished Lily's Rapunzel dress late this past winter, but I finally got to Abby's Ariel dress this last week.  I had to tweak the pattern for Abby's because the original pattern was for Lily's (and I didn't want to buy another pattern), but it turned out pretty cute.  They both like them, which is what really matters.  After I took this picture I added a green ribbon "sash" to Abby's to pull it in a little in the back.  Lily's has that already, you just can't see it in the picture.

We also went shopping for some pirate gear.  The girls found pirate hats at Target in the party supply section.  They then proceeded to embarrass me the rest of the way through the store.  (and make me laugh)

On Saturday, we checked out a local Art Fair.  We haven't been to it in years due to our busy schedule, but this year it worked out!  We found some really cool stuff.  

We found a booth that had really cool outdoor art made from upcycled tools and such, the snake, turtle and crab all came from there.  We're keeping them inside on a shelf for now.  They are super cool.  Our really big purchase was the stained glass in the bottom right picture.  We haven't decided where we're going to hang it yet.  My parents have one very similar to it that I have coveted for a long time and when we saw this booth, we had to stop.  We aren't rushing into where to hang it.  It's hanging out on the dining room table while we think about where it would be best.

We celebrated Matt on Father's Day. 

We went out to lunch and just had a pleasant day.

The girls doing "The Sprinkler" in the sprinkler.

and then we crashed....

Summer List and Journals

This week, I started telling the girls to begin thinking about what they wanted to put on their Summer List.  I had seen some ideas on Pinterest (of course!).  I didn't want to use whole lists from Pinterest, but they were good for getting us thinking.

Last night, I had them get some paper and pencils and we brainstormed ideas.  Then, this morning, I took the lists and made it "pretty."  I took a picture of it after I finished it and posted it, so many of you have already seen it.

But, it turns out I forgot something...

I pinned something on Pinterest earlier this year that I want to try this summer, and I had forgotten to put it on the list.  I haven't told the girls about it yet, but I think they are going to like it.  The idea is Summer Journals.  Click here to read about how one mom did it.  

I will using her blog as a guide to get started and then I think it will take off on its own. 

Today Lily and I ran to the store to buy basic notebooks and it's killing her that I won't tell her why yet.  I'm waiting to get labels on them, and I want to explain to both the girls at the same time.  This is the first summer that she is reading, so she will be able to do this also, on a much more basic level.  Though I think we will draw in them too.  

The girls still have "quiet time" most afternoons for at least an hour.  They don't usually sleep (though the can), but they have to be quiet in their rooms, and that will be a good time to do notebooks.  I'm actually pretty excited about this.

As a elementary teacher, I also know it can only be a good thing for their reading and writing.  So, I'm encouraging you to do it too.  Kids who write are better readers and kids who read are better writers.  Okay, off my soapbox.  (Sorry, literacy is a passion.)

Some observations about kids and change and moving, a year later

We have been in our new house just 12 months now, and Abby is wrapping up her first year at her new school, and I have learned a few things about my children, and maybe (?) kids, in general, with how this whole change and moving things went.

I should say that we only moved 10 minutes away, but did have to move elementary schools because of the way the boundary lines are drawn.  Same school district, different elementary.  Abby was able to see some of her old friends, and still does.

The beginning of the year was hard.  She did great academically.  Socially, she had a hard time.  And, she is a happy little girl who always has lots of friends.  Friends have NEVER been a problem.  At her parent/teacher conference after 9 weeks of school (in October), her teacher told us she was just starting to see the "spark" of Abby that we had told her about.  9 weeks!  And, I would say on the friend thing, it took longer than that to not want to go back to her old school.  Now, as in May, she says that she would miss her school if she left.  That's the whole school year.

This picture is from the second week of school (August) when I was so worried about her not playing with anyone at recess that I went in to have lunch with her.  Things are so much better now.  Earlier this month she had her first sleepover with girls from her class.  That was a big step.

Also, a funny story about Lily's little mind.  This spring, we drove past our old house, and she had no idea which house it was.  I had to tell her.  She recognized the front of the neighborhood, but not the house.  When I told her I found that insane, she replied, "Well, it's been a year!"  

So, if you worry about your child missing the actual (physical) house, don't.  :)  

And, I guess school just works itself out.  Not much you can do except pray, and be involved at school.  Volunteer.  Check in with the teacher.  Ask lots of questions.  Make your child talk to you.  At least that's what I did.

