Monday, June 25, 2012
Fantastic weekend in our pool!
We invited friends and family over this weekend and literally spent ALL day, EVERY day in the pool. This is the first summer in about 3 or 4 that we haven't had a baby to worry about. All of our kids are swimming on their own and so now we can get back to playing games in the pool. You will notice a slide in some of the pics. Shane used a play ground slide we had given to us, and welded up a ladder and BAM, the kids have something new to do. They spent hours in the pool, using the slide, and we even pulled out the volleyball net for good old fashion competition!
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Summer Fun Jar week 3
We had an unusually busy week last week but managed to do a few things from the jar.
I cannot remember which day was which, but we played Balloon Ping Pong, basically hit a balloon around the house.
The biggest hit of course was Building a Fort. My brother and I used to do this in the summer...all the way up until Jr High I think...(and a little embarrassed to say!) We got quite good at it too...at one point we had set up by Dad's 12" black and white tv inside. I will say it was equally as fun doing it with my kids!!!
I cannot remember which day was which, but we played Balloon Ping Pong, basically hit a balloon around the house.
The biggest hit of course was Building a Fort. My brother and I used to do this in the summer...all the way up until Jr High I think...(and a little embarrassed to say!) We got quite good at it too...at one point we had set up by Dad's 12" black and white tv inside. I will say it was equally as fun doing it with my kids!!!
Again the daughter's imagine and heck, humor makes me smile. Not sure how she comes up with this stuff...but it is classic Samantha!
Hannah joined the fun after this picture...she was taking some time to decide if she wanted to play kindly. She eventually decided "yes"!!
If you don't mind getting your house, or family room, in a total disaster for an afternoon build a fort with your kids!!! They played for several hours together and it blessed my day!
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Friday, June 15, 2012
Tacos with a twist
I took a family favorite and 'twisted' it to make something completely different. I am finding it is fun to make what is boring, simple, or routine and with a small tweak, make the kids smile BIG!
Tacos are a food my oldest would like me to make every. single. day. The rest of us need a little more variety than that. This twist wasn't any more difficult than boring taco shells but had a huge fun factor. So, if this is something your family loves too, go on and try something new...the kids will think you are super cool!
Ingredients:
2lbs ground beef (for a smaller crew, 1lb should be plenty)
cheese
taco seasonings
lettuce
tomato
sour cream
won-ton or egg roll wraps
salsa...anything else you love on your tacos!
Line cupcake tin with wraps, add cooked meat and bake for about 8 min, or until the edges are crisp. Add toppings and YUMMY!!!
And this is what happens when you add a little fun to dinner...
Tacos are a food my oldest would like me to make every. single. day. The rest of us need a little more variety than that. This twist wasn't any more difficult than boring taco shells but had a huge fun factor. So, if this is something your family loves too, go on and try something new...the kids will think you are super cool!
Ingredients:
2lbs ground beef (for a smaller crew, 1lb should be plenty)
cheese
taco seasonings
lettuce
tomato
sour cream
won-ton or egg roll wraps
salsa...anything else you love on your tacos!
Line cupcake tin with wraps, add cooked meat and bake for about 8 min, or until the edges are crisp. Add toppings and YUMMY!!!
And this is what happens when you add a little fun to dinner...
Thursday, June 14, 2012
15 years of wedded bliss
Today is our 15th Wedding Anniversary...and we both keep looking at each other is awe. Not that we never expected to be married at this point because we did, but that 15 yrs has gone by so fast. It seems extra significant to us...this milestone. So many people give up long before this point and we are just blessed to be committed to each other and this marriage. We are praising God for a love that is growing all the time...
This has become sort of a tradition with us too...chocolate covered strawberries! This was such a simple thing to do with things I already had on hand. I melt the chocolate chips, dipped strawberries and then melted white chocolate chips to decorate with our special year. I poured the melted white chocolate in the small ziploc bag, snipped the small corner and bam, I can write on what ever I want. (The kids thought this was so cool!)
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Then because we are limited on pictures of the two of us we snapped a couple in the front yard before we went to dinner. I wanted to get a better background but just didn't have enough time before dinner. It was a special day...
Monday, June 11, 2012
Summer Fun Jar, week 2
Well, week two went a little off kilter. But excited to get back to it for week three..
Day one: "Letters to Grandma and Grandpa Self"
Day two: "Letter to Grandma and Grandpa Thoma"
Both of these days I had hoped to inspire some sweet notes, and of course it a certain way they did write them, but the excitement level was off. It as "off" all week so I know it wasn't about this activity in particular. Now it is my responsibility to get these in the mail...
Day three : WE TOTALLY FORGOT!!
Yup, that's right...funny thing was we didn't have anything on the schedule to keep up busy or distracted it just was one of those lazy summer kinda of days...not complaining!!!
Day four: "Went out to lunch"
Jacob finished his first week of summer school so this was perfectly timed, and always enjoyed by all the kids.
