Paintball Shooting on July 4th

Uncle Jed pulled out his paintball gun and a huge box of paintballs on the 4th. The kids all took turns firing at the targets and they got pink paint all over the backyard. Luckily it washes up pretty well! When Owen first saw his Dad shooting his toys pink he said with a frown, “that makes me sad.” But he was ok after we explained that it washes off. Super fun activity for all of the kids, Thanks!

Princess Pocket Pillow

Hannah and I were at the store buying some fabric for the wedding dresses I will soon be trying to make. (If I can just figure out how to lay out the pattern and get the pieces cut out!) She spotted this princess fabric and begged me to get it for her. I saw that all of the flannel on the shelf was on sale for $2.00/yard and thought it would make a nice pillowcase so I got a yard and a half. After waiting around forever to get my fabrics all measured and cut I made my way to the register to pay. On the receipt I noticed that the princess fabric was priced at $6.00/yard. I asked the cashier about it to which she helpfully responded, “Ya, sometimes people put things back in the wrong place.” Ok, thanks. She said I could give it back and she would void it from the receipt. But now it was already cut and my two year old is dying to get it home. So I bought it anyway. I figured since this pillow case jumped from costing only $3.00 to $9.00 I better make it a good one.

Hannah is also very attached to her binkies, and I had a brilliant idea- I would sew a large pocket onto the pillowcase so she can keep her binky in there during the day and have it only during bedtime. It’s a step in the right direction. I just can’t do the cold-turkey no binkies thing for her. She’ll just find one of Sabrina’s. So far it hasn’t been wildly successful, but now that we’re back home maybe it will work better. So, here it is in all it’s glory:

Hannah’s Princess Binky Pocket Pillow

Matt, Rescue Ranger

Hunter got this CD, Another Long Semester by Aaron Durr for his birthday from Nana & Papa. Aaron is a talented friend of my brother Matt from high school. His song Matt, Matt Rescue Ranger is our favorite. Hannah even asked to listen to it the other day. Matt says this song is not about him, but to us it is! The CD is very clever in both the music and lyrics; and I think he does all of the instruments and vocals himself. We always have fun listening to it. It’s very catchy, go to his homepage and click on “listen” at the top. I think he has great promise and wouldn’t be surprised to hear him on the radio soon!

Ceramics and Clay

Hunter and Emma just finished a ceramics class that was offered through the community. They went every week for 6 weeks and made some really fun things! They still have some projects curing on the shelves at the studio, and we’ll add those to the gallery too when they’re ready. (Also in the gallery are pictures of Emma’s projects from her after-school class where she painted ceramics. Hunter took a “Mad Science” class and it was a blast, but there weren’t any projects to include in the gallery.) It was great fun for them and the little girls loved it too because we would play at the park next door during the class and watch the ducks on the pond there. We even fed the ducks sometimes which Hannah and Sabrina especially loved.

Now that this class is over, it’s on to bowling class, and although the kids were super late to their first class because we got stuck at an orthodontist appointment for Emma, it looks to be great fun as well. I just may need to bring a roll of quarters to keep Hannah busy at the video games because she would love to bowl right along with the big kids.

Preschool Twister

A few times we have played a family game of Twister as a fun activity. The kids all laugh and it is a silly game that makes us happy. The other day Hannah wanted to play it, and we had more fun than I expected. It turned out to be a nice teaching tool too. She loved putting her hands and feet on the colored dots as I called out, “put your hand on green, put your foot on red…” We’re not quite to rights and lefts yet, but what a fun way for her to practice her colors, her coordination, and get a little bit of exercise. It can be kind of like yoga with all of the stretching in crazy poses, right? Hannah and I took turns and she loved telling me what to do too. Sabrina had a blast slapping the mat and laughing as she crawled around. Who would have guessed Twister would be not only fun, but have a teaching purpose too?

For Uncle Jed and Cousin Scott

Hannah is flossing! She emptied the whole container to do it, but she loves to floss her teeth. This isn’t the first time she has done this, but it is the first time she looked this cute when she did. I thought you two dentists would appreciate this picture the most.