Heat Wave & Summer Fun

I'm so happy it's Friday, what I am not happy about is this heat! Holy Moly, it is sooooo hot out! And That's an understatement. I love summer time. I don't usually mind the heat, but these 110* days are just too much! I'm looking forward to some rain, hopefully it will cool it down a bit. On another note, the first week of camp went well, despite the gas leak scare on Tuesday, which forced us to sit outside for almost 2 hours in the crazy heat wave. But other then that, the kids are great, the show is going well (we already have a lot done in just this first week) and everyone is having a blast. Yes I just said blast....I'm getting old. whomp whomp.

Anyway, I decided to have some fun with the kids and make neon colored rice.  I got the idea from Happy Homemaker Me. It was super easy to make and the kids love it. I made enough to fill a box and a Gatorade bottle for my 1 yr old niece to play with, although Alanna loved it ...she even tried to sleep with it. And knowing her I'd wake up in the morning to colored rice everywhere! So I thought it best to put it up when she's not supervised. I used the rest to fill a container and I set her down with bowls and scoops and she played for over an hour.


First I took a cup of dried rice and added just enough water to cover the rice then added about 10 drops of neon food coloring. I let it sit for about 5 mins.

Then I laid out 2 paper towels on a cookie sheet and laid out the rice to dry.

I then used an empty Gatorade bottle and mixed a half cup of each color (and threw in some glitter just because glitter makes everything better)  and Voila! A very cool sensory bottle.

Then I just threw it all together in a plastic dollar store bin and gave her some containers and she was happy and content.

Annnnd slightly crazy!

I tried the shaving cream with Maddie and Caden and of course they loved it.

We had some freezy pops to end the night

Please don't mind that he doesn't match...he insisted on wearing that outfit.

And one more of Caden because he's so weird haha

It's July!

IT'S JULY! I know it's actually day 2 but I can't believe it's July already. Boy this year has flew by. Camp started last week, well for the councilors. The kids started today. So far it seems like we have a great group of kids, I think it's going to be a fun summer. I know Maddie has been looking forward to it. I've been meaning to post for the past few days but I've been so busy with camp and everything, I've been so worn out.

Last week ballet started for the girls and I signed Caden up for soccer. Saturday I helped throw a baby shower for a friend and so now after having something every single weekend in June, I am finally starting to relax. Although, instead of sitting here I should be folding the 5 loads of laundry piled on my bed and baking 4th of July cupcakes for my campers tomorrow. We're having a 4th of July party for the kidssince Wednesday is Independence Day.Tomorrow I will post about the cool sensory stuff we did with the kids when they came home from Missouri, but now I will leave you with a few pics from ballet class and Leo's company picnic (they are just of Alanna because the kids were away for it)






Leo's company picnic:

I LOVE this pic

Leo's picnic:

Being silly

Alanna made a friend

She jumped in clothes and all

Dance pics:

Pretty Ballerina

Sisters 

Ballerinas

Caden and Alanna...I love this pic.

I am really looking forward to this being a great summer...I just hope it lives up to my expectations.

Blessed

I was going to post about the kids fun with sensory stuff today but I came across this song by Selah I Will Carry You and it was so beautiful that it brought me to tears. It was written for a beautiful little girl named Audrey whose  parents were told that she would not live. Her father is Todd Smith from Selah and her mom is Angie Smith whose blog I have been following since I heard of her story. Which you can check out here Bring The Rain. She has been through so much and is such a mighty woman of God, just reading her blog was so encouraging, and I encourage you to check her out.

Tonight as I sit here and my kids are asleep in their beds I can't help but feeling this overwhelming sense of blessings. I have these three amazing little people that call me mommy, a husband who makes us his whole world and a God who is All Powerful and All Mighty and calls me His daughter. What more could anyone ask for? Of course things have not always been easy, I have been through so much to get to this place in my life and I have battled (and still battle) with depression and anxiety. But I feel like those things that were so bad in my past were lessons learned for my future. I have learned how to be a better wife, mother and person thanks to the circumstances that have come to pass. I live with no regrets and it feels amazing to be right here, where I am, right now. And I couldn't ask for anything more then that.




On a side note, the kids made it home safely last night....or should I say early this morning and I am so happy to have them home!

Sensory Fail...

I was planning on waiting until the kids got home to do some of the cool sensory activities that I saw on this really cool blog Happy Homemaker Me ,  but I was so excited to let Alanna play with some of the stuff I bought, that I decided to let her dive in. So after a long day in the pool I thought it would be fun to play with some shaving cream. 

I filled a tub with shaving cream and added just a few drops of  food coloring just for fun

Although she is smiling she didn't like it much. It took me about 5 minutes to talk her into putting her hands into it and then after about 2 minutes she was over it and wanted to wash her hands. She kept telling me she was a mess and needed a paper towel. So we ended up cleaning it up rather quickly. I guess I had more fun playing in the shaving cream then she did. Oh well, I know Madison and Caden will love this, they love making messes. I will have to pull this back out next week when they get home. I guess we will just stick to the colored rice (which I will post about once I finish it, it's drying right now)

Now we're cuddled on the couch watching Toy Story 2, it's so quiet around here without the big kids around.

Summer's Here!

Today is the first day of Summer, and boy is it HOT! We hit 102 today, so needless to say we didn't leave the house. Partially because we went to the pool yesterday and I am sooo sunburned. The tops of my legs got it the worst. They are on FIRE. We ended up staying in with the nice, cool AC and baked S'more bites and chocolate chip brownies.

S'more Bites. YUMM!

Also a fun fact for the day: I met my oldest friend 21 years ago today on her 7th birthday, and we've been friends ever since. Happy Birthday Amber! Here's to 21 more years of friendship, Love you!!

 

Madison and Caden left last Friday to road trip to Missouri with their grandparents. I miss them like crazy. I'm normally not one of those crazy parents who wont let their children go anywhere without them, and I generally welcome any and all breaks but I do miss them terribly. I keep thinking of fun stuff to do but I don't want to do it without the kids. Not to mention it's so quiet here without them. I'll be glad when Sunday comes, although ask me Monday when they are running and screaming through my house and that may be a different story. haha

Before they left for Missouri on Friday we took them to the Inner Harbor for the Bicentennial Star-Spangled Sailabration. It was pretty cool, we went to see all of the big ships from all over and they had a huge festival with the Blue Angels flying over. It was crowded and hot but the kids had a great time. Here are a few pics:

The Kids had a blast playing in the fountains.

The kids on one of the boats

Matthew (Caden's best friend) & Caden 

Love Baltimore

I didn't take this pic, but I love it! so cool.

Yesterday we went to the pool with my sister in law and nieces. The kids had a blast and I got burned. 

My niece Lexy and Alanna soaking their feet (the water was freezing!)

This was a HUGE step for Alanna. Back in March while at a pool party she slipped off a step and went under. From that point on she was terrified of the water. She wouldn't go within a foot of it, even if we tried to hold her in the pool, above the water, she would scream her head off. She slowly made her way into the water yesterday although still apprehensive, she ended up all the way in with us.

Big girl and daddy

Monday starts training week for Summer camp. I'm looking forward to it as always, but even more so I am looking forward to the beach! Happy Summer!