La La Library

These girls of mine...they are cre.a.tive.

They randomly decided to make a library in their room this weekend!

Here we have their shelving system:

How creative and well organized, you say to yourself.

Then you wonder where they put the other bins that are usually in the shelving unit.

They're right here in a newly formed abyss.

Yikes!

Anyway, one of the lovely librarians would be happy to assist you in choosing books!

I told her I was interested in a book about summer

and a book for girls.

Her selections were spot on!

Then I brought my books to the circulation desk.

The librarians are happy to look up your information on the computer in case you forgot your library card.  And, yes, the library card is a hard plastic coin from a piggy bank toy.  The long balloon is some sort of pen.  I'm still unclear as to the ins and outs of what they are using the pen for, but I think unusually large pens are hilarious!

The other librarian was also incredibly friendly and helpful, like all good librarians!

Oh, did you see the Little House and Ramona books?  Unfortunately, those are not available for check out as they are used exclusively for story time.

I wonder who gets to sit on the pillow during story time?  

Gracie and our friend, Bri, were great library patrons, too!

And awfully cute polka dot buddies!

I hope your day is filled with the creative and the cute...and maybe even a made up library :)  
You can stop by my house if you need your made up library fix, because ours is still going strong!

Glow Necklaces

I feel like every now and then it's good to tell your kids YES to something when they expect you to say no.

Like the time the girls asked me if they could bring their glow necklaces to bed.

You bet I said yes!

It is summer, after all!

They were pretty excited!

And Gracie was so adorable!  After I told her she could bring it to bed...

...she said, "Oh, thank you, Mom!  You smell like warm sunshine!"

That's a pretty sweet compliment from an almost 3 year old.

I did have to have Leah take off the face paint,

even though she was a really cute little kitty.

Letting them take the glow necklaces to bed shockingly didn't backfire on me.  I thought there would be some sort of drama with them, but I'm happy to say I was wrong!

Gracie fell asleep right away, and Leah and Maggie ended up tossing them out of bed because they were too bright.

Hmmm...what else can I give an unexpected YES to?

There was Some Crying

I've shared before about some of the distinctives of a house full of girls.  

One of the aspects I failed to mention was the whole over-dramatic crying thing.

Hence this story :)

Oh, and please enjoy the cute pictures of the girls that are interspersed!

Last week, I told you about our trip to the zoo.  Going to the zoo was just one of the many fun things we did while hanging out with Aaron's family.  

I mean, we stayed at a hotel with a water park that was perfect for little girls!

In addition to the zoo, we went to a children's museum, got to watch the Disney channel, rode on elevators, went out to eat, and played in the game room.

All of this was done in the awesome company of grandparents and an aunt, uncle, and cousins they don't get to see as often as anyone would like.

Of course, we had an amazing time which naturally made it very, very hard to leave.

There was crying.

Lots and lots of crying.

Now, I do my best to keep in mind that how I respond to something that's a "big deal" to a 7 year old goes a long way to building trust with her.  If I blow off something that seems like a "little deal" to me, but it's actually a "big deal" to her, she's not going to want to tell me what her "big deals" are when she's a teenager.

Needless to say, I want to know all of those things!

So, when Leah was sobbing on the bed about missing her grandparents and cousins, I sat beside her and rubbed her back.

I told her how glad I am that she loves her family.  

And that I know how hard it is to say goodbye to people you love.

And that it's okay to be sad about those things.

We talked about those feeling.  Believe me.  We talked about them.

But, more feelings came out.

Like how much Leah is going to miss the water slide.

In case you were wondering, it's a lot.  She's going to miss the water slide a lot.  

She's also reeeeeeeally going to miss watching Jake and the Neverland Pirates.

At that point, the crying had been going on for probably 10 minutes.  Maggie joined in, because nothing is more fun than crying with a friend.

