Happy Birthday Harry Potter!

We love to celebrate Harry Potter on July 31st. A friend of mine and I have been talking about throwing a big party for years and this was going to be our year. Well, it turned out they just bought a house and were consumed by the move so we didn't get to throw our party. Maybe next year? (I say that every year! ha!)

But we had to celebrate a little and did that by a few snacks.

We had a butterbeer toast to Harry.

We only did one activity. I gave them each a cup and poured in some sprite. They were shocked when it turned color. (Food coloring was at the bottom hidden by ice cubes.) 

And of course, Moaning Myrtle popped up all over our house.

Amy wore her Hogwarts shirt and Tyler couldn't find his wand so he used a comb. Will wasn't into celebrating.

So while small, it was a fun celebration.
Happy Birthday J. K. Rowling and Harry Potter!

Sarah Goes Kayaking

This was only my second time, but I have to admit, I love to kayak. If I knew we'd use them often I'd get some for the family. I've realized though, I just love to float on the water. Whether it be on a tube, a kayak or driving in a boat. Me + water = happy.

Luckily, I have a friend who has kayaks she's willing to share.

 

It was a beautiful day. Just the perfect day to be on the water. 

me with Trista, Talana and Kristen

I'm the one on the right side of the photo. We didn't get many photos this trip. We just sat and enjoyed the day!

YES Day!

Yes Day is a cute book about saying yes to your children all day. I've wanted to do it for years but it always slipped my mind. This summer, we finally did it!

Lee had gone to Carrollton to spend a few days with his mom, so I was flying solo with this idea.

Will came out of his room that morning and said, "Can I watch tv?" I started to say, "No, you know the rule (I don't let them watch tv first thing in the morning.) But as I started to say it Will got a HUGE grin on his face and said, "But it's YES day!!" hahaha.

We had Panera bagels for breakfast (luckily YES day fell on a Tuesday so they were half price ;) ) And let's be honest, they ate the bagels for all snacks and even dinner!

We did have to go to swim lessons but I let them swim longer than usual and said YES to watching the rock climbers afterwards.

Tyler said (with a HUGE grin), "Mom? Will you do my chores??" He also loved that I did his laundry. He hates doing laundry.

We went to NACHOS for lunch. We actually hadn't been there in awhile but Salvador was all smiles to see us. The boys are almost getting too big for him to hold! We love Salvador, he's so nice. At the end I went up to pay and he said, "Nah, this lunch is on me today." I said, "Oh no! We'll pay!" He said, "No, no, these are my boys!" haha. 

Amy wanted to go to the Animal Shelter and walk around. (Don't worry, I said NO to bringing anything home!)  They were fascinated by the kittens. First off- we have about 5 neighborhood cats that wander our yard and Secondly- if we were to get a kitten it would be one of Anna's 9. But have no fear, as Amy declared, "We are not a cat family." If we need a kitten fix, we'll visit Anna in a few weeks.

Not this particular dog, but we took a different dog for a walk. Well, when done, the dog wouldn't go back into it's cage and it started barking and nipping at us. Then wouldn't let us near it. I had to go get a worker, who was not very thrilled at us. After that, I declared it was time to leave. They may never let us in again. 

The boys played outside for the rest of the afternoon and had bagels for dinner. We set up the tent in the backyard and had a little campout. I gave the boys some screen time and it was 11pm before they finally settled down. 

Amy and I were trying to take a picture once the boys fell asleep but she couldn't quite figure out where to look. It was pretty funny. 

YES day was a success. (Me, the next morning) 

Amy fell asleep on the front porch the next day, YES day wore her out!

YES day was a lot of fun. We actually slept in the tent the next night as well. Lee had come home by then and we all slept in the tent. He had the house to himself, which was pretty funny. "Welcome Home Dad! We are all sleeping in a tent!"

It was an interesting day for me as well. I really noticed how my first inclination was to say NO to everything and I had to remind myself to say YES. It was a good reminder for me to say YES more often. Maybe we'll do another YES day over Christmas break. It really was a lot of fun.

More of Amy's Games and Swim Lessons

Summer days always get long around here. It's too hot to go outside. And it's too hot to go anywhere. So we do a lot of staying inside. After awhile, Amy starts to make up games. Which she's really good at. This time she decided to see if she could fit into her Boon Bag. (A Boon Bag was the solution to all her stuffed animals when she was little. You stuff all the animals inside and it becomes a bean bag type chair. The kids pulled it out when they were playing the other day.) Of course, she's so little that she fit right in. And then decided it would be hilarious if she rolled down the hallway. 

Which prompted the boys having to try it as well. Will mostly scooted down and Tyler rolled.

Will wound up with a wiggly tooth. He's been a little later on the teeth losing thing, and the dentist had to pull his 2 bottom teeth, so we were happy this seemed to be coming out on its own.

A few days into the week, he got tired of it still being stuck. A few of us tried to get it out for him, but Amy was the winner. She yanked it right out.

Amy has still been at it with her camera. She set up a mock interview with Tyler. He'd talk into the microphone (it's inside that bowl, next to him.) 

Amy and I were in my bedroom and spied a cardinal getting the sunflower seeds. It was fun to watch him get himself up in there.

Will sneaking chips. He is our junk food king and isn't shy about it.

Another game that Amy made up. You had to lie down with your head down. The other people had to try and sneak up and steal the shoe and run back to the couch without being detected. They played this for a solid hour. Will was the worst, he couldn't stop laughing. But that's typical, we always know where he's hiding during hide n' seek.

We spend several days a week at the MTSU outdoor pool. The boys have become really great swimmers this summer. They just figured it out one day.  But while they've figured it out, we still wanted to get them in swim lessons. The way MTSU runs it is in 2 week periods and it's every day. Well, we are never around for all that time in the summer so we haven't been able to do it. Since we didn't travel this summer we decided this was the year to do it. So now we swim most every day. Sometimes Lee takes them, sometimes I do, most days we all go. Their lessons are in the indoor pool, but the outdoor pool (where we head after lessons) is the best kept secret in Rutherford county.

Lee being silly in goggles he got for Christmas 2 years ago and has never used. :)

This past lesson they took them to the deep end (13 feet) and had them jump off the diving board. Tyler was no fear and opted for no life jacket or pool noodle. I have to admit, my heart stopped a little when he did that. But he was fine! He swam right to the edge and couldn't wait to do it again. Will was a little more nervous and opted to wear a life jacket (even thought the teacher tried to convince him not to.) He said next time he would take it off. You can kind of see Will walking to the edge of the diving board. Tyler is swimming near the edge, he had just jumped. 

Since we are in the pool so much, I took a lesson from Nancy Futral and we (try) to do ear drops every day. She said her kids pediatrician told her to use half alcohol and half white vinegar for a swimmers ear drop. I figure if it's good enough for her 8 kids, it's good enough for us!

This is actually a picture of Lee and Tyler lying on one side for the ear drops, but they fell asleep right after, so it's also a napping picture. :)

And that's all we were up to this week!