Elise's guys

There's only four more weeks of summer left.  Elise is going to miss her guy friends once school starts.  

Elise, Ethan, Nick, Owen, Aidan, Chase 

Way gorgeous

I had to share!  Everything looks gorgeous against natural stone and driftwood.  

Look what flutters in the backyard along with my kiddos.  Plant one butterfly bush and three milk weed plants ( grown in the wild) and these pictures can happen before your eyes.  

Color play

When I can remember to, I like to set up a water color painting station for the kids as a calming transition/redirecting activity.  The instructions is not to paint but to okay with the colors.  Our isle and paint pallets are completely brown afterwards.  But who cares if that's how they are able to self discover the blending of colors.  We do alot of art in this house with little instructions and without intention of the pressure of turning into a masterpiece.  I save it all though with the intention that as they grow I can make a time line book of how they grow artistically.  

Cousin time!

My niece Danica turned 365.4 days old last week.  It was one special celebration with nothing short of spectacular food, and decor reminiscent of all things little girl. 

Despite her " I miss mommy and daddy" face. Kyle and I held it together pretty well watching Danica along with our trio for a part of an afternoon.  

Dads on duty.  

Birthday girl rhumba. 

More pretty things for her closet.  

Danica loves blueberries, peas, mommy and daddy.  It's all very organic and sweet.  

Cousins by the pool.  Aidan says he can't wait until Danica can jump off the diving board with him.  I bet she can't wait either!!! 

A little gratitude goes a long way

There's Kyle drawn in yellow.  The yellow circle is his conference table because that's where they sit and eat lunch when we visit daddy at work.  We've been writing thank you pen pal letters and sending them all over the country to family and friends.  On this particular day one of the boys said "lets thank dad!" And the other brother said "and he will be proud because we are saving money by not having to send his note with a stamp" .  

Summer nap time

I look at this picture and notice how big she's grown to be.  Last summers mullets has turned into a beautiful mane of hair.  So far she will only allow me style her hair enough to sweep her bangs out of her face so that we do not need to cut bangs and deal with the grow out process.  Elise will be going to PM preschool in the fall which means these nap afternoons are coming to an end soon. Until that time come u continue to cherish her nestled in the nape of my neck as age drifts off to dreamland mid-day.  

Truck wash

Late snack

how could I say no to popcorn in a hotel bed with my girl?,Elise and I sharing some popcorn in bed that her Auntie made.  She saved it to share with mommy.  Even though I brushed my teeth

So corny

What is it about corn that taste so good off the cob?  For these three its about the corn holders.  There's a danger element to the sharp two prog ends that spear into each side of the cob.  They giggle with the first bite into the cob as it makes the biggest crunch noise and squirts juice onto their cheeks.  I'm a big fan of interacting with each meal.  Our meals are crafted around that concept.  What can we wrap up, dip into, choose for condiments and stab with skewers and corn picks.  It's all apart of meal play, like when they were babies.  But luckily, they eat what they actually play with:) 

Mini

I've picked up on calling Elise "Mini". 

 It sounds just as endearing as her own name to me.  

Also because she is so little and a derivative of me.  

But by all means I see and respect her for all the ways that she is different. 

It is fun to see how Elise gravitates towards things so intently. 

 The same things as intently as I do. Like when she gets dressed she brushes her hand over the embroidery of her dresses.  Or her need to not only pick flowers but bring the to her own room.  

She does walk by and notice them in the middle of play and smell them.  

This past spring  will probly be the last time where the tulips are taller than Elise.  I love watching her flutter like a butterfly in the row of tulips that grow in the front of our house at every house every spring. 

Bikers on Buttercup Boulevard

Its time to pass down the like-a-bike to sister.  

The bike has been long loved by the boys who both rode it to pieces.  

The original green seat cover was torn on one side and barely hanging on.  

In an effort to get exactly what I was looking for, I spent an evening recovering the bike seat. 

