Happy Birthday, J!

Today my oldest son turned 9 years old. I can not believe we are HALF WAY TO ADULTHOOD! In fact, I think I said that phrase so many times today that I freaked him out a little. Maybe the little crying episode I had when we looked at his baby book this morning contributed, too. What a strange thing time is the way the days are slow, but the years are fast!

I've said before, we love birthdays around here! Jaybird awoke to Daddy's yummy french toast. He was serenaded by many family members over the phone through out the day. Each of those calls are so special to him- he loves his family! We met some friends at Monkey Joe's and the kids spent 4 hours playing and enjoying pizza. This afternoon the boys almost completed Jay's lego set that he got at breakfast! And then we were off to his favorite restaurant for dinner...Fuddruckers! Burgers, apples and birthday cake were enjoyed by all. And we had our traditional topic of birthday conversation, "Name your 3 favorite things about the birthday boy!".

This year, Jaybird stood out as a servant, an honest person, funny, and someone who is quick to share. I reminded him of how he MADE MY WEEK on Monday when he made me breakfast in bed after I was up most of the night with sick Lydie. (He even put blueberries on my granola!) And he's always very honest, which he proved at dinner when he told Daddy the truth about his breath! :) He thanked us over and over again for a fun day and assured me at bed time that this was "a really great day!!".

I can feel his young childhood slipping by and the pre-adolescent years creeping in. (Is it really already time to care about his hair cut and begin to need deodorant?) I look forward to walking this new and mysterious phase of parenthood with him. My heart is bursting with pride tonight. I have been blessed with a magnificent boy! Happy birthday kiddo!

Gibberish and a little progress

(Antique white/chocolate brown toile fabric for curtains)

The kitchen is painted! I love the green. It is soft and relaxing. But I am not even halfway done with the room. I decided to put up a bead board back splash and change the curtains! (My back splash is costing less than $50!! And the curtains $13!) I am putting my bright, fun orange curtains in this room. The extra projects plus Lydie's illness earlier in the week have thrown off my "schedule". Tomorrow is Jaybird's birthday so all construction will come to a halt. Hope to get the kitchen completed by bed time Saturday. But who knows if that will really happen? More pictures to come!

Questions:

~Should I spend $8 a piece on antique white corbels to put under the top cabinets ($40 total)? Should I invest in some apothecary jars to display on the counter tops? (~$35-$40)? These are questions that are rolling around in my head tonight. I'm thinking yes to corbels, no to jars. Couldn't I find the jars at yard sales over the coming months?? But you don't see rustic white-washed corbels for $8 very often...right? Or maybe Thor-Heyerdahl was right when he said,

"Progress is man's ability to complicate simplicity."

I bet he wasn't "dizzy in the noodle"!

When the natives are restless

Lydie came down with a fever in the middle of the night (Sunday/Monday). So I knew we would be homebound for the first half of the week, at least. Monday went fine. But this morning I woke up very aware that the kids might be a little grumpy. (And I was tired, too.) So here's what I did:

I made a list of 20 things for them to do today. Thankfully, they love these types of challenges. Especially at the end of the summer when they have been at home with so much free time! (Their creative juices are tapped!)

The list:

1. Create an Alice in Wonderland scene with Legos
2. Play with stuff on kitchen table (Lite Brite, wooden peg stacking toy, dominoes)
3. Play frisbee outside
4. Bring me your sheets
5. Dump the upstairs trash
6. Paint in the kitchen
7. Make a blanket fort
8. Swing/ trampoline
9. Read
10. Play a board game
11. Do 2 pages in workbook (Summer Bridge)
12. Listen to Mom read from history book
13. Work on a puzzle in the playroom
14. Play Geotrax or Hot Wheels
15. Draw a picture
16. Explore and find a few backyard treasures
17. Make blueberry smoothies
18. Call Nana or Mimi
19. Make a masterpiece with paper and scissors
20. Lay a blanket in the yard- lay down and look around. Enjoy God's creation- notice the trees, birds, clouds, what else? Blow bubbles or draw with chalk!

Ragamuffin boy (has he brushed his hair since church?) so thrilled to find that pink and blue make lavender

My girl got stuck on #6 for at least an hour.

This is Alice's hole that she fell into when she found Wonderland

Somewhere between #5 and #10, this is what the cat drug to the back door! A copperhead from the yard! I have never loved our cat more. I am so thankful she got to it before the children. Incidentally, when I called my (biologist) husband with the news, he insisted that I bag it and freeze it for him. That explains the bag. That little exercise involved tongs, screaming, and much drama.

The beginnings of The Fort!

Do any of our puzzles have all of the pieces any more??

Currently, it is 4:40 and the boys are on #14. Other than making a quick trip to the store and our snake ordeal, they've been playing all day. It has been a smooth day. I'm thinking by the time they get done and clean it all up it will be dinner time. Maybe later in the week we will have another "list day". I've got some old pie tins...I'm thinking mud pies would be a fun activity! And ant hotels, did any one ever create those with shoe boxes? And I need help planting some flowers, too!

