Why Hello There!

So it's been almost a month since my last blog post. It's funny, because if you look back through my archives, you will notice that I always seem to disappear around this time of year because our summer schedule is pretty crazy. But I just wanted to say hi, and give a little update of what we have been up to.

Phillip went on a 10-day mission trip to Jamaica a few weeks ago. It was the longest he has ever been away from me and the boys, and we sure were happy to have him back.

We picked him up on Thursday and then packed up and headed to church camp that Sunday. The boys had a blast. We packed Buddy's scooter and Little Man's fire truck and they rode those things all over the campground. We went swimming everyday and they hung out with the little camp girlfriend.

I was in charge of camp "craft" again this year. Since it is high school camp, I try to come up with things they will think are cool in addition to teaching them a skill that they can take back home with them. This year we made jersey knit bracelets, and they were a huge hit. 

At camp I was able to catch up on some summer reading. I am going through a fiction phase right now and read all three novels by Kate Morton. I absolutely LOVED The Forgotten Garden. It was one of the best novels I have ever read!

We came back from camp that Friday, got a little rest, and then headed up to Tennessee on Saturday to move my sister and her girls back to Georgia to live with us. We turned our large playroom into an apartment of sorts, and we are so happy to have them sharing our home. My sister is my best friend, and her girls are the only cousins my boys have. Every morning the kids wake up so excited to go see if their cousins are awake yet so they can start another day of endless imaginative play. The house is loud and messy and fun, and I love it! I know you are probably curious as to how we arrived at the decision to invite them to move into our home, and I promise I will share that soon. 

After we got them unpacked and settled in, my sister and I decided to have a yard sale this past weekend to get rid of extra things that both of us had, and to make a little money to fund our "natural" kitchen makeover. For a while, I have wanted to get rid of all of the plastics in my kitchen and my non-stick cookware. We did well at the yard sale and already purchased new stainless steel cookware from IKEA and found a nice KitchenAid Food Processor on Craigslist. I plan to reuse glass jars for food storage and for smoothies. Have you seen these adorable mason jar tumblers on etsy? These are definitely on my summer DIY list.

We also made a kitchen compost bucket using these directions and an old animal cracker container from our church nursery that I had been saving for some crafty project. We do not have an outdoor compost bin yet, so right now we are using the dig and drop method behind the shed. Between recycling and composting, using real dishes instead of disposables, and cloth napkins and rags instead of paper towels, it is amazing how long it takes to fill up our kitchen trash now. I think we only had one bag go out last week. 

Saturday we pack up and head to Virginia for a week for our annual youth summer mission trip to work with Hope Charitable Services. Where we are working is only about 45 minutes from VA Beach, so we head over that way anytime we have a break, so it is also kind of feels like vacation. (Except for the 45 minute drive from the beach back to the hotel in a musty church van filled with wet, sandy teenagers.)

So that's a quick update of some of the things we've been up to. I'll try to get back here on a more regular basis when things calm down a bit. Hope you are having a great summer!

Always,

Amanda

Cousins

His Batman Beard

Yesterday was Buddy's 4th birthday. Since we already had his Fireman Party, we just had a simple but fun day together as a family.

The night before, after the boys had went to bed, I decorated our dining area and made Buddy a felt birthday crown.

When he woke up, he put on his crown and begged to open his presents, so we let him do that first.

I tried to get a cute picture of him in his crown, and then realized the balloon string was in the way.

Here's what I got when I asked him to smile for another one. Ah, the challenge of photographing children.

We gave him a few simple gifts, one of which was a Batman makeup and tattoo kit. He has been asking for costume makeup for a while. When I saw this in the Party City clearance bin, I knew he would love it.

The first thing he wanted to do was draw a beard on his face. He is convinced that Batman has a beard.

After that, he gave Little Man a beard too.

Then they continued to decorate their faces and bodies...

After having fun with all the Batman makeup and tattoos (they even gave me a few), we had some cinnamon rolls.

Later in the day, we headed out to the Children's Museum and to Centennial Park in Atlanta. I didn't take my big camera, planning to take pictures with Phillip's iPhone, but of course didn't take as many as I would have liked. I did get one of me and the birthday boy though!

Hope you are having a great week!

Always,

Amanda

Fireman Birthday Party {Part 2}

After having lunch, cake, and opening presents at our house (see Part 1), we all headed to the local fire station for a tour. I don't know if every city does this, but our local fire stations give free educational tours, complete with hats and goodies at the end. You simply just call and make a reservation.

When we arrived at the fire station, the firemen first showed us the fire trucks.

They even allowed the kids to walk through the main cab area. They loved this part!

After we looked at the trucks, one of the fireman demonstrated how they get dressed in their gear.

After he put on all of his gear, he let them touch. This is one of the main reasons that they conduct these tours, so that the kids will not be afraid of a fully dressed fireman if there is ever a need for them to be rescued.

After they touched his gear and asked questions, he demonstrated how his oxygen alarm will go off if he is still for too long. That way the other firemen will be alerted to come and find him if he needs help.

Next, they took us for a tour of the upstairs area where they sleep and eat. Then one of the firemen showed the kids how he goes down the pole.

We went back downstairs and took a group photo with the fire truck. Trying to get a group of preschoolers to all look at the camera and smile is impossible, so this is the best we got.

We did manage to get a pretty good picture of the boys and their cousins.

After the group picture, the fireman let the kids play with the fire hose. The birthday boys had the honor of helping him pull the hose out.

Then all of the kids took turns turning on the hose.

The tour was awesome and the fireman were SO nice and accommodating to our group. We had a blast!

Thank you Smyrna Fire Department, Station 1!!!!!!!

And Happy Birthday to my two little firemen!

Fireman Birthday Party {Part 1}

On Saturday, we had a fireman themed birthday party for both Buddy (4) and Little Man (2). Their birthdays are only a few weeks apart and since they both love fireman, we decided to just have one big party and invite everybody!

We started out at our house with lunch, cake, and gifts before heading out for a tour of the local fire station. To keep this post from being entirely too long, I will divide it into two separate ones. So here are some of the pictures from the first half of the party.

We had the party on our sun porch. When we were looking at buying this house, we envisioned lots of parties on this porch, and it sure has seen a good many parties in the last two years.

(In case you were wondering, we borrowed the table and chairs from our church .)

Party favors and a couple of special lighters from my husband's collection.

We had a simple menu of hot dogs and chips. Juice boxes for the kids and Arnold Palmer's (sweet tea and lemonade) for the adults.

After several late night trips to the grocery store for more red coloring, my sister-in-law and I finally finished the cake around 1:00am the night before. I found the idea here. I just used Funfetti boxed cake mix and added one box of regular vanilla pudding mix (not instant) to each box of cake mix to make it more solid for decorating. The icing was homemade using the Wilton's Buttercream Recipe.

The later it got, the more I felt like it was looking like a Cake Wreck, but I think it turned out okay. The kids liked it, and that's what mattered most!

We packed a lot of people onto our porch. I love it!

Buddy and his second cousin became instant friends.

And here's one of the boy's best gal pals. She's a cutie!

My sweet Little Man.

Daddy used his cool lighter to light their candles...

And they blew them out together.

They received tons of great gifts. Their Papa made them a set of wooden blocks complete with a rolling cart to store them in.

Little Man got his first real basketball. Look at that face!

It was a fun, fun, fun party! I'll be back tomorrow with some pictures from our tour of the local fire station.

Hope you had a great weekend!

Always,

Amanda