Summer Vacation Week #2

We have had another fun week this week. We started out the week doing an art class. We found these little ceramic ponies at Wal-Mart. The girls (especially M) is always begging to paint something whenever I am making a painted craft. I thought these would be fun for the girls to do.

They had a great time, and surprisingly didn't get paint all over the place. I made these little grocery bag art smocks for them to wear so they wouldn't get paint on their clothes.

You just cut off the bottom of the bag and it makes the perfect protective covering. Here are the finished ponies.
On Tuesday I took the girls to the dentist. M got sealants on her molars, and A had to have two teeth pulled out. We were lucky it wasn't 4!
Poor little A has the tiniest mouth. Her two bottom permanent teeth were already up behind her baby teeth. That is why it doesn't look like she has lost any in this picture. There is not enough room for them to come in where they belong. We are praying she has a growth spurt before her next set of teeth start coming. Those teeth are also overlapped into where her next teeth are. The dentist told us that once she gets her 6 year old molars we will probably have to take her to the orthodontist to have them spread things out in there so all her teeth will fit. (That is when I will start regretting that I didn't become an orthodontist!). She was super good when they pulled her teeth. She didn't even flinch. I have never seen a person more excited to lose their teeth. I had just finished making a cute tooth fairy pillow (I will blog about that later), and she was so excited to get to use it first. She was super thrilled the next morning when the tooth fairy had left her $2!!!

We also headed off to the park for a picnic after our dentist visit. I told the girls we would go to a different park every week during the summer. They had lots of fun playing.

Little H has some serious arm muscles. She loves to hang on things. (Check out that little girls cute hair next to her! Her mom was sure ambitious that morning.)

Have you seen enough of my girls' bellies yet? Sheesh! I think we need bigger clothes at our house.

We were going to have water day on Wednesday, but it was raining (hey! I guess it really was WATER day!). So we went to the library instead. We happened to go at the same time as storytime. I wasn't too excited about that. I kind of like having the library all to myself. They were doing some fun father's day books and had some cute paper ties for the girls to decorate for their dad. They really enjoyed it.

On Thursday we went to the Children's Museum. The girls had so much fun. We are usually pretty cramped for time when we go, but this time we just wandered around taking our time. We got to play with almost everything. We were there for 4 hours! The girls had a great time though, and I only lost my baby once, and only had the director tell my kid to get off of something once too. He he. I should know better than to let my kid climb on something they shouldn't.

Friday we spent the day playing around the house and getting things ready for Father's Day. That will be the topic of my next blog post though.

Off to enjoy another week of summer. Two down 9 more to go....

Finger Painting....

The girls got finger paints in their easter baskets this year. Little H had never finger painted before. I think they all had a good time....at least they got to get all messy!

Fun in the snow...

A day of playing out in the snow.

Tea Party...

A couple weeks ago when my girls were out of school we decided to pass the time by having a tea party. They had to invite their Cabbage Patch Dolls for the fun as well.

Snow Day!!!!

On Monday we had our first snow day. We have just been blasted with snow and wind the last few weeks. It has been crazy. We have 6 foot drifts in some parts of our yard. I think even DH is tired of the snow...and he loves the snow. The girls had a ball on Monday making a snow cave with their dad.
They love to play in the snow and were outside most of the morning. Getting to play in the snow was even good incentive for them to get their chores done quickly that morning.
Some of them loved playing in the snow, but were not too happy about getting their picture taken.
Even shoveling is fun!!! I think DH is getting a little tired of all of the shoveling though.
Wow!!! That is a lot of snow!!!

Too cold to play outside...

Have you ever bundled your kids up so they could go play in the snow and they are back in the house in about 2 minutes!?! I got really tired of that, so when my oldest was 1 I started bringing the snow inside!

I use my biggest bowl, and fill it full of snow. I set it on towels or a tablecloth on my kitchen floor. Then I find cooking utensils (spoons, forks, bowls, cups, measuring spoons, etc.) for them to use in the snow. They absolutely love it!! They will play in the bowl of snow for at LEAST an hour...they never last that long outside. So if you don't feel like bundling up your kids, just bring the snow inside!

Fun and Games

With the temperatures dropping we have been trying to come up with new fun activities to do with our kids indoors. Here are a few of our favorites.
Riding our family horsie. :)

Since we don't have boys we don't have one of those "official" rugs that has streets and buildings all over it, so we kind of make our own. I take painter's tape and lay out roads and buildings on our kitchen floor, then the girls take the cars and drive around on the roads. They usually pretend that the buildings are restrooms...you can tell we stop at quite a few while we are traveling in the car can't you !?!

This is a funny game that some how started at our home. It is called Beans N' Rice. One of my girls will tell their dad to catch their Beans N' Rice and then take off running. When my hubby catches them he wraps them up in a "tortilla" which is actually a blanket (Aren't these blankets adorable? My mom made one for each of her grandkids to play with...ours get lots of use.) After the Beans N' Rice are wrapped in a tortilla my hubby puts them in the "fridge" which is actually the couch. Somehow the Beans N' Rice always wiggle free and take off running to start the whole game over again. This sounds quite odd, but my girls love it.

