Because all I Have Time for is Week In Review Posts...

 Last week was our slow week. It was supposed to be at least. I think somehow when I know we're going to have free-time, I get our schedule a little packed. But as I've learned this summer, that leaves little room for trouble!

 (Enjoying some Father's Day giant, chocolate chip oatmeal cookie)

This was the week where we didn't have any camps, lessons, or formal anything planned. Instead, I filled it with play dates, baking lessons, shopping (the necessary stuff), and cleaning out the toy room, of course. It's garage sale season, folks, and I need to get a move on it!

(This poor baby broke out in the lobster rash. We aren't sure why this has happened twice now. 



On Monday we had our Parents as Teachers' visit from our parent educator. Everything with the girls seems to be going well. Boushka contniues to impress us all with her talents in the motor skills department.

The last time we had our PE out to the house, Boushka stacked all 9 blocks that our educator brought. Our PE said she'd never seen a kiddo her age do 9 or more so she didn't bring anymore blocks. And this time, Boushka sorted all of the (green, yellow, red, blue and purple) bears into the appropriatly colored container. Again, our PE was impressed with this girls' perseverance to do all the bears.
I guess most kiddos get bored with the activity and turn their attention elsewhere before finishing the task.

(Just because she loves to pose, I oblige in photographing her)

(This little artist loves to have time outside to use her sidewalk chalk)


And as for little Scrunchie, she is a rock star.

This gal has been standing/bearing weight (with help, of course) for basically her whole life.

And in the past 6 weeks, she has been very steady and can hold her stance for quite some time.

I asked our PE what the normal age was when they could do it this well (I was assisting her standing at this point), and she said she'd never seen a little one this age (3.5 mos) do it so well. Okay, I'll stop bragging!

(She likes to pose too!) 




On Wednesday, the girls got a visit from Gram. The girls were excited to see her since it had been a couple of weeks since they last saw her. They watched Tangled and played. She brought the girls each a little Carter's 4th of July shirt. The girls are glad they'll all coordinate!

(The darn thing just wouldn't blow up like she was trying so hard to do)


Peach and Brownie had their second to last softball game (wouldn't you know the pics are on my iPhone), and both girls are really getting better at hitting. I think they've caught on to the little rules of the game--like after you hit the ball, you run to first base! And I just love listening to their little cheers from the dug-out.

(I can't believe she's going to kindergarten soon...)


The older two girls also went on a couple of dates with Auntie. They went to see Kung Fu Panda 2, shopping at Target and they played and picnicked at the park.

And our sweet girl Bug had her date with Autie. They also visited Target, and then they hit the pool. Apparently I've got a good little swimmer on my hands! They also stopped for a special Sonic treat and went to grandma's for a nail-painting session. 


On Saturday we visited the Farmer's Market for the first time in almost 2 months. I so missed my fresh Italian cheese bread, homemade granola, breakfast burrito and of course all the fresh produce. Boy, if you want a lesson in what's in season, just visit this place. I know next to nothing about gardening (though I'm working on changing this), but I could tell that beets were totally in season just by walking the FM.

(Not fans of this pose)

(Oh, it's so bright, mom)




We also attended a birthday party for our little nephew on Saturday. He's only a couple months older than Peach. The girls all had fun playing with the kiddos at the party. And everybody's favorite kiddie guitarist/singer was there too. We love Kyler and his awesome songs!

(Boushka is about to jet!)

(Boushka is crying her way out of this pose...)


In the midst of this past week we've also visited the Book Mobile, planted a small garden (corn, okra, jalapenos, lettuce, arugula, and broccoli), played outside with sidewalk chalk and got the house cleaned up. The clean up needed to happen since this was the first week since I've been back on my feet that we didn't have any major, scheduled plans. Yes, I feel a lot better about making small messes now that we don't have huge ones all over the house! Makes for plenty of more time to do fun summer stuff!
 

(And we'll end with a favorite ballet position)

Father's Day

Our Father's Day didn't start off terribly well--in fact, in started off terribly. We originally had plans to spend the day at the lake, but then we chickened out at the last minute due to the predicted 103 degree weather (that was with the humidity).

So we opted for a family trip to Lowe's (which is a huge deal since we almost never go anywhere as a complete family) to pick up some gardening supplies. Then we thought we'd plant some veggies that afternoon, have a nice dinner (Matt's favorite, roasted chicken with green beans and new potatoes cooked in the same pan as the chicken) and then finish the evening with a chapter reading from Little House on Plum Creek while roasting 'mallows and eating s'mores around our little fire pit.

We headed into Lowe's and all was well for 20 or so minutes. And then things happened that led me to carry out a kicking and screaming child to the van. I then had a shoe aimed and thrown at me, but it ended up under the car parked next to us. FUN TIMES, folks!



I let the screaming child sit strapped into her seat (air-conditioning on, of course) while I waited outside the van for the remainder of my family. They came shortly thereafter and we loaded up and headed home. And luckily, the terrible part to Father's Day ends there.

Oh, except for the part where I lost Matt's card, didn't get pictures of the girls printed off that were to go into 5 homemade frames, and I didn't ever get a chance to get his present for him. But he did pick it up while we were at Lowe's--that counts, right?

Thank God he's not that big into making a big production of holidays.  He was fine with me telling him what my card said and how much his girls all appreciate and adore him, that I'll print those pictures this week and that he picked up his own gift. at the store. on Father's Day!

But all's well that ends well, at least in this household it is. 'Cuz we are all about surviving right now. In 20 years I'll have a terrific fishing getaway planned for him and a couple buddies, a cold beer with his favorite meal, a homemade lemon meringue pie and a brand new grill waiting for his Father's Day.


