And there you have it...

...our crazy spring! Now on to summertime...

What we've been up to {Part 4}

We've been catching butterflies.

Grace and I found this one outside and attempted to rescue it before the dog trampled it (it was questionable whether or not she already had). It seemed like something was wrong with it, since we watched it for quite awhile and realized that it wasn't able to fly. So, we scooped it up and transferred it to the flowers in the front yard.

The following morning, it was gone. Grace is sure it flew away. And, while I'm pretty skeptical, I'm going let her keep believing that!

new routine

Grace and Molly are finally settling into the afternoons with me working at home. For awhile there, I thought I was going to have to send Grace back to aftercare and lock Molly in her kennel all day with the constant whining and barking going on around here. But, they have finally found a few past times to keep them occupied on the days I need to get work finished up during the couple of hours between lunch and Sam pickup. Molly's favorite thing to do is pass out right next to the chair I happen to be sitting in. Here she is in the dining room:

And Grace, amongst other things like art, playing with Barbies, reading or watching Cake Boss, likes to spend an hour "working" on the computer each week. Here she is digitally coloring a picture of strawberries at sproutonline.com at Daddy's desk:

I'm pretty sure that's the same thing Daddy does here, too. :)

new addition!

Once upon a time, a little boy turning 6 received some birthday cards with money tucked inside. He thought long and hard about what he wanted to do with this money. He had been eyeing a ninja Lego set for some time, but on a visit to Meijer for groceries, one day, he asked his mom if he could check out the fish there. As they watched the fish swimming, he decided that he may want to use his birthday money for a new pet of his very own. The grocery shopping was finished, and the boy returned home to ponder his decision.

That Saturday, he declared to his mom that he did, indeed, want to spend his money on a fish. So, the two headed to the pet store with his birthday money and he methodically picked out a tank, some items to build a little fish home inside, fish food, water conditioner, and, of course, he new blue and red betta. He also consulted with the fish specialists on duty at the store to be sure he knew how to care for his new pet. He also seemed slightly relieved by the fact that the store would take the fish back within two weeks and replace it should he happen to get ill or die.

So, he marched alongside his full cart over to the checkout and paid with his very own birthday money. On the way out of the store, he was thrilled to run into a classmate and be able to show him his fish before even getting the little guy home.

Meet Jack.

He brings the boy much happiness, especially since he's already been trained to swim to the upper corner of his tank for his food as soon as the lid opens.

And the boy, who attends Catholic school and has been talking about the Holy Spirit in class, was sure to let his parents know that the Holy Spirit gave him the courage to make a choice between a ninja Lego set and a fish.

His parents are certain he's happy with his choice.

my girls

In time out...

After time out...

Took these two of my little mischief-makers last month.

Kentucky snow!!!

We got a little treat last weekend as we decorated the house for Christmas...SNOW!!!!! We had declared it Christmas pj day: a day that would not include changing into real clothes and leaving the house but would include Christmas decorating, hot chocolate and Christmas movies. Our bonus was the snow, though. The kids suckered me into going out with them...how could I not when Grace was sitting on a sled in the middle of the yard crying because she couldn't get it to move by herself? While I was out there, we ended up building a little friend in the yard:

Don't mind my awful outfit and lack of makeup...it WAS Christmas pj day, afterall!

Molly was not fond of our snowman. After getting annoyed with being pelted with snowball after snowball by her boy, she had already gone inside when we started building the snowman. First she barked uncontrollably at our snow friend from the living room window. Then, when she finally worked up the courage to go outside, she ran around in giant circles barking at him for several minutes, before crouching low to the ground, sneaking over to him, then jumping up in an attempt to steal his carrot nose! No one ever accused her of being the smartest dog in the neighborhood. :)

Sister Sister Sister

Sister Sister Sunday

I thought since I'm so diligent at keeping my own blog going (haha!), that it would be fun to contribute to another blog as well! My sisters and I are featured as guest bloggers on yesterday's Sister Sister feature over at Kuzak's Closet. Click here to check it out!

*sigh*

Well, yesterday was my last Monday off with the kids before school starts. We tried to make the most of it. I thought about the pool, but knew it would be crazy because it is everyone's last week to hit the pool before school.

So, instead, we went and fed the ducks, which is always a favorite activity...

...played and had a photo shoot at the park...

...settled in for afternoon movie time...

...and rounded out the day with babysitting Savanna...

Sam and Grace were big helpers while she was here, even if Grace was a little jealous :)

I'm going to miss these Mondays! The kids start school in just over a week. They're ready; I'm so not.

another new addition

Kris found this teeny tiny praying mantis in the garden last week! I'm really hoping it stays put inside the netting to avoid gettting trampled or eaten!

no pageants in our near future...

