Sunday, April 30, 2017

Dinner With Friends

We've been having monthly dinners with our friends the Wakefield's for awhile now but we missed last month because they were moving and our schedules just didn't match up. But, on this last day of April, we were finally able to have dinner with them in their new home. 

They didn't move far from where they were before but they went from a little townhouse to a HUGE house and it is beautiful! I can't wait to see how it all comes together for them! The kids were happy to see each other but it did take them a little while to warm up again and play like they used to. Dakota was too tired to really play anything so she kind of did her own thing or hung out with us adults and baby Evelyn. She LOVES babies though so she was happy. 


The boys played all kinds of made up games, some very loudly, but they ended up having a good time together. When they needed a break they came upstairs to hang with us and the kitty, Lola.




Poor Landon is a little old for the kids so instead of joining us for dinner he went over to Mema's and washed her car to earn some money. 




Happy Planner, March

Now that April is over I remembered that I never posted my March planner pages. I just know you were all sitting around wondering if I'd ever post them...

Month At A Glance Pages:



Weekly Pages:






Since the month began on a Wednesday and ended on a Friday I had lots of room to fill up with stickers and stuff. I downloaded some free unicorn stickers on Pinterest to fill some of that space and used some St. Pats stuff I found at Michael's for the other empty areas.

Sprinkler Time!



Yesterday was perfect for running through the sprinkler in the backyard. The water was a bit cold but these two little nuggets didn't mind at all! They moved the sprinkler over to the play set and had fun climbing the rock wall with the water spraying them and sliding down the extremely slippery slide. Tony filled up the water blob that my sister got them when we were in SC and they had fun jumping and sliding on that as well. 


They are going to be so ready for swimming in the pool this summer and I can hardly wait myself! 

Color Your Own T-Shirt

When we were getting ready to leave for spring break I wanted to make sure I had some activities to keep the kids busy while we were at my parents house so I picked up these t-shirts that the kids could color. We did this before with success so I thought we'd do it again. 


Harper has recently begun watching episodes of Power Rangers on Netflix so I thought he'd enjoy that print. Dakota was with me when I decided to get the shirts so she chose her own, a unicorn.

Harper was done with his in about 15 minutes. He did a pretty good job despite his hurry and even personalized it a bit by writing "go rangers go" on the back. :)



Dakota spent a long time coloring her shirt, probably close to an hour. She's all about rainbows so her unicorn is very colorful. She also personalized her t-shirt by drawing in a sun at the top and writing her name at the bottom.






Saturday, April 29, 2017

Morning at the Park

I was really surprised when I asked Alexa what the weather was going to be for today and she said a high of 91! What? It's only April for Pete's sake! I went out to water the plants on the deck and the kids asked to have their breakfast out there so that's how we began our day.



I thought it would be a good idea to get out and enjoy the day before it got too hot so I loaded up the kids' bikes and helmets and took them out to Piney Orchard playground for an hour or so. They rode around the lake and then played at the playground for a little bit. Around noon we walked over to Subway for lunch and then went back to ride bikes around the water one more time before making a quick stop at the library and heading home. 





I was pleasantly surprised by how well Harper did on his bike today. He started out nervous and slow as a snail but as time went on he did better. Before long I wasn't able to keep up with him while walking and he was getting braver and braver going around curves and downhill. He even said it had been fun to ride his bike and that he hadn't felt scared! Huge milestone for him! I guess we'll need to make sure he gets out on his bike again soon so that he keeps up his confidence! 


Around the Back Yard

So we've seen how the front yard is coming along and now we'll get a peek of the backyard. I grabbed the last three baskets of Portulaca at Lowe's the other day and decided to distribute them in my deck boxes. I didn't have enough for all 5 boxes but I had plenty for three plus a big pot on the deck. When I looked at them yesterday I didn't think they were going to make it but then this morning they were looking quite amazing!


Begonia do well on the deck too and as soon as I see some I'll grab them for the empty boxes. Last year our neighborhood realtor came around to remind us she's around and handed out little geraniums to each house. The geranium she gave us did so well that I decided to grab one for this year too. It looks like it's going to do OK but I forgot to get a photo...another day. 

I was surprised to find that I had some big purple and light pink Clematis this year! It didn't do that great last year but this year seems to be making a comeback. 



Along the (future) path in the back we planted some new stuff. We've planted some winners back there but lots of losers too...we'll see how this years picks go. 

We've got Lantana:


Ascot Rainbow Euphorbia: (this is much nicer looking than here in my picture, google for proof)


Platinum Blonde Lavender:


Pony Tails Mexican Heather Grass:


Society Garlic:


While I cleared the (future) path of weeds, Tony cleared the (future) patio of weeds. While he was digging he dug up a giant rock that I got super excited about (weird, I know) and had him move in front of our baby Dogwood tree. He ended up finding a few more large rocks so we put them all together under the tree. Doesn't it look comfy there with the little tree, rocks, bench and water fountain in the back? The fountain doesn't work as a fountain but does a great job covering up the hole in the fence! ;) 







Around the Front Yard

I've been spending a stupid amount of time working on my yard these past couple of weeks and I'll be darned if I'm not going to put proof on the ol' blog. Bear with me as I blabber about yard work...

