Frozen Goodies

Wanna know the best way to get your kids to eat fruit (not that mine have a problem with it....) POPSICLES! I bought these adorable, BPA free little ring pop popsicle holders and after I make a smoothie, I throw a little into each one. Voila! The kids beg for them. Ford hangs on the freezer door. (I assume he's saying "Mom! Gimme one of them gosh darn amazing popsicles so I can go out and play and get it all over myself!")

And if they aren't outside... they're bib'ed head to toe. As in here...

On most days recently, they're either in the sprinkler or in the baby pool so the "evidence" is almost all washed away by the time they come inside. I love summer!

Word to the wise - I tried to make "lime" popsicles (spinach, apple and lime) and they were NOT having it. "Gross! Eww! Mom! That tastes funny!" Dang.

649. the extra wide printer just in time
650. the new wifi situation
651. pm olympics
652. Abby's super sweet big sister side coming out

The 4th! (On the 26th)

Sorry for the late-ness! Our 4th was typical and wonderful. Abby wore a cute dress from Grandmama and Fordy had on a sweet little number that apparently Papa picked out! (I think he needs a MyHabit intervention, people. But who am I to complain when I am the recipient of such greatness?!)

Here they are as we tried to herd them into the car after a day of frying pies at our friends house (pics tomorrow!). Abby had just woken up ... and she wasn't in the best mood. We're having a "thing" recently with seams and clothes that "hurt me!" and so, in an event like this, I wait till the last possible moment to try on her outfit, knowing that the excitement is great enough and the distraction is high enough, she'll not notice that something is uncomfortable. I'm telling you, it's tough. Every day we either wear one of 3 dresses that she lives in or ... there's a 20 minute crying episode about how things are too tight/don't fit/aren't good/hurt etc. It's exhausting. And believe me, bribing with candy doesn't work.

So, the crocs stayed on, to my chagrin because the dress was awesome.

Once we got there, my newest and greatest helper, my God daughter, took Fordy around to check things out. He's so grown up!

My pie-frying companion, Jill and Abby...

Ford having just a terrible time with Mackenzie...

Eating a big kid dinner (excuse the shoes in both my kid's cases...we were not headed to the circus!)

And as soon as Abby warmed up, she was doing laps on the front lawn, jumping in the bouncy house (first time!!!) with the big kids and sitting on big girl Lucy's lap while eating a boat load of candy and watching the fire works. It was epic.

And Ford finally gave up the fight just as the show began....

What a night! :)

Friends In High Places

So while something like this was going on at our house (and the roof was getting finished...)

the kids and I would get out of the house everyday at about 9am. We'd get where we needed to go and camp out before Fordy's 9:30 nap (oh, how I can't wait for him to go to one nap!). One day, we went to Abby's pal, Makenna's house. There was swimming...

There was an Angry Birds indoctrination...

and by the end, Abby was bossy as ever, ornery as ever and acting like Makenna's sister. There are worse things, I guess!

The next day, on to the next house (thanks, Tam!), where Abby was introduced to treasure hunts (it's awesome to have older brothers around who are sweet) and the wonder of the Tinkerbell movie. Here they are in a Tink coma...

Except that half way through I said, "Abby! Do you love it?" and she said, "No, mom. Let's turn it off." Which lead to us watching the boys playing Wii. Very cool. Meanwhile, Ford found the princess tent and we couldn't get him out.

And the next day was yet another house (thanks, Wendy!) where there was a party in the backyard sprinkler.

On none of these days did the kids take afternoon naps and when we drove home sometime between 4 and 6, they both, like clockwork, fell asleep in the car on the ride home. They were long, glorious, memory-filled days and I am so thankful for the friends who invited us over!

645.  friends who give and give and give
646. a Jana DVD resurgence
647.  seeing progress
648.  the kids rolling with the changes

Ballet

Two weeks ago we started ballet. After reading Miss Lina's Ballerinas (adorable!) she was even more pumped. Until we went to try on ballet shoes. Our girl, it seems, has a problem with seams (hence no socks and tennis shoes) and usually pants (thank God it's summer) and once in awhile, absolutely anything at all that feels "weird" because "this HURTS me!" Oh boy. The emotions have begun.

In past months, she's looked like this....

Or even this....

which is much closer to what most girls in her class look like (+ leotard) but for now, we go without ballet shoes, without tutus, without tights. We go as we are. And that's just fine, both for her teacher and for me.

She's the oldest in her class and that year or so makes such a difference. And besides the dancing with mommy (while Ford is on my hip) there was also (hold your breath!) circle time where she got a sticker.

And here she is racing toward me to show it off.

No tutu? No problem! We love ballet!