But this Father's Day will go down as the one that ended on a happy note. We ate our version of winner winner, chicken dinner, had some s'mores by our little fire and ended up dead tired in our by the time our heads hit the pillow.

Happy Father's Day, honey! Glad to be surviving it all with  you!

Peach's Date

Recently, in all of the {sometimes controlled} chaos that consumes our home, I've decided that a couple of my kids seem to get left out-- A LOT. This, of course, is certainly not intentional. It's the nature of the beast when you have three younger children who cry because they're colicky, or because they are two and always say no even if they really want to say yes, or because a certain preschooler can't control her emotions half the time. Somewhere between spilled milk, diaper blow-outs, two hour fits, loads of stained laundry, and disgustingly dingy kitchen floors, my older two gals get lost in the shuffle.

I really hate that they {usually} behave so well, but then they get left behind. Because honestly, I'm not Super Woman. Or Super Mom. I don't have it all figured out. The nitty gritty of it all....



Folks, I'm crazy busy and I feel incredibly guilty for how little {quality} time I have available to spend with the 4 and 5 year old children in this family!


There, I said it. Even if I do find a few minutes {and I'm not exaggerating when I say a few} where I'm not tending to a need of one of the younger three children, I really have no desire, motivation, guts, or brain-power to figure out something fun to do with my older two. Besides, if I were to start something fun, it would be interrupted in a matter of minutes. And in case you were wondering, NO, we don't even get an uninterrupted nap time because one of those three is always not sleeping for some reason or another.

And I'm missing my big girls. They do so much for our family--things I'm sure some 4 and 5 year olds don't do do. They do {mostly} what they're told to do. They listen {rather} well. And they're always willing to give hugs and kisses. And I do show my appreciation in the form of little bonuses during the day--anything from an extra tv show, to snuggle time, to an extra story, or baking something fun.

But I find that the best time we have together is when we can be completely care-free and uninterrupted. So, since it's kinda hard to kick my family out of the house and take one of the girls and go snuggle them all nap long, I take them on dates. Recently, Peach and I went on a date.

We planned to go see a movie. We thought we'd see Rio, but we ended up seeing Hop. When we were in line some friends ended up right behind us and recommended Hop, so we went to that instead. Peach got to pick the movie, of course, and I think she really enjoyed it. Okay, it was cute and I enjoyed it too!

At the last minute, we decided we'd go get a little burger and fry right before the movie. We are naturally spontaneous people, but with 5 in tow we've learned we cannot be spontaneous. But when I only had one kiddo to worry about {who's out of diapers and rather independent} plus myself, we could totally be spontaneous. And so our last minute plan to grab a bite to eat worked out beautifully.

While on our date, Peach offered up stories about her sisters, her dreams, asked lots of questions, told me many random facts about her life {which I love}, and even told me that I looked pretty. And yes, I told her she looked absolutely beautiful in her pretty blue dress. My girls do love any excuse to dress up, even if it's for a burger and a {cheap theater} movie.

These memories are certainly turning out to be my favorites of the recent past. I cherish them!

Slacking a Bit...

After almost two weeks, I am just now uploading a bunch of pictures...

and then I'm reminded about how long it's been since I've blogged. What can I say, I get permission to walk with crutches and bear a little weight and the next thing I know I'm back to cooking, cleaning, laundry, and playing chauffer. And all of a sudden there's no more time for blogging!

We've been enjoying our summer thus far, especially now that I can drive and get around a little better.

Last week, the three older girls went to VBS at a friend's church. They really seemed to enjoy their time there, especially since they were surrounded by so many friends. During VBS, the younger two girls and I were able to hang out. I always enjoy the opportunity to spend time with one or a couple of the kiddos. It's a priority to me that they feel important and get quality time with us {dad or mom}.

This week the older two have soccer camp. It's not the kind of activity where I can just drop them off and go run an errand real quick. No, it's the sit in the heat with three hungry/needing to be entertained toddler/baby activity. But I think the older two are having fun, so it's worth it.

We've only made one trip to the book mobile this summer, but we have many more planned. We joined the summer reading program, so we'll be needing to make tons of trips. I'm letting each girl check out 2 books at a time this summer because I'm so tired of being charged fees for lost or late books. I'd rather take several trips a week to the book mobile than have several dollars racked up in late fees. We'll see if my plan works!

Here are some clips from our last 10 or so days...

These two girls swore to me that everybody else was putting makeup on for the recital. Am I a sucker for giving in....? Well, if I am, I don't care because it was fun to put it on them.

Every Monday a local pub has reduced price kid meals and some live {kid} music to go along with it. During the school year we could never make it because it is during the same time as our weekly ballet/tap class. But now that summer is here we had a chance to enjoy this experience!

We've been enjoying some time outside as well.

Now that I am {kinda} back on my feet, I've been able to do so much more with the girls. Included in this so much more stuff is hanging out by our {blow-up kiddie} pool.

Have you ever met one of those people who just never stop with the demands, can be so cranky with you one minute, and then they're incredibly giddy and smiling the next....

I just can't take this cuteness {so sweet}!

Summer salads just can't be beat in my book. ,I've got some kind of green {it wasn't labeled in the store}, apricot, walnuts, blue cheese and red onion. It's topped with my homemade red wine vinaigrette. So delicious!

She's just so easy to photograph. She's been really handsy  lately, and this little outfit she had on yesterday was perfect for stuffing in her mouth.

We spent a lot of time exploring clothes and hands. And yes, this is only a fraction of the pictures I took to capture the event!