4th of July

You are looking at what we've been doing lately.  It is very hot here and has been over 100 for many days now in a row.  Let's just say summer isn't my forte.  I took out the broccoli and brussels sprouts in the garden and so now all I have is tomatoes.  My tomatoes have blossom end rot, but we can still cut off the bad places and eat them.  I learn something every year of gardening.  Like blossom end rot is a lack of calcium in the soil and it's very hard to fix once that happens.  I also learned that brussels sprouts like a lot of fertilizer.  Oh well.... there's always next year.  And low and behold some mysterious pumpkin vines have appeared where our hedges used to be.  So maybe God will give me a pumpkin as a consolation for the brussels sprouts and rotty tomatoes.

Kingsville baby doll... enough said.

fun with daddy and Uncle Jake.

It's too hot even to go fishing, but we made a paper fishing set and the kids have loved it.

4th of July at a friend's house.  We had a good day.

The darling Holly Ann.

Waiting for fireworks.  Gwen was SO excited to see fireworks.  How come even when they go to bed two hours late they wake up at 7am?  MYSTERIOUS!

What Summer Looks Like

Markers on the face...

Slip n slide... naked

Daddy even does the slip n slide... but mommy doesn't.

Several men from our small group tried out the slip n slide and made a lovely ditch in my back yard. :)

Fighting fires... naked.

Grumpy pants in the morning.  She said "I'm not grumpy, I'm just tired."  Well... excuuuuuse me. :)

Big boy underwear and a helmet.  I'm ready to go potty!

Milestones

As you can see in this video, Gwen is happy and Zeke is unhappy he did not get to blow the candles out.  (sigh) Such is life! :)

Gwen's Fourth Birthday

This morning I couldn't find Zeke.  Well, we found him in Gwen's bed fast asleep.  He loves being near his sister.

She woke up as a four year old this morning and was very excited.  Here are some pictures from her pink dolphin party.

Gwen insisted on putting hair on her dolphin even after I explained dolphins don't have hair.  She stepped back and declared the "hair" a crown.

My girl!

Even Grandma took a swing at the pink dolphin.  It's therapy I told her.

LOVE IT

My little buddy Claire.  Her eyes are hypnotic.

Father's Day Prep

Today we worked on a project for Father's Day.  I had seen this idea in a magazine and ripped it out and saved it for this occasion.  Ben bikes to work sometimes and so he has several different shirts hanging up at work.  I thought it would be nice to decorate some hangers so he can think of the kids when he hangs something up.  The kids cut pictures of themselves out and pasted them onto the hanger.  I traced the hanger out onto cardstock and cut it out for them and secured it to the hanger using packaging tape.  

I have finished the pink dolphin pinata.  It even has little baggies of treats/stickers inside of it.  I made a little trap door on the bottom where if we get tired of beating it we can pull the ribbons.  I plan on putting some sparkles on the side, but besides that I'm done.  Now onto Father's Day/Gwen's Birthday.

Pinterest Projects

I made this sink extender last night from an old lotion bottle.  This way when Zeke turns on the water it is within his reach.

I made these last night too.  They are paper mobiles for decoration for Gwen's party.  I like how they turned out.  I've started on the dolphin pinata... now to finish it.  

Big Boy and Big Girl

Today is the first day Zeke has worn big boy underwear.  We are seriously attempting to potty train now.  I have been kind of putting it off and then yesterday his Sunday School teacher told me he asked to go poop in the potty and he did.  That is what told me he might be ready.  We've only had one accident and he's doing very well.  I keep telling him he is such a big boy.  I laid down with him just now to get him settled for naps in my bed. (Gwen and Zeke sleep in the same room now, but they can NOT nap in the same room!)  Anyway... he rolled over and put his little hand on my cheek and said "I you mama" (I love you) and I told him I love him too and he said "you best mama eva".  He makes my heart glad.  

We are working on decorations for Gwen's "pink dolphin" 4th birthday party coming up.  This year her birthday falls on Father's Day.  We are planning on having the slip n slide up in the back yard and a dolphin hoop toss game and the swingset of course.  I have ordered her cake and it's supposed to have a pink dolphin on it.

By the way... pink dolphins actually exist.  I snoped it and all.  (snopes.com)  Gwen came up with the theme of her birthday party this year and when I found out they actually exist I was sold.  Zeke is saying he wants a pirate birthday party. :)

Scratch That...

She got up again and got the penalty.

The Lanyard

This is a poem I read in a Martha Stuart Living magazine.  It took reading the whole thing for me to get it and like it.  It is tough making decisions as a mother sometimes.  Like tonight when I told the kids if they got out of their beds they would get a swat.  A few minutes later I hear Gwen beckoning me from the top of the stairs wanting "a kiss and a hug."  I rounded the corner and I just didn't have the heart to follow through with the spank, so she got her hug and kiss and was sent back to bed.  Then afterwards I thought... that was wrong Meredith... Gwen should have been spanked because you set a boundary and she crossed it.  Then another part of my brain said "is it so terrible to give her a hug and kiss and send her back to bed?"  So, yes, I know she should have gotten the penalty, but I get so weary of being stern.  I just want to enjoy my kids, but often in this toddler stage it doesn't happen like that.  But for tonight I'm thinking of how my own mother showed me mercy plenty of times... and I'm grateful.

From "The Lanyard" by Billy Collins


She gave me life and milk from her breasts,
and I gave her a lanyard.
She nursed me in many a sick room,
lifted spoons of medicine to my lips,
laid cold face-cloths on my forehead,
and then led me out into the airy light
and taught me to walk and swim.
and I, in turn, presented her with a lanyard.
Here are thousands of meals, she said,
and here is clothing and a good education.
And here is your lanyard, I replied,
which I made with a little help from a counselor.
Here is a breathing body and a beating heart,
strong legs, bones and teeth,
and two clear eyes to read the world, she whispered,
and here, I said, is the lanyard I made at camp.

The Pond

My choir just released a CD that I was a part of and we had a CD release party at my conductor's house last night.  Here they are petting the dog- Tootsie Roll.

They have a lovely pond in the back yard and the kids enjoyed feeding the fish.

Tootsie Roll wanted to see what was going on.

a beaded mermaid...

This cocktail napkin made me chuckle.

Alabama Adventures 4

We went to Cook's Museum in Decatur... a place where they have loads of taxedermied animals and bugs for you to check out.  Here were my take homes:

Giant walking stick.  WOW!

This is my favorite from our adventure:  a peanut head lantern fly.  Gotta look that one up!

Me holding Gwen on my shoulders.  The clarity of these photos isn't great... sorry.

The kids laughing together.

a muskrat.