Summer Bucket List

I love making a list of fun things I hope to do with the kids each summer.  It reminds us to try new things and do some of our favorite summer activities.  The kids like to check things off as we do them too.

I borrowed some of the ideas from other blogs, asked C and R for input, came up with a few ideas of my own, and some of them are repeats from the last few years.

• fireworks in a jar
• homemade lava lamp
• tie dye
• sun prints
• write letters to Auntie Karen and to teachers
• paint rocks
• ooblek
• make stepping stones
• paper bag wind socks
• visit the zoo on a Monday when the Toe Jam Puppet Band is there
• Children's Museum
• Mystic Aquarium 
• mini golf
• cloud watching
• make a volcano
• do something nice for a neighbor
• origami
• make a summer scrapbook
• hiking
• picnics
• geocaching (maybe?)
• make bubble wands 
• make lemonade
• water balloon fights
• use our ice cream balls
• bowling
• beach
• pool
• strawberry picking
• blueberry picking
• make s'mores in a solar oven (Thank you for this idea, Susana!)
• participate in reading programs (library and Barnes and Noble)

I can't wait to get started!

Fifteen

Happy Fifteenth Birthday to my firstborn.  It has been amazing watching you grow (and grow and grow) into a young man.  It seems like just yesterday that you were born.  I still remember holding you for the first time.  I remember unwrapping you from the hospital blankets and being totally amazed that you were mine...ten little toes and ten little fingers, this little baby boy weighing 7 pounds 11 1/2 ounces.  Now you are fifteen, time sure does fly.  I hope you have a wonderful year and many, many more wonderful birthdays.

At fifteen, T:
- is almost six feet tall
- is finishing his freshman year of high school
- played freshman football and was on the spring track team (well, he did these before turning 15, obviously)
- is very intelligent
- listens to country music most of the time
- is still a Steelers fan
- has a very sweet girlfriend
- has been to Europe (Tom and I have yet to go)
- loves to read
- prefers meat and potatoes
- plans on playing a lot of tennis this summer
- enjoys playing video games on his Xbox
- knows a lot about military weaponry
- likes to watch stand up comics

T had two friends sleep over this weekend and I made peanut butter cup cupcakes.  I made them by putting a little batter in each cupcake liner, then placing a mini peanut butter cup in each one, and then covering with more batter.

I topped them with chopped peanut butter cups and baked them.  I swirled on chocolate frosting and topped each with a peanut butter cup.

For dinner tonight, T requested steak, mashed potatoes, and corn.  His girlfriend came over for dinner and cake.  The cake was chocolate caramel.

Happy Birthday T!

Thirty-Seven Weeks

K learned how to drink from a straw last week.

She does not like to be strapped in the car seat; she screams and arches her back.  Actually, as soon as I open the car door, she starts screaming.

K is not crawling, but she moves around quite a bit and appears to be close to crawling, pushing up on her hands.

She wants little bites of whatever I am eating and has zero interest in pureed food.  She seals her lips shut and refuses to open them for baby food.  All of my babies have done this, but not quite this early.

I took these pictures today; it is the first time she has fallen asleep in the high chair.

R's Kindergarten Performance

The entire Kindergarten performed for parents, grandparents, family and friends this morning.  They began with the Pledge of Allegiance and then sang a few songs.  After the performance, we spent time outside together and took some pictures.

Here is R walking out of the mini-auditorium after the performance.  Her friend, Karlie, is behind her.

R and C with Grandpa and Grandma

R and C with Papa, Grandma, and Great Grandma

R with her teacher - Mrs. Rayray

She was C's Kindergarten teacher too; we LOVE her!!

C and R with Miss Lisa, a paraprofessional in R's class; she is very sweet.

Karlie, Allie, and Reagan
R talks about these two girls all the time.  I love this picture!

R was so excited about this performance.  She looked so cute singing with her classmates.  I cannot believe that her Kindergarten year is almost over.

C's Autobiography

House Update

After three days without any progress, the trim was painted today.  As you can see, our windows and doors are still covered with plastic!  Just a few more days!!!

