Rest of July

We ended up stopping by Shedd Aquarium in Chicago after dropping off Lilli at the airport. We had a great time, though not the best aquarium I've been to but  by far the most expensive. The best part was the 4D Dora movie. While I'm not a fan of Dora, it was the first movie like that I've been to and was a blast. Turns out pregnant ladies get your whole family in the fast lane in the air conditioning instead of waiting to enter with the rest of hundreds of people. Of course we waited in line for about 15 minutes before someone came over and told me we were to go inside and not wait in the heat. Bless her heart for that. It was almost 100 that day.

Baylee is still loving her dance classes. There was a night (yes I said a) where most of the girls didn't show up and they were actually listening. Baylee is unfortunate in there her parents expect a lot of her and she doesn't goof off, but normally all of the other girls are, we got a video when they were all participating of the little dance they do at the end of each class. Tanner loves to watch and loves to try and dance with her when she's showing off her moves at home.

We attended the Bagelfest parade and the kiddos had a great time between the "pretty princesses" and the Shriners on scooters, there was entertainment for both.

The Last week of Lilli

We started out with a surprise of a Day at the Lake. We got McDonald's breakfast, which we get like 3 times a year, so that was exciting in and of itself. We packed up the car with everything from drinks and snacks to towels and toys. Because of the current drought, the lake was low, which actually worked out and made it shallow for a good portion of the beach area. The water was kind of disgustingly warm due to the excessive heat we've had. The kids skipped playing in the sand and went straight for the water. It was one of those miserably hot days, so who's to blame them? We splashed and swam and had a great time until Tanner turned grouchy at every thing and we decided the adventure was done.

It was also a reminder that no kid can be trusted and good thing I went into it with that mindset. Lilli tried to go farther out than she was comfortable and panicked rather than just standing up straight. She scared the living poo out of herself, though I was close enough to walk 2 steps and grab her even while holding Tanner. I had tried to convince her that day would be a great day to learn to swim better, she passed on that option until she tried to drink the lake. Needless to say, she was much more cautious and quite happy to listen to advice and warnings after that, and a few moments of recovery sitting on the beach helped as well.

We had the second of our Children's series plays at the Theater. It was based on the book HOW I BECAME A PIRATE. While I personally have a ranking on the plays we have seen and this did not win my top pick, it was entertaining and the girls and Tanner enjoyed it. We of course had to have a pirate theme lunch with "fish and chips" aka fish sticks and fries and goldfish as well as a treasure chest cake all with "grog" aka rootbeer from mugs. We played pin the eye patch on the pirate and decorated pirate hats. Procrastination won and I had to freehand the hats last minute. The girls attempted to perfect their pirate faces and lingo which I hate to say it, but Tanner takes the cake on that one and he doesn't even try.

We pulled out the bikes one night to go on a family bike ride only to have Cody's super hard to find tube flat. The girls did get to ride around and I went for a short ride though. We opted for the kite instead, despite it taking  a bit of convincing to Cody that I could still fly it even with my ginormous belly. And about 5 minutes after setting it up the crazy wind from 20 minutes earlier died and we got to pack it back up. That was just not our day for outdoor adventures. We put bubbles(dish soap) in the pool and the kids had a great time. We have been setting up the umbrella for them while they swim so it's not so intensely hot.

We took the time to do the homemade "Photo Shoot". Procrastination is a common theme, we did it Friday afternoon with the bribe of ice cream or popsicles for good pictures. I am picky and have had a hard time choosing ones to print for my wall but think we got some that I like, unfortunately my favorite of each girl had hair in her face, dang wind anyway. I also feel like ours turn out almost as good or better than the ones I'm willing to pay for at say Target. You will notice a lack of Tanner. He is very cheesy for the camera, only, not when asked, since the shoot we have still been unable to get a good picture of him and will probably have to resort to one previously taken despite the messed up hair. He is not willing to slow down for the simple purpose of many pictures. The girls ended up having fun and wanting to pose more. Boys and girls, it's like night and day.