640. no naps = early bed time
641. getting it right
642. a husband to carries the weight
643. a party in heaven for patti
644. early to bed because of a good book

Kissing Your Sister

Ford knows full well what that feels like this week. In the tub the other night, he was leaning toward Abby and we realized he was wanting to give her a kiss. A kiss! My heart just about melted right then and there all over the bathroom floor. We told him to do it about 59 more times and he did....and finally dumped water on his head to tell us he was done with the affection. Typical man. Use your words already, right? :)

Speaking of words, today I was singing Old MacDonald and he started saying "Ee-Iii-Eee-Iii" which was close enough for me! Since I am in a constant state of managing the crisis in front of me (or wondering why it's quiet for 30 seconds and what big sister is sitting on which little brother -- this happened today) I have hardly had time to celebrate Ford's little verbal accomplishments. Sad, I know. I left for 10 minutes the other day to get Grant a coffee (which, by the way, gives you near second degree burns when it spills on you in your car. And if you are blessed enough to have this happen not far from home, you can drive the rest of the way semi-standing up to avoid sitting in the rest of the Venti drip while you mentally manage your pain and get home safely. Seriously) and when I walked back in, Ford said, "Mama!" He has said it a million times but since I so rarely leave and come back without him, it was special. I'm all sentimental about it.

And yesterday he said "neigh neigh" when I asked what a horse said. Be still my heart. I love these little moments. I guess I should start writing them down! Because soon enough I know he'll be learning "mine!" from his sister as well as (her new favorite) "No! You can't do that!"

And while I did not get a picture yet of him kissing Abby, our good friend, Auntie Nada got a kiss just the other day. Here's the progression....

636. wallpaper
637. rain a few days after the roof was done
638. the light being on the right switch
639. kisses! kisses! kisses!

Fairytale Town, Sacramento

We ended our time up north with two super duper places. The El Dorado Hills library and Fairytale Town.

If you've never heard of Farytale Town in Sacramento, let me tell you... it's a special little place. Mostly, I think, because it's completely geared toward Abby's age. Every little event (they aren't rides) are based on fairy tales. You can walk the crocked mile, try and pet the three little pigs and water Mr. MacGregor's garden. Super cute. Here Papa and the kids were heading inside....

One of the first things Abby wanted to do was go down Owl's (from Winnie The Pooh) slide. Seeing that she doesn't ever want to go down normal sized slides, I was surprised that she wanted to climb this staircase...

Even Fordy thought it was high...

And then it was all smiles going down with Grandma.

Fordy got some freedom...I mean, look at this place! Not a soul in sight.

They got to sit in Cinderella's carriage...

And pretend to be Little John and Robin Hood...

And pretty soon, it was time for lunch... (love the hip out, don't you?)

After which, Abby got to snuggle with Mother Goose...

It was a fun, mellow day. I loved it.

And a few days later, we hit the library. I thought it would be no big deal but oh my goodness....it was better than most play rooms I've been in. Clean, cool toys all ready to be played with. For most of the time, we were the only people there. It was cool.

Every puppet in the place got lined up.

And the paci never came out so no other germy objects could go in. Genius. (the only genius thing about a paci!)

And I just couldn't leave off without this great picture of Papa and Ford -- and yes, that shirt was starched and ironed. Starched. And. Ironed. By Grandma. Of course. Then again, she irons her sheets! What was I expecting!

And before we knew it, we'd braved the 5 freeway again and things were back to how they'd been before. Ford breaking wreaking havoc on sissy's things and she obliviously playing in the background.

And now, with the roof finally done, a full month after having started, we're all singing praises.

631. roof being done! roof being done!
632. kindle movies for the drive
633. learning by watching
634. memories to last
635. a demo'd bathroom

Nor Cal Abby Time

Abby and I got some sweet time to ourselves when we were up north. When Ford would nap, a few times we went to the Farmers Market, we got coffee together and we went to the store. We never, ever get time like that. It was special! Sitting for even ten minutes in Peet's coffee with her chocolate scone all to herself. Pretty fun.

And when she wasn't running around like a mad woman chasing Grandma,

she liked to make up new words. Abby's word of the week : grunchy; a combination of "grinchy" and "grumpy" -- i think it's a new favorite. It's obvious that we read When The Grinch Stole Christmas, huh?

Another favorite was playing Hi Ho Cherry O with Grandma before bed...

Speaking of games, Katy got her Chutes and Ladders for her birthday! Elmo edition! Every better! We are still getting the hang of games but it is really fun to do that after baths instead of watching "just one more show."

And while the girls played, Fordy got a tour of the backyard with Aunt Christi. She made him laugh more in 5 minutes than the entire two weeks put together.

One day, we got to go visit some good friends who have triplets. Thanks, Emily for such a fun day! They introduced Abby to playdough (I know... we've made it this long without it! Why start now?!) and left with a fist full of our very own home made princess pink sparkly playdough. It was a total blast. Here they are all together....

And, of course, there was more swimming...

More popsicling...

And more wet Grandma time (with Papa close by, doing laps, surely).

625. seeing Uncle Kev, Aunt Christi and Katy
626. getting up at almost 7
627. navigating the area
628. knowing the roof is coming along
629. finishing a project
630. papa driving me around to do errands