Spring happenings

Just wanted to record some of the things going on in our home lately.....

A friend at church gave Carter an unused science kit they had.  He & Chad (& Audrey too) have had fun doing experiments!

I love that he was recording his observations in a little notebook!   Chad is teaching him well. :)

Chloe has had some fun play dates with friends.  I think one of the reasons she loves to play with Evie is because - for once - Chloe is the "big kid." 

And here she is playing with her best buddy from preschool, Fiona.  They had such a great time together!

We went to the Phillies game in late April and man, it was COLD!

We had to snuggle to stay warm!

This spring, Chloe has spent many hours playing out in the backyard.  She pretends this climber is her "car."  She also spends a lot of time in the play house, the sand box, etc.....Sometimes even dressed as a princess!

Carter started coach-pitch baseball this year.  He gets to bat without the tee this year! 

Audrey was in a local spelling bee a few weeks ago.  She did not win, but she did a GREAT job!! I was so proud of her!

To celebrate Audrey's spelling bee participation, we all went out for ice cream!  Cheers!

In late April, I went on the zoo field trip with Carter's school.  It was really fun even if it was a little stressful to try to not lose 3 busy boys!  (And I never realized how tall Carter was until he was standing next to these 2 friends!) 

While I went on the field trip, Mom-mom came and spent the day with Chloe.  They had fun coloring and making play-doh creations together!

On a warm day Audrey opened a lemonade stand.  Always the entrepreneur, she charged 25 cents per cup.  She even charged her siblings, although I did talk her into a "family discount" of buy one, get one free. :)
Some day she will have enough for that Kindle Fire she's saving for ....

My 3 little loves. :)

Happy Spring!!

Friday Faves: Thanksgiving Edition

Just some things I'm thankful for in particular this week:

Chad's trusty Honda Accord reached 100,000 miles.  This car has been around longer than our marriage!  May it run for another 100K!  (or at least until the van is paid off....)

Our yearly Thanksgiving tree. So much to be thankful for, including Dollar Tree that was selling these precut leaves - 32 leaves for $1. I used to cut them out by hand!  I love that the kids are all now writing by themselves (or trying to write) the things they are thankful for.  They sure are growing up.

I am thankful for this wreath made by Carter, who is my least crafty kid but succeeded in putting together this gem.  I am thankful for Kids Club at our neighbors' church, where he made this wreath, and where he & his sisters learn more about God and the stories of the Bible.

I am thankful for Legos, which provide my kids hour upon hour of enjoyment.  And I am thankful that my mother-in-law had the wisdom to save all of Chad's old legos that my kids now play with.  I am thankful that the kids throw them all in a bin together and I don't care that they are "messed up"....because normally that would bother me. :)

I am thankful for my traditional Thanksgiving pie recipes.  Pumpkin, Chocolate Pecan, and Caramel Apple Pie....here we come!

I am thankful that this (and the next photo) are the only injuries I sustained in my "extreme baseball" accident yesterday! :)

I am thankful that I have the health and strength to run around and play....and that I am able to stay home with my kids and enjoy afternoons outside playing with them.

And last of all, I am thankful for Christmas music, which I have been secretly listening to for the past few days.  I discovered this Josh Groban CD at the library and I love that he sings all the old Christmas hymns!! 

What are you thankful for this week?

Today I am linking up with: 

 A great blog if you have the chance to swing over!

Soccer Saturdays

During the summer, Audrey & Carter both attended a soccer camp sponsored by our church.  So come fall, both decided to try soccer.

Audrey had never played soccer before and was on a coed team with a number of kids who had been playing for years (and were really, I mean it, REALLY good).  At first I thought this could be a disaster for her confidence-wise, but her coaches (both women!) were amazingly encouraging and really helped her learn and improve.  She never scored a goal in a game, but in one of her last practices, she scored, and everyone went crazy! :)  I don't know if she will play soccer on a team again, but I was very proud of her hard work and her sticking through the season.  At her last practice, they played until it was dark, then put on headlamps and glow sticks and kept playing!

 

 These pictures aren't very close.  Audrey is in the middle with blue socks.

 Running....

 Catching her breath!

Carter also played on a coed team.  At his age group, the skills are considerably lower (haha) but he also learned a lot.  Although there were still a few times when he went to pick up the ball!  He really enjoyed playing goalie.  I think so he could watch the action and stick his head in the net....

