...but what month isn't anymore? I find that I say that about nearly every month! I think we're just in that stage of life, where everything is always moving, and instead of those quiet (yes! they seemed quiet!!) toddler/preschool days when we would go searching for activities and things to be involved in, these days are quite the opposite. We find ourselves searching instead for the days when we can be still and relax and think. Uninterrupted. In Peace. With a sugary treat and a book and a blanket and... wait, I think I'm just talking about myself here. Moving on...
So, yes, June was, as always, a busy month, and we'll jump in with our pictures. :o)
SarahMae with her talking teapot. She loves this thing. Unfortunately, she loves it on the loudest setting and during Shiloh's schoolwork. So, she can usually only play with it in her bedroom where it won't disrupt anyone.
Fine. We're a tekkie family. (T
rekkie? No? Just me?) I admit it. Everyone has their own tablet, and we enjoy it thoroughly. We try to be responsible -- no screens at all between the hours of 8.30 and 6pm unless it's for school, which is rare -- and when they
are on a screen, that the time is somewhat limited. And it
seriously irks me to see the kids on a screen when the weather is gorgeous outside, but other than that, we do love our technology. As evidenced by SarahMae here with her headphones on her Nabi Jr. Sitting next to the outlet because it needs to be charged and she
just can't wait. She's a pretty adorable poster child for the Technology-Entrenched Family, though, isn't she?
Perhaps to counterbalance the aforementioned love of technology, we've started nature journaling in our homeschool. I seriously love this. I was always aware of the possibility of starting it, but was inspired by
this post by my friend MacKenzie (super-homeschooling-mom! Yes, MacKenzie, you are!) and finally did it. We've been working up to two hours a day outside, we're resting at about an hour outside a day right now, with most of the time spent searching and journaling. The basic premise is that the girls (and myself!) have these blank notebooks, then we go outside, and we draw what we find. And then we try to figure out what they are. This was the first day that we did it, in our front yard/driveway and discovered many varieties of (
ahem) weeds. :o) But at least we know some of the names of them now!
Shiloh is pretty accustomed to sitting and drawing for long periods of time, because that's already one of her favorite pastimes, but I was nicely surprised that SarahMae did as well as she did and enjoyed it so much. Although, we did discover a beetle and she decided that she was afraid of them after that, so maybe it wasn't all good. But still. I'm counting it a success!
Father's Day! We went to Bandana's BBQ for lunch after church, woke Rick up with a new (super awesome!) travel coffee cup, and some audio books for his commute. He's a pretty great dad to these kiddos. We are beyond blessed to have him.
And this is actually a little out of order, b/c the day before, on Saturday, Shiloh had her ballet recital. For us, that's always sort of a huge deal. I'm not sure why. I think it's because I like to celebrate any excuse to give my children presents. :o) They do work hard, though, throughout the year, and especially towards the end, practicing their specific dance for recital, and it's a huge buildup to get it all done, and we just want to celebrate when it's all finished!
I wasn't able to take any pictures of the actual recital b/c it's banned! Boo! But here she is in one of her costumes afterwards. (She took two classes this year, so she had two costumes, two dances, etc.) I like the flowers -- everyone always gives roses or daises, but Shiloh has specifically requested any time we get her flowers, we get her Tiger Lillies, her favorite flower. :o)
I was able to get some really horrible pictures during dress rehearsal. I had to point her out for you! I got one picture of each performance.
See? I told you they were horrible! I really need to invest in a decent camera. I'm going to try to order some of the pictures the photographer takes this year. We'll see. :o)
And then, we immediately wiped off all that makeup and went to lunch. She insisted she wear her costume. And that's okay. :o) We went to Pi, a local pizza place that makes their own in-house gluten free crust, and it's so good! The milkshakes were good, too -- although, these very shakes you see in these pictures did, in fact, contain gluten and we were all sick for the next several days. BUT, they were really tasty at the time. :o)
Recital presents! A bendy knit doll she spotted in the dance store awhile back. She loved it. :o)
All of the American Girl Isabella books. American Girl's "Girl of the Year" for 2014 is a ballet dancer, so there's been much ado about her in our house this year.
And THAT is a Shiloh smile! Don't your kids ever go through those phases where they do these fake smiles? You go to take their picture and they smile, and while no one else may know the difference, you know it just doesn't look like them, like their true smile? Shiloh's been doing that a ton lately, and it's so aggravating! This, though, is a true Shiloh smile. :o)
More bow and arrow practice. I'll just say that I take better pictures than Rick, and she always practices with him, usually on Saturday mornings when I take SarahMae to gymnastics class. She's getting better!
