Summer Crafts

In the past month or so I have seen many people talking about melting pony beads into sun catchers. I did a quick Google search and found several sets of instructions, so I combined a few tips and the kids and I had some fun! We used muffin tins for the circles, and metal cookie cutters (laid on a cookie sheet) for the shapes. To avoid the melted plastic fumes, we used the outdoor grill to melt the beads (one of the best tips I found on the internet). We didn't use translucent beads, but we weren't really going for the 'sun catcher' effect so that didn't bother us. The prettiest beads we used were the pearlescent beads - they left nice color swirls. We tried melting some glow-in-the-dark beads, but they did not work correctly, so I would recommend avoiding those. They bubbled up and didn't melt down flat.

Our finished creations.

We drilled some holes and made a few wind chimes for the front door. (Addie has been using the rest of the shapes as furniture for her figurines when she plays.)

Another project we completed were tye-dye shirts and pillowcases. Our friends had invited us over to join them one day and we enjoyed creating our designs. It was kind of tricky to get the results we were aiming for, and we ran out of dye on the pillowcases, but we like how they turned out. We just might have to do this again after the girls grow out of these shirts. 

We also had a 'science' day when we made oobleck (the cornstarch/water mixture) and some really neat foam. Unfortunately, I had forgotten my camera so there are no photos from that day. I love summertime because we finally have time to do all those fun extras that I can never seem to squeeze into our days during the school year. 

Sarah

It was recently brought to my attention that I hadn't taken very many photos of our dog, Sarah. So one afternoon I conducted a mini photo session with our favorite black lab.

Bella and Sarah... with one of Sarah's favorite toys.

This is Sarah rolling on her back while playing with her toy.

The definition of 'puppy dog eyes'.

Can you tell she loves her toy?

We sure do love our Sarah. She has grown into being a wonderful part of our family. When we first got Sarah, and she went through her terrible puppy years, there were many, many times when we just flat out did not like her. She chewed up everything. She was beyond disobedient. It was rough. But now that she is almost 3, she is such a part of our family that I really could not imagine our house without her. She still sneaks food when she can get away with it, and she still has her disobedient moments, but she's our dog and we love her!

Summer Fun

One afternoon we invited some friends over for a bit of outdoor water fun. I filled a bunch of water balloons and set the kids loose. Then we followed with fun on the slip-n-slide. Now this is how summertime should be spent! 

I'm sad that summer is almost at its end!

Back Roads

One day while we were visiting Jake's parents, we took the boys on an empty dirt road and let them try steering the car. Jacob was surprisingly good, but I guess it might be from all that MarioKart driving on the Wii. 

Jacob was so proud of himself!

Will needed a bit more guidance from his daddy.

But he was just as proud as his brother!

Sometimes (okay, almost all the time) I wish that we were raising our kids out in the country, where life is calmer and back roads are abundant. I wish we could have land with a tractor and some animals, where we could learn to be more self-sufficient and raise the kids to appreciate hard work. Sometimes that dream is almost strong enough to leave military life and find a place to set down our roots... but with only 7 more years until retirement eligibility, that is highly unlikely. Only seven more years... then it's back roads, here we come!

4th of July

For the Fourth of July we spent the evening with friends out in the country. We had a fun day full of swimming and plenty of delicious food. We watched a few fireworks that one of the neighbors nearby set off, and then we had fun with sparklers! Will did not like the noise from the fireworks, so he hid inside the house. 

Clearly, Jacob was not afraid:

Bella had fun twirling around.

Then I had her make a heart, which turned out quite well!

We call this Addie's lasso.

Addie with a star. I wish this had turned out clear like the others... it was a great star! 

Happy Birthday, America!

June Road Trip - Part 3

The last stop we made on the way home was to visit friends in Georgia. We first met this family when we were in Hawaii, and so it had been 4 years since we had last seen them. The wonderful thing about good friends, though, is that you can pick right up as if there was never any lost time. The military is good at providing opportunities to make lifelong friends... it's one of the byproducts of getting moved so far from family over and over. 

For our short visit we mainly just hung out and enjoyed our friends. We did go swimming, but I forgot to take photos. I didn't manage to remember the camera until the morning we were leaving. Oops.

Sydney and Bella.

 Addie and Noelani.

 Will, Tyler, and Jacob.

 Michele and me.

 All lined up before we hit the road.

I thank God for all the friends He has blessed us with!

From Georgia we headed straight home. We had a great trip but we were missing Jake terribly. When we stopped at the Virginia welcome center we snapped this photo and sent it to Jake. Vacation is fun but there is no place like home! 

June Road Trip - Legoland

Our family loves Legos. As children, both Jake and I spent a lot of time playing with those little blocks. In college, I managed to hunt down a jackpot of Legos at a yard sale and threw Jake a 'Lego' party for one of his birthdays. Yes, I know, that sounds quite dorky... but it was fun! And now that we have our own children they are constantly playing with Legos. A lot. So when I heard about Legoland Florida, I wanted to take the kids but the ticket prices are quite high. However, a few months ago I got an email tip from another homeschooler that Legoland offers Homeschool Days, when homeschooling families can take advantage of regular school field trip prices. I was SO thrilled! So we planned a trip with our good friends, and spent a whole day at Legoland. 

I managed to escape this ride, but Jameson didn't. He's a great dad.

Little Miss Shiloh had the best deal. She got to relax and get pushed around... not a bad way to travel!

We managed to get one group shot with all 7 children, although you can barely see Shiloh peeking from the stroller.

The Star Wars section of Legoland was probably our favorite. There were these life-sized figures, but there was also scene after scene from the movies all built out of Legos. 

They also had a lot of famous landmarks, many with moving pieces.

We saw a show with Captain BrickBeard and it was entertaining. My favorite part were these Lego soldiers dancing around.

I can't remember which character this was.

 This dinosaur was rather amazing.

We filled the rest of the day with roller coasters, rides, and a 4-D movie. It was a long day but the children were so good. No meltdowns and overall great attitudes. We love spending time with our friends, Kristin and Jameson & their children. Our boys are so fond of Gideon and Ezekiel that Will thought they were our cousins. Friends that are as close as family - those are the best.