Yard Art

All the cool kids have one.

A trampoline that is.

Hung in a tree with a bungee cord.

Mr. Intensity strikes again.

Caroline's 3rd Birthday

Caroline tuned three (almost 2 weeks ago!) and I can hardly believe the changes in her in the last 6 months.  Potty training, big girl bed, dressing herself, talking, talking, talking!  She is the sweetest little thing.  Ever ready to serve and comfort those with needs.  She loves *bling*, lip gloss, anything pink  and Minnie Mouse (she says Minnie Mousie).

On the day of her birthday I woke her and said, "Happy Birthday!"  She, who usually loves to wear PJs all day, said, "I must put on my Princess clothes.  It's my birfday!"  She bounced out of bed to the box of costumes and chose the one she is wearing below.

The puckered lips are because she just applied the Cinderella lip gloss in her hand from Aunt Whitney, who also gave her birthday bows and lots of bling.

In the next picture, you might notice a chance in costume.  My mom sent her another ballerina costume.  After opening it she had to put it on.  And wore it all day.

We call this plastic safety man "SloMo" and he is loved by the children on our street.  I made a party hat for him since we had an outdoor party and Caroline thought it was so funny.

Caroline with her down-the-street twin BFFs.  Their names are Brooklyn (on left) and Vivian (right).  She usually refers to them as one person "BibianBrooklyn" since they are always together.

 When I asked what kind of dessert she wanted, without hesitation she told me cupcakes.  Pink cupcakes.  I also made chocolate ('cuz that's what I like.)

 She ate one of each.

 My friend, Holly, took the outdoor pics.

 This is Camron, our across the street babysitter.

 I love our neighbors.  And our 'hood.

It was a fun day.  And she's growing up so fast.  Next year she'll be wearing pink to the prom.  *sniff*

Hostage

It is not unusual to go upstairs and see his room like this:

That is, with a maze of bungee cords.   (not sure why the picture is distorted.)

I was surprised, however, to see this:

My poor, sweet, innocent little girl.

Remarkably she wasn't screaming her head off.

Mother's Day

I asked my husband to get this wall art for Mother's Day as a reminder that my house is messy because people I love live here.  (Purchased from etsy.)

My dear son (the eldest) wrote the most endearing letter for Mother's Day - in cursive no less!

Dear Momma,

     Thank you for washing my clothes, cooking my food, and taking me out.  There are many many other things that I could tell you what a great momma you are but for now I don't want to add another sheet.

With love,
John Isaac

My people also gave me a Turvis tumbler and washed my van.  It was a great day!

Congrats, Alphonse

Our Rwandan friend, Alphonse, graduated magna cum laude this weekend from engineering school.  We are so proud of him!  I call him friend, he calls me Mom.  I told him I'm not old enough to be his mom!!  :)  Since we are his "American Parents" we hosted a graduation party for him.  These kids from Rwanda are truly special.  If you live near a university, you should get involved with international students.  They will bless your socks off.

Here's a link to the party food.  I didn't take any other pictures, I was running around like a crazy lady.

The Boys' Weekend (and more)

Hubby took Mr. Intensity (now 8.5 years old) on a boys' camping weekend.  They first spent a day just the two of them hiking and camping in the Red River Gorge in eastern Kentucky.  Hubby wanted to talk seriously about the next phase of life, the traps John Isaac would encounter and how to handle them.  My man put some serious planning time into this weekend.  Maybe I can coerce him to write a blog post about it later, but one snippet I will share.

Hubby warned him about traps like drugs, alcohol and pornography.  (As his parents we were almost certain that somewhere, someone, had shown him a picture.  Maybe it was just my fearful side fretting.)  John Isaac's response to a general description of porn?  "WHAT?!  That's disgusting!!"  Whew.

Meanwhile, the littles and I were keeping things calm at home.  Checking in on our friends.  On one of (her nine!) cell phones.

 We made homemade chocolate pudding.

Is it just me, or do other moms clean out kids' rooms when they leave?  I found this note on the floor and almost died laughing (or I would just cry at his bossy-ness).  The sleeves to which he is referring to below are for Pokemon cards.  The kid LOVES to dicker.  It wears. Me. Out.  I think this note was meant for his dad since they go to Barnes and Noble and read books on Sunday afternoon.  Hubby picks which books John Isaac has to read first before he can read the "brain candy" books he's drawn to.

 Sister applied her own lipstick and said, "It's soooo pwetty!"

 I found this picture from 8 years ago.

It's about the same age as Schaeffer, now.  I cannot believe how much they look alike.  Below Schaeffer is wearing an outfit that the other two have worn.  He is smiling because HE SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT!   Yes, it only took him FOUR MONTHS but the kid is sleeping more than 4 hour stretches at night.

 At one point in the weekend, I walked into Schaeffer's room to find this doll sleeping in his crib.  On her tummy, like Schaeffer, with the sound machine on.  LOUD.  Cracked me up.

