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Monday, July 9, 2012

Its Raining! Its Pouring!

Today started off like any other Monday. Droll. Boring. And well. . .Monday. Except that we did eat pancakes while wearing jammie pants on our head. That makes everything a little more fun.
She is so cute it hurts me. Seriously, how did I get so lucky?!
For most of the day we just lounged around playing and watching movies-it was way too hot and muggy to enjoy doing anything outside. But then the rain came. Good rain. Big fat rain. The perfect kind to play in! Suddenly, the day got a whole lot more fun!







Someone was very, very sad when it was time to come in, but her lips were blue and her teeth were chattering.We were all soaked to the bone. It was time. 
Roo declared the day as "totally awesome!" Not bad for a Monday.
I love those girls. 


The 4th of July

This year, we decided to go very low key for the 4th. It turned out to be the perfect choice. We had the company of great friends, delicious food thanks to the hubs, and lots and lots of fun!
We started the celebrations on Sunday with an amazing fireworks show at a local church. TONS OF FUN!
 playing frisbee
 the boys playing football

 Daddy's girl
 what can you even say about these two. . . .?


 the crew

 it wouldn't be us if it wasn't silly. . .

Wednesday, we partied at home. This is where the delicious food came in. Daddy cooked ribs for the very first time ever and I must say, they were yummy! I wish I had a picture of them, but seriously, we devoured them. Roo and I made a patriotic dessert. It was also quite delicious.

After dinner, everyone headed outside for more fun. . . 
the bubble filled kiddie pool was a big hit! It was Phia's first experience with bubbles, so it took her a second to figure out that she liked it.
 The big kids jumped right in. cuties!


 This was a very serious game of "horse"
 once the bubble pool lost its luster, we handed the kids paint brushes. They "painted" the fence for at least 30 more minutes!
Last but certainly not least, came the fireworks (again!)


Family, friends, food, fireworks, and fun. Life doesn't get any better than that!








Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Bucket List Painting

I've already written about our summer bucket list; it has been a really fun and engaging way to keep the kids from always just sitting around being "bored" all summer. Roo loves looking through the stack of cards and picking out her activity. It's almost like a present or surprise for her, plus it makes it super easy on me to seem like an awesomely fun mom!
When we were making the list, I really wanted to include some things that Phia could participate in as well, especially when it involved art projects. Messy play was also something I really wanted involved. I think sometimes we as parents are so concerned with keeping things clean and easy that we forget to let our kids get messy, really messy, and just let go and have true kid style fun!
One thing I came across on my search for activities was shower painting. It is what it sounds like: you give the kid paint, put them in a dry shower, and let them go nuts. Sounded great, except Phia loves to eat EVERYTHING. So, I found a "recipe" for edible paint! Basically it is just sweetened condensed milk, water, and food coloring. It worked great. Until it started to dry. Then it got kinda terrible. It dried super sticky, so all of the places that the girls had painted on their bodies began to stick together. Little round tummies began to stick to chunky little thighs. Places like arms and legs began to have their hair ripped out. Not such a fun art project anymore. The good news was that it cleaned up super easy with just the spray of the shower and the crisis was averted. We will try this again because they really did enjoy it, but this time I will use a different paint recipe.
Roo jumped right in painting the walls. . .and Phia.

Phia was much more concerned with taste testing the paint. Judging by the amount she ate, it was delicious.


Looks like it's a hit!






What fun is painting if you don't use your feet?


Little bit here...

Pretty little artist

I love that it looks like blood smeared on the wall behind her, and she looks like a giddy little vampire.

 Clean up was just as fun!






Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Growing.

Phia Kate 15mths:
height: 30in long
weight: 20lbs


All about you:
You climb everything. Slides and chairs are your favorite, and sitting at tables makes you feel so big.


 You very rarely sleep in the car anymore. I'm pretty sure hell was freezing over this day. 

 You still love shoes!