I mentioned gymnastics class; our church has begun offering classes and we took advantage of them over summer break. Shiloh takes them on Wednesdays and SarahMae on Saturdays. SarahMae's friend Lucy is taking them with her and she is so happy to have her own "thing" she gets to do while
Shiloh stays home. For now, she's mastered the forward roll and mostly is practicing waiting her turn. :o)
Shiloh's doing well at it; ballet has prepared her. She has so much fun!
And randomness -- Shiloh and SarahMae playing "spa." :o)
Blueberry smoothies. They were yummy.
So, here's the thing. In our recent grammar studies, we've begun diagramming. This child LOVES diagramming. Who knew? We'll go over sentences and she'll ask for more to diagram!
Taking a walk with Ruby.
Our local grocery store has started putting out these kids' carts. And
every time she wants to push. Normally, I'm in a hurry and we don't, but after gymnastics class one week, we did. She
loves pushing the cart. :o)
I made a cake. For my friend Melissa's baby shower. I made two, one chocolate and one vanilla (the chocolate was
way better), with some cupcakes. It was gluten AND dye-free! I used blackberry juice in varying amounts for the dye. I think it turned out pretty well. :o)
Shiloh's first meeting of the Idea Club for the summer! (This year, SarahMae joined in.) A few of them couldn't make it this week, so we just had Katelyn and Lillie. Lillie is a friend's niece who's in for the summer from out of state. Shiloh's been a great friend to her so far this summer.
Shiloh was the only one who indulged me in making a silly face. I sure hope they aren't getting to the age where they think they're too cool. I'm not ready for that yet!
Same friends, another day! We visited Grants Farm with more friends that same week.
SarahMae loved the tram!
The carosel! Shiloh named hers Julie. SarahMae named hers Kookie. :o)
Feeding the goats! I was wise enough not to let SarahMae go
in the goat pen, she would have been trampled. I didn't get a pic of Shiloh, but she was
freak.ing. out at the goats, but refused to leave. The bottle was empty, but she was waving it around the goats' heads, so they kept jumping up at it/on her. At that point, I nonchalantly told my friend, who was in the pen with her own daughter, that I would be moving on with SarahMae and if she would be so kind as to keep an eye on Shiloh for me. ;o)
Apparently, Shiloh eventually made it out of the goat pen and through the sprinkler system... with some of her friends. :o)
SarahMae stayed by the side of her friend Starlie... a 10 month old that SarahMae insists is, in fact, a baby doll. A baby doll that she can hold and drag around. She
loves Starlie. :o)
Shiloh riding a camel!
An StL Birthday Cake! This is the 250th birthday year of Saint Louis, and they have these cakes that are decorated different ways all over the city. It's fun to try and get your pic with as many of them as you can. :o)
Looks like Tweet had a rough night...
Fireworks! This was actually on June 30th, our church had their Celebrate America event this past Sunday. There were carnival rides, food, a BMX show, and fireworks! We had fun with friends and the show was awesome
Rick leaves us notes often on the mornings he leaves before we're awake. This past week, he left early three mornings in a row, and I didn't erase the messages, so he kept adding to them. The first says "I love you guys!" The second says "Like, I mean, a WHOLE LOT!" And the third says "Really! If you knew how much, you would be all, 'What?! That's crazy!!'" We love these notes and keep a lot of the ones he writes on paper. He's pretty awesome. :o)
I went into Shiloh's room one night to tell her goodnight and she was like this.
She said she wanted a canopy to be like a princess. She was wearing a tiara and everything! She wanted to know how princesses act, and we talked about kindness and perseverance and serving. She sighed and said "I sure wish
I was a princess." I told her of course she is! To us and to God! "To God?" Yes! If you belong to him, and He's the King of everything, doesn't that make you a princess? She smiled and cuddled down into her bed. I love her. :o)
Sisters. *sigh* They are so amazing!
To close, I do have to relay this one conversation I had with SarahMae a few days ago. I was putting her hair in pigtails, and she was having a not-very-nice attitude, and I said, "Be nice! You're a pretty girl, have a pretty attitude."
SM: "But mo-om, I'm still cute any-ways."
Me: "Well, of course you're still cute. You just have to make sure that you're also being nice, especially to your mommy."
SM: (loud exasperated sigh) "GEEZ MOM, I say 'Yes Ma'am" ALL THE TIME!!!"
Me: (stifling laughter) " All the time?"
SM: "Well, sometimes all the time."
At which point, I gave her a kiss, told her she was a good girl, and sent her to play.
:o)
