Father's Day 2015

We had a pretty laid-back Father's Day this year.  The morning was spent playing games and getting a few things done around the house.  Steve read his cards and opened his gift -- cologne, a request that he had made -- and then we had a quick lunch.

Like last year, I had the girls complete a questionnaire about their dad.  I save the cards in their memory boxes because they are so fun to look back on and see what some of their answers were.  I found it interesting that the girls gave some of the same answers (or very similar) to the questions because I "interviewed them separately -- different days and not while they were in the same vicinity as each other.

A Father's Day picture; most everyone is looking at the camera.  I'll take it.

A few weeks before the holiday, we were reading one of our favorite books called "Ugly Pie."  In the back of the book, there is a recipe for "ugly pie" and Steve mentioned that he would like the girls to make him that for Father's Day.  We made a note of it and gathered our ingredients that week. 

After a trip down to the beach, we came back home and changed our clothes before putting Jack down for his afternoon nap.  While he was napping and Steve was watching some baseball on TV, the girls and I prepared the pie.

Measuring out the apples:

Grinding the walnuts:

Pouring in the thick molasses (this is was makes the pie so "ugly"):

Stirring the filling:

Adding in the dry ingredients that Sophia had measured out in a separate bowl:

Finally, we added some craisins (in place of raisins):

I didn't end up taking a picture of the final product because a lot of it was devoured after dinner that night.  I had made spaghetti and meatballs, as this was noted on Steve's cards that it is his favorite meal!

Happy Father's Day to a wonderful, hands-on dad that sure loves his kids more than anything!

Mid-Week Randoms

The girls looked so cute one morning that I couldn't resist taking a picture of them together.  Of major importance: Sophia has a small "ponytail" at the top of her head!  (Yes, this is all the hair that she has -- after almost 4.5 years.  Looking back at older pictures, Samantha's hair looked just like Sophia's does now -- lots of curls -- it's just that she looked like that at 2.5; not 4.5).

 

 

 

 

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This kid is just drawn to puddles.  It doesn't matter how small they are, he goes right for them.  Every time.

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At a parade downtown, Jack cheered, clapped and waved to every single float.

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Jack loves the jeep and will find any excuse to use it.  Hauling pinecones?  Check.

Or just jumping on it to ride around in the front yard.

This jeep is more than 15 years old.  It belonged to Steve's nephews and niece, and when they were too old for it, Steve kept it stored above his garage for years ... with the hope that his children would be able to use it one day.  And all three of them have!

Jack even likes to sit in it with his cousin, Louie.  (Jack is NOT allowed to drive with him in it yet, for obvious reasons!).

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My little baker.  The girl is just a natural in the kitchen.

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One night, it started pouring after dinner.  So what did we do?  We all ran out into the front yard and played in the rain.  All of us!

Jack was a little confused, but he sure loved it!

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Sophia's last day of preschool at the Teddy Bear Den -- May 15, 2015.  And she was wearing her absolute favorite shoes!

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I love these quiet moments when I catch the kids all playing "together."  They may each be doing "their own thing," but they are doing it together.

Stacking blocks like a pro:

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At random times, the girls like to pull out their workbooks and doing home "homework."  I have plans to incorporate some extra learning lessons into our summer ...

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We often joke that Sophia is "Samantha's biggest cheerleader."  She is so proud of her big sister and would do just about anything for her.  On this particular day, she was so happy because Samantha was debuting in her classroom play.  She was Goldilocks!

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Samantha's last day of 1st grade -- June 9, 2015.  She is now officially a 2nd grader -- and she tells everyone that too!

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Crayon Day

I recently purchased a really cute book for the kids called, "The Day The Crayons Quit."  It is so witty and the girls laugh every time that we read it.  A week ago, I saw an idea online where we could incorporate the book into a Family Fun Day in our household and decided to expand on it.

One rainy morning, I quickly drew some large crayons on paper and let Samantha write the names of each of the colors on the crayons.  Blue, red, green ...

Then, the girls took turns drawing and coloring different objects on the crayons that corresponded to those colors.

This activity really captured their attention for quite some time:

They took turns coloring various objects until all of the crayons were filled.  They even took turns exchanging ideas for the crayons.

Then, we went upstairs and taped the crayons on their closet door.  A constant reminder of one of our fun projects ...  Samantha chose the order.

Afterwards, the girls sat on the couch (Jack was watching a show in the other room), and I read various passages out of the book and the girls had to work as a team to figure out which crayon was doing the talking.

