Staying in… part 2

We have had such an enjoyable Spring Break.  We have gone out and about a little bit, but my favorite moments have been at home; staying in.

 

I always have lists of things I want to be able to do with the kids, but with the older two in school all day it is hard to accomplish them.  We have been able to do a few of them this week.

This has been a week for us to reconnect as a family, just doing the things we enjoy doing around here.  The kids have spent some time reconnecting as well.  I love watching my kids play and laugh together.

Here is what we have done; beware lots of pictures.

I let the kids loose in the kitchen.  I have been wanting them to cook more. They made waffles for breakfast.

Stella made cookies all by herself.  I don’t have a picture of that. I didn’t want to even set foot in the kitchen. I wanted her to have complete independence. She did it; she followed a recipe, and did it all. by. herself.

It rained and rained for a couple of days.  I decided while we had to stay indoors.  I would potty train Tess.

She has done awesome.  I must say the fourth time around was pretty easy.  It has taken me four times to finally get it, and realize that staying calm always works better.  I get a little anxious.  I haven’t at all this go round.

This is the method I use.  Krysta introduced me to it back when I potty-trained Jex.  I have used for all four of the kids, and it works!!!

Try it.  Be sure to read the whole post.  Krysta also answers many questions in the comment section.

The sun finally came out so we spent some time outdoors.  I enjoyed reading, while they ran around the yard.

Tess and I stayed pretty close, so I could continue the potty process.  Lots and lots of reminding.

It was such a beautiful day, I told the kids that the blue sky reminded me of the day Jonathan and I got married.  The sky was so blue that day almost 13 years ago.

After the kids begging and begging to run through the sprinkler, we settled on a bucket of water and paint brushes.  I let them paint the driveway with water. 

That seemed to satisfy.

We are not getting in to outdoor water activities until at least May.

We had a pizza picnic.

Gotta love Little Ceasars.

(yes, I let my kids have soda.  We have to keep things exciting, and live a little.)

At night, the kids get all wound up and run around and just laugh.  It brings a massive smile to my face.  One particular night, they came out doing a silly fashion show.  The funniest was Tess playing along and just laughing her head off.  I love having four kids.

We did puzzles and coloring on those rainy days.

 

Puzzles will entertain Isaac for hours.

I love seeing the girls coloring together.  All the kids enjoy coloring.

…and of course there was reading.  There is always lots of reading going on around here.  Jex is such a good example.  He loves to read, and it is infectious.

I love seeing him read to his siblings.

All in all, it has been a great week.

Now, I am taking the night off and going out to see the Hunger Games with some girlfriends.

May the odds be ever in your favor, and may you find time to stay in and reconnect.

Have a great weekend!!

What I have learned Thursday… Staying in!

This week is our spring break.  I was beginning to feel a little bummed at the end of last week thinking that we wouldn’t be going anywhere.  Jonathan has always had to work during spring break.  On a couple of occasions, I have gone with the kids to Utah.  This year, we decided to stay put, and I am so grateful.

What have I learned… That staying home makes for a great vacation. Most of the time there are plenty of great things to do at home, and locally. When kids are in school, you don’t always get time for the everyday. We have found that to be true and have had such a great time so far just doing the everyday stuff. In fact, I can’t wait for summer break.  I also can’t wait to share all that we have done this week.  I am sure you will think they are simple, lazy things, but I am grateful for the last few memories that we are creating together in this house and in Arkansas.

We decided to start our week out by visiting our favorite place.  I knew this would be the last time we made a visit to Garvin Gardens.  You may remember what it looked like in December?  Our favorite place to tour the Christmas lights:

This is what it looks like in the spring:

(beautiful flowers, beautiful kids with crazy smiles; when will they out grow that?)

Here is a picture of the kids at Garvin Gardens last Spring:

Oh, my they have grown!!

I know Garvin Gardens will always be a special memory for the kids.

For the last two years, we have gone with a couple of friends.  Here are all the kids together.  It isn’t easy to get a decent shot of this rowdy bunch.

I am so thankful for these last few months to spend with our good friends.  I am grateful we stayed home for Spring Break.  I am thankful that I realized what a great stay-cation this could be.

The highlight of the day was the kids picking me flowers.  Here is little miss following along:

Isaac made sure that I got a nice picture of him in front of the pretty flowers; always thinking of his crazy photographer mother.

Jex loves really cool rocks, so we had to get a picture of him with this totally tubular rock.(he would be so embarrassed to hear me talk in my 80’s lingo.)

It was so nice to realize that we can still see and do really neat things at home.

Look at how beautiful it is here already. 

Spring has sprung in the South!!

I decided that I am going to have one of these trees in my yard when we own our next home:

I even asked around and learned it’s name is the Snowball tree.  Don’t they remind you of hydrangeas?  I also found out that they will grow in any climate; they just like shade.

Garvin Gardens is not only full of really neat flower gardens, but it is also a great place to get the kids to work their energy out.

There is lots of walking.  I love it.

They love feeding the fish.  They all tried to touch them.  Ewww.  Gross!!

They enjoyed playing in the water falls.

Including Tess, She loved sitting with her feet in the water.

Their favorite part is always the natural playground.  They enjoy climbing and running around.

Jex even enjoyed chasing the girls; Stella and her friend.  AHHH!! and so it begins.

We also ran into one of Jex’s best friends from school.  Jex was so excited to see him; we just had to take a picture.

…and the newest addition to our group of kids slept most of the way.

This is Tessa’s new best friend.  A lot of my friends are having babies right now, so Tess is in heaven.

What a beautiful day, and beautiful reminder that you don’t have to go away on vacation to appreciate a little break.

Stay tuned for more of our awesome spring break.  I will share more tomorrow.  We have had great fun at home too; just wait and see.

I hope you can find a little break of your own, and make some fun just staying in.

Spring Time Wreath

It is definitely Spring around here.  We have had such great weather.  On one of those nice spring days, I couldn’t help but make my entry way look a little bit more like spring.

I decided I needed a new wreath.  I searched all over my pinterest boards and married a few ideas together.  This is what I came up with:

I already had the letter S.  It was a metal S that was tired and needed a new look.  I added some green moss to it.  I bought the moss in a sheet instead of individual pieces which proved to be so much easier.  I attached it to the S with spray adhesive.

I had a straw wreath laying around in my attic that I picked up at a thrift store for 50 cents.  I covered it in strips of burlap.  Once it was covered, I attached the mossy S with my glue gun.

I picked up these fun flowers at the hob lob and laid them out just how I liked.  Then I added them to my wreath also with my glue gun.  I had some left over fabric that I used as my ribbon to hang it from the door.

It was such a simple project, and made such a difference. 

I had enough flowers left to add some to this pot.  It added just the right amount of spring to my entry way. 

I swept out the entry way, and wiped all the furniture down.  The pollen had left such an awful mess. 

With our house on the market, I wanted to make the right first impression. 

… and I think it helped.  Our house was under contract in 6 days.  I can’t believe that this house is almost no longer ours.

I love this house.

I love my entry way.

I love making new spring wreaths for my entry way.

I will miss you house.