Kitchen make-over dreams

My kitchen is about to undergo a major transformation! The fun I am finding in dreaming about this room is giving me the energy I need today. I love this process!

This morning I went garage-saling for some inspiration. Here's what I found:

This piece will be painted with this technique. I'm thinking white with brown showing through. It will hang above the baker's rack. I found it for $4!
I can't wait to use this garden tray ($3) as a centerpiece on the kitchen table. Those two white frames were 10c a piece! I will use them in Lydie's big girl room (vintage prints??).
I bought a set of 6 of these vintage Easter postcards with trim and ribbon ($1 total). The are laquered, so nice and sturdy. I will hang them on the chairs at Easter with ribbon.
Makes me have a touch of Spring fever!!

I got 6 of these little lovelies for $1 (total), too. I thought I could use them at Lydie's birthday party in September. Pink candy inside, hung on the chairs, too. Don't think I could have made them for that price! (Excuse the ugly nails. I had to cut them all off when I tie-dyed without gloves. :) )

These two bird-inspired decorations will soon hang in the kitchen- $5 for both. This orange color is my fav!This little $30 table beckoned me. I bought it last week on sale in my favorite little shop. Orange is the new main accent color. Here are a few more orange things that are "old" that will stay in the kitchen. (The canisters (below) were my beautiful Grandmom's. I LOVE having items of her's and Nana's here and there around the house. I never imagined how many memories these little things hold!)

The paint color is a greyish green. I love it against the white trim. I am painting the table and chairs black. So black, greyish green and deep orange are the main colors. And also, lots of white!

I am hoping to have the boys help, again. I think we will get started tonight. By mid-week I hope to be able to share the new look of the kitchen!

The week's themes

...could be summed up with two words!

VBS: Crocodile Dock

The "ham" and the "cheese" leading in drama, music and dance

Monopoly


I taught Toot to play Monopoly this week. We played a game each day this week! He's hooked!

That's basically it! (Except maybe for those 50 other Mommy/Wife things that are done on a daily basis!)

Last edition of CSF

Camp Stinky Feet just ended. We had so much fun with Ross. Here are my favorite Ross quotes. He is the funniest kid I have ever known. (Not to mention sweet, well-mannered and enthusiastic. He was a DELIGHT!)

~“Come on words. Don’t play hide and seek with me.” (When he forgot what he was going to say.)

~“Come on Lydie, crawl down the steps backwards. That’s what all the girls are doing.” (When he went to get Lydie out of the crib.)

~“If Lydia Joy were a bug, she’d be a love bug.”

~“I know how 6 year olds are. When they get really mad they act like bulls.”

~“This is huge. It will go down in history, I know it.” (Referring to the Sponge Bash Sponge Bob Square Pants show that is coming on Friday night)

~“It was very stressful. I was anxious. I think I started to sweat.” (talking about voting on-line for his favorite Sponge Bob episode)

~“We were little squirts back then.” (Referring to last year)

~“I can’t wait for Sloppy Joes.” (He was actually referring to Monkey Joe’s!)

~“We’re hooligans. I have no idea what that word means. I think it’s a tribe in Africa.” (said around the dinner table)

~"I'm opening the hatches! (When he peed in the front yard...with my permission. :) )

“Can I have a drink of water?” (It was bed time. Andy said to wait til tomorrow thinking it was a ploy for extra awake time.) “Okay, I can just drink my spit. It tastes pretty good.”

More Camp notes

(I forgot my camera when we were away from home today!)

Day 3:

Church playground. Monkey Joe's. Chick-Fil-A. Star Wars. The creek. Tie-dye t-shirts. Sponge Bash on tv. More ice cream and peanut butter m&ms. Grilling out burgers and corn-on-the-cob.

3rd Annual Camp Stinky Feet

Night 1:

Pretend tales in the backyard. Safari hat and binoculars. Meatballs and spaghetti. 3-D movie. A visit from the tooth fairy (Jackson).

Day 2:

Breakfast picnic. Building marble runs. Transforming Transformers. Legos. Our favorite park. A trip to the creek. Chuckie Cheese.Treasure boxes. A quiet video. Poppy seed chicken. Ice cream cones. Bowling.

Picking blueberries

Today we went to the blueberry patch. I was a little concerned because we sent out a mass email and only girls that are Lydie's age were available. Normally we play with kids the boys' ages. But the boys were up for the challenge and helped and played just fine with the younger kids. Surprisingly, Lydie was the toughest trouper about the heat. But all in all, every one had fun and now we can look forward to blueberry pie and smoothies and waffles for the next few weeks! Blueberries are like the flavor of summer wrapped up in pretty blue packages. I love them!