Painting the Town

July 1, 2010

We enjoyed an evening out as a family last summer when we visited a paint your own pottery store and made birthday presents for the kids Grandfather's. Although the birthdays in question are months apart, it made perfect sense logistically to paint for everyone in one visit. Each kiddo had one piece to work on and then they could switch to add personal touches. They really enjoyed themselves and were eerily quiet as they painted away!

Michael and I were less than shocked when Bailey chose to use a horse stencil and Hayden rustled up space stencils. These two are pretty consistent when it comes to sticking with a passion.

Poor Michael tried his best to help out and keep his work clothes safe. He was a real tropper. Whoopsie - next time we meet up with Daddy after work we'll have to bring him some playclothes!

Busy Bees

July 1, 2010

Last summer we participated in the summer reading program at Half-Priced Books. The kids filled out reading logs and could turn them in every few weeks for three dollars worth of books. We got in the habit of raiding the clearance shelves where the books were generally under a dollar so we could load up on new reads. Of course, I would find things as well and there wasn't a Summer Reading Program for Mommies so the store still made out! One of my big scores was a set of Better Homes and Gardens craft and cooking books for families.

So we kicked July off with an edible project perfect for my busy bees... a Honey Bee Snack!

After stirring together peanut butter, honey, dry milk, sesame seed and wheat germ we shaped the dough into small ovals.

Next we dipped toothpicks into cocoa powder to make stripes and stuck almonds in either side of the ovals for wings.
Finally we sent our swarm off to the fridge to chill out for a bit and before we knew it, snacktime had arrived!

Honeybees

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 T honey

1/3 cup nonfat dry milk

2 T sesame seed

2T toasted wheat germ

unsweetened cocoa powder

sliced almonds

Stir together peanut butter and honey. Add nonfat dry milk, sesame seed and wheat germ. Stir until well mixed. Lay a piece of waxed paper on a tray. For the bee body, shape 1teaspoonful of dough into an oval. Place it on the waxed paper. Dip a toothpick into the cocoa powder and press it gently across the top of the bee body to create stripes. Stick sliced almonds in the sides for wings and chill for 30 minutes before eating. Makes about 28 bees.

At the Playground

June 30, 2010

This was a busy and beautiful day for the Marx family. After all of our running around town we decided to squeeze in one more outing once Daddy got home for the day. With Hayden gearing up for his kindergarten debut we decided a visit to the elementary school playground was in order. The summer program had left their basketballs out on the court so the kiddos had a chance to shoot hoops with Michael for a bit.

Then it was a free for all as the anklebiters explored the equipment. Such fun!

What a way to end the day! It's always a special treat to have Daddy along at the park and it was such a wonderful way to help Hayden begin to get settled at his future school.

Shark Attack!

June 30, 2010

The local library had scads of summer events last year. We dropped in on the aquarium presentation to see what on earth and aquarium could take on the road! There were lots of specimens that the speaker passed around for the kids to examine. Here the Mini's were checking out shark eggs. The preceding Fall, H went through a big shark phase and it was interesting to see what he recalled from that particular boyhood passion.

Next up was a shark fin!There were also several types of shark jaws handed about for examination. For some unknown reason this gave Bailey the urge to get her groove on...

And last but not least, we had the chance to ogle a stingray. Not a bad haul for a bunch of landlocked people!

The Second Time's the Charm?

June 30, 2010

Someday I will likely catch major flack for including the above pic of Miss Bailey but since she normally takes such great pictures it just cracked me up that the first one I captured of her at this party was so....well, let's just say it's not the best photo she's ever taken. But have no fear, we gave it another shot and hit the mark the second time around!

All Dressed Up...

June 29, 2010

Here's my sweet boy all gussied up for a trip to the Summer Movie Clubhouse. We went to several morning $1 movies over the course of the summer and on this particular outing, H was concerned with looking handsome for his morning at the cinema. What a dapper dude!

Our Lad in a Labcoat

June 28, 2010

Last year we enjoyed many a viewing of the animated flick "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs". The kids both found the notion of food falling from the sky hilarious and Hayden was drawn to the scientist hero of the story, Flint Lockwood. So he was thrilled when I reminded him of the labcoat we had in the dressup bin. He ran right down to find it and spent loads of time playing around the house in his Flint Lockwood getup. Had to snap some pics of that silliness both for the blog and to send along to my Mother who made the labcoat along with lots of other dressup fun for the little ones. Thanks Mom!

Garden Time

June 27, 2010

Just a few quick pics of the garden last June. We had lots of fun snacking on grape tomatoes throughout the season. I loved watching the kids take care of the plants. H was just about always willing to be in charge of the hose and Bailey loved fillling up her little watering can to visit the flowers. We are looking forward to a sequel this summer but I won't be surprised if Miss B fights for some additional hose time now that she is a bit older!