We left Friday night to go up to Chicago since Lilli's flight left earlier than we were willing to get up and drive for that long in the morning. It was very late by the time we made the 3 and half hour trip. We had to stop for dinner and the preggo chose IHOP. It's not something we get around home and it was a treat for me. Not to mention the Cinnastacks pancakes were to die for, everyone agreed...luckily I can't really eat that much most days. Once we got to the hotel we hurried everyone along and got in swimsuits and went swimming. Unlike the lake, the water was cold and the air was really hot and muggy. Tanner was not a fan of the cold water(odd since he plays in the well water without a second thought). We worked on swimming a little more with both the girls. I have always loved to swim and still do, though the ole lungs can't hold much air currently. I still had fun swimming for the short time. We then went to get everyone in bed and Tanner discovered the long tube pillows(yes I'm country and don't know the official name of what they would be called). He began riding them like a horse and cackling. I'm sure all the rooms around us appreciated it at 11:30 at night especially when Lilli joined in. It was entertaining and a moment that  I would take the scorn from neighbors to see again.

Cody got up early and took Lilli to catch her plane. It's still almost surreal that she traveled alone. This time thing should slow down a bit. 

As a side note, no I'm not canning right now, but do have ketchup and pizza sauce waiting to be made, I'm doing what i do best and procrastinating. It will get done tomorrow(I think). I had to add a note about Tanner. He's been carrying around Baylee's water baby. He gives her hugs and requires her to sleep with and if I forget, he will ask for his baby before he will lay down. We have to tuck her in and he tends to cuddle with her. I'm glad he likes the baby. His world is about to be turned upside down when he loses the "baby of the family" status. I try to explain the baby in my belly and most of the time I'm pretty sure he doesn't understand. One way or the other, I'm glad he has taken a liking to babies and I hope it lasts for at least a few more months.

A packed week

I will do you a favor and pick highlights. Who am I kidding, I remember highlights but don't remember the small stuff these days. I am super forgetful and can't wait for that side effect to go away.

We started off by going to Isaak's Family fun center again for some black light mini golf and to let the kids climb on the climber in there. This time we took friends with us. We had a blast. I got a kick out of Lilli's field hockey putts. It was very slow and the kids played a round and then replayed and the big people got to play a round. It was loads of fun. The big hit was the ball pit and the climber and the owner's daughter. The girls played hide and seek in the climber with her for a very long time and we closed the place down. When we were done, we headed out to Mexican food with the Comptons.

Monday, we got to go pick up our baby goats and bring them home. In the midst of our drought, we got a small bit of rain while we were in the process of picking them up. I had spent the day canning beans and was thrilled to get a break to go get our little guys.

Baylee started her ballet and tap class. We could not have been more proud of how well she listened to the teachers despite others misbehaving. She even participated with everything and accomplished most of the moves they were taught. She LOVED the class and while we just had the  3rd tonight, she does better every week.

The 4th of July was spent the same as usual for us, out at the airport for the County fireworks and the Rural King Corporate BBQ. We helped decorate and set up so we were out there for about 7 hours, though by the time we got there, most of the hard labor was done. It was nasty hot with temperatures actually reaching 100 and a heat index of 105. Tanner was fascinated by the fireworks and almost every one brought a "woah" out of him.

This week also marked a new step in our country life. One of our roosters attacked Baylee and turned around and attacked Cody. That rooster became dinner for us. We had never done this before but the behavior is not tolerated. We have learned once they start doing it, they don't stop and will attack every time you go in the pen. The kids were all intrigued by the plucking and cleaning task and to be honest I was a little curious myself. Thank goodness Cody took care of it all. * a few days later after letting it sit the recommended amount of time, it got grilled and turned out rather tasty

We had another park, picnic, splash fountain playdate. It was hard convincing the kiddos to play as they really just wanted to splash in the water, with reason as it was above 100 that day.

