Things We're Loving: Dress Up

I love this reversible cape that we ordered from Etsy (one side is Batman and the other is Superman)! If you're looking for a dress up cape, I highly recommend this seller (we also bought the Spiderman cape as a present for one of the boys' friends, and it was awesome too!)! The quality is excellent and she shipped it out in just a day or two! Plus, it also comes with the cute little mask that Sutton is wearing in the first picture.

Sawyer holds the hat stacking record for keeping SIX hats on his head at one time (too bad I didn't have my camera at that moment!)

We're in the process of fixing up our front living room into a play house and dress up area for the boys. I'll post pictures in a few days once I get it painted and finished!

Sidewalk Painting

I have seen a lot of sidewalk chalk paint at stores lately, and naturally the kids have been begging me to buy it for them to try out. Since the paints we have seen cost anywhere from $10-15 per set, I keep telling them "No way!" even though it does admittedly look like a lot of fun. I did a quick Google search, but could only find recipes involving powdered tempera paint, which is probably one of the only items we don't actually have in our craft closet. Luckily for me, Valerie over at Frugal Family Fun (can you tell yet that this is one of my favorite blogs?) posted a recipe to make your own sidewalk chalk paint for mere pennies - with no obscure ingredients!

The recipe calls for 2 tbsp of cornstarch mixed with 2 tbsp of water, but since my measuring spoons were in the dishwasher, I just made sure to use a 1:1 ratio of the mix. Add a few drops of food coloring, grab some brushes, and you're good to go! My colors were SO bright in the container that I was worried that I'd made them too bright, but they dried to a nice normal pastel chalk shade. I was also worried that too much food coloring would make it difficult to wash off of our light colored concrete patio, but it was easy peasy!



As long as your "paint" has been thoroughly mixed it should brush on to the concrete as easily as water. In the summer heat, even the goopiest of the kids paintings should dry in just a minute or two to a chalky pastel finish.








If it hadn't been 106 degrees outside at 6:00 p.m., I'm pretty sure this would have been an even bigger hit! We will definitely be revisiting this activity on a cooler evening :)

Happy 27th of June, America!

I'm not sure why the city of Rocklin decided to have their huge "Celebrate America" festival on June 27th since July 4th is also on a Saturday, but I'm not going to argue with it. I had seen signs advertising the celebration posted on a lot of front yards and local businesses, and I thought that it would be some great free family fun for us to check out. I asked the boys if they wanted to go see "big fireworks in the sky" since they have never seen them before, and of course, they were really excited about going. When I posed that question a couple of days ago, little did I know that the forecast was calling for 103 degree heat today (and 108 tomorrow - ack!). It most definitely hit that mark, if not well above.



We got there around 7:00 and decided to check out the food vendor tents. We bought some gigantic cookies and lemonade and sat down to brave the heat under a tree for awhile.



Lots, and lots, and lots of lemonade. Luckily it came with free refills!



Did I mention that it was really, really hot?

Like, intensely hot?

The heat definitely had its benefits though - the boys were really patient and mellow as we waited for the sun to go down!

Right after this picture was taken, Sawyer turned around and said to us, "Maybe all the balloons are going to go up to space so they can go see the aliens." Mhmm, maybe.

I was smart enough to bring some glow necklaces from my stash of dollar store goodies that I keep hidden away for special occasions. It saved me a lot of cash and whining when the vendors walked around trying to sell the same necklaces for $5 each!

Finally, after LOTS of music from the choir, some preaching by the pastor of Sunset Christian Center (who hosted the whole celebration), some more music, a few patriotic reinactments, a moment of silence that went on for so long it got to the point of awkwardness, a speech from Tom McClintock, and some more music from the band...Let the fireworks show begin!!!

I had warned Sawyer that it was going to be loud, so he was well prepared. He seemed to like the fireworkds, but he still said that the finale was scary because it was really super loud. Surprisingly Sutton wasn't scared at all! He kept his hands pressed up to his ears until the show was all over, and then he clapped as hard as he could and kept asking me "Fireworks come back again?" When I asked him if he liked the fireworks he responded, "Mhmm yes, very much!" :)

First Day of School!

