Besties!

One of my most frequent prayers for my boys is that God will put friends in their lives who are godly.  I pray that they learn how to make good strong and meaningful friendships.  I also pray they learn how to be a loyal friend and the true meaning of friendship. 

These are 2 of Tanner's "besties"!  One of them just moved about 3 hours away and Tanner is so devastated.  This is new for me as a mom, handling the heartbreak over the moving loss of a great friend. My heart is breaking for Tanner...he and G have been good friends for 2 years.  I love my sweet boys so much and I hate when their hearts are broken and I can't fix it.

Fireworks, Friends, Fun

Lots and lots of pictures...brace yourself.  We had such a great 4th of July weekend with our family and great friends.  Our weekend was so busy the boys actually slept until 7:45 on Tuesday morning!!! After church, we ate lunch with my parents...BBQ shrimp...yummo!  The boys played in the pool for a little bit then we headed home for naps...everyone NAPPED!  On Sunday night, my parents kept both of the boys over night...DATE NIGHT!  Sushi, Hangover 2 and E&H were on the menu.  Uninterrupted conversations with my hubby are so nice and so very rare! Thanks Mom and Dad!

Monday morning my parents dropped the boys off around 9 for our neighborhood parade!  Sam had been up since 4ish...so glad I got to sleep in until 7ish!  Mom and Dad looked pretty tired...I'm sure they were headed home for a nap or maybe to clean up the house the boys had destroyed!  The parade was fun and HOT as usual. 

The firetruck was a hit as usual...I think maybe next year I'll wear my swimsuit! On the way home, I turned around to see Sam with his swimtrucks at his ankles...he had to potty!  Luckily some sweet ladies offered up a tree in their yard...probably the moms of boys who understand even though they're potty-trained ...they have no wait time!

Some great friends of ours have a Fourth of July every year...it's always so much fun!  After doing some sparklers we went to see some big fireworks...AMAZING! The food was so yummy...I ate way to many sweets but who can say no to homemade ice cream!  Sam was not a big fan of the load fireworks but he warmed up by the end of the night!

The best part of the weekend was spending the day at the zoo with my best friend from college.  She and her family live in Nashville so I only see her 1-2 times a year.  She has 2 girls that my boys adore!  Even though it was miserably hot at the zoo...I didn't notice (too much) since I was spending time with a bestie! I can't wait to see her in Nashville in September.

our book nook

I took me a long time (years) to come up with a good system for our books.  After moving this shelf several times, I finally decided to put it at the end of our couch.  The boys love to get their blankets and pillows off of the couch to snuggle and read books.  They also use the shelf as a brace to build a fort!

**THEMES...I try every few weeks to change the books on the shelves.  I usually do it by season or request of the boys.  Some recent themes have been: baseball, science, rain, and cooking!  When a book is not on the shelf...they go looking for it!  This has really been a big help at our house.  I feel like the books get read and the boys are really excited when I change the shelves.

Map of Me...SSC

2 of my favorite blogs are:

PinkandGreenMama

and

TeachMama

The next several weeks they are doing a SMART SUMMER CHALLENGE, a challenge to include one learning activity a day during the summer months. We are going to participate...I always love to have a few activities planned!

Day One

"YOU ON THE MAP"

Me Characters

I let each of the boys make a "me" character.  I put google eyes, stickers, glue, glitter and much more on the table and let the boys have at it.  Tanner's is very conservative and realistic...Sam's is wild!  I love how they show their true colors.

Day Two

"YOU ON THE MAP"

Tour of the Neighborhood on Bikes

This morning we talked about our city and our neighborhood.  I let Tanner help me make a list of the important "landmarks" in our neighborhood.  The list included:

the greenline, the library, the pizza shop, the ice cream shop, the bookstore, the corner grocery, the park and the golf course.  (It's funny...these are all places that we ride our bikes to as a family!  The world through the eyes of a 5 year old.) 

We rode our bikes to a few of the places on "our map"!  

Day Three

"YOU ON THE MAP"

Building our Neighborhood

This morning we started building our neighborhood!  We raided the garage for building materials...big board, boxes, drywall tape, bubble wrap, etc.  Tanner painted everything green with the "greenline" going right through the middle.  He cut an egg cartoon to make a row of houses, cut light bulb boxes for the stores: pizza, grocery store,  & ice cream shop(sandwich shop).  The big box is the library, the egg cartoon the golf course, the strawberry box the the playground. 

Day Four

"YOU ON THE MAP"

God's Map for Us!

Family Worship: Seeds of Courage CD

Psalm 62:1-2

"My soul finds rest in God alone; my

salvation comes from him. He alone is my

rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I

will never be shaken."

Today we spent our time our amazing God who made us!  For our family, He is our map so we sang and worshipped this morning.  The boys and I talked about how we use a "map" when we are lost to find our way.  In the world we live in, it is so easy to want to make our own map and follow our directions.  We talked about how loving God means we should stop and pray about what his "map" is for our life!