Tom's Birthday

Yesterday was Tom's birthday.  We only give presents to the kids for birthdays, but I made one of his favorite dinners (chicken and black bean salsa on corn tortillas) and one of his favorite desserts (key lime pie).

I forgot to take a picture before I cut it!  I bought 100% key lime juice from Whole Foods and followed the recipe on the bottle.  It came out great.

C and R each wrapped up a can of his favorite beer (Harpoon - already sitting in the house) and gave it to him!  The picture is the can C wrapped.

They also made him cards:

I think it was a great day!

Thirty-Six Weeks

K's favorite thing this past week has been playing ball.  She cracks up when the ball comes to her and after a minute or two, she even rolls it back.

R loves it when she and K wear matching clothes!


K really likes feeding herself finger foods now; she had a few squished black beans with her lunch over the weekend.  She seems to like yogurt now too, but still not as much as her siblings did.

Our House - Rhino Shield Continued

The guys worked over the weekend.  They covered every door and window with plastic and applied primer and whatever else they put on the house to get it ready for paint.

Remember when I whined about the noise of the sanding?  I think that was more tolerable than not being able to see out any of the windows!

Supposedly, they have about three more days of work.  Unfortunately, it is supposed to rain most of the week:

MonMay 21

65^°

58^°

Showers

CHANCE OF RAIN:

70%

 

WIND:

E at 10 mph

Details

TueMay 22

74^°

59^°

Showers

CHANCE OF RAIN:

40%

 

WIND:

SSE at 7 mph

Details

WedMay 23

74^°

57^°

Showers

CHANCE OF RAIN:

40%

 

WIND:

SSE at 7 mph

Details

ThuMay 24

70^°

59^°

Few Showers

CHANCE OF RAIN:

30%

 

WIND:

SSE at 8 mph

Details

• 10 Day Forecast

 I hope the rain stays away and the work is done this week!

Oh, one funny thing...every time the crew chief comes to the door, he asks for Tom.  He says, "your husband?".  I guess he thinks I am not allowed to make any decisions or write checks!

Shirley Temples

R saw a commercial for a Shirley Temple DVD and wanted to see more.  She watched a few YouTube videos and we borrowed a DVD from the library.  R claims that she enjoyed the movie, but I think she was bored and really just likes to see Shirley Temple sing!  The short YouTube clips are just right for her.

I made Shirley Temples for the kids to drink.  C and R only had a few sips (neither one of them really cares for soda even though R pretends to like it), but T drank his and what was left of his siblings!

A Shirley Temple is ginger ale, cherry juice (from the jar of maraschino cherries), and one or two or eight maraschino cherries.

Our House

We are currently in the middle of Rhino Shielding our house.  Yes, I know that rhino shielding is not a verb, but it is for the purposes of this post.  So far, they have scraped all of the paint off and now they are sanding the house.  I thought the scraping noise all day long was annoying, but it was so much more tolerable than the sanding - it sounds like I am trapped inside of a huge bee's nest!  I will be so happy when they are done.

If you are not familiar with Rhino Shield, they use a ceramic based paint and guarantee it for life.  Disney, Nascar, and the Lizzie Borden house are some of the big name clients of Rhino Shield.

This is a picture of our house right after we moved here in 2009:

We are sticking with the same color scheme, but our green is a little more green than the original color.

The main color will be Benjamin Moore Caldwell Green:

The trim color will be Benjamin Moore Popcorn Kernel:

Our doors will be Benjamin Moore Parisian Red:

Choosing paint colors (especially knowing they will be there for a very long time) was very stressful, but Tom did a great job painting color after color on the side of the house until we were happy and confident in our choices.  

I will post more pictures as the process continues.

Eight Months - Thirty-five Weeks

Yes, they still adore her!

K's third tooth (bottom to the right of the two middle teeth) came in last week.

K is enjoying Cheerios and puffs now, and she loves feeding herself.

She is playing with her toys for longer periods of time.  Here she is with her favorite toy:

Teacher Appreciation Week

I picked up some easy gifts for C and R to give to their teachers to thank them for being the best teachers ever!!!

They filled the water bottles with chocolate and put them in pretty bags with heartfelt notes.

They both reported back to me that the teachers were very, very happy with their special gifts.