More Goals And Manners!

Last Thursday was a rough at our house. That is to be expected since we aren't used to being together all day long! There were listening issues and the endless questions about electronic entertainment. So as well as having a Summer Bucket List I thought we needed to have Daily Summer Goal. I know that we won't get everything on this list done each and every day, but it's nice to have a list of things to do when the kids get bored! The kids did help me with the list and I did take into account that they like electronics and how can I blame them...I like electronics! So they are allotted 1 hour a day on each - TV, Kindle & computer.    

I'm really trying to get the kids to not be so focused on themselves so to help that along I have quite a few things on the list that consist of helping others or doing something creative for someone else. 

Another thing I've been wanting to focus on with the kids is how they speak and what they say. So we came up with a list of what we should being saying. 

I've referenced the Duggar family before and they have impacted another thing in our life. They teach their kids to say, "my pleasure" instead of "your welcome". I love this! The kids are of the mindset that helping and serving is such a pain. I am a natural server...I love to help others. This is a main thing that God asks us to do to love and serve others so by saying "my pleasure" it really is saying I'm happy to do it. I want the kids to be happy to help. Even if they don't mean it at first I'm hoping that by helping others and by saying it enough it might really sink in and make a difference. To make saying these things fun on the first day I kept a tally chart and gave the kids a check mark whenever I heard them use these words. It was hilarious how into it Owen got. He was such a polite boy! Over the top polite! It was hilarious hearing him over enunciate and draw out the words....my pleasure! I didn't care though since he was actually using his manners! Another Duggar thing is instead of the kids saying "Stop" over and over again they instruct their kids to say, "Please Don't". Whenever someone says this the other person is required to stop or there will be a punishment. The kids have been really good with this one. We are also teaching the kids about problem resolution. I'm so tired of tattling! We've explained to the kids how God instructs us to deal with someone who does us wrong. You are to talk to that person first and then if they don't stop doing the wrong then you come and involved someone in authority. Not running in the room yelling, "he won't stop!". We are teaching them to say, "I have a problem" and then explain what they have done to try to fix the situation instead of just harping on and on about what the other person has done. Lots of training, but that's parenthood! 

Lunch Outside!

Last week we had our first picnic outside. The kids had been snacking all morning long so instead of having a traditional lunch we had meat, cheese, crackers and craisins. 

I'm sure this is the first of many picnics! 

Father's Day Gift!

I found a few ideas like this on Pinterest, but I didn't really like them. So I took bits and pieces from different ones and made up my own. It was fun! The boys got to stick some of the candy bars on and draw around them while I did the writing. Owen also drew a picture of Daddy at the grill....it's the green drawing on the left side. He said it's called King of the grill. Jack also drew stick figures of him and Daddy. They are the tiny drawing right up the Mounds bar. On Father's Day morning we presented this to Daddy in bed and he loved it! 

Schools Out For Summer!

June 17th 2014

Last day of school holding the first day of school picture! 

6 years old then....7 years old now! 

5 years old then....6 years old now! 

Cute Kindergartener....next up first grade! 

Brothers! 

Siblings 

Ella 4 years old - Jack 6 years old - Owen 7 years old - Zeke 2 years old

The last walk to school! 

Waiting for school to start! 

Standing in line one more time! 

A couple hours later....SCHOOLS OUT FOR SUMMER!!! 

Goodbye Miss McConnell! 

So long Kindergarten! 

Goodbye Miss Richardson! 

This is about the time I got all teary eyed....you know you never forget your first teacher. There's something special about that first year in school and now it's over for my boys. In the blink of an eye they'll be graduating! 

To celebrate the last day I got the kids Happy Meals (we never get these) and then went to Daddy's work for lunchtime. 

Zeke wasn't looking in the first pictures so he wanted to cheese for the camera! 

Then the kids got to play with their toys in the parking lot of Daddy's work. So on the first partial day of summer break we have already crossed off two things on the bucket list...Happy Meals and lunch with Daddy! Here's to an awesome summer! 