Not until she perfects her make-up application, at least...

Oh, little girl...how you test me...

a new version of an old classic...

Apparently, the song has moved west...and Susanna has officially changed her name. :)

pretty girl

trying to see the light!

I recently painted our master bedroom and am finally starting to actually make it feel like part of our home and not just a white box where Kris and I go to sleep at night. We are making plans for a built-in shelving system in there and I have plans to clean up some of my furniture collection accumulating in the garage to place in there. And I've been trying to decide on lamps for our bedside tables. I'm pretty torn because, with our master bedroom, I really want to try and find a happy marriage between masculine and feminine as well as vintage and modern. I'm hoping Ashlie and Mandy can help me out on next week's Sister Sister feature with some suggestions. Right now, some of my favorites include:

Available at Crate & Barrel, here.

Available at Crate & Barrel, here.

Available at Crate & Barrel, here.

Available at Pottery Barn, here.

Available at Pottery Barn, here.

Let me know what you think!

Linking this post to:

Sister Sister Sunday

making Grandma Pat proud

Grace is turning 4 at the end of this month. My mom is having her knee replaced this coming Friday. Timing was an issue. You see, my mom is incapable of giving late birthday presents...and she and Dad decided to give Grace an antique school desk for her birthday (not exactly shippable). So, the solution? Mom and Dad road tripped down two weekends ago to deliver the present and help Grace start celebrating her birthday 6 weeks early (hence the title...Mom's mom, Grandma Pat, loves a nice, long birthday celebration!). We had a great weekend visit full of soccer, Sequence for kids, eating and playing outside. And Mom and I even managed to squeeze in a quick trip to Kohl's, because it seems she may also be incapable of coming to Lexington without going to Kohl's. :)

This shot is probably what sealed the deal on the need for the knee replacement!

Grace was pretty proud to show Grandma and Papa that Sam gave his old tricycle to her recently. He knew she was getting a little tall for her pink tricycle and since he got a new bike for his birthday, he thought Grace might like to have his old tricycle...and his little sis was thrilled. They have their moments...love it.

Being silly with Grandma & Papa...the kids wanted to show their feet in the pictures and they thought it was hilarious when Papa suggested he and Grandma do the same :)

And here is where we can find Grace on a regular basis ever since she accepted her birthday delivery: at her desk coloring with her Color Wonder markers (a.k.a. the best markers ever created).

Thanks for coming down, Grandma & Papa!

not looking to be a tv star

In an attempt to not be featured on the A&E show Hoarders, I'm making an effort to weed through the kids' numerous art projects they create at school on a weekly to bi-weekly basis. In the process, I hope that I'm also teaching them that it's okay to throw things away. I used to do this at night when they were asleep, but then realized that they weren't really benefiting from that. For one, they didn't see me weigh my decision on what to keep and what to let go of, plus, there was a lot of explaining on my part when they discovered some treasure missing. So, now I try to involve them in some of this. This past week, we talked about letting go of two items that I knew would be a struggle. Sam recently came home with a dinosaur "fossil" that he made at school that smelled strongly of coffee. Red flag: art projects made out of wet food products...definitely not meant to be kept to show the grandkids someday. That same week, Grace came home with a giant Cat in the Hat hat that she had painted and sculpted herself out of paper. It was enormous and already starting to rip apart at the seam. We discussed why we couldn't keep these items and, finally, they gave their consent to toss them...on one condition:

that I take a picture and put it on my computer. I guess I'll work on the digital hoarding some other week.

change in weather

We started the day with rain in the forecast and dance pictures on the agenda. So, everyone was bathed right after breakfast since Grace had to get all prettied up for her photo shoot and I was pretty sure that the rain would hit and they wouldn't be playing outside after lunch. I snapped a quick photo of Grace all decked out on our way out the door:

When we got home, though, the sun was shining and it was warming right up. So, I hustled the kids out to the backyard to play where they remained, virtually fight-free, for the next 2-1/2 hours!! Gave Mama some time to do a little work, blog, and get some laundry and cleaning done! It also gave them ample time to get good and muddy, which doesn't quite translate in these photos, but the ring in the tub later proved it!

Yes, the patio is mud-covered, as well...that's what happens with these two around plus a crazy mutt who is thrilled to DIG!

Anyway, we ended the afternoon with both getting themselves bathed, again, and dinner. I was happy that the beautiful weather stuck around a little longer than expected! And I can't wait to get the dance pictures back from this morning...they all looked too cute in all their frills!