Creepy Crawly Story Time at the Library

 Listening to the story.

 Acting out the story.

Playing with all the big bugs after the story.

How a snack can define kids:

If these two pictures don't explain how my kids are different, nothing will!

Rose's Dance Recital

Benign Neglect

While James was napping, I was trying to get some computer work done, so Rose had to entertain herself for a little while.  She said, "Mommy, come look at my animals!".  So CUTE...first she wrapped a blanket around the outside of the bottom of the papasan chair we 'acquired' from my sister.  Then put all the stuffed animals in it, but left a door for them to come in and out (see opening on right side?).  Finally she covered it with the chair upside down and the cushion the 'wrong' side.  

Then James woke up and they decided it would be that much more fun if they got in with the animals...fitting, I guess.

Last Dance Class of the Year

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day!!!

Waiting to give daddy his treats for the day (4 lbs of twirlers, a new pj wardrobe, slippers, & a handprint card).

 Taking a break in the basement while daddy did some work...hmm guess he was tired.

We had a long weekend (see this post), plus after Mass, we celebrated the day with my side of the family for brunch.

The ice cream fiasco: So long story short; we went for ice cream and ended up eating soupy, milk like cream, well at least some of us did.  

Long version: We went to DQ for dessert, they took forever to make 2 blizzards, so I sent Dan to get the kids fudgeless sundaes from McDonald's.  By the time I got in the car, theirs' were almost melted to begin with.  We decide we will stop at a nearby park to eat them.  We get out, walk to the benches, forget the bug spray, the kids are spilling what are now milkshakes, Dan goes back for the spray in the car, we walk to the picnic tables, decide the bugs just really aren't worth it, turn around and get back in the car.  Race home to try to be able to eat some ice cream before it is totally melted.  

We sit down on the front stoop, and are eating away.  I decide that mine would be better refrozen after the kids have gone to bed, so I go in to put it in the freezer.  I trip on the inside stairs spilling soupy chocolate ice cream everywhere!  I didn't take a picture because who would do that (I guess whoever had been eating this cone?)?  

Maybe I should have because, then Rose spilled a little.

Then James spilled a lot!

So, daddy decides that we need to clean the stairs up and turns the hose on.  But forgets that it was the stairs that needed to be cleaned and started spraying all of us.  The "I have a camera in my hand" only protected me for so long, so yes, I too got drenched.  But we had a blast doing it.  And eventually everyone forgot about their spilt milk - I mean ice cream. 

The Yard Sale of ALL Yard Sales

The 'holding' room.  SOME of this was for my sister's, mom's, and mom-mom's part of the sale.

 My stuff spread out for the sale, after about an hour or so.  We put on signs and whatnot that it started at 8, but people already started to come when we were bringing the tables out at 630.  Do these people have lives?!?

Rose and James entertaining themselves while we were busy selling stuff.

 So, I know that it was eons ago that I said I was part of the 40 bags in 40 days deal...then only did like 3 posts and seemed to fall off the band wagon so to speak.  I did manage to clean out a lot of the house, I just never got around to posting the pictures, etc.  But we did have the yard sale on Saturday that was the fruit of all that labor.  I made over $200 on stupid little things, sent at least 8 more boxes to Goodwill at the end of the day, and have two newly usable rooms.  I will be doing it again next year, as I can already see that there is a lot of stuff still around the house (read: we never made it through all the books, Dan still has lots of clothes to go through, and I added to the attic instead of taking away!).  Just a few shots of the day above.

Hands-on Lunch: Mini Pizzas

I was tired of the kids always eating chicken nuggets for lunch, so I figured they would have fun with this and try something new.  They kept stealing the pepperonis (see top picture?) but then didn't like them once the pizza's were cooked!  Regardless, it was a good time killer and meal.

Dancing Together

I love this series of pictures.  They are having so much fun together.  This was at the party for my cousin Danny's Bar Mitzvah (yes I have Jewish cousins).  The kids had a blast dancing.  Love the blurry but totally happy shot of them.

Sorry, no new pictures!

Ok, so I know it has been awhile, but I really don't have any new pictures to share with you right now.  We have been busy around here, but mostly with going to the pool!  Kind of hard to get good pictures with that, but the kids are having a blast.  Rose is a great swimmer and James has figured out he isn't going to drown when he has the swimmies on so he has stopped clinging to me.  Hopefully I will have something up this weekend, or early next week.

Dance Recital Preview

All dressed up for her pictures...so pretty (but what a goofy staged smile!).

As you can probably tell by the collage of pictures, we had a lot of fun on our long weekend away.  We went to a great little place called Graves Family Lodge and stayed in one of their houses.  We went to Luray Caverns, explored their working farm, went on a hayride & roasted marshmallows, ate really good, but unhealthy food, went swimming (pond by accident, pool on purpose), collected sticks and rocks, went on a short hike, and drove around some really pretty countryside.

The house was just the perfect size for us - two rooms and a great room.  There was a kitchen so we were able to have food and whatnot when we wanted it; like before 830 am when breakfast was finally served everyday.  And it was at the end of the drive, so there was no traffic past our door.

The lodge served meals three times a day, 830, 1230, and 630, and had the most awesome rolls at each and every meal!  Also, the mashed potatoes were to die for they were so creamy.  After pretty much ever meal the kids wanted to run around the great room in the lower level of the lodge.  On the first day before dinner, they were playing out front of the lodge and ran headlong down the hill.  Apparently (I was inside due to allergies) James made it all the way down the hill with out falling, and if you know James at all that is quite a feat for him,  until he got to the bottom, and fell over.  It just happened to be into the 3 foot pond.  So Daddy had to dive in after him and forever more the pond was known as the pond James fell in (each and every time we passed it).

One of the activities I brought for the kids to do was a dollar store bug catcher.  I thought they would have fun swinging at bugs.  What I didn't count on was Rose freaking out every time she thought she saw a bug.  Oddly enough, she constantly wanted to go and catch them outside (where she couldn't see them that well) and not inside (where they were flocking to the lights).

We also went swimming in the pool.  It was freezing the first day since it had just been filled with fresh river water!  Luckily it warmed up considerably by Monday as it was really hot - 95ish.  

While we were out one day, I saw this sign. 

Here let me zoom in for you.

I thought it was a bit odd since I think the definition of an antique is that it was made a long time ago, right?

And here is my favorite shot of the week.

Rose showing off her homemade, natural wand.