The Simple Everyday Things

Sometimes I think that I need to do something magnificent with the kids to blog.  But, let's be honest, magnificent events are spectacular because they are not the norm.  That doesn't mean that we aren't happy.  It's the small, simple, everyday things that make life so enjoyable.  I was looking threw my pictures from the last week, and these made me smile.  

Waffles!  We had them for breakfast once over Spring Break.  As you can tell, Melanie really enjoyed hers with some fresh strawberries and a little whipped topping.

 Over Spring Break, Melanie's wonderful kindergarten teacher sent Melanie a post card in the mail.  Melanie was so excited about receiving a postcard from her teacher that she immediately wrote a letter in return.  Then she added a picture on the bottom and begged me to take a picture of her and the letter so she could remember it forever.  It was too sweet, I had to.  Melanie really loves Mrs. Haynie, and so do I. 

 Speaking of things we love...  we LOVE Preston!  He is such a fun little man.  Preston had been miserable.  He had been really uncomfortable, spitting up like crazy, and hardly eating...  so I took dairy out of my diet. Now he is like a whole new baby.  He eats really well, sleeps really well, and has fun in between.  I'm so happy he is feeling better now!  Now, if only I could protect him from the abundance of love and attention he gets from his older brother.  Who ever said that letting the baby cry a little doesn't hurt him doesn't have a 2 year old helper.  I know Oliver loves Preston and wants to help him, we are just working on the right ways.  I think it may take a while, but he will get it. 

 Oliver has been putting his own shoes for a while, but recently he has come up with a style all of his own.  This is the "I want to wear my too-small-for-me crabby sandals, but mom told me to put on my running shoes" look.  See how he compromised, doing what I asked while also doing what he wanted?  He is a funny one.

 We have been a little creative with paints lately, Noelle more so than the rest of us.  I don't think this was intentional, but it made me smile.  She likes pink so much, she is starting to turn pink!

 Ever see a double-decker swing?  I hadn't until Saturday.  Check out this invention!  The kids did this all by themselves.

 Everyone got a turn!

 This last week, one of my best friend's had a baby.  On Monday, I offered to watch her older, non-elementary aged kiddos while she took baby Sally to the doctor.  Once Mary and Jason came, inspiration hit.  We haven't had a "tea party" in a while.  And who says a tea party has to be for girls only?  So, here we go:  a Co-ed Impromptu Tea Party, using the dishes from the kids' toy kitchen (yes I cleaned them).  Everyone had fun.  And, I filled up those tiny cups with juice so many times, I lost count.  Next time, we may have to use larger glasses.  Live and Learn! 

All these little things and more make me realize how blessed I truly am!  How grateful I am for my wonderful family and for the blessing my Heavenly Father has given me.  Life is good!

Down at the Farm

Today, the Vertuccios Farm hosted a Mommy and Me event.  The event was geared towards kids 4 and under and their moms.  For the morning, there were no field trips or older children, just young kids... who got in free.  Mom was 5 bucks.  I couldn't beat that!  Of course, we had to go check it out.  Noelle, Oliver and I met up with our friends, Amy, Mary, and Jason for some fun at the farm!

 I love that I caught Noelle mid-jump!  Can you tell she was excited?  Not at all.

 This little thing was fun...  there were water pumps and "slides" for rubber ducks.  You pumped the water and sent the duck on a ride to the other side.

 They had a bounce house...  always a hit!

 They had 2 large tunnel slides.  This is the shorter of the two, which Oliver tried out.... only once.  Mary and Jason went several times.  They are clearly fearless!!!

 The next picture is of Amy going down the larger of the two slides with Jason.  What a nice mom!

 My kids especially loved the animals.  There were goats, a cow, some chickens, and a donkey.  Very cool.

 There was a train that went around the farm once.  It was cute, with cow print cars.  I will admit, I felt like such a punk going on the train.  See, there was a line.  So, we sat in line.  When it was time to get on, I put Noelle in with Mary and by time I got her in, every other cart was taken.  Amy had skipped a cart specifically for me, but apparently it was filled anyhow.  I was NOT happy and acted like a total child.  It wasn't my finest moment.  I honestly didn't care about going on the train, but my son did.  Amy was really sweet and let me sit with Oliver in the cart that she and Jason were going to ride in.  Thankfully, Jason was okay with that arrangement and all the children got to ride.  Sigh, I feel really bad about my mini fit.  So silly, really.

 Finally, we rode on some horses...  bouncy horses!  This was cool as well.  I didn't ride much because Oliver kept trying to get back over to the trains (have I mentioned that Oliver LOVES trains?), but I enjoyed watching everyone else ride. 

It was a good day at the farm!

Learnin' Club Halloween "Party"

In preparation for Halloween, We had a party at the park!  It was so much fun.  And the weather has been so perfect lately, we couldn't do better.  Here are some pictures of my kids waiting for the rest of the group.  They were having fun!

When we were all together and had a chance to play on the play ground, we played a few games.  The first game was a build a jack-o-lantern game.  It was so fun, we had to play it 3 times.

The last game as a mummy "costume" contest.  Here is my little mummy.  She won the funniest mummy.

Ms. Mary won scariest mummy...  I'm sure you can see why.

Ms. Ava won best mummy.

It was so much fun!  My kids played the build a jack-o-lantern game all week.

Independence Day

I love Independence Day, or what Melanie lovingly refers to as "America's Birthday". We started the day with a our own version of "raising" the flag. The girls enjoyed participating in putting up the flag.

After breakfast, we went to the Airplane Museum. It was so beautiful outside. It was the perfect day to visit a hanger.

And the girls loved the airplanes.

So did the boys!

After the museum, we decided to go to the park. Oliver got his first swinging experience and he loved it!

The girls had fun on the slide.

The rest of the day was spent at home. I let the girls paint on Tuesday and I used the paintings to decorate. They made the pinwheels and some hanging artwork in the living. It is fun to decorate.

Around 3 or 4, a good friend of mine called up and asked if her kids could come over for a little while while she attends to an emergency. My kids were so excited to have friends over. I sent them all out back (because lets face it, when do you ever get to enjoy nice weather in the middle of July in Arizona? This was truly a blessing). I made these "bubble blowers" for each big kid and let them at it.

I think they enjoyed themselves.

Jason enjoyed playing out back and watching the crazy kids with the bubbles.

These kids definitely had fun!

We ended the day with a BBQ, and root beer floats!

Happy Independence Day!