For example, "All right, listen.  I love that I'm your favorite crayon for grapes, dragons and wizards' hats, but it makes me crazy that so much of my gorgeous color goes outside of the lines."  (purple)

Or, "I hate being used to draw the outline of things ... things that are colored in by other colors, all of which think that they're brighter than me!"  (black)

Or, "I need you to tell orange crayon that I am the color of the sun.  I would tell him but we are no longer speaking."  (yellow)

I love how they huddled together.

And finally, to round out the Family Fun Day, we made sugar cookies and used mini M&Ms in them.  While I mixed the batter, I had the girls separate their respective bowls of colors into piles. 

I thought that this was the most interesting thing: Sophia opted to grab a handful of M&Ms all at once and then separate them into the designated piles that she had made on the countertop.  This was very time-efficient and she was done long before Samantha finished sorting her colors.

Sam, on the other hand, chose a different technique and began to individually pick out one color at a time.  She separated all of the blues first ... and then the greens, etc.  This took a lot longer to do, of course.  And it made for a good learning lesson for the girls when we discussed their different techniques afterwards.

Of course, Jack "joined in" on this little activity by sampling his M&Ms.  (He was given some peanut ones because I was not going to be using any that he touched in the cookies.  Ha!).

 

 

This was such a great learning day for us and I have plans to do a few more of these "lessons" throughout the summer.  With just a bit of planning, it makes for a wonderful Family Fun Day!

The Beach ...

We haven't really been down to the beach too much yet this season.  The weather has been a little questionable -- some cooler days mixed with a lot of rain (so much rain lately!) -- and end of the school year activities have filled our schedule.  But, last week, on a whim, I told the kids to get their bathing suits and we could make a trip down to the beach, despite the blowing wind.  We needed a chance to breathe in the fresh air and to bury our toes in the sand.

We loaded up the van (this is the far better plan compared to walking and trying to carry everything) and zipped down to the vacant beach for just over an hour.  Enough time to tired everyone out so that they could eat lunch and nap as soon as we got back.

It's safe to say everyone was excited to be there:

The girls couldn't wait to go splashing in the water:

Their happiness was contagious:

Jack spent the majority of his time filling bucket after bucket ...

Over and over again.  So many trips back and forth.  It was almost mesmerizing to watch him.

Sophia tried out her new "Puddle Jumper" floater to help her out in the water.  I just love how caring Samantha is towards her younger siblings.  She has so much patience for them and is willing to help them with anything.

It was a success.

In fact, even after she was done swimming, Sophia opted to keep wearing it on the beach.

Making sand castles:

"All clean, Momma!"

Cooling off in the water:

 

 

And just for fun, this was my little man one year ago.  He wasn't even walking then; he was content to simply sit in the sand and soak his toes.  And he kept a sunhat on his head -- not so much this year!

 

Homemade Play-Doh

While Samantha was in school last week, Sophia and Jack helped me make homemade Play-Doh.  Sometimes, I feel a little guilty because it seems as though we are always doing fun things while Sam is in school, but this was a project that I didn't feel too badly about because I knew that she would be able to play with it once she got home that day.

We have made homemade Play-Doh before, but this time was a little different because we chose to use kool-aid packets to both color and make the Play-Doh smell great!  (My mom can't handle the smell of Play-Doh and I have to admit, that I don't really care for it that much either).

First, we began by gathering all of our plastic containers and lids that would be used to store the Play-Doh in when we were finished.  Jack busied himself with that particular task ...

... while Sophia began adding the kool-aid for the first batch.

And then Jack discovered that Sophia had received a job that was a little more "hands on" and "physical" than his.  The look on his face says it all -- it definitely did not bode well with him.

So, Jack was then able to begin putting the ingredients together for the second batch.

Sophia was a happy onlooker.  (I just LOVE her absolute enthusiasm for life and any "projects" that we do together).

The first batch that we made was pink (strawberry), and while it turned out all right, I might consider using more than one packet of kool-aid next time in order to deepen the color a bit.

Doing their respective jobs:

Jack's batch was made with blue raspberry Kool-Aid, and Jack decided to play with it immediately using the help of a spatula.

Playing with the grape batch:

Ever the organizer, Jack began sorting the containers down on his level -- on the chair, rather than the countertop.

The final products, lined up and ready to show Samantha:

From left to right: blue raspberry, orange, strawberry, grape and green apple.

This was such a fun and easy project for the kids to do together.  It provided at least an hour of entertainment later than night and the Play-Doh is stored in the closet for future fun!