someone's going to preschool-

it's my will.  my middle child.  this boy does something to my heart.  maybe it's his chocolate chip eyes?  maybe it's that i relate to him as a middle child myself?  maybe it's how he's always so silly?  or maybe it's just that he's so darn cute :) whatever it is- i'm so lucky he's mine. 

sunday craft time

if you wanna know the truth i should be doing this today:

yes, that looks boring to me too.  so while that was sitting to the left of me.....i decided to attempt to make a wreath.  last christmas i started trying to make one of those super cool yarn ones- that was supposed to eventually look just like the starbucks one a few years back.  i didn't get very far.  mine only ever looked like this:

NOT very cute.....i know.  so today, i cut strips of fabric and glued them over the wreath.

so, at this point i think it looks better than before but it's pretty plain.  so, i made some fabric flowers:

take the strip of fabric and make a knot

twist and hot glue as you spin the fabric.  sound more complicated than it is.

continue to glue as you turn

glue the extra fabric to the bottom of the flower

then i glued the flowers to the wreath.  simple as that.  and, instead of getting to that sweet pile of clothes- i made more fabric flowers and started gluing them to things around the house!!



and now....i'm off to fold that pile of laundry :)

crayon art

i've seen these everywhere.  i wish i remembered the first one i saw- i'd totally give that crafty person credit for the idea.  this is one of the EASIEST crafts that you can do. we have ours hanging in the boys bedroom.

all you need is a canvas- (whatever size you'd like) crayons (we used 2 24 count boxes), hot glue and a blow dryer.  we painted our canvas first- totally optional step.  i had the kids separate the 2 boxes of crayons into different colors- we lined them up on the canvas.  i hot glued the crayons to the canvas which took about 5 minutes.  finally we went outside and used the blow dryer to melt the crayons.

lucky for me, super jack was on hand to help :)

and just when i thought we were in big trouble.....spiderman came to my rescue as well!

my own little super hero squad!  it was like 95 degrees outside too.....they are not afraid to toss on those costumes!

even the littlest hands got to help!

totally loving this! 

he's lovin' it!!

jack's very first day of school!!

this was so funny.  jack says, "mom, let me take your picture holding my lunch box- because you're so proud you made it." (the lunch, NOT the lunch box!)  seriously, i have made every meal that child has eaten his entire life!

the year has started off very well!  we are so proud of him :)

back to school...

i guess in our house it's actually off to school rather than back to school since our oldest starts kindergarten tomorrow.  sniff, sniff :)  last week jack suggested that we host a back to school party for a few friends.  i love that my boy loves to host ....wonder where he gets it from? 

so today was our first annual back to school party!  i found some free printables from one charming party.  they were really cute- and free is always great!  instead of making a banner i decided to use a pack of sight words instead.  we decorated with some of our back to school books too.  each child was given a folder to decorate and a bookmark to bring home.  we had a simple lunch followed by cupcakes.  my niece who is entering 2nd grade provided some entertainment by reading to the others.  and somehow i was able to read the night before kindergarten with no tears :) 

here are a few pictures from our party:

as a favor to the mommy's i cut out paper for lunch box notes

free printables from one charming party

olivia reading to the others- she was so proud to be the big girl!

jack and kate both starting school tomorrow!

 if you have the time.....celebrate!  all of the kids had lots of fun.  we had 4 little ones who will start kindergarten this year.  the moms were able to talk through some of our fears and discuss little tips with each other. 

tomorrow is a big day.  my little love is sleeping now- napping that is.  he's so excited that today is his last nap!!!  i told him he could skip it today- he said, "i better rest up." (see why i just love this child?) 

he is ready.  i know he is.  so why does this feel so painful?  why does my heart literally ache at the thought of leaving him tomorrow morning?  last night while we said our prayers, he asked if we could pray for tuesday.  (see why my heart aches?)

i'm looking forward to october-ish when i can laugh at how silly i've been these past few days.  when he's settled in to this thing called school.  when he leaps our of the car to greet his classmates.  this will probably happen earlier than later.  like i said, he's ready. nervous, but ready.  it's his mama who's not.

good luck on your first day friends!  thanks for coming to our party! 

and good luck to my jack-a-roo!  i am so proud of you.  you are going to do great- i just know it! 

we're a little busy

for the past two weeks anna michael has decided she wants to do this:

notice the truck sticker on her leg...they are also on her hands and cheeks.
 and the girl loves a good pedicure.....this color is from aunt jen....

and we're going with it.  she's only 20 months old- but this little lady has a mind of her own.  maybe it's because her big brothers act as if she has accomplished greatness when she tinkles :)

pineapple....take 2

my boys are the best eaters and always have been.  ANYTHING you offer them they are willing to try and typically like.  the girl....well, she's a different story.  she doesn't like anything.   that's not true- she loves pizza, ice cream, crackers of any sort, oatmeal and olives.  i think that covers it.  i've spent a good part of the summer trying to "trick" her into eating fruits and veggies.  at her last check-up i was so proud to announce to her pediatrician that i did it!  i pulled one over on her- he just looked at me and smiled......then i realized, yes, she is pulling one over on me!

anyways- my super-duper magic trick is this.....freeze the fruit.  i cut her fruit into bite sized pieces and freeze them.  she loves it.  i think she thinks it's a popsicle or something??  blueberries are really good but the best one in my opinion is pineapple.  it's so delicious.  it's the way we are eating pineapple in our house.

simply cut your fresh pineapple like this.  the freeze it.  it's that easy. 

you just don't want them to touch otherwise they are a frozen block. 
i used wax paper- freezer paper would obviously be a good choice too!

we wrap the bottom with paper towels because they are so cold on their hands.

he says the frozen pineapple made his mouth happy.

will is sitting here with me, and wanted me to add this picture to the post.  notice his too small LONG sleeved shirt in august.....i let the kids all dress themselves yesterday.  he loves this shirt :)

these would make the perfect stir stick in a pina colada or any frozen kid-friendly drink too.  they may make it to a little pirate party coming soon.....