 With all my extra sleep I actually had the energy to finish my curtain project.  Hallelujah. 

 The temperatures dipped almost to freezing (where are you spring?!) so the tomatoes had to be covered.

 The weather in Kentucky was perfect.  Can you find Mr. Intensity, below?  He's wearing camo, of course.

 Kentucky has to be one of the most beautiful places on earth, especially in the spring.

 After the father/son hike, they met Hubby's college buddy and sons at my parents' farm.  My dad really went out of his way to prepare for their stay.  He mowed a spot in the pasture, brought them a rick of firewood, set up the cinder block fire ring, made a little bucket/board bench and set out a huge trash can.

I probably don't have to tell you the boys (young and old) had a blast. 

Until it threatened rain with certainty.  :(  So Scott and his three boys went home a day early and my guys slept in my parents' house the last night.

They're home now.  And it's Hubby's turn to read this book.  It is currently Sister's all time favorite and I think I have it memorized..."How the wind blew!"

Brother re-discovered a book at my parents' house, brought it back to ours and read it to Sister.  Very sweet times. (Until they start bickering tomorrow.)

So that was our week/weekend.  How was yours?

The Weekend

We attempted an updated family picture.  The cute little thing on the far right used many creative expressions.  The above picture is my favorite in the bunch.

Friday night, a neighbor gave us tickets to Disney on Ice.  We also scored FREE curb parking across from the arena.

Sister wore (one of) her princess outfit(s).  She was so excited and wanted her turn to dance on the ice. She chatted to me the entire performance.

Saturday we cleaned out the guest room and Hubby put together the crib for Baby Schaeffer.  He has been sleeping in our closet.  The sweet thing is still waking at 3 &6am.

Sunday Tom Sawyer had a friend help him wash our neighbor's van.  The neighbor offered (in a text) $20 for him to wash and detail the inside.  I told her that for this 8 year old, who isn't keen on details, $5 would be sufficient.  I asked him if he would like to wash her van.

Ever the entrepreneur, his first question was, "How much will she pay me?"  And he was thrilled for $5.

Another neighbor strolls past while he is washing the van and asks, "How much is the going rate for car washes these days?"

Promptly he pipes up, "Nine to fifteen dollars."  The boy likes to dicker.

Sunday night I pulled out the bin of 3T clothes I've been collecting for Sister.  My mom has been buying pieces and a neighbor gave me a BUNCH of clothes.  It seems like white is the color of choice, as she has at least 9 white shirts for the summer.  (I think I need to buy stock in OxyClean.)  I am so thankful for these clothes!

Speaking of white, she wore a white dress to the closing ceremony of Comm. Central (Brother's homeschool co-op) today, Monday.   Please notice the pink sparkly Hello Kitty shoes, they are now MIA - I think left on the playground.  My kids hate shoes.  Oh well, at least we left the house with shoes on the feet.

 The baby face is quickly leaving.

We came home and played in the yard.  Brother is loving playing in the creek behind our house these days.

And for nostalgia here's a picture from our wedding, almost 14 years ago.  The other two guys were some of Hubby's closest friends in college.  They still keep in touch.  This coming weekend all three guys and their sons are going camping, as they've done annually for years. (Here's a post from when they went in 2009).

Last but not least - if you're looking for a new recipe, here is one of our new favorites.  Last fall, I roasted several chickens and froze the meat in two cup portions.  You could use a rotisserie chicken from the deli, too.

The Weekend

(I love my neighborhood.)

This weekend Hubby put together Sister's "Big Girl Bed."  He said when he told her, she responded like she'd won a trip to Disneyland.  Super excited.  The bed was a gift from our across the street neighbor.

Friends one street over gave us the bedding.  That's four sets of sheets, a comforter, bedskirt and drapes (the last 3 aren't pictured).  She loves her new bed and has done well in it - as in, stays in bed during naps.

Saturday night we hosted a laid back yard party.  What's a laid back yard party you ask?  Well, everyone brought their own meat for the grill and a side dish to share.  It's laid back because I didn't have to fret if there would be enough food nor did I have to clean my house.  And people didn't have to stress about RSVPing because I told them not to.  I provided drinks and tableware.

Some of the first guests to arrive came on their 4-wheeler.  How fun is that?!  No hoity-toity golf carts in this 'hood, y'all.

The turn out was fabulous.  And a super fun laid back yard party if I do say so myself. 

Someone brought a set of croquet and some bocce balls.

 Alphonse won the fun award by bringing marshmallows for the kids to roast.

Today we worked a bit in our community garden.  Lots of new boxes have been added in the last two weeks.  The garden looks great. (Although this week's cold snap did a number on my tomatoes.  Boo.)

There are some houses for sale on my street if you're looking for a fabulous neighborhood.