Memorial Day

In memory of those who gave thier all for our great country. . .

A beautiful day

for a flower bouquet

for laughing and squealing in a childlike way.

A beautiful day for water games

and long time friends.

A beautiful day for little tyke things

and hammock swings.

God's great beauty shines throughout the simple things in my life.

His greatness dazzles me beyond comprehension.

*And the only thing that wasn't beautiful today was when I found Henry sitting in his room sans clothing painting himself black!!! Yes, that is right, he had a brush and a bottle of THICK black paint and half of his body was covered with it!!!

But even this could be called beautiful. God brought Henry into our lives and we love him and his little painted body more than he will ever realize.
Now excuse me, I have to go clean the black ring left around my bathtub. . .

My best ideas. . .

. . . are stolen!
Yeah, sorry to tell you so, but that is the truth!


1. I use a bell.

You might think this is weird, but when my kids are upstairs and I need them, I do not yell.
And they actually come 10x faster when they hear the bell verses my voice!

2. Baskets


My kids leave little things ALL over the house. I do not want to become a nag so throughout the day, I pick up their little stuff and put it in their assigned basket. Before they have a snack at bedtime they have to empty their basket and put it all away.
I do not clean up everything laying around the house, but there is always a LEGO, sock, airplane, etc. in random places. This idea really cuts down on clutter!!

3. Reading in bed.

Now that it is summer our kids go to bed much later, which means so do we!! I feel bad making my kids go to be when it is still light outside, but do not like starting my evening tasks at 9:30pm! So the kids get in bed and read for about 1/2 hour. I LOVE THIS!!!! I am able to get a few things done while they are reading and they are calmed down and ready to fall asleep when it is lights out!! My dear friend, Ann, came up with this one!!

*note* the picture below is not my child nor even my house, but I just LOVE pottery barn!

4. Chore list.
The previous chore chart I had was difficult for the kids to understand. So I copied this idea from a friend.















































I bought this magnetic board from IKEA and used clip art to make a list of chores and laminated them. I attached velcro to the back of each chore and to each childs list. I put the chores they are to do up each day and when they are done, they take off the chore and put it in the box at the bottom of the board. (My sister-in-law made the magnets with the kids picture on it).
THIS IS GREAT!!!!
The kids love being able to see what they are to do and then knowing they are done when their page is empty. Even the little ones love it!!!
Here is a close up.

So go ahead and copy, I did!!!

JUST FOR FUN FRIDAY

In case you were wondering. . .



























. . . he's still at it!!!

(3 lbs of cornmeal dumped out on my rug!!!)

In the past 48 hours. . .

Henry has

*spilled a can of gasoline
*dumped a bag of grass seed
*emptied the rest of the fertilizer
*poured out 1/2 a jar of homemade strawberry jelly, then tried to clean it up and put a towel soaking in RED jelly back in the drawer and made and even bigger mess.
*sprinkled the carpet, that Peter had just vacuumed, with a box of washing soda
*painted his arms
*used the water in the toilet to get his sister all wet, head to toe, and flood the bathroom
*squeezed a bottle of body wash all over my bedroom carpet AND his sister
*unwrapped his brother's birthday gift (I had hidden) and ate it!!

Good thing he has such a cute face!!!!!

Ben is 7!!!

Today Ben is 7!!!!
I told him I was sad that he was growing so fast and he told me I could still pretend he was 6.
I love that guy!!

This past weekend we celebrated with an AIRPLANE party.

The take home bags say Thanks for flying with us!

(I ran them through the printer)

My brother-in-law made this airplane mobile that we hung above the table. I turned the ceiling fan on and the airplanes were actually flying around!!

Time for cake!!!

A great group of friends to celebrate with!!!

I got the presents out of "Baggage Claim" and Ben opened them outside in the beautiful sun!!

The kids pretty much just ran around the yard and played, but we did do one activity. . .

A paper airplane contest!!! I bought a bunch of scrapbook paper and let the kids make their own airplanes.

5. . .4. . .3. . .2. . . 1. . .

LAUNCH!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEN!!!!!!!

Like your plate?

A few months ago, I went to a swap meet.

I came home with a sweater, jewelery, shoes and this plate from my friend Pam.


















A little paint and it now fits well in my kitchen.

So, like your plate Pam???