National Postal Museum

We had a great time at the National Postal Museum today for the first time - proof that no matter how long you live in DC, there's always more to explore. We had fun riding in a stage coach and a mail truck, among other things.

Summer break with kids

We are really enjoying our summer break so far! Thanks to Pinterest, I came up with some fun things to help us get off to a great start:

We made a summer fun bucket list of about 50 things we want to do this summer - everything from "have a picnic," to "visit the beach," to "try the Mentos and Diet Coke experiment." The kids love having the list up so they can see what fun or silly thing they want to do today.

(I copied the layout from here http://www.joyeverafter.com/blog/2012/5/21/summer-fun-bucket-list.html )

I updated our chore charts, and we have a good schedule going. We do our morning stuff, our workbooks, cleaning, play outside, the pool for an hour or two, lunch, reading time / quiet time, and then there's usually just enough time for the kids to play really well together (and not quite enough time to start arguing or getting into trouble). Just the way we like it.

Our summer cleaning is working well. I took pictures so that even my 4-year-old can keep up. They get to choose which chore(s) to do each morning, they write their intial on the chart (which is laminated), and by the end of the week our house is completely spotless (in theory).
(I copied part of the layout from here http://www.dandee-designs.com/2011/08/modern-toddler-chore-chart.html )

And I found the cutest thing at http://www.simpleasthatblog.com/2011/08/back-to-school-reading-logs-free.html  - reading logs for the kids' summer reading. And I added pages for the kids to do weekly book reports. And to make it fun - book worms (gummy worms). So great!

The best part about our summer break is that I haven't heard "I'm bored" once yet! I made a "bored" jar, mostly filled with chores to do (and a few fun things), for anyone who says "I'm bored." Am I a mean mom, or what?

Spring fun

We were so proud of Samantha at first grade authors' night. She did a great job reading her books to her class. First grade is my favorite - her reading and writing has improved so much!

Last soccer game!
Daddy's (unsuccessful) attempt at getting Danielle to play:

Samantha. A cupcake and a soccer medal. What more could you want?

And our Rebekah:

Our Danielle is constantly "great with child." Here she is expecting a hedgehog, an elephant, and a baby. One night after she fell asleep, I went in to check on her, and she had a hedgehog and a puppy in her shirt!

Soccer Saturday

Lately our Saturdays have been all about soccer.

Danielle "plays" for the Sabres. That's probably an exaggeration. What she actually does during soccer games:

Samantha plays for the Avengers. Unlike Danielle, Samantha actually plays in the soccer games.

And Rebekah is on Team Clash! She likes playing and does pretty well.

Happy Birthday Rebekah!

It's my baby's birthday today! Hard to believe it's been a decade since she was placed in my arms. I remember the panic I felt that first night home - She started crying, really crying, and I had no idea why. I wanted to reach for the owner's manual. Now we've made it through all the diaper years, and I'm starting to look around for the pre-teen parent's manual. Good times! Happy birthday, Becks!

We had such a fun birthday party on Friday - easy barbeque, simple crafts (wooden picture frames) and games (pictionary and charades). And of course we had to take pictures for their picture frames, so I printed out some cute props from go.tipjunkie.com and www.accenttheparty.com (thank you Pinterest). And I made some cute new birthday banners that I can use for all our birthday needs. Very fun!

Easter girls

A nice, quiet Easter with our sweet girls:

Danielle's having fun hunting for eggs in the backyard, in her pajamas, with her shoes on the wrong feet. Love it!

More catching up ...

Back in February we had fun taking our three budding artists up to the Crayola Factory:

We felt really special standing by the largest crayon in the world:

In March, Rebekah participated in the county fine arts festival. She sang with her chorus group, and she had a piece of art on display:

 And Samantha's proud moment came from pulling her own tooth!