Maybe this wasn't our finest parenting moment, but Aaron and I decided to add a little background music by way of lyrics from a couple of songs from the early 2000s.

Time of Your Life by Green Day and Closing Time by Semisonic in case you were curious.

Leah, wailing: I'm going to miss the water sliiiiiiiiiiide!

Me, rubbing her back and singing:  It's something unpredictable, but in the end is right...

Leah, crying:  We don't have the Disney Channel and I love Jake and the Neverland Piraaaaaates!

Me:  I hope you had the time of your life.

When life doesn't give you a sound track, you just have to make your own.

Leah took a short crying break as we left the room, so Maggie picked up where she left off.

Aaron held Maggie's hand on the way out and sang, "Closing time...I-I want my dad to take me home...I-I want my dad to take me home."

Yeah, he switched the lyrics up to fit the situation.  Creative license is nice like that.

As we walked down the hall, Leah trailed behind a little...holding her bear and blanket.  

Aaron glanced back to check on her, and he saw her pause.  She turned, looked longing back at the closed door of room 3002 and gave it a little farewell wave.

Drama and feelings galore.

I dropped back and held her hand as we took the elevator one last, dramatic, tear filled time. 

We took one more picture in front of the hotel (and by "we," I mean not me, because our camera was in the car) and got into the minivan to head for home.

As we were getting in, Gracie started fake crying.

She stopped and robustly laughed.

"JUST KIDDING!!!" she exclaimed.

And laughed some more.

Oh.my.goodness.

I don't even know what to say about that...except that she does crack me up.

But yeah, Leah and Maggie tag team cried for about a half an hour on the way home.

They alternated crying about the big 3: missing their family, the water park, and Jake and the Neverland Pirates.

I said sensitive mom things and emotions were eventually reined in.  

That was about 45 minutes of crying, in case you were interested in statistics.

Whew!  Parenting little girls is not for the faint of heart.

Anyway.

What songs would you have for the soundtrack of your life?

I'm linking up with Blair at Wild and Precious.

It's Fort Time

Oh, friends, it's been a week...a good week!  But, a busy week nonetheless.  

I didn't post yesterday because doing so would have stressed me out.  

And I don't want blogging to stress me out!

So, I'm back...the world can go on turning ;)

Anyway, here's an activity that isn't rocket science.  

Is rocket science even fun?

Maybe it is...to rocket scientists, but I'm not that smart.

I feel like making forts is so obvious that it almost doesn't even count as an activity idea.

But, here's the thing.  Sometimes I get all perfectionist-y with stuff like this.

I think that the fort has to have like different rooms, 

a heating and cooling system, 

indoor plumbing, 

and a pantry.

When all you really need is a couple of chairs and a blanket/quilt.

A little room service never hurt, either!

Have a great weekend!

Easy Ice Cream Sandwich Cake

Edited June 13th:  When I posted this last summer, I totally thought of Shay, because there are endless ways to Mix and Match this recipe!  You can use any ice cream topping or candy bits that your little heart desires!  Happy Summer!

Here's a perfect and easy summer dessert that doesn't heat up your kitchen.  
Plus, your kids can make it for you!

That's a win-win in my book!

You need really basic stuff, and it's easily customize-able!

That math equation in the picture above?  

That's my kind of math...easy and yummy :)

You can use any kind of topping and candy bits.  You could even get wild and use the Neapolitan ice cream sandwiches.  The sky's the limit here :)

You start out by laying ice cream sandwiches in the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan. 

Spread the (room temperature) caramel on top of the ice cream sandwiches.

Please note that Leah is wearing her pajamas.  This comes into play later :)

Then, spread a thin layer of Cool Whip on top.  

I used light Cool Whip, because it makes this dessert healthy.

hee hee hee :)

Put on the next layer of ice cream sandwiches.

Cover the whole bottom layer.

Spread a thicker layer of Cool Whip on the top.

Oh, did you notice that Leah is now wearing something other than pajamas? 

