Long goodbyes

Ava's best friend is leaving for a 3 month long vacation in a couple days.
They spent the day together late last week, snuggling up with popcorn and a movie...

And sharing a kiss...

while they discussed the finer points of hummus and veggies.


Bye-bye little Ozzie... Don't grow too big before you get back!
We'll miss you all!

Wordless Wednesday

Yeah, I know this was supposed to go up yesterday, but I tried to schedule it and Blogger wouldn't let me for some reason...

Got Real?

...On my kitchen chair right now...
...crumbs, dog fur, and N,N,W...

At the end of the day...

I need to unload my camera, so in the meantime I thought I'd share one of the MANY outtakes from my disastrous Father's Day shoot...

At the end of the day today, I'm still feeling rushed

I have an enormous week staring me down, and I already feel like I'm behind!

This weekend, we have our first homeschooling conference to attend. I'm excited, but a tad nervous. There will be lots of vendors there selling curriculum, so I've made a list. Yes, of course, a list. I'm obsessed with lists. I can't hardly move out of my bed without a list, mental or otherwise. So, I spent a couple hours today making a very throuough, itemized list of the curriculum and books I'll need to purchase or order at the convention. I'm a bit worried that I'll get there and feel totally overwhelmed and come home with tons of stuff that I'll never use. Thus, the need for THE LIST!!!

The conference is all day Friday and all day Saturday, but at 5:30pm on Saturday, we have to be at my cousin's wedding. We'll have to leave the conference early, pick up the kids, drive 30 min. home, unload, get everyone stuffed into their wedding clothes, re-load, and drivee 60 min. to the wedding!!

It will go fine, everyone's excited about the wedding, especially Ava. I made her a twirl-y dress for it and she's been dying to wear it. I'll post pictures of it for another "Handmade" post.

So, I spent some time tonight (while Marvin took the kids to Alec's baseball game) running errands pertaining to this weekend. I have to go out one more time, probably tomorrow, and then to the grocery store. A very close friend of mine is heading out of town for several months and I'm hosting a little send-off party for her Wednesday morning during our mom's bible study, so I need to get juice and stuff to make muffins. Anyone got any good muffin recipies?

Ooops, it's midnight! I promised myself I'd be in bed early tonight...I've been hitting the treadmill pretty hard lately, early in the morning, and I'm a little more tired than usual. Well, obviously not tired enough to stay up till midnight blogging!

Happy Father's Day!

to my husband, their father

only you can teach our daughter how to be strong and independent and how to put a worm on a hook or change the oil in a car

only you can teach our boys how to be men, how to walk away from a fight, how to forgive when it hurts, and how to fix a leaky toilet

only you can be the perfect partner for me in this amazing journey called parenthood

happy father's day to the man of my dreams!

i love you.

What I'm doing right now...
(well, actually by the time you read this, I'll have moved over to my sewing table and will be making a couple meeUps!)

What are YOU doing right now?

Got Real?

It's been dumped again...
and again...
and again...

See if you can find:

vintage Fisher Price; Happy Apple and dollhouse
broken plastic ninja sword
doggie paw
play food
princess crown and shoes
Webkinz
pink tutu

How about you, are your toys dumped today?

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Feet

Today I am attempting to take nice, frame-worthy photos of my three kids
(who were all awake at various intervals during the night for random reasons)
to give to their Daddy for Father's Day.
Clearly, from the image posted above, I'm not having much success photographing their faces!

Painting graduation gifts for their aunt

Ava's first time to paint with "real" paints

Benji painted Clone Troopers

Alec painted a gi-normous robot shooting a laser beam

They all cooperated, no paint was spilled

I think everyone this year is getting painted canvases from my kids!

Constantly Consistent

When I discipline my kids, I always worry about being consistent. Any child-rearing book will tell
you that consistency is the key to successful results, no matter what type of discipline you
choose. While I disagree that just any type of discipline is effective (we're big on logical
consequences here), I am totally on the "consistency bandwagon".


I'm noticing how that idea carries over into all aspects of my life, not just parenting. Some examples:


Nutrition~ if I consistently eat large amounts of fresh fruits and vegetables, I'll feel good. If I
consistently eat large amounts of chocolate (which I do, despite my weak attempts at will
power!!) I'll feel bad



Housekeeping~ if I consistently wipe down the surfaces in my kitchen, it will sparkle. If I
consistently say, "I'll let it go this once, I'm in a hurry", it will rapidly become an eyesore. If I
consistently do one load of laundry every day, everyone will have clean clothes. If I consistently
put off the inevitable, I'll find myself scaling Mt. Washmore to find my son's baseball uniform 5
minutes before the game.



Marriage~ if I consistently make time to be alone with my spouse, I enjoy an intimate, fulfilling
relationship. If I consistently fill that time with the "stuff of life", we only co-exist, congenial
roommates at best.



Blogging~Oh yes, isn't blogging so important that it makes the list along with marriage and
nutrition! Hee-hee!! In my 2 year stint in blog land, I've noticed that consistency brings readers
back. Why then, am I not consistent with the way I post? Hm mmm...Well, I'm gonna change
that!

I pledge to you,
my 22 followers
and
anyone else who takes a peek

to not only continue to post
Wordless Wednesday,

but to also add

a weekly wrap (called "WeekEnd")
and one more item,
still undecided
(I think I'll put up a poll and let you all decide what it will be)

and...
*gulp*
one picture a day! Eeeek, what have I done!?

Hello? Anyone out there? Guessing everyone is busy planning their summer break...
Ahhhh, sweet summer!

I'll be waiting...

.blue sky.

Wordless Wednesday

Artistry

This morning Ava asked Benji to draw her a princess.
He drew the princess, crown and all.


Then he drew a mean ninja with slanty eyes and a jet pack
grabbing the princess (who now wore a frightened expression)
and lifting her off of the ground.


Next, he added a speech bubble by the princess
that had her saying,
"Bt"


The last time I looked at the picture, it had an angry looking snow monster
that was also, in Benji's words, "defeating the princess".


That must have been some princess!

Help Wanted!

Calling all home schoolers!

Does anyone have any good suggestions on how to keep a VERY active, curious two year old occupied while I teach my other two children?

Please share, I'd be so grateful!