We colored worksheets from here...and practiced the verse.

http://www.biblestoryprintables.com/BibleVerseVisualsSeedsCourageV8.html

Day Five

"YOU ON THE MAP"

Impromptu LEGO 3-D Map

Today I was planning on talking about using a map key but Tanner insisted on re-building "our 3-D neighborhood" with Legos.

The RESULTS...

 HighPoint Grocery, HighPoint Pizza and Cheffies...all a short and frequent walk

Avon Playground...a few miles away but an easy bike ride!

He also added the library, a car wash, some houses along the "greenline" and he was working on a bike in this picture!

lost our marbles

I might should have called this post...

"Buns in the Air"!

My house was in desperate need of a "deep clean".  It is VERY rare that I have the time to scrub from top to bottom but after having a sick dog and spending the last month potty training...it was time!  BTW...Sam is officially potty trained...2 weeks no accidents...fingers crossed! Whoop-whoop...bye-bye diapers!!!!  He likes to wear his "bossers" over his undies!

These marbles were my grandfather's...the boys love to play with them.  My sisters and I played marbles all the time when we visited my mom's parents.  I built this "marble fence"them to shoot the marbles inside of...needless to say it only work for a little bit. 

I managed to get quite a bit done...I had to referre a few times but all in all it was successful.  I managed to sweep, mop, dust and scrub a few baseboards.  The boys came in several times to offer their assistance...Tanner unloaded the dishwasher and Sam helped dust.  We had a really great day...isn't it funny that some of the best days are spent at home cleaning with my little helpers.

Backyard Obstacle Course

My kiddos were up bright and early at 5:45 this morning so by 7:00 they were bored! This is a typical day at my house so before they ate breakfast #2...we built an obstacle course.

Through the tunnel

over the table

hop on the baseball bases

balance on the jump rope

hit the balloon with the paddle into the dumptruck

push the dumptruck to the chalk target

jump on the trampoline

shoot the ball and score

OK...so let me be honest...they only did MY obstacle course 2 times BUT

I encouraged Tanner to build his own and that was when the entertainment started. 

Maw's Banana Bread

My grandmother was one of my best friends.  She was one of  the only people I ever let myself cry in front of...not the cry you can't help but the kind where you just sit down and let loose.  I would lean on her shoulder while she patted me and just cry.  She also sang to me...hymns...I can still hear them in my head and cry every time I hear them at church. Chris has started to learn the ones that make me cry and he just holds my hand.  She's the one who taught me life is not about your worldly treasures but the treasure that awaits for us in heaven.  She never had very much but was one of the most joyful, content people I knew.  My grandparents were such a big part of my life growing up so it's really important for my boys to spend lots of time with their grandparents!  They teach them so many things we can't. We are so fortunate to have both of our families here and the boys love spending time with them.

Ok so now that I'm crying while blogging...not intended...let's talk

BANANA BREAD. 

Sometimes, my sisters and I would spend all weekend at my grandparents...literally Friday afternoon to Sunday night (Dad would meet us at church).  During our weekends we spent lots of time baking.  First, I must mention she would let us bake anything...not a recipe just whatever our little minds thought would be good mixed together(think flour, jelly, salt...sifted, mix and baked).  Needless to say we made some nasty food but Maw and Paw always sat down at the table and let us serve them our "dish"...which they ALWAYS tried!

Banana Bread was my favorite real recipe to cook with her or just to eat when she made it!

HAWAIIAN BANANA NUT BREAD RECIPE

3 cups all purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 8oz can crushed pineapples, drained

1 cup chopped nuts...we like pecans

3 eggs beaten

11/2 cup veggie oil

2 cup mashed bananas...starting to brown

2 teaspoon vanilla

Combine dry ingredients. Stir in nuts. Set aside.  Combine remaining ingredients.  Add dry ingredients stirring just until batter is moistened.  Spoon in 2 greased and floured 9x5x3 inch pans.  Bake 350 for 1 hour or until done.  Cool before removing from pan.  Yields 2 loaves.  Will freeze well. by MAW

***Over the years I have tweaked her recipe by trading the pineapples for other ingredients that I have on hand...zucchini, chocolate chips, pumpkin, apples.  The picture is chocolate chip, pecan, banana bread. We love the pineapple too!  I like to bake 4 loaves at a time...1 to eat, 1 to give away and 2 to freeze. 

We gave this one to Sam's teachers!

The best part...before I got married I asked my grandmother to write down her recipes for me.  She wrote them all down on recipe cards and gave them to me for a wedding gift.  I love the gift now more than then...having her hand-written recipes means so much to me.  I have 2 framed in my kitchen.  I love having her memory so close when I cook!