Jack's 6 Year Old Pictures!

The day before Jack's beach party we went to JCPenny's for his pictures. This year I was able to get all the kids pictures taken there with Groupons. Birthday pictures for 4 kids for $100 is not bad!

The last time we shaved the boys heads Jack didn't want the top shaved. He wanted his hair to look like Kai from Ninjago. I'm not used to doing boys hair so he wasn't super happy with his faux hawk. I love it though! Of course a few days after this he wanted his head shaved. 

Last year Jack brought his puppy from Aunt Michelle with him...this time he wanted Pluto. 

He is such a handsome, amazing little man! 

Tight Fit!

The day after Jack's party the boys got home from school and wanted to enjoy the pool again. It wasn't nearly as nice and the wind was picking up, but kids are kids and they don't care how cold it is. Owen and Ella were splashing around in the water for a really long time, but Jack was barely out there 5 minutes before he came running back in freezing. That wasn't the funny part though...the funny part was that he was wearing Zeke's 18 month swimming top! 

He was so excited it fit him! 

I like it Mama! 

It's not too small! 

That's the even funnier part....that my 6 year old can fit into an 18 month old swim top! I've got little kids! 

Disney Prep - Tinkerbell Outfit!

Now that I'm finished with all the birthday parties for the year it's time to change my focus to finalizing all the Disneyland preparations. 

Here's Ella's Tink shirt that I made for her last year. 

I just recently finished making her Tinkerbell Tutu. I was sure it was going to be hard to make, but it was easier than I thought. I was able to finish it during one episode of Once Upon A Time. 

To finish off her outfit...here are her Tinkerbell shoes. I just used a pair of shoes that I found at a garage sale that Ella didn't like. I painted them with Mod Podge, sprinkled on the glitter and then sprayed them with clear acrylic once the Mod Podge dried. I got the puff balls at Joann's and then hot glued them on. With a pair of white leggings this is going to be a cute outfit. Oh I just thought I might have to buy her a pair of wings at The Dollar Tree to really finish it off. Who knows this might end up being her Halloween outfit this year!  

Jackson's Beach Party!

For Jack's party this year we went with a beach party theme. His birthday is the closest to summer so I was hoping we'd get blessed with the sun! The morning of his birthday it was really cloudy, but the weather report said it was going to burn off and be sunny. Thankfully by noon it was starting too. I was worried for a bit since I had nothing else planned except nice relaxing beach things! 

I got this banner kit from Stampin' Up a while back. It was on clearance so I didn't pay much for it. I loved all the different designs in it. Plus it's really easy to take apart and use again another time. 

The morning of the party Michael worked really hard getting everything ready for the party. He got out the pool, aired it up, bleached it and then filled it up with as much hot water as he could and then filled it the rest with cold water. 

Earlier in the week Michael picked up 4 bags of sand so we had a fun area in the yard for the kids to play in the sand. 

As for food of course it was beach theme food. The punch was coconut pineapple punch. I love this stuff! 

For the centerpiece I used a tan towel and then put a bunch of beach toys on the "sand". 

The Sand Dollar Sandwiches were peanut butter and honey. 

The Starfish Sandwiches were peanut butter and nutella. Of course I didn't think about the fact that some of Jack's friends from school might have an allergy to peanut butter. His friend Cohen did so we made him his own special turkey sandwich. 

As for the adults we had Crab Sandwiches....they weren't filled with crab it was really a chicken salad, but I made them look like crabs. Of course I found this idea on Pinterest and I think they turned out cute. Plus they were yummy! 

  

The sand area was a big hit! I did have to remind the kids to not get too aggressive with the sand. I also came and picked up the edges of the tarp to move the sand back to the middle a couple of times. 

Jackson eating with his two classmates...Yasmin & Cohen! Just like Owen I let Jack invite 4 friends from school.

Jack got to go to Yasmin's party last month and he had such a fun time. 

