family friday :: campground visit

over the long weekend we went to visit some friends at a campground near our home.



the boys had a blast. they enjoyed flying through the woods,



hanging out on the wood post barriers,



and walking on the beach.



and who can end a day without laying like a wet noodle on a wood post? not these boys!

family friday :: angry face

definitely not the best quality photo in the world but too funny not to share. lately, every time the baby sees me with my camera he says: "take a picture of my angry face" and then begs to see it on the camera screen afterward. here's one of his best.

family friday :: father's day

last weekend we enjoyed a fabulous day for father's day. we enjoyed a great breakfast at one of our favorite places in town. then we headed off to a air and vintage car show. we're not big car people, but i think we all enjoy the planes. here are some photos of our day.



they had a flight for life helicopter that the kids were able to crawl up into and get their photos taken. they, of course, thought it was the coolest thing ever. below are some of my favorite planes and cars from the day.













we also went to visit my parents the day before. the boys were grabbing fistfuls of mulberries from grandpa and papa's mulberry tree. they went back several times for more.



we also enjoyed toy story 3 as a family on father's day afternoon. we all enjoyed it and the boys cannot wait for it to come out on dvd.

family friday :: pom-pon garland

if you follow me on twitter or facebook, you may remember me talking about teaching my little dude how to make yarn pom-pons. he literally spent 4 straight hours making them once i taught him how. a project i thought i was going to be doing myself was almost entirely finished by my 5 year old!



here's what i ended up doing with all the pom-pons he made. we made 3 different sized pom-pons in 6 different colors. when they were done i strung them on yarn.



once they were all strung, i hung them up with small nails around 2 walls in the boys' new shared room. i have a few more left that i want to hang from their new (used) bunk beds. once the bunks are spruced up, i'll share some photos of the entire room.

family friday :: first fire of the year

last friday while i was out doing my usual thrifting, i came across something we had been looking for since last summer....a fire pit! sure, we could have bought a new one, but knowing that i searched for one and ended up scoring it for $10 makes it even more fabulous! $10 for a fire pit! can you hear my excitement? so during the long holiday weekend, we enjoyed our first family fire on our patio.



we started out with some good old-fashioned hot dogs over the fire on bamboo sticks. the boys gobbled them up before we could even get ours made.



after dogs, we moved on to roasting some marshmallows for s'mores. i cannot even begin to tell you how excited the boys were about this.



the little dude got the first one off the fire and his face thoroughly enjoyed the entire thing. he loves getting into his food. i love this particular photo because you can just see the enjoyment on his face. (sorry to the little dude, this was the only photo i had that didn't have major glare in his glasses. they're a major pain when photographing him.)



while the little dude was working on eating his s'more, daddy tried to help the baby roast his first marshmallow. if you look real close, you can see it didn't end well. i had to take over the roasting from that point on.



watching the baby devour his s'more was a sight to be seen.



there's just something about watching a little kid dig into a special treat.



it's the small things in life that they remember. nothing makes me happier than watching my kids enjoy something new.



finally, just showing off my roasting skills. i'm definitely the roasting queen in this household.

family friday :: pbs

this week, our first family pet passed away. when the little dude was nearly three years old we got him a blue beta fish. we let him pick a name, and since he was obsessed with curious george on pbs, he chose to name his fish pbs. (sometimes affectionately referring to him as pbskids dot org) it was the first experience with death for both of our boys.


(finding the perfect place to bury his beloved fish)

when we first told the little dude he sort of just brushed it off like it was no big deal. knowing him like we do, we knew that wasn't the end of it. we followed-up with him and told him it was ok to be sad. as soon as he heard those words he broke down and cried. we asked him if he would like to bury him outside which he didn't really understand. since he has no experience with death he didn't understand why we would bury his fish in the ground. after explaining it, we went outside and he searched for the perfect place to bury pbs.



he finally decided that we would bury him right next to the newly planted sunflower seeds "so he can have plenty of shade from the flowers". doesn't it make your heart melt? so daddy and the little dude dug a little hole for pbs.



we all gathered around and we asked the little dude if he wanted to say something nice about pbs. he wasn't really sure what to say, so i suggested he could talk about what a good pet he had been and how much he would miss him. in the end, he decided to just say "i love you pbs."



we marked the spot with a rock from pbs' fish tank so that the kids could go visit him whenever they wanted. i heard him tell daddy later that night: "i'm going to say good morning and good night to pbs every single day."

family friday :: wings

who would have known that some cardboard, string, and 5 minutes could make me mother of the year? i seriously spent 5 minutes making these wings for the boys and they can't get enough of them. (and i apologize for the horrible quality photos this morning....)



they're really good for flying around the house.



and who knew, they're even good for sitting and watching a morning cartoon!

if they continue being such a hit, i may just make some nicer versions. i'm thinking cardboard framework but covered in batting and fabric as they do pose a little hazard when the boys aren't watching where their wings are going!

get some cardboard today and make yourself mother of the year in your own house!

family friday :: watercolors

last week i saw martha making homemade watercolors (as well as homemade sidewalk chalk) on her show. the boys have been all about watercolor painting lately so i thought we could try to make some of our own! the recipe was super easy and maybe took 1/2 hour including gathering ingredients and clean-up. super easy and fun project for the kids.



here are our watercolors when they're still wet. i put ours in an old mixing palette i had. the amounts fit perfectly in the large spaces.



and the boys, satisfied with their work!



and here they are after they've dried. our plan is to try them out this weekend. here's the recipe if you're interested:

homemade watercolors:
mix 4 tablespoons baking soda with
2 tablespoons vinegar until fizzing stops

add 1/2 teaspoon corn syrup
2 tablespoons cornstarch

mix until a uniform consistency

pour the mixture into individual egg carton cups (or other containers you have handy)

add food coloring to individual containers to create desired colors. (be aware that your purple will look really awful when wet. when it dries it becomes much more color accurate!)

color recipes:
reddish pink: 10 drops red
orange: 1 drop red, 6 drops yellow
yellow: 5 drops yellow
leaf green: 3 drops green, 7 drops yellow
sea blue: 5 drops blue
violet: 4 drops red, 2 drops blue

family friday :: zoo

last friday we took a family trip to the zoo. it was my first full day off in a REALLY long time. here is a group of photos from our fantastic day! first up is a photo of the boys in the train which was the hit of the day. (it's also the photo i chose for my new header)

family friday :: true

it's a miracle! for one of the first times in as long as i can remember, I'M TAKING THE DAY OFF! we're having a true family day, and i couldn't be more excited. the hubby took the day off and we're taking the boys to the zoo! whoo hoo! we're packing a picnic lunch and taking the whole day to enjoy family. the boys are so excited. the last time we were there i was pregnant with the baby and the little dude was about 2 1/2 years old! so far the baby wants to see panda bears (which i'm not even sure they have) and the little dude wants to see monkeys. hopefully i'll return with lots of photos!

family friday :: party time

this morning the boys got to attend a birthday party at a friend's house. what strikes me in this photo is that it doesn't matter that the party was for a 3 year old little girl wearing a purple tutu, or that he was a boy eating a purple cupcake off of a purple plate while wearing a purple birthday hat. i love that. when you're a kid, none of those stereotypes matter....there are no girl or boy colors. all that matters are the cupcakes and the friends.