end of the summer library reading club party

today we ventured out to our local library's end of the summer reading club party. it was great. they had free sno-cones, a dunk tank, face painting, craft area and a little puppet performance.
miles favorite part was the clapping at the performance. audrey had lots of fun at the dunk tank (if the kids didnt hit the target they let them push the lever), eating her sno-cone (she picked strawberry) and getting her face painted (what a cute puppy). she also loved the puppet show.

 

 im glad that we went.

baby hanes socks

i think it is the cutest thing that they make baby hanes socks for boys that look like mens socks.

purple day at amon carter

today we went to storytime - very, very violet at amon carter museum of american art. it was the last day for these color activities for kids and now i wish we could have made it to more but oh well, maybe next year. we got to see some of the galleries, they read "harold and the purple crayon" and "color kittens" to the kids and then they gave them felt and yarn to make some imaginary worlds of their own. they also had lemonade and cookies.
miles did well watching everything from his stroller.

 here is audrey doing miles craft, hers is the one on the pink felt.

 audrey and i wore violet tops for the event.

introducing fire girl

audrey invented a new super hero.

this is fire girl. her super powers are shooting fire out of her eyes and hands.
(i love that she is really being creative!)

snacktime and he is eating popcorn

 heres just a cute picture of my miles and audrey having snacktime at their little table.

 and here is miles eating popcorn. this is such a big deal because he has been so picky for the last 6 months. he was watching his sister eat her popcorn and my husband offered him one and he ate it and signed more so my husband got him his own bowl. yeah for miles, now we just have to get you eating other stuff too.

a new necklace and 2 refashions

 heres a picture of the outfit i wore the other day. the dress and sweater are refashions. i have a before (see below) of the sweater (i dyed it blue and it wasnt a cardigan before just a sweater) but i dont for the dress (i just removed the bedazzled part at the neckline and i love it so much better). i also made the necklace.

miles "reading"

here is a video of miles "reading". he had been making more noise before i came in with the camera but at least you can see him being cute.

cow appreciation day

i love chick fil a and i love it when they give you free food for dressing in a cow costume.

jake, audrey and i all dressed up and got complete meals (miles wouldnt have eaten his anyway so i did not make him suffer through being dressed up. but he will next year). they had a photobooth to get your pictures taken in for free. we took advantage of that. 

 

we even got to meet some friends there and enjoy some time with them. all in all it was a great evening.
oh if youre curious how we did our costumes i just took one of my old black shirts that i dont wear anymore and zigzag stitched white felt spots onto it. for jake's i just got an old white undershirt and stitched black felt spots, he did the letters, quite well i might add. for audrey's i did end up buying her a shirt at joanns but its pretty big on her so she can wear it next year. i had some leftover iron-on letters and stitched the black felt spots. i cut felt noses and we just taped those on. for the ears i just cut out the shapes and then folded the flat end over and stitched it leaving a hole for the headband. pretty easy.

you need to read "one thousand gifts"

i recently finished the book "one thousand gifts" by ann voskamp.

you should read this book because it has so many awesome ways to encourage you to live out thanksgiving in your life. it can be hard to read as the author writes in a more poetic manner, but its worth it for the gems inside.
just 2 of my favorite quotes from the book are:
"this dare to write down one thousand things i love. it really is a dare to name all the ways that God loves me." (the author was dared to write down one thousand things she was thankful for)
"life is dessert - to brief to hurry!"
i am now starting my own list of one thousand gifts.
(thanks mom for getting me this book!)

summer reading programs

are your kids doing any summer reading programs? mine are. the are doing both the library program and the half price books one. at their age they just have to listen to books and we record the time.
after 300 minutes of listening each month your kid receives a $5 gift card at half price books. we used one of our gift cards tonight and got 2 berenstain bears books and 2 corduroy books. yeah.

for the library program they have both already received a free swimming pass, coupon to putt-putt and other various things.
i love that we can get fun things and encourage our kids to "read". i loved the summer reading program when i was a kid and im glad that my kids can enjoy it now too.
and dont forget - adults can enter to win prizes in the library's adult summer reading program.

2 refashions and a necklace

 i made myself a necklace last night and refashioned 2 shirts into skirts for myself today. i have been a busy little bee.

 the before of the too large shirt. i loved this fabric and wanted a skirt made out of it.

 heres the before of a too big sleeveless top that i somehow managed to sew in the right place on the arm hole to make into a skirt. hurray for things going right. 

special 4th dessert

audrey found this special dessert recipe, banana splits, in her humpty dumpty magazine. the recipe called for watermelon balls but i found it much easier to use strawberries.
heres what you do if you want the recipe: cut a banana in half, top with vanilla yogurt, granola, strawberries and blueberries. then we used star sprinkles for the 4th. it turned out great and healthy too. and audrey LOVED it!!

 

 

swimming lessons

 

 

audrey started swimming lessons this week and she loves it. i hope that she will be an excellent swimmer like her daddy (i wasnt too shabby either).

miles being cute

 

 

i just had to share these pictures. miles is too cute in the crown they made in sunday school. he also helped me today by sweeping.

our little swimming pool

 we got our little pool and started enjoying it about a week ago. i had filled it up with a vacuum and made sure that each level was really full, not a good idea. i think i burst some seams because we lost air fast. so we went out and bought another pool, which ended up being on sale the week we needed it. good thing they are cheap. and i filled it up very carefully. yeah for inflatable pools.

 we will also be purchasing better swim diapers for miles. he had a poop explosion a few minutes after these pictures and the fun was over. hurray for babies in pools.

  

miles loved "swimming" (well for him it was walking around and splashing). i was a nervous wreck with him in the pool (as you can see in the last picture). but towards the end i was alittle more laid back and let him walk without my hands on him. he did fine.