I am once again giving credit, thank you late night canning of salsa and tomatoes, you have once again given me a chance to work on the blog. Now the true request, find a way to have both done and still get sleep simultaneously.

Laying low for week 4

Sometimes, though you may find it hard to believe, I get tired of taking pictures. While I love the memories and such, I honestly get tired of pulling out the camera to miss the good shot or always snapping instead of just enjoying. So I took a week off basically. I have some pictures but not as many as normal. We sort of just took a week off as we had been on the go and I knew our schedule would be jam packed again with things to do for 9 days straight without a day at home.

As some may have seen on my facebook page, we got glow sticks for the bath tub. The kiddos got to take a bath in the dark with the light of the glow in the water. I will be honest, I was a little jealous. It was so much fun for them. The girls did decorate the bathroom with the sticks after bath time and it was rather nice to get up my normal 6 times in the night and have the bathroom lit up without waking me up completely.

We also had a canning day with Hannah and Izzy over. We did a 2nd run of green beans and spicy pickles. It's much more entertaining with friends and it benefits us all. Since we have more beans than we need and I appreciated the help. The ladies were glad they could have Izzy to play with during the extensive event. The kiddos got soft pillow cases in the mail from Grammy and they played with them in every way they could think of, minus being used for the intended purpose, it was quite entertaining.

We had plans to go and pick blueberries but the blueberry patch we were counting on didn't seem to be open since I couldn't get a hold of them and was too far away to drive to find out it wasn't open. So back up plan I randomly remembered as a child using celery as a stamp for decoration shirts with flowers. I also made potato stamps for the girls and it turned out to be a time consuming process for the budding artists. I am slow and had a tough lesson to learn, do not expect much when painting while clumsily pregnant. I dropped paintbrushes on the girls shirts I was painting for them. I think I only dropped 1 on Lilli's but Baylee's shirt I dropped twice and had to find ways to cover it. Baylee got a sparkly winged hummingbird to cover hers and Lilli got a bouquet that was much more elaborate than I had planned. Only to then find out when we bought Lilli's shirt, we grabbed one that had a hole in the back of it. I was done painting and I didn't have the motivation to do another. The girls did a fantastic job on their shirts and enjoyed making them. I did also learn 3 bottles of puffy paint is not nearly enough for 3 girls to accent their shirts.

Cody brought home a turtle one morning to which, yes I put my foot down and said we didn't need a turtle. I figure we have enough going on right now adding to my work load was not fair and I turned him away. Lilli and Baylee had a blast playing with him for a while and moving him all around the house to which I had to send them outside so they didn't lose him again. Turtles can be surprisingly fast when they want to.

That Saturday we let Baylee pick out her new set of earrings since it was time for her to change them. The pickings were slim since her ears are so small but she settled on some very shiny flowers. We then walked around the mall since it was the flea market weekend. The girls had an older gentleman give them money for the fountain to throw in and as we were leaving, they each got a random tin box that some guy was selling but just gave them because they are cute. Then we went grocery shopping which takes a bit since I do the 2 week menu and ad match and coupon. Yes I'm that lady most of you are in line behind and say dirty things under your breath about. But why pay more than you have to? Unfortunately, being a stay at home mom doesn't pay very well in the monetary department, though it is more than made up for in other ways. It's also helpful when Cody goes, which I am lucky he loves to go with us and is very patient with my money saving games.