Day five: "Hot Rock Crayon Art"
We took river rocks from our front yard, set them to 'bake' in the backyard all day and by about 5pm, we grabbed the crayons and had some melty art fun. This was one of the coolest things we have done. I can see each individual in their rocks and I love their creativity. This is just another twist on a typical summer art project and now they help decorate my front porch!
Day one: "Letters to Grandma and Grandpa Self"
Day two: "Letter to Grandma and Grandpa Thoma"
Both of these days I had hoped to inspire some sweet notes, and of course it a certain way they did write them, but the excitement level was off. It as "off" all week so I know it wasn't about this activity in particular. Now it is my responsibility to get these in the mail...
Day three : WE TOTALLY FORGOT!!
Yup, that's right...funny thing was we didn't have anything on the schedule to keep up busy or distracted it just was one of those lazy summer kinda of days...not complaining!!!
Day four: "Went out to lunch"
Jacob finished his first week of summer school so this was perfectly timed, and always enjoyed by all the kids.
Day five: "Hot Rock Crayon Art"
We took river rocks from our front yard, set them to 'bake' in the backyard all day and by about 5pm, we grabbed the crayons and had some melty art fun. This was one of the coolest things we have done. I can see each individual in their rocks and I love their creativity. This is just another twist on a typical summer art project and now they help decorate my front porch!
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Summer Fun Jar - week 1
We just completed our first week of the "Summer Fun Jar" and I have to say it has been a huge hit. I do not plan on doing the activities on the weekends. I want to document this summer obviously for our own family memories but also to show other moms out in the blog world that this is beyond easy and your kids will enjoy it more than you will ever know.
Day one: "Bike Parade"
Thanks to some great friends at church who wanted to do this over a camping weekend and adapted it to fit here at home as a jar activity. $20 at the dollar store for streamers, party decorations and glow sticks!! A funny note about this activity in particular, Jacob made the comment to Shane on the way home from soccer practice that he did not really want to do this when I described it to him, but once he got started and it was getting dark he was so glad he decided to join the fun. THIS right here is why I am doing this jar thing this summer...I do not have many more summers left that he will want to participate, and I plan to make the most of the time I do have!
(I need your grace for the picture quality...I am not the best at evening/dark light action shots)
Day two: "Water balloon fight"
No explanation needed except that we lined the four older ones up first thing so Grace could get her best shot at hitting them because once it started she was going to be out gunned. And yes, the referee is on the trampoline watching for any personal fouls and such.
Day three: "Backwards Day"
I enjoyed this one more than I thought. I took it to the next level from when the kids had it in preschool. I made hamburgers and hot dogs for breakfast and pancake, bacon, and eggs for dinner. This was unique because it was an all day affair. The kids all put their clothes on backwards and laughed all day when they would talk to be about doing things backwards. The other major thing I loved about this one it is cost no money. I have everything on hand it was just a matter of changing up the schedule. One word of caution, hamburgers in the morning are HEAVY for the stomach...but again, totally worth it!
Day four: "Make cookies for the neighbors"
Samantha helped make the cookies, but all the kids went to deliver them. I think is a great opportunity to not only serve someone else by making their day, but it is great to branch out to neighbors you may not know all that well, or never met.
Come back next week for our second week jar adventure!
Day one: "Bike Parade"
Thanks to some great friends at church who wanted to do this over a camping weekend and adapted it to fit here at home as a jar activity. $20 at the dollar store for streamers, party decorations and glow sticks!! A funny note about this activity in particular, Jacob made the comment to Shane on the way home from soccer practice that he did not really want to do this when I described it to him, but once he got started and it was getting dark he was so glad he decided to join the fun. THIS right here is why I am doing this jar thing this summer...I do not have many more summers left that he will want to participate, and I plan to make the most of the time I do have!
(I need your grace for the picture quality...I am not the best at evening/dark light action shots)
Day two: "Water balloon fight"
No explanation needed except that we lined the four older ones up first thing so Grace could get her best shot at hitting them because once it started she was going to be out gunned. And yes, the referee is on the trampoline watching for any personal fouls and such.
Day three: "Backwards Day"
I enjoyed this one more than I thought. I took it to the next level from when the kids had it in preschool. I made hamburgers and hot dogs for breakfast and pancake, bacon, and eggs for dinner. This was unique because it was an all day affair. The kids all put their clothes on backwards and laughed all day when they would talk to be about doing things backwards. The other major thing I loved about this one it is cost no money. I have everything on hand it was just a matter of changing up the schedule. One word of caution, hamburgers in the morning are HEAVY for the stomach...but again, totally worth it!
Day four: "Make cookies for the neighbors"
Samantha helped make the cookies, but all the kids went to deliver them. I think is a great opportunity to not only serve someone else by making their day, but it is great to branch out to neighbors you may not know all that well, or never met.
Come back next week for our second week jar adventure!
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