We're looking forward to summer now, but not dreading next year!

Ultimate S'mores-You must try!

We have been sucking the life out of our Memorial Day weekend.  It's been fabulous.  

Last night, we had a cookout, complete with our first official firepit and s'mores of the summer.

yummmmm...

While we were at the grocery store shopping for supplies, we decided to try a new idea and go for an "Ultimate" S'more.  We usually buy just marshmallows and fudge stripe cookies.  The cookies already have chocolate on them, so you don't have to buy separate graham crackers and chocolate.  So easy.  I can't thank our friends Lauren and Lacie enough for teaching us that trick.

So, as for our "fancy" s'mores... we bought a back of York Peppermint Patties (a snack pack with 8), graham crackers, and marshmallows.  Then, we put them together, wrapped them in foil,

and put them on the grill for 5-10 minutes.  

They. were. heaven.  

Everything melted way more than if we had roasted the marshmallows over the firepit, and the Yorks got all melty and yummy.  Even those who weren't convinced that the peppermint was the way to go, loved them.

Next?  Reeses Peanut Butter Cups.

Then, we let the kids go to town on our the standard roasted marshmallow-cookie s'mores.  

Fun times.

Enough with the end of school year projects!

Last week, I posted on Facebook that for the first time ever, we forgot to do Abby's homework.  Twice.  In one week.

I've become THAT mom.  That end-of-year mom.  I guess it took her getting to third grade?  Last year, Jen Hatmaker (a Christian blogger/author/speaker I like) posted this (Worst End of School Year Mom Ever) and I laughed along, though I wasn't that mom.  It got shared so much and went so viral, she was on the Today show.  This year, I relate.  Then, I saw this (Parents at the End of the School Year vs the End).

So, this week is my hell.  Next week is the last week of school for Abby and this is Lily's last week of preschool.  So, preschool can't just have a last day and say "Hurrah!"  They have to have a celebration and for the first time this year, they have to decorate a box to race around in at the celebration.  Really?  So, now, we're painting and cutting up boxes and prepping for the race.  Sigh.

In addition to this, Abby's grade level is doing a big mini-ecomony project.  Every student has to come up with a good to sell, market it, create a commercial, and next week they'll have their "sales."

We came up with, what I thought at the time, was a great and original idea.  I still think that is the case.  I'm just not sure I realized the work involved on my part.  She's making bird seed molds (that hold together with unflavored gelatin).  They are cool, but to make a lot is time consuming.  We're using a silicon mold, but we still only can make 6 at a time and the sale is for her whole grade level, which is 4 classes.  I'm still not sure how many we should make.  That whole supply and demand thing.  There is bird seed everywhere!  Plus, I'm doing more of it than I'd like.

(on my dining room table)

(in my freezer)

 (more in my freezer)

Isn't the end of the year, supposed to be the easy time?  Winter would have been a nice time to do this, when we were snowed in, with nothing else to do.  I just scheduled swim lessons yesterday and our summer is shaping up to stay busy.  I guess that's a good thing too.  

I'd really just rather just nap.  (here's a picture the girls snapped of me with my Milo).

Spring Break Recap

We are finally back to normal routine at our house.  Our school district follows a "balanced" school schedule, rather than a traditional one, which means that we get longer breaks throughout the year and a shorter summer break.  So, we had 2 weeks off for Spring Break rather than 1.  It's nice.  The girls were ready to head back, but I'm not sure they would have been after 1 week.

The first week, we took a few days and visited out of town family, as I blogged last week.  This week, we did a lot in town.

When we got back last weekend, we had the surprise of our passports!  We have a big trip coming up in a few months for our family and this is the first time for passports for three of us, and Matt had one as a teenager, but had to completely reapply.  Lily thought it was a very big deal to have a passport with her picture in it.  She kept wanting to look at it.  Now to use them!

As we were doing laundry from our out of town trip, our dryer died.  Not sure what happened.  We were literally in the middle of loads.  (which meant wet laundry hanging EVERYWHERE) We've been kind of wishing for a new set for a couple years, but it hasn't been a priority, so we set out shopping.... after some quick research online.

This is my Craig's List picture of the ones that we replaced.  We ended up selling the old set in less than 24 hours.  Score!

