{Day 9} Are you my Mummy?

Big shout out to Christina from MOPS for this idea... we made Mummy Dogs for lunch today (find the yummy recipe here.) Don't be a hater... I know it's a halloween treat, but the kids didn't care and we had a blast making them. Hey... you do what you can when it's a wet, dreary day out and no chance to play at the park.

Sorry... no pictures of the final product...we were too busy eating them!
P.S. Delaney says Mummy Dogs taste much better when dressed in your expensive dance recital costume :)

{Day 8} Fun with the iPhone

Ahhh another beautiful day at the park. Time to play with the iPhone... Thanks to David Burke for the idea for the Shake Photo app... it's a way to take "Polaroid" pictures with your iPhone... you even shake the phone to make the photo develop. So much fun!

{Day 7} Mom... can I draw on my face?

What is up with Pittsburgh weather. In April and May, it's warm enough to lay out and tan. June 7th... 62 degrees... urgh... needless to say, my kids were not dressed warm enough when we headed out the door to the park today.
Normally I would count "The Park" as our fun thing to do today... but I had other things up my sleeve... in the form of face painting crayons! The kids had a blast doodling on each other. First I confined it to the arms, then all hell broke loose and, well, faces, hands, legs, etc. Even Mom got a butterfly "tattoo" from Delaney. Addison liked it all... the drawing, the swinging, the eating... a fun day was had by all. Finally... some {real} pictures...
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I just love Addison's face while she's getting "inked"... so serious. She's hilarious!

{Day 6} Big Girls Don't Cry

Tonight was Delaney's very first Dance Recital(and probably last--she's just not that in to it--loves Horseback riding lessons much more). She and her friends Clara and Sabrina rocked the stage to the oldie-but-goodie {Big Girls Don't Cry}. It was so precious. In attendance were Grandma and Pap-Pap, Aunt La-La, Aunt Bird and Aunt Pat and, of course, Mommy and Daddy (who were beaming ear to ear). Thanks for suffering through, family...

{Day 5} Mom! There are two Chuckies!

How could anything be more fun for kids than a Birthday Party at Chuck E Cheeses? We had the honor of attending Jonathan's friend Hamilton's 4th birthday party today.
Jonathan and Hamilton went to Small Steps at Zion Lutheran Preschool together until February when Hamilton was diagnosed suddenly with Leukemia. We've been so blessed to have stayed in touch with Ham and is family and are so relieved that so far all his treatments are going well. So this was an extra special birthday celebration. It's so magical to see Jonathan and Hamilton playing together--like no time has passed between the time they've been together--playing trains or airplanes or rocket ships or anything else that spark boys' imaginations.
When Jonathan got home, and I asked him how the party was (Daddy took all 3 kids while Mommy had a spa day with my Mommy) he exclaimed, "Mommy, did you know that there are TWO Chuck E Cheeses? One that dances on stage and one that walks around!" Too cute!
Delaney had fun at the Cheese's house too but she got a special belated Birthday present today from Aunt La La and Uncle Matt -- Movie and Dinner out!
They went and saw the final Shrek movie then went to Kings for dinner. It's always fun when you come from a large family to be the only one on a date night. Thanks, Aunt La La and Uncle Matt for making our girl feel so special and so loved.
Sorry for the short post... I am still under the weather. Maybe better tomorrow. One can hope...

{Day 4} Pump those legs!

I have a confession to make... I never made the jello :(

I am not a failure on the 100 days of fun challenge though because we did something even "funner"... we had friends over--Delaney's self-proclaimed future husband, Riley and his sister Avery. They begged so my BFF Tiffany and I just HAD to relent and spend some time together (he he... and the kids think we plan playdates so that THEY can play)

But that was yesterday. And today... well, we pulled something from the jar, but never got around to it. Again I remind myself...the purpose of this challenge was not to stick to the jar and suck all the joy out of the day, but complete the task. The goal at the end of the day was to HAVE FUN. And we did.

Jonathan's last day of Music Camp was today. So when it was time for us to pick him up, Delaney went with me and we stayed at the school and went to the park. We climbed on the Monkey bars, spun around on the twirly thing (what IS that thing called) and pushed each other on the swings. My sweet, tender boy pushed his momma on the swings today. How big he's getting. He also insisted on spinning me around on the twirly thing...all by himself. His chubby little feet in their Toy Story flip flops going as fast as they could, round and round, trying to pick up speed. When he was done, he was the one that was dizzy. Then I watched anxiously as he climbed to the top of the Monkey Bars and was relieved that my "growing-up-too fast" boy needed me to help him get down. He still needs me :)

Delaney continues to amaze me. She's been trying for so long to teach herself how to swing. Today she did it! I wish I could bottle up her excitement and pride. It was contagious!



So I'm going to check Day 4 off as a Fun Success! Ready for tomorrow?

{Day 3} J-E-L-L-O

Did you sing the letters in your head as you read my blog post? I did when I was typing it. Today's challenge was an easy one... {make some Jello then enjoy it with whipped cream and sprinkles b/c sprinkles makes everything better}. Okay, so I haven't officially made the jello yet at this point...but I am planning to. While singing the J-E-LL-O song in my head I came across a great blog entry on one of my favorite photography sites (here's the Link if you have some time) and it really got me thinking... life WAS so much simpler when we were kids. There were no scheduled playdates... you played outside with your friends ALL DAY and groaned when you had to come in when the streetlights were on. We didn't need anything to "spark" our imagination...we were full of ideas... secret clubs, pretending to be the Mandrell sisters or the Gong Show, treating our bikes like the General Lee from the Dukes of Hazzard. Even playing the characters in MASH which was my Dad's favorite TV show. We would run to the top of the block watching for him to walk home from the bus stop and carry his briefcase home for him. Every night was the same. He'd come home, take off his tie, lay down on the couch, watch MASH. My mom would ALWAYS call us in for dinner when there was only 5 minutes left in the show and we would all ignore her until MASH was over--she'd get so mad. To this day, I never understand why she didn't just plan dinner for when MASH was over--it was only 5 minutes. Dinner would be a comedy--I would try to smuggle unwanted food on my plate away from the table in a napkin tucked in my pants and excuse myself to go the bathroom. It worked a few times before my sister Laurie ratted me out that there were hot dogs floating in the toilet. From that point on--no bathroom breaks during dinner. My brother always had to be strapped into his seat with my dad's belt because he never sat still. My sister Laurie was the tattler and informed Mom and Dad every wrong she had witnessed by us during the day. Megan, the youngest, was the baby and got away with everything (still does :) ) Dad worked hard and made an honest wage, while going to night school to get his degree. Mom worked hard keeping the house and stretching the budget as far as it would go. I remember fondly her basket of coupons, so organized. As an adult, I now realize what a chore coupons are. We ate a lot of generics--remember the potato chips in the black n white bags? Did we know we were poor by today's standards. No way! We never wanted for anything. We had everything we needed. I hope my children will look back on their childhood as fondly as I do.
So now, back to the Jello... I may even get a little crazy today and make Jello Jigglers and savor another taste from MY childhood. Stay tuned...