Weekend with the Family

The last weekend in June we had a wonderful visit with Steve's aunt and grandmother who came in from Missouri for a visit. We usually only see them once or twice a year, so it was a great treat.

It was also great to go for a second weekend in a row to Steve's brother's house. Even though they only live about 40 minutes away, for some reason we hardly see them during the year, too. The kids also played with a few of their cousins for a while, too, something that also doesn't happen that much.

The next day we had Steve's aunt, grandmother, parents, and sister-in-law over to hang out and then order some pizza. We put out the pool for the kids.

I kinda felt bad that I didn't cook for everyone, but they don't get to have pizza like we do near Chicago, so it was a treat for them.

My favorite, favorite part of the evening was when the kids ran around the yard collecting fireflies and bringing them back to their granddad. I just can't get over the look of wonder in their faces. May it never disappear.

June 20-24

We've been weaving together days full of slow, random fun at home with busy days full of activities away from home. I think the days at home are the most creative. Lately games have been put to different uses than what the developers had in mind :)

My daughter would be on the computer, or with her nose in a book all day if I didn't suggest other things to do with me. She LOVES anything to do with different cultures or animals. We found two great computer games at the library she's been playing the past two weeks.

Explorapedia (we actually bought this later at a thrift store) is really more like an encyclopedia than a game, but it's all about animals. Alexa loves reading facts about animals and telling us what she's learned.

Travel the World with Timmy follows Timmy the Turtle to different countries of the world.

The kids ransacked our underwear drawer and decided to play "underwear warriors."

We were over one weekend to my husband's brother's house. They have a new huge trampoline that the kids adored. Fun, fun, fun!

First Day of Summer!

It's the first day of summer! As a kid summer was always my favorite season, and understandably so. Now, most of the time my life feels like a summer vacation, so spring is now my favorite season, followed closely by fall.

The weather has fluctuated so much this spring that it's often seemed like winter, spring and summer all in the same week! We tried to take advantage of the hot days by getting outside as much as we could. A few weeks ago we met my sister and her son at Phillip's Park in Aurora. There's a free splash park there, but it's small and gets pretty crowded, especially on really hot days. Jared and Alexa liked the spray gun, but they didn't spend too much time running through the water.

On the not so great days, we've been opening up some art kits the kids received for Christmas and still hadn't opened up yet. I bought this clay kit at Michael's.

After not picking up a camera that much, Alexa has gone back to taking pictures again. She only wants to use my new camera, though, which makes me a bit nervous. I love how she likes to be a photographer, but the camera was so expensive! She likes to open pages of her favorite books and take pictures of the pictures.

Jared still loves to line up his figures, something he does for hours every day.One day he brought in a branch from outside, laid it on its side and pretended his soldiers were marching through the jungle.

Some days I wish the kids would go outside more. Sometimes days go by when they aren't interested at all in going outside. They still love to mix up concoctions, which they call their science experiments.

They HAVE liked going outside at night, though, especially since the fireflies have come out.

We've been taking a lot of family bike rides after dinner and then coming home to catch fireflies. The kids see how many they can catch and put in their bug holder, and then release them before we go inside. The past few months have been a bit stressful for me, but lately I've just been amazed at how much better I feel when I just make myself relax,sit and just be with the kids. I've built up so many great memories in the past few weeks from just the simplest times together. I love travelling with the kids, but these memories are just as special.

Art, Art, Art

While the kids haven't been as into regular painting and drawing these past few months, they've been doing different types of art. Our next door neighbor gave them a 3-D chalk drawing kit from Crayola (really, cool!), so they drew all over the driveway.

They also decided to take up an art form they haven't done since they were two - painting with shaving cream on the bathtub walls.

Alexa loves to watch old home DVDs, so she was inspired one Saturday morning after watching a DVD where they painted with shaving cream tinted with food coloring. The last time they did this they were in diapers!

Snow, Snow, & More Snow

This was the year of SNOW. Boy, did we get a lot of it. We only went downhill sledding one time, but the kids played a lot in the backyard. They usually don't like to get bundled up and play outside during the winter, but the novelty of so much snow was enough of a draw for them to ask a lot this year.

We had the biggest blizzard so far in the past decade. The snow drifts went right up to the neighbors gate. It was funny to see the swings totally buried and the snow going right up to the top of the slide. Steve also made them two great forts which they played in a lot. And of course snow fights with Daddy is the ultimate in fun.

Sledding Through the Woods

Ok. This time I really am going to get caught up on my posts!  I know I said that over a month ago, but I've been working on a big, big project, which I will share with you very soon. We're going on a three week vacation to Nevada and California, so I know there will be tons to share when I get back. So I'll post every other day until I get caught up.

Now to get you caught up on the past three months.....

We've had so much snow this winter! I'm usually a cold freak, as in I can't stand it, but with kids somehow it's different. They've really made me appreciate the art of bundling up and trudging through the snow.

A few weeks before Christmas we went to our favorite woods, and Steve pulled the kids through the snow. There was a tiny hill, but mostly he just had to use muscle power and pull on flat ground.

There was no one there that day. Actually, there usually arn't that many people when we visit the woods. It's wierd me even thinking this since I don't like the cold, but I've actually been thinking about visiting Antartica one day.  Does anyone else think this is a cool idea, or is it just me?

We saw some deer tracks in the woods and, right before we left, saw a family of three deer running through the woods. The kids were very excited.

We also ran across this bird's nest on a fallen tree limb. 

Does your family take regular winter walks?

Day Out with Grammy and Pappa

Last Friday my mom took the kids for about five hours so I could have some alone time. I've had a bad sinus cold lately, the house has been descending into chaos and I was feeling very stressed. So, when my mom offered to pick the kids up at 9:30, play with them, feed them lunch, and then drop them off again at 3:30 before Alexa's make-up ballet class, I about cried with relief. 

I don't spend that much time away from the kids, usually just a few hours during the week mainly for doctor's appointments and running errands, so it felt good to get hours of absolute quiet and an hour's nap on the couch. Still, I sent my camera with my mom so I could get some glimpses of what they did during the day so I wouldn't miss out that much. So, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves to show what fun they had with my parents.