 Stopping the ball!

 Posing for Mom. :)

 A little break in the action.

 Last game, receiving trophies from coach

Carter & his soccer trophy 

The season is now over and - no offense, kids - I am glad.  Juggling 2 kids' practices & games was tricky!  

But I am very proud of their hard work and all they learned.

It was a good experience for them all around.

Thespians

 I haven't posted too much about Audrey lately.

Mostly that's because whenever I take a picture of her recently she says "Don't put that on facebook!  Or your blog!"

So I am trying to respect her privacy and also not embarrass her unnecessarily... :)

 Anyhow, she deserves her own post now.

Earlier in June, Audrey and her friends in the neighborhood decided to do a play.

As in, write a script, type it up, print it out, practice it, make invitations, have a "dress rehearsal", set it all up, and act it out.

All of us parents had nothing to do with it.  At all. 

I was so impressed with how the girls planned and executed their event.

 

They even set up their own chairs.

 Their play had to do with picking cherries and finding a fairy.

 They did a great job!

 Although perhaps they need to work on facing the audience. :)

 And maybe getting their noses out of their scripts?

 If you haven't noticed yet, the play involved MANY outfit changes. :)

(This IS a girl play after all.)

 But they were so proud!

And we parents were so proud  of their hard work!!

I love, love, love when the kids use their creativity!

The girls have already written a play for July entitled Firework!

Can't wait to see it.

Be our guest!

This week we had a special visitor in our home.  His name is Howard.

 

 Howard is a special dog.

When you are in preschool, you get to bring him home for a week and take care of him and then journal about all your adventures.

 This week Howard played all kinds of fun games with us... hide-n-seek, zingo, marble races... he even had a tea party with us.  That Howard wasn't very good at drinking tea with his pinky in the air but we let it slide...because actually this is not Carter's strong suit either. :)

He also went all sorts of places with us - to the store, to the park, to ride go-karts (although he stayed in the car during the go-kart rides!)  He was going to go to Carter's t-ball game...but we left him at home.  Sorry, Howard! :(

 Howard even went with Carter to his kindergarten screening!

(And - can my little Carter actually be going to kindergarten next fall???)

Even cuter?  Howard slept with Carter in his bed for every night of his visit.

Thanks for coming to visit us, Howard!

We will miss you. :)

Space Cadet

Carter has been VERY interested in the solar system for awhile now.  The planets hang suspended from the ceiling of his room.  He owns a few books about space/planets/etc. that he has practically memorized.  I found some planet flashcards in the Target dollar bins that he enjoys.  He even received this motorized solar system for his birthday this year! 

During church, he used to ask me to write out the planets' names so he could copy them and draw them.  Last week he did this all on his own.  Every single planet written out from memory.  In "fancy" writing no less. :)

Today we were outside and while I was talking with a neighbor, he was busy doing this.  Drawing a solar system out of chalk on the driveway.  He even drew the planets proportionally! (ie, Jupiter is the largest, Pluto is the smallest, etc.)
Tonight when I was saying good-night to Carter, I asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up, thinking he would say "an astronaut."

He quickly answered:  "A drummer!"

Drums.  Another slight obsession interest he has...

Cake Pops

Last week this came in the mail:  

The kids IMMEDIATELY began begging asking if we could make these cake pops (only Carter kept calling them "Family Circles" haha).  And then they spent the past week trying to decide which kind they thought was the coolest.  My only criteria was that we NOT make the pirates.  (They were way too detailed for me and my patience level.)  They decided on cats and pumpkins.

Now, I have absolutely zero experience making cake pops.  (And I have heard from many people that they are not as easy as they look...) SO, I enlisted my trusty friend Lyn to help because -
1. she has made cake balls before at least
2. my kids love for her to come over, and
3. isn't every new adventure much more fun with a friend?

On Thursday Audrey had the day off so Lyn came over and off we went.

It was kind of a messy process ....

And it was a little trial and error (with a few pops that fell off their sticks ...)

 

But all in all, we had a lot of fun and we were all pretty pleased with the results.

Although I still think our "cats" look more like reindeer...

Carter & Audrey were very proud of their hard work...

 I really like how the pumpkins turned out!

 

 Our littlest cake pop sampler seemed pretty happy to test them out ...

Hey cake pop, where have you been all my life???

Yup, they were a hit.

May have to make these again sometime!