I found some big fat Marigolds when I was at Lowe's the other day and decided I'd give them a try in the front flower bed. We get nothing but sun and heat up there from about mid day on so I need something there that can deal with that mess. I'm hoping they'll be able to survive along with the Petunias that Dakota insisted we have and the little yellow Calibrachoa.


There's only a single Hosta left from when we moved in nearly 7 years ago (I think the voles ate the roots) and the Salvia is doing OK although some are looking a bit puny this year. I've gotten to the point where I'm really unhappy with this garden and just feel like it's too big to deal with. It stays very hot up there most of the day and I think it'd be nice to just bring the stones even with the front porch and put in a few pieces a sod between the stones and sidewalk. I do love the little tree in there though and I think this year it is looking better than it has in quite awhile. Up against the garage wall I have some Peonies and they're just about to open. I can't wait to see what color they are since I can't remember what I put there!


I've got the three big pots filled up with an assortment of flowers. I thought I'd try a little of this and a little of that and see if any of it lived, haha! There is some Brocade Geranium, Calibrachoa, Lantana, Glitz Euphorbia and Royals Chambray in those pots. Fingers crossed it all doesn't die. I've got two more peonies on this side of the house too and they're looking great! Woohoo! Peonies everywhere! I picked up a few more lambs ear for the front to even it out on both sides...hope it survives!


Further to the right is another big mostly empty bed. I've planted some little grasses in there and some Artemesia but I'm not even close to done with that area so I'll save you the photo. On the right side of the house I've got a big butterfly bush and a couple more peonies. :) I haven't even cleared those beds out yet but will likely get that done tomorrow. Look at the buds on the peonie's though! 😍





Thursday, April 27, 2017

Ballerina Canvas Art

After noticing that Dakota had been picking at the canvas' that I made and hung in her room ages ago I decided it was time to take them down and put up something new. I wanted to make something using canvas because they're fun to do and ultimately settled on ballerina's after I found some simple silhouette's on Pinterest



Here's the old one's I made, butterflies, flowers and a little girl + dog. Lots of missing butterflies, the grass had been tugged on quite a bit and the little girl was just falling apart. 




And, here are the new canvas' hanging above her bed in her room:


They really were very easy to make. I painted the canvas "princess pink", printed the silhouette's on black paper, cut them out and then decorated with rhinestones, tulle and ribbon. She really loves them but doesn't understand why I didn't give them faces. :) I'm happy with them too but of course see the flaws...oh well. I know they won't be up there too long before I'll be wanting to change everything again!




Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Art and Literature (Artsy Partsy)

This morning Kota and I began another round of Artsy Partsy. I was really surprised when we walked in and all the tables were nearly full! It's been just us and two other mom and kid sets for the most part but today all 6 tables were full with another joining in next week! I love that we're helping someones small business take off and having a great time while doing so!

This session is art and literature and each class will begin with a story and then art based on the book they've just read. Today's book was The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. I think everyone (with the exception of the teacher) knew this book by heart! I could hear adults and children reciting parts as the teacher read aloud. While the teacher read she pointed out things that the kids may not have noticed otherwise like the face drawn on the sun and the different colors used to paint the caterpillar. She pointed out textures and shapes and shadows and then broke out the supplies the kids would need for their first project.


They were first instructed to draw an oval head at the far left side of their page and then given two shades of green to begin stamping the paint into a caterpillar body. It was a good lesson on pattern making.



Once the body was complete the kids were given red paint to fill in the oval head.


And then brown so that they could add legs and feet, purple for the antennae and crayons to draw little hairs on the caterpillars back.




To complete their work they were given two yellow and two green ovals to glue on for eyes.


We set the caterpillars aside to dry and the teacher handed out little bowls of green beads and pieces of string for the kids to make necklaces while she got the next project ready. Dakota made a pattern using her beads and when she ran out of sparkly beads, she quit.


The final project of the day was (fittingly) and butterfly. The kids were given a large sheet of white paper and a butterfly body shape to glue to the center of the paper.


The teacher then instructed the kids on drawing butterfly wings. 


Once the wings were drawn they were given lots of paint to color in their wings however they chose. 



It was another fun class and I love that they're focusing on art they find in their books. When art was over Dakota and I headed over to the school to register for Kindergarten! Hard to believe it's already time to do that! 





April Fools Pranks

The two little kids made me laugh yesterday morning.  I was upstairs getting things ready for school when I heard them talking about how ...