Happy Fathers Day

I don't think I have been this on top of Fathers Day since Doug Had his first Fathers Day, the kids and I worked hard for a couple of weeks putting together his gift, I did it over a span of time and would take each kid separately to do things so if one spilled the beans he would still be a little surprised. We collected some of his favorite treats for this bucket, so he could take it to work, to have some treats and think of us, we made him a Fathers day banner made out of paper ties and both the kids did a print for him, It was fun, I think the best part though was the song they sang just for him. Whenever the primary kids are going to sing in sacrament I usually start a week or two before them to help addy learn and know the song so she isn't as upset about going up in front of everyone For Father's Day they did two songs, My Dad and Daddy's Homecoming, Addy did great in sacrament Jimmy isn't old enough for primary yet, so we did a singing at home for Dad, as he has a good portion of songs memorized,  here is what they sang, "I'm so glad when daddy comes home glad as I can be, clap my hands, shout for joy and climb up on him, put my arms around him tight and hug just like this pat his cheeks and give him what a Staunchy on the Bum!"  We did not practice it like that, and it is one of those moments where as a parent you should not laugh and encourage but oh my word a staunchy on the bum...LOL Those two are so stinking hilarious , in case you are wondering what a staunchy is, it is a word the two of them made up for when the get bonked.  Oh Goodness, they have since got back to the correct version, they are so cute singing about their dad, How they love him....

Back at it!

 So this week we are back to summer, no fun cousins staying over, no friends visiting from out of town, no camps, just the three of us hitting the summer days and trying to catch up on some rest from our last two weeks of kinda crazy, we need to get even keel before we head on vacation so we have been doing lots of fun summer things at home I went through and made a summer calendar week by week for all the weeks we don't have something big going on, ie vacation, or people visiting, camps, etc  I put 3 fun things on each day of the work week for the three of us to do together and then a sensory activity most of which focusing on the main goals both the kids are working on this summer, not to say we won't be doing other things or that the rest of the time they are on their own, they aren't but I have so many fun ideas and things I want to do with them I thought it best to make a plan, so far it has been great. We started off the week with wet and dry opposites and talking about even things or people that are different can find a way to work or be together. Jimmys is on the wet side here Marshmallows in water yep a weird feeling he is digging out letters of the alphabet, then he moved on to some basic grabbing and manipulating skills as well as stirring and strengthening type activities he wanted to eat the marshmallows but only a few went missing. 

 Addy is working with the dry, Oatmeal salt and Cinnamon the cinnamon gives it a nice smell that works with senses that may have other wise been left out of this activity the salt is really weird in with the oatmeal but great for experiencing the difference between the two wet and dry. After they had both fully checked out and played with each bin we added water to the oatmeal to see what would happen, the kids loved that, and ended up adding a lot more water Jimmy really like seeing the oatmeal change its consistency, but instead he found after the initial  soaking the oats just flooded with too much water. The last part of this activity was them washing up the mess, they do love to wash dishes and that they did, they washed up their tools so they were clean for the next day. We do love summer and that they can make messes outside all day if they want, so fun! We also love the lazy days of summer, even though we LOVE having company hint hint to anyone wanting to visit, we do love just kicking it. yesterday when Doug came home we were enjoying the large driveway, camping chairs and sidewalk chalk, does it get much better then that? 

Look at that cutie!

 So here is Addy showing off her new smile complete with missing teeth and her adorable new glasses, it is taking her awhile to get use to them, her eyes get so tired, but for the most part she is doing so well, James is rather inquisitive and wants a pair of his own, which I am sure will come the odds are not in his favor but hopefully it will be a few years yet. Addy works hard to keep her glasses safe and clean, but my it is a chore. She really doesn't look four does she? It makes me so sad. She is just growing up so fast.

Bryn

 We Had such a fun WEEK with our Cousin Bryn! She managed to squeeze us into her very busy schedule this summer, and we didn't waste a minute of her being here. Her Mom was kind enough to bring her the majority of the way here and home,Doug went and picked her up after work one day from his Mom's house, and then we had her for a full week before we took her back to her Mom who was hanging out at Grandma's house.  The first day she was here we did the Apraxia walk, and the lowes project, then we spent the rest of the day playing in the pool filled with water balloons, we had one of Bryn's favorite foods for dinner and called it a day, the kids loved playing in the water they always do, the balloons added an extra sensory piece for addy that she really had fun with, although a couple of times the slimy of the balloon swishing past her let would creep her out, she really did great with it. We are all about sensory pools this year I have some fun ideas up my sleeves just what she needs....

 James of course is always up for a good time in the water. He got to spend the most time with Bryn and still days after we have taken her home he wakes up crying for her, or makes his plan to as he says "Get her Back" "We have to get her back" he says so determined and sincere, 

 Look close you can probably see why he loved having her so much, she makes a GREAT pirate and playmate, we did Church on Sunday and then after naps played pirates and had a movie night

 Other fun things we did while she was here,we went and saw the baby, we tried out a pottery place, we did lots and lots of playing with play dough, the bikes and scooters and of course pirates, we went to the kid movie series, and miniature golfing, and Bryn and I got to go on a date, among other things, goodness she was fun to have around we crammed a lot into one week, just so we could enjoy every minute we had with her.

 I felt a little bad that every day Bryn had to hear that Aubrey is here favorite cousin, it was I am sure rather annoying, Addy is very attached to Aubrey it is true, but Bryn she won our Jimmy's heart, he just adores her and so do we, Such a nice girl, we love having the cousins come to visit and getting to know them better. So Fun!