That's because we had to run to the store.  

I had bought 2 boxes of 12 ice cream sandwiches from Aldi, but when I opened the boxes, 1 had 8 and the other had 9.  

Weird.  

You use 19 ice cream sandwiches in this recipe, so I didn't have enough to finish.  

We ran to Aldi and they gave us another box for free.

What Aldi lacks in their counting ability, they make up for in the customer service department :)

Anyway, sprinkle the heath bits on top.

I put the heath bits in the little cup so that it would be easier for the girls to sprinkle.

Here it is in its completed glory!

Oh, I forgot to mention that I drizzled a little bit of chocolate syrup on just for kicks.

After the "cake" is finished, pop it in the freezer for 45 minutes or so to firm up.  You should cover it in plastic wrap (after you serve it the first time) to keep it from getting freezer burn...press it onto the exposed parts.  

That sounds weird, but I think you know what I mean :)

This is such an easy recipe...the hardest part was keeping the girls from licking the spatula as they were cooking!

Slice and enjoy your children's hard work!

I'm linking up with Abbie at Five Days Five Ways!

A Little Thought...

Good Morning, Friends!

We are having a busy week here!  I am coordinating food for 100+ people for our church's VBS-esque thing.  I say coordinating, because people signed up to bring food and I have helpers in the preparation and serving.  It's still a big (and FUN) job.

Anyway, we had our small group at our house last night, so I didn't get to write a post, so I'm going to share a few verses with you instead.  

Because, who are we kidding, Scripture is better than me any day :)

Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard?  Are you so foolish?  After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?  Have you experienced so much in vain?  So again I ask, does God give you His Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard?   

Galatians 3:2-5

I don't know about you, but I can use that reminder!

Rest well in Jesus today <3

It was a Zoo!

We went to the zoo when we had a little family vacation with Aaron's parents, his sister and her husband and their kids (Amber, Kevin, Alyssa, and Kyle).

Prepare yourself for a photo barrage of zoo-centric adorableness :)

Here we are in the parking lot.

Leah and Maggie are so cute in all of their stripey glory.

Gracie hit the ground running when we got into the zoo!

What is there not to love about giraffes?

Nothing.  Giraffes are awesome!

Plus, giraffe is my favorite animal name in Spanish.

Jirafa, but you say it hee-RAH-fah.

High Five magazine teaches me so much.

Anyway, we also saw the king o' the jungle.

We saw a rhino, too.

But, no offense to the rhino, he was kind of boring.  He just sat there and cleverly disguised himself as a rock.  Maybe that's interesting?

I think Maggie and Gracie liked swinging on the bars more than the rhino.

We saw the camels, too.

I'm happy to report that the camels did not spit at us.

Here's the obligatory picture of a cute girl poking her head through a cut out circle.

We took a little snack/shade break.

What?  You don't eat your snack like that?  Hm.

Leah kept up the silliness!

And, she told me what to type on the pictures :)

While Leah was rocking the rock, Gracie was being all incognito.

Yep, she's in there!

Here's the best shot of the 3 of them that I could get.

That wasn't a joke...it really was the best sister shot :)

Then, we went into the bird house.

I feel like they should name those birds Dora and Diego.

It is worth mentioning that there was some sort of animal display outside of bird-ville.  I can't remember what was in the display, but they smelled so bad that it literally gagged.

Gagged.  

I'm pretty tough, too, but it was repulsive.

After that, we went into the creepy crawly house.  I'm sure there was a more official name for it, but there was a cage full of huge cockroaches.

I didn't take a picture of it.  

You're welcome.

On the way out, we hit up the carousel.

I feel like you need a closer up shot of Maggie and how stinking cute she is!

Doesn't she just make you smile?  Love that girl!

I'd say that the carousel was a great way to end an awesome time at the zoo!

What's your favorite part of the zoo?



I'm linking up with Blair at Wild and Precious!