True Story

Today I was cutting the tags off of a polly pocket sized Rapunzel doll and I accidentally cut one of the hairs. I panicked, immediately expecting her hair to turn brown and the doll to lose her powers.

Mall Day

How's this for a good deal: Today was mall day, because it was raining and because I had nothing else to do today (insert laugh here), I took them to the mall and to Claire's Boutique, or Maisey's favorite store. I told them they could each pick out one thing (because I wanted to get out of there alive). I told them that if they behaved they could get it; if they acted up, they'd have to put it back. I do this at Target and the Dollar Tree and it works great. Of course Maisey picked a makeup kit. A huge one. With eye shadows and blush, and eye pencils and mascara. And it cost $15.00. So I made her a deal that I'd get it for her if she washed dishes for a week. She didn't even hesitate. She agreed. Does that violate some child labor law? I wonder. Now I'm thinking I should have bargained for more.

Potty Progress

Evie had a potty training break through today at the mall, of all places. She told me she had to use the potty. The catch was that it was in the middle of us watching Madagascar 3D in the theater, but hey, when you gotta go.... The whole thing is awesome--not just telling me, or holding it while we walked the thousand miles to the theater restroom--it was the first time she's asked to use the potty while wearing bottoms of any kind (a diaper and shorts). Because just yesterday she tested my mommy patience by peeing on the booby chair in her room during a time out. Maybe she was making a statement to me yesterday that I am just now beginning to understand....

Anyway, the week is off to a slow start, but I'll still post some fun stuff we did over the weekend.

Evie, after eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich that Maisey made her.

There was water play I think, because I have this picture...

Maisey and Chief relaxing on the sofa.

I'm happy to report Chief seems to be a new dog after his surgery. And who wouldn't feel young and spry again after having a 12 1/2 pound tumor removed from their abdomen? His appetite is improved, and he's been spotted doing his two favorite outdoor activities: Grass rolling and Squirrel chasing. Things we never thought we'd see him do again. He's also back to prancing dancing on my feet while I bring him his dinner. That part I didn't miss so much, but I'll take the bad with the good here.

Master Painters

Maisey and Evie did some al fresco painting with jello and Kool Aid (pinterest idea). The paint didn't work as well as I would have liked, but it's because I didn't buy a full range of colors. Do they even have green Kool Aid? Anyway, Evie's pose at the easel is just priceless.

Mom, Can I Have A Ring?

We went to Maisey's boyfriend's house Saturday evening for dinner. (Yes, I know she's only just turned 6. They've been boyfriend/girlfriend for the whole Kindergarten year.) Maisey and Alex were playing upstairs when Alex appeared downstairs in front of his mom.

"Mom, can I have one of your rings?"

We all looked a little confused and his mom asked why.

"I want to give it to Maisey."

Adorably romantic, and yet hair-whitening terror. We gave them Oreos instead.

Father's Day Picnic

Having fun at a friend's house for Father's Day, blowing bubbles

Jumping on the trampoline

Swimming and sliding

and climbing and playing on the jungle gym, or Daddy mountain.

"Come back bubbles! Come back!"

Photo Scrapblogging

When I was in high school, I loved making photo albums and cutting out little thought bubbles and adding sarcastic commentary to the photos. That's scrapbooking, right? I've never gotten into today's version of scrapbooking--though I do love all the beautiful paper and stickers and embellishments.

My kind of scrapbooking exists on Shutterfly. I love recreating a vacation as adventure (what we call them now for our kids). Since I can't always get a Shutterfly book together, this blog is the next best thing. I'll call it scrapblogging. Each post is a reminder to myself of some of the fun things we've done without the expense. They're not the most exciting, as most of this is just us at home, and I'm sure that a travel vacation is probably not likely again this year. But, in between the mundane tasks of managing household affairs and sometimes fun sometimes frustrating time spent "teaching" the kids things like manners and etiquette (and all the lessons my kids are teaching me), there are some real gems in these scrapblogs. Maybe I'm the only one to see it. Who cares. It's for me to cherish every time I browse these electronic pages.

Days have been blurring together, which I know will happen during a summer spent at home, so I have to catalog just a few of the things we've been up to.

A Tent for Evie

Not that she was really jealous of Maisey's canopy tent, but I thought Evie could use a place to go when she wants some alone time, so I put up Maisey's old bed canopy in her new "big girl" room, at the foot of her temorary big girl bed. It's purple, which is her color. I have big design ideas for her room. I want to get her the Ikea Kura loft bed, but my DH worries about decapitation from the ceiling fan while in the top bunk. I guess the next picture might prove his point.

Furniture Slide This is what the kids do with my furniture (and is the main reason I want new furniture--the springs are shot). It's great as a slide. The cushions work great as a "swimming pool" that they slide and belly flop into. I'm surprised we haven't had more trips to the ER than we have with this kind of indoor play. Who lets their kids abuse the furniture this way? Really.

The Rarely Glimpsed Sleeping Child This has only ever happened once before in her natural habitat--the sleeping on their own, not sleeping in general. I joke, but Evie usually only naps in the car. On this occasion, Maisey and Evie were playing quite well in Evie's room. I thought their chatter had died down and was just about to check on them when Maisey ran into the room and said, "Come quick, it's the cutest thing ever, you gotta see this!" and of course I brought my camera at Maisey's insistence. She showed me where Evie passed out in the midst of playing "zoo catcher."

Birthday Party: Disco Bowling This is a popular birthday party event here. Normally I don't post other kid's birthday photos because of privacy issues, but I just had to show the awesome cake that the birthday boy's mom made. It was delicious and the kids had to be beaten back with rubber chickens so we could sing happy birthday. Just kidding. They were all very well behaved, and no rubber chickens were harmed in the merry making at this party.

and Evie:

Shaving Cream Paints for the Bath As bath time was getting a little dull, I found this idea on Pinterest and decided we needed to do it. So a little shaving cream, a little food coloring, a tub and two children, and we had a painting party.

Surprisingly, the paint washed off without staining. There was plenty of paint and everyone was having fun until Evie declared in her little sing-song voice, "I'm peeing in the tub." And so abruptly ended the shaving cream bath.

Art

Evie (I'm sure with Maisey's help) drew a picture of herself (left) Mommy (right) and "that crazy man." When I asked her who "that crazy man" was, after some coaxing, she said Daddy. It made me worry for a minute, but then I realized that she's right. He is crazy.

We finally caught up with the art cart. They were offering journal making that day. I was nervous about a 2 1/2 year old using bleach to "paint" a picture on a black piece of cloth. Turns out I was right. She kept wanting to dip it and paint, and I held onto the small cup to keep her from turning it over. Then a little tug of war ensued and the contents of the cup somehow went skittering across the table, splashing one of the camp counselors. Yikes. Yes, it was my fault. Never play tug of war with a 2 year old. Anyway, their journals turned out really well. Evie says her picture is of a doggie, but it sure looks like a cool dragon to me.

Then we played at the park.

We played at the pirate park too.

And then we played at home.

Maisey and Evie both had friends over last week to play. Only one little swim incident, but everyone had fun. It was hard for everyone to wind down, but we managed.

And so ends another week of summer.