So apparently

the kids think we need to check off all of our Summer Bucket List items within a weeks' time.

Honestly.

I'm getting a little worn out.

It all started with Wize-N-Up, our church's version of crazy, wacky, wet, wild, peanut buttery, pie-in-your-face, nasty, FUN Vacation Bible School.

We had to cover our seats to ride home every night.

The kids were downright nasty freakishly soaked almost strapped to the top of the car ringing wet and dirty every night.

They LOVED it!

The first night, Whit came home soaking wet and covered in grass and other nature-ish stuff, but Olivia was completely dry and clean. (Oh, this is going to work out okay; only one nasty child each night! I can handle that I foolishly thought.)

Here are pics from the second night. Whit is soaking wet, covered in flour and Olivia is drenched from head to toe.



He was so gummed up with flour, he looked like walking play-doh.

And, then, by the third night, it was all over. Whit met me with a big blob of whipped cream in his hair and brown paint-like matter all over his face.



Yeah.

Turns out he ate chocolate pudding from a diaper.

A DIAPER.

Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. Ewwwwwww. Eww.

But, guess who likes eating chocolate pudding out of diapers?

Yep.

This guy:



Who knew?

Anyway, they had a rockin' week at Wize-N-Up and we are thankful to be back in full swing at church!



Wize-N-Up. Check.

Next up, Olivia and I ventured to the Peace Center in Greenville to see Sleeping Beauty with our neighbors and friends.





We soooooo look forward to doing this each time we go. The girls love the shows and afterwards they get to walk around and get autographs from the characters.

This time, when the show wrapped and the audience was clapping {loudly}, Olivia shrieked with excitement, "TIME FOR AUTOGRAPHS!!!!!!"

I think it's her favorite part.

And, she literally got EVERY. SINGLE. CAST. AUTOGRAPH.

Even the trees.

Not lying.

Olivia definitely has the potential to be a great actress one day, given the high level of drama we currently have in our house.

For real.





















She was a little freaked out when that last big guy threw his arm over her shoulder for the photo op.

The look on her face is one part "I'm trying to smile and be polite" and one part "Get me the heck outta here; HE'S TOUCHING ME!!"

Oh, and I probably should've done a little more research before heading off to see Sleeping Beauty. It's not a family favorite of ours and I sort of forgot that the beautiful princess PRICKS HER FINGER and ALMOST DIES!!!!

Yeeeeeeeaaaah. Not a good call on my part seeing how my little princess has a not-so-fond affinity for blood.

Luckily, the part where she pricks her finger wasn't too intense and flew by quite quickly.

Thank the Lord.

See a play. Check!

Up next:

Water balloons
The Karate Kid

I know you can't wait!

Happy Summer-ing

Leigh :)

Our Summer To-Do List Scrapbook

You may or may not remember this from my last post:



It's our Summer To Do List.

Here's how this project went down.

{Including weird conversations with myself.}

Whit, Olivia and I gather at our raggedy old kitchen table and start talking about the things we reeeeeeeeally want to do this summer.

I have to give them a bit of a jumpstart, but then they're off and running with it.

Once I start writing on the big white foam boards Whit chuckles to himself and makes a snarky little remark that I'm sure acting like a teacher *or something.* {Insert 6 year old eye roll here}.

Me (to myself): ACTING like a teacher?? ACTING? Get it, buddy. I *AM* a teacher. Hmpfff. {Insert 34 year old eye roll here plus hands folded across chest like a two year old.}

We're on item number 8ish and I start thinking to myself (which is generally never good for the kids)...

"Now Leigh...seriously...how can you turn this fantastic project into something educational for the kiddos??"

"Hmmmmm."

"Let's multitask here."

"OH, OH, OH!! I know! I'll have them write the items down on some paper and we'll put them in a book."

"That'll be fun for them and they'll love checking off the boxes."

"And, I'll be throwing in some literacy and handwriting practice, too."

"Yessssss. Sneaky, Leigh. I like it."

"And, maybe we could add a few pictures to the book along the way...just to remember all the fun things we do."

"In case they ever forget how awesome their mom is to take time to do this sort of thing with them."

"Or, in case they ever want to blame me for ruining their lives or something ridiculous like that."

"I'll have proof to the contrary."

"Sort of like a scrapbook."

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"WAIT A MINUTE! I GOT IT!! WE CAN MAKE A SCRAPBOOK!!!"

And, so our little project was born.

After we wrote down all of our items on the foam boards, I pulled out some cardstock and markers.

We decided which items each child would write and I put their initials in the boxes on the foam boards and they proceeded to write out their designated items.

I made the check-off boxes on each page and they did the rest.


Then the cutest thing happened.

Olivia made swirly letters.


Cute, no?

I helped them write out the majority of the list because frankly, more than one page of writing just wasn't gonna happen.

After they were all finished, I whipped up a cover for our book using this kit and printed it out from my computer.


I hole-punched the sides and added rings to hold the pages together.