The pool was a blast! All the kids except Caitlynn and Zeke were in the pool at one point! 

While the kids were outside playing most of the adults were inside chatting.

A few of us were outside soaking up the sun! 

Then it was time to move inside for dessert! 

We had Fish In The Sea....Blue Raspberry jello with gummy fish inside. Jack and Ella helped me make these. I was going to just set the fish on top, but Jack wanted them to swim. The fish didn't really taste good after sitting in the jello that long though. 

I also made Sand Cup....vanilla pudding layered between crushed up lemon cream cookies. 

Jack wanted a jello cup, but the candles wouldn't stand up so I had to put them in the pudding cups instead. We found out Jack's friend Cohen lives within walking distance of our house. I can't wait for the boys to get to play together this summer. 

Now for the guests...

Uncle Ry & Aunt Stephie 

After taking Uncle Ry and Aunt Stephie's picture I was just going to take a picture of Michael and Zeke, but then Michael asked Ryan to take our picture and then Pa decided to take one too! Imagine that a photo with the photographer! 

Jim and Norean! 

The Storer kids...Andrew, Caitlynn and Josiah! 

The Storer parents....Micah and Kim! 

Wayne and Caroline...Yasmin's parents! 

Cute dessert eater! 

After the kids were done playing outside they all came in to play with the toys inside. 

Zeke man wasn't really feeling good....he has a thing for not feeling good on party days. He was super crabby and took an early nap and then he was really clingy and we noticed a bit warm. By 8pm he was done so I put him to bed. At 8:45 when I put Owen and Jack to bed he hadn't even moved! As for his cute pajamas those were a late birthday present from Miss Erin. Of course the moment he saw them he had to put "Queen" on! 

Present time! 

The night of Jack's actual birthday Owen wanted to go out and buy Jack a present. He wanted to get him a remote control Dusty, but Target didn't have one...plus I'm pretty sure if they did he wouldn't have been able to afford it. Instead he got Jack this cool Dusty glider. 

Ga-Ga & Pa got Jack a Star Wars shirt and pajamas and then new Woody light up boots. The day before when Jack and I were at JCPenny's for his birthday pictures we wandered over to the shoes. I knew that Ga-Ga had already bought these boots, but I wanted to see if Jack would notice them. Well he certainly did and he wanted them so bad. I explained that we didn't have any money in our clothing budget right now so we couldn't get them. It was fun knowing that he was going to love these! 

The last thing that Ga-Ga & Pa got Jack was an old fashion Woody with a pull string on his back. He says over 50 things. Of course Jack was in heaven and had to sleep with Woody that night. 

Cohen got Jack a bunch of cool outdoor things...frisbee, water balloons and a slip and slide! 

Uncle Ry and Aunt Stephie got Jack a Spiderman hooded blanket, Spiderman action figure and this funny Spiderman ball. 

Yasmin got him these cool action figures....Jack could play with action figures all day long. He really is like his Uncle Ry! 

The other toys he got were a whole container full of water balloons from Miss Erin and her kids. An Usborne sticker book and active pack of things to do on our trip to Disneyland from The Storers. A weather tracking set from Jim and Norean and $10 from Aunt Becky. 

As for goodie bags for the kids they were actually goodie buckets. I got the buckets for $1 at Target and the Dollar Tree. Each child also got a squirt gun and a silly straw. I got the squirt guns at Target for $1.49 for a two pack and the straws were on clearance two for $1.79. So each goodie bucket cost me less than $3...not bad! 

And what else do you do after all the party guests have gone and you've just been given a silly straw.....

Yeah this really happened! 

Per Uncle Ry's request...here's Jackson in his awesome Spiderman blanket.

 As well as going to bed with Woody he also went to bed wearing this blanket. 

Before bed he did get to take his Dusty plane out for spin. I was sure this was going to be the first and last picture of this plane. Jack is not the most gentle child, but thankfully according to Daddy it's pretty sturdy. 

Thank you to all our friends and family for making Jackson's birthday so special!