Imagination

Everything you can imagine is real. -Pablo Picasso

My mom always said that I lacked an imagination. I think I have one, I just don't always use it properly. But thankfully I believe my boys have been blessed with very active imaginations. 

Today was full of imaginative creations. I was on the computer and Elijah comes running up to me with a potholder on his hand jibber jabbering away. I asked him what was up and he said, "cook!" He was pretend coooking so we had a conversation about it and I found out that he was making ice cream...in the stove. What really cracked me up was when he went to "check" on his ice cream and Ethan followed in hot pursuit, but since he was being a grown up, Elijah turned, put his hand up and said, "get back, it hot" in the most seriousness I'm sure he could muster. Eventually the ice cream was done and I got to sample some. In my imagination it was the best I'd ever had and I made sure he believed so as well.

Later, Elijah came walking in the living room with a set of keys and said, "drive." I looked around trying to figure out what he was going to drive. All I said was, "Have fun. Be safe!" He went over and got into his car, a Luvs diaper box that he emptied the diapers from. He wasn't in there long before Ezra had to join him and they drove all around the place sitting there in the living room floor. 

Ethan always has to join in, so he got his own car since there wasn't any more room in Elijah's two seater. He even had his own set of keys. (These keys are actual keys that Ronnie puts on key rings for them to play with. The man has more keys than anyone I know!)

After a bit, Ezra got left on the side of the road, but he's not one to be left behind so he got up and tried his darndest to get back in his ride.

Loving big brother took pity on him and picked him over the edge, door, and they were on their merry way again.

When Ezra went down for his nap, Ethan and Elijah took the cushions off the couch and pretended they were pirates on the high seas, complete with shouts of "arrr, matey!" I was told that where I was sitting was infested with sharks so I hopped in a little boat (diaper box) and rowed across the water with my oar (broom). We had fun playing on the ship for a little while before they got bored and decided to watch tv for a bit, but I enjoyed getting to partake in their adventure. 

Summer Happenings

So it seems that I've gotten behind in sharing our little summer adventures. To remedy this situation, I am going to schedule some posts to publish over the next few days while we're hopefully out with Ronnie adding to our adventure memory log. Hope you enjoy!

Just thinking...

-I jogged/walked a mile this morning on the treadmill. Yay me!

-Ronnie doesn't have to work out of town this week. :)

-I enjoy being able to take naps...they make me a nicer person. 

-I'm really struggling with the decision of whether to go back to work or to stay home. It's pretty much got me down in the dumps.

-I want to write a children's book. But I don't know what I would write about. Hmmmm....

-I really need to start working on Ezra's birthday party. It will probably be on August 11.

-I should paint the kitchen and dining room.

-I need to work on those projects that are starting to pile up around here.

-I need to figure out what we're having for supper. 

-I need to get off of this computer and go do something...

   

Later!

IKEA!

Living in a small town has it's perks, but total access to all the coolest stores is not one of them. It was a pretty big deal around here when an IKEA opened TWO hours away. Several of my friends were there opening day, many others went within the first weeks of it's opening. Me? I don't get out much. I got there today, probably close to a year after it opened. I had wanted to go for awhile, but had never had enough time to get there, especially with three little boys.

 Today was my day! I had a student of mine come along as an extra set of hands for dealing with the boys and we headed to IKEA.

One of the first things I saw (but didn't buy) was this pink checked duvet cover that goes along perfectly with the theme for Daniela's baby shower. If  I don't find anything I like better or cheaper, I'll probably end up getting this one.

Then I saw the cutest tabletop ironing board that would work perfectly for my crafting. The best part? $4.99!

I was very interested in checking out the rugs. I've seen many projects featuring these little guys and am excited to try them out myself. I'll post when I get around to making these things go with our house. 

I am in desperate need of some picture frames. This poor house still has virgin walls after nearly three years. It's time to hang some pictures! I can't wait to get these up with some of our family pictures and some cute vinyl. 

Afterwards, we headed over to Concord Mills and hung out for awhile. We ate fro yo at Yogurt Mountain and I bought some clothes for the boys. Overall I think we had a productive day.

Water Fun

Sunday evening after we had gone to church, out to eat with friends and then to Austin's birthday party, I decided to pull out a pack of water balloons I had picked up the day before while shopping. I went out to the yard and spray painted targets on the grass for the boys to throw the balloons at and then we went out and started filling them up. While the boys thought it was fun to toss the balloons at those targets, I was getting a little bored. What fun is a water balloon if you can't chunk it at somebody? So I got a balloon and busted it over Ethan's head, then I did one for Elijah too. This caused them to try to hit me and then we teamed up on trying to get Ronnie. This eventually turned into Ronnie taking the water hose (he was filling up the kiddie pool) and spraying us while we filled up squirters from the pool. There are no pictures of this because we were all dripping wet, head to toe. We had a blast - even little Ezra got stripped naked and screamed along with us while we got sprayed. Ronnie was smart and put his phone and pager up so they wouldn't get wet so he was fair game like the rest of us. At one point, Ethan, Elijah and I started splashing Ronnie with as much of the pool water as we could, but he kept spraying us with that water hose. Finally I talked Ethan into covering for me while I ran and tried to turn off the hose, but it didn't go so well and Ronnie got me good. It was a fun-filled afternoon that won't soon be forgotten, we thoroughly enjoyed spending time together and had a blast.

Cow Sale

Our first Friday field trip got canceled because Ronnie had to work. Then this past Friday we knew we couldn't go too far because we had VBS every night last week. We still wanted to go somewhere different, but we didn't have much time since Ronnie did yard work that morning so around 4.00 we loaded the boys up and headed to Siler City to the cow sale for a yummy cheeseburger. Most people, upon hearing that you're going to a cow sale to eat, think that you're crazy. But this place is notorious in our area for having the best burgers around. The best part is the huge chunk of cheese that they melt on top of it. And the fact that you can actually hear cows mooing while you eat only adds to the ambiance of the stockyard restaurant.

We ate our burgers and with a few minutes to spare we took the boys out to look at all the cows in the holding area. They all seemed to enjoy it and it was a fun way to get out of the house for a little bit and do something different.

Let's Get Cooking!

A while back I registered to be a test cook for Tricia at Once A Month Mom. Honestly I had forgotten about doing it, but yesterday I checked my email and got a message asking if I would still like to test cook. I replied that I would, so I will be cooking the August menu for 9-12 month olds next month! I'm excited!

If you're looking for some recipes for yourself, your family, your children and you'd like to stock your freezer, check the site out - I'm sure you'll find something that satisfies your taste!