We also play lots of board and card games, hide and seek, tag, play dough, read stories, watch movies, and do all kinds of art projects to keep us busy when it is cold outside. What about you? What fun things do you to with your kids to keep them entertained when the weather is cold?

Busy summer days....

I have been super busy the last week, so I haven't been blogging too much...Here is what we did yesterday...

This was the only picture I got with our digital camera. I really need to get a new camera and use it exclusively. I have been doing some more craft projects and a remodeling project as well. I will post pictures when I get a minute.
We had a great time at the zoo. My kids love it. And so do I. We go once a year. My husband's brother, his wife, and their daughter went with us this year. I love family outings. I always come home loving my kids more (especially after seeing other people's children and how they behave!). I am excited to do more fun activities this summer with them.

Things to do in the summer....

I came across this list as I was cleaning my craft room. I thought I would share it. We are trying to do as many of these as we can this summer.
1. Lie on your back and watch the clouds go by.
2. Hike in the mountains.
3. Gather flowers
4. Listen to some music you have never listened to before.
5. Look at nature: study birds, animals, rocks, etc.
6. Try a new hobby.
7. Go to a children's museum
8. Create books of your very own to read.
9. Write in your journal.
10. Go swimming.
11. Go camping with your family.
12. Ride a horse or a pony.
13. Sleep in.
14. Watch cartoons on Saturday morning.
15. Build a hut.
16. Ride your bike.
17. Tube down a cold river.
18. Stay up really late.
19. Pitch some baseballs.
20. Play soccer.
21. Take a long trip in your car with your family.
22. Get in a hot tub.
23. Go to an amusement park.
24. Jump on a trampoline.
25. Sit in a patch of sunlight.
26. Watch ants on your sidewalk.
27. Rollerskate around your neighborhood.
28. Have a sleepover.
29. Make up a play.
30. Grow a garden.
31. Walk your dog.
32. Read a book outside in a hammock.
33. Make a summer movie.
34. Go fishing.
35. Lick an icecream cone all the way to the end.
36. Visit the library.
37. Go to a fair or festival.
38. Watch the sunset.
39. Watch the stars.
40. Sleep outside under the stars.
41. Color with sidewalk chalk.
42. Play in the rain.
43. Build a sandcastle
44. Blow the seeds off of a dandelion.
45. Sing out loud.
46. Make up a silly rhyme.
47. Write and mail a letter to someone special.
48. Draw a picture of yourself.
49. Make fresh lemonade
50. Eat outside three times in one day.
51. Make homemade icecream.
52. Roast hot dogs and marshmellows on a campfire.
53. Wear shorts.
54. Walk in the sand without shoes.
55. Swing on the swings at a park.
56. Watch fireworks.
57. Laugh and giggle for no reason at all.
58. Have a water fight.
59. Play in a lake.
60. Go to a rodeo.

I hope you all have a great summer!

Pretty Tootsies

I wanted to have a picture of our pretty tootsies on my blog too. Here they are:

One of my favorite thing about having girls is painting nails. My girls love to have their nails done. It was so nice and warm and sunny last week, so we hauled a blanket out on the front lawn and had a little pedicure party. The girls had a ball. I don't think the neighbor boys were too thrilled. Neither of them wanted me to paint their nails. Although one of them already had chipped pretty pink paint on his fingernails...LOL...I guess that is what happens to little boys when they have three big sisters. We have these cute little flower decals (complete with gem stone middles) that we love to put on our pretty painted tootsies. (I got them at Wal-Mart) Now our tootsies are all ready for sandal season, too bad it is raining today!!!

Tired of Chores

Lately I have become the ranting raving screaming yelling kind of mom and I hate it. My big problem is chores. I will send my kids off every morning to do their chores. Three hours and a lot of yelling later they are still trying to make their beds. It absolutely ruins my whole day. Why can't they just get in there and get it done? Don't they know we could then spend the rest of the day playing? I guess that is the key right there, they are playing! That is why they aren't getting their chores done.

Well, I have grown so tired of the fight that I keep inventing different ways for them to get their chores done. I tried rewards (such as treats, staying up an extra 15 minutes, watching a show, going to the park, etc.), but that only worked for a little while. We have also tried "obedient bucks". Money that they can earn for doing their chores, which they can use later to buy various treats, or toys from the "treasure bag". That only worked for a little while too. I found out that was more of a hassle for me to uphold the system and remember to give them their "obedient bucks". So tired and frustrated that nothing was working I came up with a new plan. I wrote the name of every room in our house on a paper and put them in a cup. We all take turns drawing out a room, and then we go clean that room TOGETHER. I think I have been missing a key point of motherhood. I would send them off to do their chores, while I did mine. Get them to work on a project or play with something while I worked on something I needed to do. I have come to realize I wasn't fully involving them in my life, and consequently not really being involved in their lives as much as I should. So the new plan for chores is working. They love cleaning together. I enjoy it too. Yesterday by 9:00a.m. my house was spic n' span. And we had the rest of the day to play and spend time together. I noticed that my girls tried to keep things cleaner for the rest of the day too, since they had to help clean everything up. And here is the best part....they are actually doing more work now than they were before!!! I hope this plan with continue to work, what a happy mom I will be if it does!