 I guess I forgot to add on a previous post that the weekend before, we went and had Chinese food at our favorite buffet here, which both girls adore and I am quite fond of as well. Lilli even remembered it from before. We told them it was a surprise day and we got food then were going to go bowling but all of the alleys were closed until late that night...surprise, failed plans. We went and saw Brave instead. They enjoyed it, Tanner lost interest but I wanted to watch so we stood on the side and I held him since that set up was acceptable to him. The girls started playing "Brave" around the house every day and Cody ended up getting them bows and arrows to help with the game. Teaching them how to shoot took longer than expected but they have loved going "bow and arrowing" as they call it and both have it down now. Luckily for us, they each kill about 8-20 bears a day, thus taking care of the bear issue we had. :) 

On to week 3

We try to do fun things with one big event every week. We seem to stay busier than preferred most of the time. I find us having to skip things so we can have a day at home for the week.

The big exciting event for the week was a picnic, park playtime, splash fountain and ice cream day with Miss Hannah and the Izzy. Everyone that is capable makes their own lunch for picnics and carries and packs their box or bag, the girls really like this. When we actually sat down to eat, Baylee had picked and packed lilies for decoration as she put it. It was quite funny. I had no idea she had sneaked those in while we were loading up the car. The littles all loved our adventure and were definitely tuckered out that night or maybe that was me, either way, lots of fun in the sun does good for one, at least we think so.

We also went to a variety show at the library which consisted of a lady doing small tricks such as juggling knives, swallowing balloons, and she was a hula hoop master. She had a human sized hamster ball where she did tricks as well. It was fun though seemed more appropriate for older kids. The big highlight was the kids turned in their already completed reading charts for their final two prizes which were a tin lunch box of their own picking, a book and more restaurant coupons. Lilli went with Monster High, Baylee Hello Kitty and Tanner just like the girls had picked his out days in advance from the catalog and went John Deere. That boy does love a tractor. He reaches all kinds of dog only octaves when he sees one, despite the fact that we pass two fields of them every time we go to town, it's like he's seeing them for the first time.

As a reward for good behavior one day, we all went fishing when Cody got home from work. We didn't catch anything super exciting but it's fun that Baylee has learned how to cast on her own and catches her own fish now. Tanner took apart a reel all by himself and put it back together correctly(definitely his daddy's child). Lilli did a great job catching the fish as well. The exciting end to the fishing trip, they got to throw rocks in the water and we skipped rocks. The fishing and catching was a let down compared to the rocks for them. They all caught fish though. Poor Cody didn't get much chance to fish between taking the fish off for both girls and casting for Lilli, so he didn't catch anything himself and was nonstop between the two. I took Tanner duty and sat, as we had been outside most of that day anyway and I was already tired and while he was as well, he let me take lazy duty, gotta love him for it.

The next exciting fiasco was an owl in the yard that appeared to be eyeing our chickens. I didn't realize until he went to try to take off and couldn't with the size of his dinner in his claws, that he had an animal and actually didn't need a chicken. Lucky for me, I got to go scare off the owl with the help of the girls and pick up the headless opossum to dispose of it. You never know what you will get around here. It was cool to see the owl, but I can think of many things that rank far above doing that. I did glove up but there's still something disturbing about having to pick up something like that. It was interesting for the girls and I to see the owl as closely as we did, focus on the positive not the heebie jeebie inducer.

We have gone to story time at the library when we don't have other plans, that's always a good time since they have different things to play than we do at home including a toddler approved computer. The telephone booth that has music is a hit for all of the little ones.

One night I gave the kiddos rides in the lawn mower trailer. They cackled the whole time, especially when we "jumped" a small hill I found in the yard. It was like a roller coaster I'm told, the simple satisfaction of it all.

*note to self, canning veggies running late into the night is cohesively very productive for the blog, though not so much for the needed rest

Week 2 of Lilli's visit....

The week started with official completion of the tree house, we still needed to water seal it. Well, at least what I consider the completion. Cody tends to think it needs a second floor. The kids have loved playing in it and were so excited to watch as it got closer and closer to being done.

