Look! New Hands!

Lily found these gloves in a drawer in her room and was fascinated by them. (Apparently she had forgotten what gloves are.) She put them on and said, "Look Mom! New hands!" She was so proud of her new hands that she wore them for about an hour....even though it was about 95 degrees outside. =) Then she had me put them on Curious George so he could have new hands too.

Silly Girl!

Talented?

Last weekend, my sister Amy came over for dinner. This is what she taught the boys after dinner:

Riley got his spoon on his ear.

Zach got spoons on both his nose and his ear!

Wow.......I have some talented kids. =)

Also: Notice how none of them are smiling? They must take there spoon hanging seriously. =)

Not so little anymore.....

That's how I feel these days with Lily. Don't get me wrong, she's still little. Just not a baby anymore. She has been talking so much lately!! She puts words together to make sentences. She mimics whatever the boys say, but she also comes up with sentences all on her own. Like Wednesday when we went swimming with the kids' cousins. Lily got up in the trampoline and called to her cousin Johnny (who is 2 1/2), "Johnny! Come jump with me!" It just got me that she is old enough to start thinking of things like that! She laughs at jokes and says "That's funny!" It's amazing how just six months ago she was just saying single words. We started potty-training her this week. I am waiting for something catastrophic to happen because she is the easiest child to potty-train. I'm not bragging, I'm in awe. The boys were easy, but Lily has been crazy easy. We put her in big girl undies on Monday and since then she has only had 3 accidents. Seriously. No complaints here......but doesn't that seem too easy? =) When God was picking out children for Jeff & I, He must have known we would not be good at potty training, because they have all practically trained themselves. Back to Lily growing out of the baby phase. It makes me sad....but I am also excited for this next chapter in her life. All three of the kids are similar, yet very different. I can't wait to see how her personality develops. So, no more baby. Just a very cute "big girl".

#8: S'mores

Number 8 on our list was making S'mores, so we got everything ready to head outside to make them. The boys decided that they wanted strawberry marshmallows along with the regular ones. I wasn't sure how this would go over, but the boys actually loved them!

MMMMM......

They were enjoyed by all!

Another thing crossed off our list! We only have two more things to go!

Puzzle Stamp Shirts

I got this idea from a magazine. They made a peace sign, but since the kids have no idea what that is, I decided to let them choose what they made.

First, you glue puzzle pieces onto a piece of cardboard in the shape you want. Riley chose a fish, Zach chose a circle (that he made into a sun), and I chose a heart for Lily, because Lily did not actually do this project. =) Then we slathered paint onto the pieces, flipped the cardboard over onto a shirt and press down like a stamp. (You need a piece of cardboard in the shirt too, so the paint doesn't run to the other side). Then I let the kids use paint and puff paint to embellish them.

Zach's shirt:

Riley's shirt:

Lily's shirt:

I probably should have used smaller puzzle pieces, but I only have the big kind. And, if you use a puzzle you already have, make sure your kids really, really, really, do not want it anymore. Otherwise you might hear how you ruined their favorite puzzle (even if they don't remember the last time they actually used it) for days after this project is over. So, I suggest going to Dollar Tree and just buying a new one. =)

# 6: Catch Fireflies

Number 6 on the kids' summer list was catching fireflies. For some reason we don't have any fireflies at our house, so we headed over to Grammy and Granddad's house where there are tons! I bought the kids nets to catch the fireflies in....

....and after telling them several times to stop putting them on their heads or each other's heads, I was wondering why I had bought them long sticks with nets attached. =)

After the fireflies finally started blinking, the boys went hunting.

Jeff helped Lily catch one!

This one was trying to get in the jar!

Our firefly haul:

Catching fireflies was one of my favorite things in the summer too when I was little. Now I like watching the kids enjoy it.

While our list is getting shorter, so is our summer. We are trying to pack it in with a few more activities: Vacation Bible School, swimming lessons, soccer, zoo trips, more art projects, and just playing. We also want to get in some resting and laziness before the the new school year. I hope everyone is enjoying their summer!!!!

Lily's 2 year Pictures

We had Lily's two year pictures taken today. Here are some of our favorites.