 You love to put your feet on the table or your highchair tray.  
                                   


 You are NOT a morning person. WOW! You are insanely moody when you wake up. Laughing, crying, snuggling, and total all out tantrums are all a part of the norm for you, and that is just in the first 2 minutes of your day. 
                                      

You sill love riding in your carrier.
 (helping Mommy look for socks under the couch while sporting your fake "CHEEE!" for the camera)

You LOVE wearing sunglasses and will wear them all day long. Inside/outside. It doesn't matter!




You tolerate headbands for Mommy's sake. You hate hats, except my visor.

 You LOVE Spot the Dog books. We read the two you have at least a dozen times a day. You make all the sounds of the animals that are in the book.

You LOVE baths-especially the water running. You love playing in the running water when I am filling your bath. Lately you are sticking your face in it or down in the bath. The fact that you nearly choke to death each and every time does not deter you from trying again. And again. And again. I am going to have to update my CPR.  


 You ask to go on a bike ride every time you see a bike. The helmet is not your favorite thing, but once we get going you forget about it. 


This might be my "favorite" thing you are currently doing: you really enjoy rubbing your dirty hands through your hair when you are done eating, ESPECIALLY if you have already had a bath. You have some aversion to clean hair.  

  • You snuggle your booty in our lap for stories or if we have food you want. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE this.
  • You cover your mouth when you cough. It's adorable. Especially because you put your thumb and fore finger together and stick them all the way in your mouth to cover your "coughs." You do it anytime you cough or if you hear anyone else cough. 
  • You are a mimic! You copy just about everything any of us do. 
  • Patty Cake is initiated by you a billion times a day. I love when you say "ro lo lo" (roll em up).
  • You make me sing the song "Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree" when you see the kookaburra picture in your animal book. 
  • You really love Roo, but are SO mean to her. You ask for her as soon as you wake up, but as soon as you see her, you act ugly to her. It's funny, she is finally getting a taste of her own medicine. Roo is the same way with Zach! 
  • You say and sign "apple." You pronounce it "a-oo"
  • You love to play "help." Since you refuse to walk, you insist on making everyone "help" you to walk. When you want to play, you will crawl up to the "lucky" chosen person and say "how" (help). We have to hold your hand/hands while you walk/run all over the house.  If we stop before you are finished (you are never finished) you will throw yourself down and roll around on the floor fake crying. Thankfully we have convinced Roo that this is a special game for just the two of you. She will play it forever with you. Saves Mommy and Daddy lots of back pain. 
  • Love the book Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See?
  • You have added the words yellow, hello, eyes, flower, nose, yummy, pepper, puppy, and ballon to your spoken vocabulary. Balloon is my most favorite thing ever! You say "BA-loo." And then I melt from your cuteness.
  • You know where your eyes, ears, mouth, nose, hands, and feet are.
  • You like to talk on the "ha-loo" ("hello", this means the phone) and will ask to call Papa or Daddy. You will put it up to your ear and listen and smile and say "HI! ___" Then you'll repeatedly say "ha-loo" until you are done, then its "bye-bye!"
  • You are a very opinionated, but not picky, eater. Even if you love something, you won't eat it if you aren't in the mood. You will choose to go hungry instead. Stubborn monster. Sweet things are your favorite. You will eat your weight in fruit every day. 
  • You insist on "feeding yourself" with your own utensils. This means that I have to put the food on the fork, and you put it in your mouth. You know that the food is supposed to go on the fork/spoon, and you even try to do it yourself, but you just can't quite get it yet. You also like your food on a plate. You're actually really good about not throwing it down. I just have to watch carefully for the signs that you are done: picking up pieces of your food and dropping it on the floor. I don't like to look at my food when I'm done either. 
  • If you have a sippy cup and anyone else has a regular cup, you will refuse to drink out of your cup. You really think you are a big girl. 
  • You say "CHEEEE!" anytime you see the camera and when you hear the click you will ask to see the baby on the screen.
  • You took 2  steps on your 15mth birthday.
  • You took 3 steps on Father's day!
  • You took 7 steps June 19!
  • You are growing more beautiful each and every day. Your confidence is amazing, but it melts my heart that you crawl straight to Mommy when you need comfort or reassurance. Not a day goes by that you don't make all of us laugh out loud. Life would not be the same without you terrorizing us and cracking us up.