 We went to the Pinkalicious play for the Childrens program at the Little Theatre on the Square. We then had a Pinkalicious mini party. I made pink flower bread though it turned out looking more like cartoon stegasaurus foot prints after rising and being cooked. We had turkey sandwiches out of it with pink yogurt, strawberry marshmallows, jigglers, and pink drink. While not very healthy, the girls were excited for the pink overload and sometimes you just have to break the rules. We then decorated pink cupcakes and had the girls make and decorate their own crowns. Tanner decorated and ate 1 cupcake. He however in it all somehow ate almost a whole bottle of sprinkles and then went straight to nap. It was a great time for all and had fun watching the girls have so much fun with it. The play was done very well and even kept Tanner's attention(he won't even watch tv), so it was lively enough for him. We give it two thumbs up for sure.

We "cashed" in on one of our reading prizes and got the kid's pizza kits from Papa Murphys one day for lunch. We highly encourage slave labor for misbehavior, which the girls have found isn't all that fun. They couldn't seem to get along one day to save their lives, my sanity was about toast, so they got to clean the chicken coop. We had an afternoon of stamping and making Father's Day cards.

We had a little more time on the slip n slide, which once again was hilarious. Lilli couldn't seem to stay off the grass no matter how hard she tried. We ended the week with a shopping trip to the outlets and shopping in Champaign and made it to O'Charley's for lunch. For those of you that like to rub the Chick Fil A and Joy Luck in my face, at least I get O'Charley's!

Settling in, week 1

It always takes a few days for everyone to unwind and get used to the new swing of things. We stayed home a few days to give everyone the chance to do just that. Our first week started off slowly easing into the fun. Our first adventure was a trip to the Mattoon Library for a Very Hungry Caterpillar party which was the kick off to the summer reading program. The girls had a great time and of course the best part to them were the green cupcakes. We had already signed them up for the program and they got their first prizes that day. It was big stuff. 

We still made it to our normal story time on Wednesday at the Sullivan Library. We had packed a picnic and spent a bit of time in the park. Somehow we avoided the playground area and went to the pond side, turns out it was just as fun for them to do that. 

We pulled out the slip n slide for the first time this year. All 3 kiddos got to help me wash it, yes it was enjoyable for them. Then they gave it a go. They definitely did not have the hang of it still but to each his own. Tanner likes to walk down and then wait at the bottom like he does for slides and can't seem to grasp why it's a bad idea on this one. 

The little ones spent a lot of time just playing and exploring outside while I worked in the garden. Cody got the new roost built for the chicken coop; it's our plan to not let the chickens get eaten. We got the treehouse built and ready to play in. It's pretty fun I have to say. 

We spent Friday night at the library for Furry friends night. Each child got to take a stuffed animal and hide it after the story time. They got snacks and then left the animals there over night. We then returned Saturday morning to pick them up and they each got pictures of what their animals did while staying at the library and what kind of trouble they got into. They were served breakfast and then we headed out. They all seemed to enjoy the activity.

I have to add a bit about one of my favorite things of summer. I love my garden. While yes it's almost midnight and I'm writing a blog entry because I'm in the process of canning the first set of green beans in the pressure canner and obviously can't leave them unattended, and yes I'm tired, I'd rather be sleeping, but there is canning to be done and it's so blasted hot, I didn't start until after the kids were in bed, but it's a small price to pay. I think my favorite part has been the kids eating fresh peas. They think it's a snack, which it is if it's not eaten at a meal, right? They love to go stomping through the rows of peas and picking their own and then just sit and shell and eat them. When they are done they get to feed the shells to the goats. It was a daily event for a couple of weeks. They downed a lot of peas. But since I'm the only one besides Lilli who likes cooked peas, it's the only way to get them to eat them. I should mention fresh, uncooked peas are much sweeter and taste different than cooked peas and the whole family, Cody included, loves them straight out of the shell. Unfortunately, the weather and lack of rain, despite sprinklers is going to get the best of them in the next few days. So we will move on to another crop being the highlight of the garden for them, not sure what that will be yet, but they will find something.