Love 4th of July!

Our Theme this week is
RED
WHITE
and
BLUE

OF COURSE....
4th of July!!!!

I love love love this holiday...and we get 3 days of it!

This morning we had our RED, WHITE, and BLUE Breakfast!

Brooke set the table!
Thanks Brooke...it was BEAUTIFUL!

Brooke also got up before the other kids and made these ribbons!
She just took a normal ponytail, and tied 3 of each different 4th of July ribbon!

They were all dressed up so cute..
so I took them to the park....and let them be festive!

We also bought these flags at the dollar store...and lined out walkway!

More Smores!

We bought these extra large marshmallows ....

For Indoor Smores....since it is too wet for a Bon Fire!

Super Easy...
melt some chocolate!

Dip it in crushed graham crackers!

Delish!

Finishing up with Rainbows!

The kids made signs for Brooke...
she went to her first overnight camp!
(Super tough on mommy)

But she came home happy and full of life....I think it was a GREAT camp!

We painted all of our nails!

We had a Rainbow Dinner!

Chicken Alfredo with colored noodles...
And fresh veggies from our FIRST GARDEN!!
YIPPEE!!!

My sister, Kim, brought rainbow cake...delicious!

We covered our door with "To Do This Summer" List!

We had so much fun...I can't wait for the next Theme! =0

Chores are Fun!

Every day the kids have a daily Routine...

Dress
Teeth
Bed
Room
Job
Reading
Writing
Math
Piano

Nothing is too taxing..
their job takes maybe 5 minutes, since we do it everyday!
Reading, Writing, and Math, are designed to just keep them fresh...not burned out!
They read 15 min., then they write in their summer journal or a letter to someone, and math is a 1 problem solving situation.

Once a week we all work together and clean the whole house!
I usually try to come up with something fun, so that the day of cleaning becomes one of their favorite days!

I got up early this week and made two sets of rainbow circles!

Then I placed them throughout the house!
Each one had an activity on it!
(The first 9 were just their everyday routine)

They would run through the house looking for RED #1...
We would work together for 5 minutes (as hard as we can).
When the 5 minutes is over, then they can do their activity!
I laughed when we got to "Breakfast", and Chelsea said, "This is my favorite activity!"
Never had Breakfast been "FUN", until it is mixed into a game!

The last three are fun activities!
For example....Rainbow Scavenger Hunt!
They had to go to houses in the neighborhood and find items that matched 1 of each category!

Here is their collection!
They loved it!

I love house cleaning days...and so do the KIDS!
We always finish with a clean house and Happy kids!

PJ Parites Rock!

I am finally getting around to having a birthday party for Chelsea...
I am only 2 months late!
We had her class party, but I told her I would have a party for her other friends too!
I am so glad I did....they had a blast!

When the girls first arrived I had pink eye covers and flash lights for them to decorate! They covered them in jewels.....I LOVE JEWELS!!!

I kept it super simple...and that is usually the best!
They came fed....
and the party was from 6:30 - 9:30
The girls voted on having their sleeping bags outside!
I served them crackers and orange juice as a late night snack!

They hung out and talked...and got silly...preparing to have FUN!

They played Piggy wiggy..
(One person goes in another room, and then everyone gets in some one else's sleeping bag...and the "it" person tries to guess who is in what sleeping bag!

This was a HUGE hit..and by the time everyone got a chance to be it...the sleeping bags were a wreck...so they piled them all up and took turns jumping on them!

I made the sleeping cupcakes from Hello Cupcake...
(my favorite cupcake book ever)

Brooke played Happy Birthday for Chelsea while we sang!

Brady sees no reason why he has to wait until his 1st birthday to dig in and make a mess!
I agree!

All in all it was a hit!

Other games they played were just classics...
Ghost in the Grave Yard
Simon Says

Play Dough Creations!

We are having so much fun...
seeing everything in COLOR!

Everywhere I go I see Rainbow colors!
Super Cool!
I don't know if I will want to change themes???

Today we took our rainbow play dough,
split it into colors....for each of us!

Then we created!

Annika made food!

Luke made so many monsters that his play dough became one!
I love the foot helping out!

I always try to play along!
Sunrise over a pond of ducks!

Chelsea's
Love the detail...especially the bike!

Chelsea's snail that never made it to the mural!

Brooke's under the sea!

Click on the pictures to see the details...I was super proud of how well they did, and the time they took!
This is a great activity for all ages.
Brooke loved it just as much as Annika!
It challenged them to use their imaginations!

I doubled my play dough recipe..and it made tons...1 batch would have made plenty for the 5 of us!

String Fun!

The Kids were so excited to wear their painted splattered dresses and shirt!
I found sunglasses at the dollar store...one for each color of the rainbow!

The party started before I could even bring out the goods!

Rainbow colored String...
It was an all out string fight!

Even Brady got involved!

The dresses and shirts, I just bought at Walmart...
and then I bought fabric paint!
I just let each kid splat their clothes with
RED
ORANGE
YELLOW
GREEN
BLUE
PURPLE

They turned out fantastic!

Color filled Lunch!

This summer, I have decided to do a THEME A WEEK!
This week our theme is....

R A I N B O W S!

We are engulfing ourselves in color...and more color!
I am loving it!

Today for lunch, I made the kids a " Rainbow" lunch...
I had a fruit for every color of the rainbow!
I asked the kids to please eat all their fruit...even the ones that they did not like!
(At least try it!)

I am impressed with how well they all did!
They cleaned their plates!

I am under the firm belief....that kids will embrace anything full of color!

I am excited to serve them lunch with vegetables of all colors.
I hope it goes over just as well!