 Then one thing leads to the next as many of my ideas do, and the princesses that covered the grey portion of the helmet was painted over and new electrical tape was assembled for a modern simple look.  

 In the evenings we like to ride to the school's playground and monkey around.  

The boys are a big fans of the show American Ninja Warriors.  

Kyle designs little obstacle courses for the boys to do on the playground which requires them to climb all over it, jumping between the bars and hanging on the outside of various play structures.  

Don't think is a mom approved activity. 

 I watch cringing with white knuckles.  

face paints

  

It started out with " mom can you paint our faces?".  

The voice was coming from the other room as I was in the kitchen picking up after lunch. 

 " Give me five minutes" I replied.  

About ten minutes later, after a few more chores I find the three of them have helped themselves. 

 How considerate to put down the oil cloth mat first. 

 They went to town. 

 I mean, sister painted the bottoms of her feet!  

Hooray for budding artist and creative soles. 

Thumbs down for the looks I got while grocery shopping with 

the two boys and a dalmatian with soot on her nose. 

It all the joys of being a stay at home.....crazy looks and all.

Princess Warrior

Mum's the word

Mum, ma, mom, mommy, I answer to it all. Depending on the pitch of their voice is how I decide how fast to answer their call.

This Mother's Day was spent in Bringantine, New Jersey. It was very fun, relaxing and easy.

I love you munchkins with all my heart.

Letter to PJ

I've had pen pals since the fourth grade when my class wrote to one of the troops in the gulf war. Its been fun keeping in touch with people I meet around the word as a young woman studying abroad starting at the age of 15 years old. ( I'm not sure I'd ever be comfortable sending my kids away for six weeks during the summer to another continent, but we will cross that bridge should it ever come up) Modern day technology has change the fashion of pen pals via letter in the mail box. However I fancy delivering a thought out note to the mail box, giving the seal a kiss and raising the red flag to alert the postman we have outgoing important mail.

PJ is Aidan's great friend who lived next door to our home in come Connecticut. Our families graveled a friendship path between the proprieties so the boys would never need to walk along the street between homes. Aidan and PJ get excited to share their new skills and toys together. This was the case when we lived next door and it is still the case as they live three hours apart. Officially, on his own accord Aidan write PJ these words last night before hitting the sack.

In the garden

Gardening makes me a better mom. It an activity I love and the kids love the tools, hose, watering can, seed packs, dirt, rocks, worms, and did I mention water? I mean getting wet. They just love that.

Today we opened the sand box for the first time this year. That busied them while Kyle helped me ( basically bring my ideas to life) by muscling crowded hydrangea from butting up to the side of the house. It would do better in a different location where it had the proper space to to reach its full growth potential. We ended up dividing a third of the hydrangea into three very nice parts to build a new buffer on the corner of the property. Then I spied hosta's that could use a little 'room' itself. And then tall architechal beach grass got divided as well. Suddenly ( or not that sudden as Kyle dug and pulled the entire time...) a new garden bed appeared at no cost. I'm so excited to see everything fill in this growing season.

No notes on my lil watering girl. She's just yummy.

The Gang

The Gang, 

Logan, Abby, Jimmy, Casey, Thomas

Elise, Ethan, Aidan, Caden

Becker's, Hinkley's and Bitting's 

Now you sort out the sets of siblings...

baby's bum in coveralls

 Dressed to play on the farm in rubber roots and coveralls/overalls.  

The same one her father and uncle use to wear on the same farm.  

Enjoying a York peppermint patty.  

One of her grandpa Mike's  favorite treats.

I should ask about the age of this very luscious lilac bush.

Elise, the youngest of cousins on Kyle side of the family played hard with all the older cousins.  Abby the only other girls cousin and the oldest cousin of the bunch will be graduating from High school in a week.  Regardless of the age span, they all included Elise in whatever game was taking place at the time.  It was a very long day outside by by the fire but she kept up and had tons of fun roaming the property with the gang.