And then I added the ribbon.


We all know about my love affair with ribbon, right? It's a sickness, I know.

Here are a few of the final pages.





And, here are two kids who are very much looking forward to eating ice cream tomorrow morning for breakfast!!


We've added a few more since then and we've checked off a few, too.

I'll be updating you later on that.

And that's it!

Hope you all have a happy summer and do something fun with your kids or dogs or husbands, if you have them.

If not, do something fun with your neighbor's kids or dogs. But not their husbands, because, well....that would just be inappropriate.

Love and hugs everybody!

Happy Summer-ing!

Leigh :)

So...what are you going to do

this summer?

Bucket lists are all the rage right now in blogdom. (I'm not even really sure that's a word, but I'm going with it).

You know...the things you want to do in life before you "kick the bucket."

And, at the moment, lots of mommy bloggers are coming up with Summer Bucket Lists. Like this one.

It's a generally fun list of things to do with the kids before the curtain closes on summer.

Or, a way to keep the kids from whining with boredom every day.

Whichever way you choose to look at it.

For us, it's a way to get us out of the house!!

I'll admit it - we are a lazy bunch during the summer.

Whit will sleep until noon if I let him and Olivia is content to play in her room for hours on end doing her nails, or playing with barbies, ponies, Kit or watching movies.

And, of course...if there's no demand for going into the sweltering 100 degree heat, well, let's face it...I'm not going to sign myself up for an outing. That's all there is to it.

Sure - we do lots of fun things here and there, but we usually don't plan to do much beforehand. We're sort of spontaneous like that.

Or lazy. Whichever way you choose to look at it.

But, this summer, we are going to do things a little differently.

Whit has been in a great mood lately and Olivia...well...she's always up for something fun!

When I saw the first Summer Bucket List about a month ago, I thought it was a fantastic idea. Once they started popping up ALL OVER BLOGLAND, my subconscious kicked in and that was it.

The kids and I sat down and thought about some of the things we REALLY want to do this summer.

Some we will be able to do, some we won't. They are okay with that. And, who knows?? The ones they are *SURE* we won't be able to do just might be the ones we plan first!

So, here's our list in all it's glory.



{Okay, okay... I added the drive-in movie because after I saw it on Stacy's blog, I decided we must go too.}

I copied the idea of adding little check-off boxes from here (so cute)!

We've already done a few of the things on our list. And, the W's and O's in the check boxes will make more sense tomorrow.

Because, when I really thought about it, I decided I'd like to make a scrapbook out of our list (I know - you're shocked - I'm sure).

So, check back tomorrow to see how this cover becomes our summer scrapbook:



I know you'll be anxiously waiting...

Hee hee hee :)

I've been up...

to crafting and scrapping.

Zoo

Swim


Just Add Water


i {Heart} you


Fun in the Sun


Fireflies


Feel Better gift card holder


Beach savings jar


Doggone Good Birthday card



Fun times.

She needs her own camera...

Every time I upload pictures from my point and shoot, I find pictures taken by a little camera bandit. Just this summer, I've already deleted around 200 pictures from my pics file.

It didn't take me long to figure out who is stealing my camera and snapping pics feverishly. The pics are all her very favorite things in this world, posed nice and neat...just like mommy's pics.

I had to keep at least a few of the best ones. See if you can figure it out...

It's not just all in my head...

When they see my hybrid creations, people often ask me, "HOW do you come up with this stuff?"

Of course, I'd like the answer to be that I just have a really creative mind from which ideas and projects sprout and grow. Kind of like this one:



Or, that I find inspiration from browsing fabric swatches in the most fabulous yarn store ever. Scroll through those photos and try not to drool.

Or, that I leisurely stroll the streets of my hometown and find wonderful inspiration there.

Or, that I visit the eclectic craft fair down the street to find inspiration. (Spartanburg? Riiiiiiiiiight).

But, I'd be lying.

Flat out lies.

The truth is, every once in a while I have an idea that is mine {ALL MINE} and I run with it. But, that's usually not the case.

Typically, I see projects or ideas (usually on the internet) and I tailor them to fit my needs. I use my tools, my scrapbook kits or my computer to design something similar. It's typically considered to be in bad taste to copy someones project exactly like they did it (sort of like plagiarizing...remember that??). So, I make sure to make my project different enough to be my own and always give credit where my inspiration came from.

Other times, I use their ideas, labels, and downloads and make the exact same gift.

Like this one.

You can guarantee I'll be whipping up one (or three) of these bad boys for Father's Day this year.



LOVE IT!

And, as long as your dad is not my dad, feel free to whip up one too! You can download her labels and make your very own Super Hero box! She did all the work for you!! Easy Peasy! Visit Alpha Mom to get your downloads.

After all, when the artist provides the downloads for you to use, they intend for you to, you know, USE THEM!!!

Be sure to show some gratitude and say thanks when you download!

Happy Father's Day-ing.