Gem Jar

Around the House of Halpin, the hour or so between getting supper cleaned up and bedtime prep can be a hard one to fill. Jeremy and I are worn out from a busy day and are feeling less than creative, but the Guys are raring to go! Most nights we jump from one random toy or game to the next, but I have found that the nights I have an activity planned are so much more fun and less chaotic.

So I had an idea: We crafted a jar full of great evening activities, most of them special (go for ice cream, build an obstacle course), some of them more ordinary (color together, read books), but all of them are things the whole family can do together. Each night, one of the Boys will randomly draw out a gem and we will start our activity!

Last night, the Boys and I hunted for the perfect "gems" for our jar and found some wonderful glass stones. They are perfect, smooth and shiny! I can just imagine little hands stirring them up and fingering their smoothness as they carefully make their selection.

Above, they are washing our gems. I guess glass stones sit around on the shelves of Hobby Lobby long enough to collect quite a bit of dust!
Drying our gems.
Notice the Boys are now missing some clothing. Right after the last picture, Noah dumped the whole bowl of water out all over himself and Brother.

O and Nosy actually had so much fun playing with the stones that it occupied them the entire time I cooked supper! We got out bowls and spoons, whisks and pans. Gems make great ingredients for cooking!

Claiming a gem

Each Boy got to decorate his own gem. The night it is chosen, he gets to pick any activity he wants!

We can't wait to start putting our gem jar to good use!

Early Risers

How we spend the first half an hour of our day:

Fresh Faced

I was examining my ever-increasing crow's feet in a recent picture of myself when O walked in.

"I look so old in this picture! Look at all my smile lines!"

Owie leaned in to inspect.

After comparing he declared, "But I look so new!"

Chocoholic

O ate a great dinner tonight, so he was rewarded with his choice from the candy drawer. (Yes, we actually have an entire drawer in our house devoted to nothing but candy. I am fueled by sugar!) O wisely selected a piece of chocolate. He savored each and every bite, licking his fingers so as to not miss a single crumb.

"Does it taste so good?" as if I had to ask. His face said it all!

He responded with a huge grin and an enthusiastic nod: "Uh-huh!! Like a tomato!" Licks his lips again. "A tomato and a cucumber!!"

Sink or Swim

O started swimming lessons today!

Or should I say, O and I started swimming lessons?

We are in a Mommy and Me swim class for the next two weeks. I do not have super high expectations for several reasons. Number one, the class was cheap, I mean super cheap. Almost too cheap to be any good. Number two, O has not been too keen on swimming this year. He has definitely regressed from last year and no longer likes to put his face under or jump to us. All I hope for is that Owie and I have a great time together, just the two of us at the pool.

Ready for the first day!

We survived...and actually had a great time! (No great pics. Do you know how hard it is to take pics of yourselves in the pool? It wasn't happening.) Today's goal: Get comfortable in the water. I think we did that. O actually went under once and jumped to me a couple of times. Go O!

I brought him some Smarties for after the lesson. Do all swim instructors pass out Smarties after a job well done, or was that just my childhood swim teacher? Either way, Smarties and swimming lessons go hand-in-hand in my mind. He was thrilled with the treat!

Creekside

We have been blessed to have my Dad home from his travelling job a bit more over the past couple of weeks. We take full advantage of that with very early morning walks together. We load the kids up in the double jogger, pack a bit of breakfast for the little guys, and hit the trails around 7:00 to walk until our legs want to fall off. Great workout! Often, we stop at a creek or two to let the Boys stretch their legs and skip some rocks.

Strike a Pose

Picture this:

Fourth of July at the Amezcua's,

where you bring it or go home.

A few favorite poses:

Joel attempts a split toe touch. I'd give it an 8.5 on facial expression alone!

Jeremy does a little free-style. He deserves a 9.5, mostly because he's hot.

Clayton's got what it takes! Just look at his form! 9.5!

My Boys misunderstood the challenge and went more for the model pose. I like to call this one "Onlooker."

"Reflective."

And coming in first place with a record 10.0:
Erica, who's still got what it takes!

Fade to applause, applause...

Good as New!

Headed out to wash the cars early this morning. I so treasure these simple joys in life with my Fam. This is the stuff memories are made of!

He's a pro with that hose!

Yeah. Both Boys got soaking wet, but that's most of the fun, right?! As soon as I put my camera down, I dove in for some slippery wet fun too!

Now they've got a handle on things!

How can O even see out from under that hat? He insists on wearing it to be just like Daddy.

The definite highlight of the morning:

O got to "drive" the car. Oh be still my soul, he was in heaven! He constantly asks how old he has to be to drive. "32, like you, Mommy? 31, like Daddy? 89?" Today the answer was "Almost three and a half!"

KABOOM!

Addison puts on such an amazing fireworks display every year at Kaboom Town. This year, on the third, we met up with Gigi and Papa and the Amezcua clan to enjoy the show.

Daddy and No-nos are already sleepy

Not Ally and Will! They are pumped for the show!

Nosy grabbed a chair.

Once I busted out the dum-dums and puppy chow, things livened up a bit. A little sugar does wonders!

Mia is waiting for the action to begin!

Will is in awe! There were jets flying in tight formation and a plane with fireworks streaming from its engines. Unbelievable!

Owie scored the best seat in the house!

O's thoughts on fireworks:

"I like them. I am not scared. I would like to bring one home... to keep in the garage for another day."

Wouldn't that be fun, O?

Wet and Wild

With super-hot temps upon us, the Boys and I have been seeking out wet and wild activities to burn off some steam.

On a quest to find a great place to host The Springs playgroup, my friend Katy and I headed out to Celebration Park in Allen. How could I have lived so close to this amazing place without ever knowing it? It was incredible, with both splash areas and a huge climbing/sliding structure. The Boys and I could hardly wait to start playing!

O spent the majority of his time flying this jet plane. Heading somewhere cooler maybe?

Nosy couldn't get enough of the tunnels and slides. Sadly, neither one of the boys enjoyed the water very much. They would splash just enough to get cooled off before they were off and running again in the play area. I was one sweaty Mama by the time we left!!

Travis was the bravest boy of our bunch!

Slide races are always a winner!

Verdict: LOVED Celebration Park, just wish my kids would play in the water. We'll try again, and I definitely will put this on my list of fave parks for cooler weather!!

One day after O's library class, we met my Dad at Terrace Pool, an old favorite.

Owie had so much fun swimming with my Dad, AKA Safari Jon.

Funny thing about No-nos:

Everywhere we go lately, he picks up a chick! He has great taste, as you can see. I like to think he chose this cutie because I happen to have a swimsuit very similar, sans the ruffles (somehow extra bulk only looks adorable on very tiny girls!). More than likely, it was the dimply thighs that seemed familiar (another thing that only looks precious on very tiny girls!) Maybe he thought it was mini me? Boys do gravitate towards girls like their moms, I've been told!

Picnic time!

Endlessly patient Gramps, towed O all over the pool with this noodle.

So, here's to surviving the summer by getting a lot wet and a little wild!

Dance Party!

I am constantly amazed at the bottomless pit of energy my Boys posses. I can be ready to pass out from exhaustion and they are still running strong.

Something fun we have been doing lately to burn off some of that excess energy, especially when it's too hot to head outside, is to have a family after-dinner dance party. I found some great kid-friendly dancing music, we pump up the volume and bust some groovy moves.

Sadly, Daddy opted out of the video session. You'll have to take my word for it that his moves are the grooviest of all!