While we waited on the new set to be delivered, the girls and I headed to Conner Prairie for the last nice day of the week.  The girls' favorite part is the barn:

In Prairietown, you visit homes, a doctor, an inn, and more from 1836.  This was sitting in one of the dining areas.  I shared some of them with the girls.  :) 

We stopped for lunch and milkshakes after Conner Prairie.

When we got home, it was new W/D delivery time!  They are pretty and SO much more quiet than our old machines.  They feel very fancy compared to our old ones, but we're getting used to them.  Our laundry had piled up, so they got used right away!

We also got out one day and walked through a cool antique/art market downtown.  The girls were in love with the old typewriters.

 "Someone" stole my phone and took a picture of this Lego creation.  We did a fair amount of "creating" with Legos this week.

We had a ton of rain towards the end of the week, so the girls and I finally decided to get out for our mental health.  We each got a book.  I just happened upon this, but loved it.  It was a quick read.  Pardon Milo's ear.  He's always in the way.  :)

Sunday, Matt took advantage of a sale on mulch and we spent a lot of the afternoon spreading fresh mulch.  Even the girls helped.

Road trips can make you crazy

The first week of Spring Break, we traveled to visit family in TN.  On the trip back, as always happens, Lily started to complain that her tummy hurt.  This always means that she's been looking down too much and needs to either stop and run around at a rest area or be distracted by looking out the windows a bit.  I'd get motion sickness if I looked down at an iPad the whole trip too.

We played the "Alphabet Game," and then I gave Lily my phone to take pictures of some signs, of which I have since all deleted.  However, then the girls got silly and below is the evidence.  It was so funny.  One of them would sing and record the other lip syncing.  Hilarious.

Abby would always sing opera-style, and Lily would always be hardcore rap, even if it was Jesus Loves Me.  So funny.

And then, our little lip syncer fell asleep...

Our new hobby of Antiquing...

So, I googled "Antiquing" and it actually came up with a definition for those who are interested.  It "is a shopping activity."  I agree.

Matt and I have gone to antique malls years ago (like probably more than 10), but we just went again with the girls this weekend.  This time around, we actually have a house to outfit with cool stuff and I have a little more of a "vision" for what I might like to look for.  It was a LOT more fun.   It helps that some of the blogs that I read talk about finds they've scored and made work in their homes.  It gives me a little bit of inspiration.

The girls were very creeped out by some of the dolls that we saw, but we all agreed that antiquing is kind of like a treasure hunt.  You find one cool thing, and it makes all the creepy dolls worth it.  ha.

So, here are our finds...  

(please excuse the not-great pictures)

We bought 2 old pop wooden crates.  Super cool.  Abby wants to look for more.

And, that cool bird cage.

...and this neat old school desk.  The girls are obsessed with it.

In the future, I'm thinking of keeping my eyes out for letters.  Maybe not the whole alphabet, but possibly an arrangement of just the first letter of our last name -as many as I can find.  (picture from Pinterest)

I also love this idea of collecting globes.  They look cool up on the cabinets.  We saw several but they were more than I wanted to spend. I need to keep looking...  (picture from Pinterest)

Do you antique?

Our First College Gymnastics Meet

Last night we drove up to Ball State for our first college gymnastics meet.  Ball State is the only university in Indiana with a women's program.  Some other universities have clubs, but BSU is the only one with an actual team.  The best part is that BSU is my alma mater, so I got to show the girls where I went to school (though it has been forever since I've been back).

Last night's meet was their "Think Pink" meet, so both teams were in different leotards in support of breast cancer.  The girls also were given pink necklaces by someone from the team who came into the stands.

Some of our surprises were how packed it was.  There is no admission, so anyone can come.  The seating is limited and we were lucky to find room for all 4 of us to sit together.  Also, we were surprised how loud and spirited it was.  There was loud music the whole time and after EVERY routine, the teammates rushed the gymnast and hugged and gave high-fives.  It made it much more fun to watch.

(Abby was really not into having me take her picture)

(Lily was all for having her picture taken)

We had great seats for the bars and beam, which we wanted to see the most.  Floor (it's red, all the way to the left) was almost impossible to see.

The girls got their picture taken with Charlie Cardinal.  This is one time that Abby DID want her picture.

...and then he sat right in front of us and harassed the lady in front of Matt.

Here's another picture of the gym:

We left and drove around campus a little.  We showed the girls Benny (a BSU landmark):

The loved Ball State, which I loved.  It was a fun night.