Yesterday was Sawyer's first day of preschool! We got there a little bit early so Sawyer could get acquainted with the place and so that I had a little time to hang out there with him before all the other kids started getting there. Miss Robyn, the school director, greeted us and showed us Sawyer's cubby and the automtaed pin-pad for signing in and out, gave him a quick tour of the inside of the school (primarily to let him know where the potty is located), and then turned him loose to run around and play outdoors with the other kids.

For this summer session (now through August 1st) there are just a few new students and a lot of returning students. Once public kindergarten starts in the end of August some of the older students will be leaving and there will be a whole new group of incoming preschoolers. It's really nice to have had him start early, mostly because the out-going kindergarteners have been designated as "mentors" this summer, and they're having a lot of fun being in charge and showing the new students around. It's nice that he gets a little more one-on-one attention as a new student since he started in June instead of when the bigger crowd comes in August.

Sawyer was both nervous and excited for his first day! He was completely fine when it came time for me to leave him there and go to work, and when I went to pick him up in the afternoon he was exhausted, but all smiles! Miss Robyn said that he jumped into the routine and the activities easily and without any problems, and she said that he was very well behaved and extremely polite (yay!). Sawyer said he had "a lot of fun playing with my friends who I don't know their names." He kept asking me, "what's that girl's name again?" and "who's that boy?" and I had to remind him that I don't know their names either, and that he'll have to ask them to tell him their names again the next time he plays with them. I'm used to only having to remember a handful of kids' names at Traci's house, so it's going to be fun trying to remember another entire class of 24 kids!

This morning he met his other teacher, Miss Anna, for the first time, and met the class pet - a big white bunny rabbit that I think she said was named Twix (EDIT: It's name is actually Tink). Then he saw his teacher Miss Gail (that he had spent time with yesterday), and he ran over and gave her a big hug! He didn't have a problem with me leaving him there today either, and I hope that today will be as much fun for him as yesterday was. He definitely likes his new school so far! :)

Happy Father's Day!

Sawyer made this picture frame to give to Mitch for Father's Day (in addition to the hammock that he got a couple of weeks ago). The boys also made him handprint cards in the shape of a tie, and we made him his specially requested Belgian waffle breakfast.


On Saturday we went down to see Gigi and Granddad who had just gotten back from their vacation in Carmel. We gave Granddad his Father's Day cards and enjoyed some strawberry shortcake with my sisters and their families. Aside from that little visit, we pretty much spent the rest of the weekend playing outside in the water. We set up the kids' pool at the end of the clubhouse slide and turned on the hose at the top of the slide to create a super fun water slide.







The little inflatable raft that came with their Slip-N-Slide is the perfect size to ride down the water slide - soooo much fun! (and for those of you with keen eyes...Yes, Sutton is mooning you a little bit here)






There's no better place than IN the water to sit down and take a break from all that water play

It got pretty windy on Saturday, and every time the boys climbed out of the pool they'd start to complain that they were cold. I thought that wrapping up in a nice dry towel sounded like the perfect solution to the problem, but the real answer, according to Sawyer, was a beanie and some mittens. Ah, I should have known.



They are both still having a lot of fun playing with the electric guitar that we got at Granddad's house last weekend. They've both decided that they prefer to play with a pick now instead of their fingers - thank goodness, because the pick-played "music" sounds much nicer and quieter!

Sawyer told me today that he wanted to do some school work so that he could practice for his first day of preschool tomorrow. I'm SOOOO incredibly nervous for him! I'm sure he'll do great, but now I finally understand why moms cry when they leave their kids at school for the first time. Hopefully he will have class tomorrow with the twins who live down the street, so at least he'll recognize a familiar face or two there. I'm sure I'll be posting an update and first-day-of-school pictures tomorrow night :)

Re-Purposed Mini Vases

I just adore these sweet vases that the boys made the other day. I think they're especially cute when filled with the fistfuls of dandelions brought to me by my favorite 3 year old, who has become quite obsessed with picking every single flower he runs across for his Mama.

We started with a few empty and cleaned plastic yogurt smoothie containers (I think they were Danimals kids smoothies, but I've had them set aside for awhile, so I'm not 100% sure), some leftover tissue paper from Sutton's birthday presents, a couple of foam brushes and some glue.



We spread a thin layer of glue over the entire container. In Sutton's case, we spread the glue over the entire bottle, inside and out, simply because the glue part was way more fun for him than the actual tissue paper part.



We added layer upon layer of tissue paper, being sure to coat the outside of the tissue paper in a new layer of glue each time we added a new piece.



