Crafty Afternoon

The one above is Bekah's. The one below is all the other animals I was just playing around with.
Jonah usually goes to Grandma's house on Wednesday afternoons so we decided to do a craft today while he is gone and Sam is asleep. I had seen this idea in a Family Fun magazine at my doctor's office and thought it was a good idea. They took favorite stuffed animals and made a wreath out of them. They started with a wire hanger and tied the animals on with fishing line. It wasn't quite as easy as they made it sound and it doesn't work well tying it to the wire hanger. I think I would start with a thinner grapevine wreath and tie the animals onto that, it definitely needs to be thicker and sturdier than the wire hanger. Any other ideas? I will probably redo them. I like how it looks on the wall and they are at least off the floor, a nice decoration for the playroom. I'm sure everyone out there has stuffed animals that are sentimental and can't toss them like us.

Life Right Now

Here is a list of things going on at our house right now;

1. Alan just started a clinical rotation in Columbus, NE. I am excited for him to be at this point in school, actually using all that information that he's been studying.
2. The kids and I went to Wal-Mart today and got a swimming pool for them. They spent all afternoon in it!
3. I am reading The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova. It is so good I can barely put it down!
4. Sam got out of his crib about 6 times when I was trying to put him down for a nap. He would just get out and come and knock on the door, very annoying.
5. Our dog, Milo almost caught a squirrel today. We were out in the yard when it happened. Those squirrels get brave sometimes and try to outrun Milo. This one tried to make it through the fence, but was a little too big to fit through. He then turned to run to the nearest tree. Milo was right on top of him, but just missed. Too bad, Milo's life goal is to catch a squirrel. He's gotten 2 rabbits before but those darn squirrels have been taunting him for years!
6. I've seen two good movies in the past week, Stranger Than Ficton and the Pursuit of Happyness. Especially the Pursuit of Happyness, it was totally engrossing.
7. We played animal charades tonight. Bekah helped Jonah choose an animal when it was his turn. He'd come out and act out his animal and I'd guess something. If I was wrong He'd just say, "NO, I'm a lion". He would just say whatever he was, it was really cute.
8. We had grilled cheese sandwiches and watermelon for supper, YUM!
9. (top picture) We watched some workmen at our neighbors house. They were jackhammering the patio. I don't know exactly what they are doing but it sure was exciting for Jonah and Bekah to see the machines working.
   

Now That's What I Like To See!

Friday we made a trip to the library. We always do the summer reading program at the library and the kids started right away on their reading goals. We made this little book corner for them with the library books in a basket. Happy Summer Reading!!

Shopping

I bought this white skirt at Goodwill the other day. It was a little too short for me and I wanted to add some lace or fabric to the bottom of it, so I HAD to go to the fabric store. I LOVE the fabric store and could spend hours there thinking about things to make. I went to joanns today and they had some really cute fabric and some really good sales. I chose this one to go on my skirt and it was in the clearance section for 3 dollars a yard! Can't beat the price of that. They also had tons of scrapbooking embellishments on sale for really good prices. It was just nice to be out and about without the kiddos.

The Marathon

Every year Bekah's school holds a mini marathon. The kids can choose a 1, 2, or 3 mile run. This year Bekah chose to run the 2 mile run. She's a pretty good runner (she must get that from Alan, I'm terrible!). It really helps the kids feel like they have accomplished something good. We always go and watch and cheer her on.
Bekah and her friend after the race. They got bags of pretzels and water and could watch the other runners. They also get a medal for finishing and their time on a sheet of paper.

"Potty?"

The kids have been watching Harry Potter movies lately. Jonah loves Harry. He loves Harry's "circle" glasses and the flying car in Chamber of Secrets, all his cars are flying around now! Even Bekah was watching and she has never wanted to watch them because they are so scary to her. Even Sam asked tonight to watch, he brought the movie case to Alan and said "potty?". On a related note, Sam has asked to go potty and has done it a couple of times. It's just funny how these two things are getting combined into the same word. I don't think he's too serious about using the bathroom yet so I'm not too worried about this mix up.