Birthday Extravaganza!!

I believe it is only fitting that the ultimate non-planner (referring to myself) wound up with our children's birthdays one week apart. We have had birthday-palooza around here but it's all been wonderful and both girls have had a great time celebrating one another!

Caroline's shindig was at the house - with our usual set-up. The rain broke just in time for us to enjoy the outside with yard games and the new palyset.















This was Mom's creation for Lily's birthday - she took these to celebrate with the kids at school. Great Job Mom!!

What does every 4 year old girl want for her birthday? A Tool Set of course!!! This was specifically requested by Lily....



For Lily we took advantage of the 'all inclusive, just bring the cake' deal at Wallabies our local indoor inflatables play-place...at first I was resistant wanting to do most of the work myself...then sense struck me and I was SO grateful to give over control, especially with CJ's looming the next week. Lily and her friends had a blast.


This last pic is of Lil's and her friend Jacob being 'rambunctious' in the soft-play area...too much fun!

Week 51

CJ is standing and crawling everywhere - not quite walking yet - but I'm totally okay with that considering Lily only crawled for about two weeks before she decided she would prefer to walk instead. We really are enjoying this crawling stage we missed with Lily!



This year's summer project (and the girls' collective birthday gift) was a newly renovated playset. The one we had came with the house and it was not weathering gracefully...so it was time for an upgrade. Dave got the process started by himself and did a fantastic job getting everything prepared for him and Papa to finish it up. Now supposedly this was a '6 hours and you're done' job according to the manufacturer of the new set.... that was not exactly accurate - but they did finish in one good day's work...and I think they did an amazing job - especially modifying the structure to bridge over to the remnant of the previous playset.
Thanks Daddy and Papa!! A job well done!

The Faces of a Birthday Goofball!

Lily got a birthday box this year with goodies wrapped inside. Most of it was small though because her and Caroline's big present this year is a new playset, which is a gift from Gran, Nana & Papa, and us! Now, about the building it part....if anyone is bored this week PLEASE come help me...all assistance is appreciated :)







And some dancing!

The Colors of Deliciousness

Roma tomatoes
White "Islander" peppers
Green peppers
Jalapeno peppers
Hungarian wax peppers
Flying saucer squash
Cucumbers
Gremlin gourd

Week 50: Happy Fourth of July!

The first half of July is an exciting time around our household....the birth of a nation and two children all in a 2 week span!

Sometimes being patriotic can taste so good!

A pink and purple house for blue jays

So I mentioned a few posts back that the Ladybugs class had painted a bird-feeder for their playground. Lily was fairly interested in the painting and bird part of the investigation, and of course I'm always looking for a fun wood-working project during the summer, so we set about making a birdhouse for the backyard.

This house is loosely based off some designs I found on the internet. It seemed a little small to me, so I added to the dimensions as I went. In the end, it turned out pretty well for a project whose measurements were only finalized after the cuts were made.

This house is supposed to be for blue jays. In particular, the opening is 1.5" wide which should accommodate them...I'll be interested to see who actually does move in. It was a true team effort, I did the cutting and assembling while Lily did the painting. As you can tell from the pictures, we went with a coat so thick that it might be drying well into next year.

Week 49: Pool time!

Spending a little time in the shark pool, getting ready for visiting Nana and Papa in August....but the pool is so boring compared to those interesting blocks!

Had to find a shot with the blocks in the background, out of CJ's line of sight!

Random Pictures

Sisters playing together.


A look of drooly determination.

Early harvest...flying saucers, cucumbers, and all kinds of peppers (I can at least differentiate between the sweet and hot varieties)

Bath-time fun!

Remembering to take a picture of our furry kids every now and again.

Looking like such a big girl.