After the boys added all their tissue paper, I went back and made sure that all the paper was glue-coated and firmly adheared.



After the glue was dry, I coated the vases with a couple of layers of Mod Podge just to make them more durable and more water resistant since I knew we would be using them for flowers. Easy peasy, and cute to boot! :)

The World's Quickest and Easiest Apron

I made this apron in about 20 minutes (okay, really it took about 40 minutes, but that's because I got distracted watching something on the television in the middle of everything - it should have only taken about 20 minutes!) the other day using two 6" wide strips of fabric (1 yard long) and a tea towel that I got on clearance at Crate and Barrel. I've been wanting a half apron for a very long time now, but I never had the time, materials or space to make one until now. Check out the tutorial HERE and go make some for yourself. Trust me, it's addictive! I already have two more sitting on my sewing table waiting to be made! The only change I'd make is that I'd recommend washing the towel first to soften it up before sewing, because this one was a little stiff, but it will soften up once it gets washed too :)

King of the Backyard

Letting out a mighty roar to let everyone know who the king of the backyard is.



He thinks he is soooo funny.



He was extremely impressed with his own climbing and balancing skills, let me tell you.

Super Summer Swap

The boys and I are super excited to have signed up for The Super Summer Swap being hosted by fellow bloggers Superheroes and Princesses and The Dairy Queen.

What is the Super Summer Swap you ask? It is a fun way for children to make some friends this summer. The participants will put together little packages to exchange with other children of similar age.

Why should your child participate?

1. What child wouldn't like to get some mail?
2. It will be a fun summer project.
3. Your child can learn a little bit about another child from another state.
4. Pen pals are always a possibility if the children want to continue the friendship.


So, here is how it works:

1. It is open to all children through elementary age.
2. Sign up between June 15 and June 22.
3. We will match children based on age and partners will be notified by June 26.
4. All packages should be mailed by August 3.
5. When you receive your package, write a post about it and we will link to all of the posts.


Packages should include a minimum of three items from your child; here are some examples:

1. A postcard or brochure from where you live,
2. a lapbook or scrapbook or something handmade,
3. a photograph or drawing of your child,
4. a special gift that will allow your child's new friend to experience a hobby or interest that your child has or enjoys.

You do not have to spend any money, but please DO NOT spend more than $15.00 on the items that will be exchanged.

Sounds like fun to me! If you think your child might enjoy sending and receiving a package from a new pal this summer, click the button below to find out how to sign up for the swap. Happy Swapping!

Trash to Treasure

THIS may just be the coolest thing I've ever seen. Amazing! I wish I had even a shred of the kind of talent that it takes to come up with something like that!

The Circus!

Last week when I was flipping through the ginormous stack of artwork that the boys had brought home from Traci's house, I noticed that she had slipped in two free kids tickets to the Carson & Barnes Circus. I'd never heard of Carson & Barnes before, but I thought that it might be fun to check out, especially because it was free for the kids. The boys have no previous circus experience, and it has been years since Mitch and I have gone, so I figured that a circus adventure would be something different to do on a Sunday afternoon. There was also a buy-one-get-one-free coupon on adult admissions, so it only cost $18 to take the whole family. Sure, why not?



The show started at 4:30, but doors opened at 3:30, and it was non-assigned seating, so we got there early and grabbed some good seats - 4th row up in the bleachers, just off to the side of the ring.



The boys got to check out an elephant up close before we headed into the big tent.



They both waited paitently for the show to get started.

They got a souvenier to pass the time during all that paitent waiting. These light sabers were awesomely fun, but they turned out to be a pretty bad idea once all the seats around us started getting really packed and cramped.

Alex the clown kept everyone entertained with some juggling and the usual clown antics. Sawyer thought he was hysterical.

The first act was a dog act, and the boys both liked watching the dog ride a skateboard down the ramp.

There was a motorcycle high wire act. I thought Sawyer would love this one since he likes motorcycles so much, but he just whispered nervously in my ear, "Oh Mom, that's SO dangerous!"

Some daring young men on the flying trapeeze

The elephants were definitely the stars of the show for the boys!

Everyone had a really great time, and the boys were completely exhausted since they didn't nap today. After the busy weekend we've had, I'm looking forward to spending a quiet day at home tomorrow catching up on laundry and some paperwork for work. Hope you all had a great weekend too!