Our little mover.

Many wise people have told me you can have it all.

Just not at the same time.

The past few months, my “all” has been wrapped around coaching Max on a school team, dipping my toe into more serious dyeing, dealing with sequestration woes for clients, juggling two competing schedules for basketball, swim, and lacrosse, serving on the board of our new elementary school’s PTO, and training for my fourth half marathon.  Occasionally, I cook and keep house.  And knit—not as much as I’d like to, but it is still a constant.  

We also decided to host Will’s fifth birthday at the house—Imagination Movers style, with family, friends, and his entire preK class.  Because you only turn five once.   

He had a ball.  Momma needs a nap.

 

Sandra

Little Avengers.

Cap, Iron, and Fury headed out tonight...

And if this momma keeps eating the Halloween candy and wears green tomorrow, she'll make a fine Hulk.

Happy Halloween!!! 

Sandra

p.s.   I think I've finally found the time to make my way back to this space.  And there is much to share!

Memorial Day, 2012.

Oh, the annual water fight.  As usual, I took a ton of shots while trying to stay dry.  I think I'll let the pictures speak for themselves for once (flashback to 2011 and 2010).

But first, I should back up a bit and toss out a reminder that our neighbor's son declared war on our boys three years ago at the Memorial Day cookout.  It's important to note that our neighbor's son is fully grown.  With a job.  And discretionary income he happily spends on fancy shmancy squirt guns each year.  In contrast, our poor boys are usually stuck with last year's broken bits because their momma has yet to make it to the store to replenish the armory.

But not this year!  This year Santa brought all new water guns.  And we started early in the day preparing water balloons.  

We also called in some additional troops.  I think everyone had fun. 

 Even the dads, in the end, could not resist getting into the action.  

The kids pulled off another victory.   

And I've rarely seen Max happier.

It's a great way to welcome summer.

Sandra

p.s.  We had a special guest that weekend.  My dearest, sweetest friend who got me running and is an organizational whiz.  Miss you Hallie!  You will be so proud to see how I'm continuing to tackle some spaces...

Valentine's Day, 2012.

Hope you are having the sweetest day.

Are you wondering if we did the cards again?  Well of course we did.  I think three years in a row makes it a tradition.  The boys are becoming quite adept at their assembly line duties.  And I am getting better at letting go and letting them do it their way.  I didn't even obsess about punching the holes just so.  I mean, who cares if they are not perfectly lined up with little fists to best play up the "here's your lollipop" effect?  Nope, not me.  Didn't care one little bit.  Packed up those levitating lollipops without regret, thankyouverymuch.

But I admittedly found some inner peace having control over the pop placement on Will's cards (used an Xacto knife on his).

I also enjoyed the creative turn of tweaking Max's a bit for a no candy rule...the phrase "Write On!" cracked him up.  He appreciates a good homophone joke.

The boys also delivered balloons to their teachers.  We continue to luck out with having the most amazing teachers.  The tag is hard to read in the picture, I know.  It says You Lift Me Up.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Sandra

What do you mean it's one week until Halloween.

Two posts in less than a day?  What can I say--I'm feeling motivated.

And good thing, too, because I need to be.  Every year leading up to Halloween--and I do mean every year--it's the same drill.  We decided to travel, I get behind on making costumes, I spend a week in a flurry.  This year is no different.  But as I'm not yet able to divulge this year's costumes (because I am not exactly sure what everyone is going to be, if you can believe it), I thought it would be fun to repost some pics of past Halloweens. 

We've had clone troopers, complete with DIY armor...

A Master Yoda....

gladiator & Grecian goddess/princess/whatever...

sushi...

Clifford and Snoopy and Eeyore...

A Lion and a Wizard...

And then there are the costumes I made before I was blogging.  But I'd have to first find and then scan those photos, so let's not hold our breath.

All of my prior Halloween posts can be found here with details on each costume.  Plus there are tutorials on candy-free favors, a Switch Witch printable, favor bags, and Halloween treats and decor.  I get a lot of blog visits due to my Halloween posts so I really wanted to add a fresh new batch this year.  Oh well.  I'll be lucky to get the costumes done.  I haven't even brought down the Halloween box and decorated, sheesh. 

If you are in the same Good-Grief-Is-It-Really-Halloween time-crunch, please let me know--I could use the solidarity.

Sandra

Adventures in tie dye.

Like so many in our area, in the last two weeks we have experienced an earthquake, a hurricane, and flooding.  And for my family, specifically, please add in a trip to the ER (yes for littlest one.  Again!), a trip to Disney, heading back to school, power outages, and a flooded basement.  You can imagine how grateful I am that we were able to weather it all. 

But I am not going to post about any of those things just yet.  Instead, I'm going to recall a fun project that filled one day (and beyond) with color--a tie dye kit by Jacquard. 

Bought for a steal at the local big box chain, it came complete with bottles, primary dyes, rubber bands, gloves, and even an instructional dvd (which was awesome for the kids to preview before getting started).  We've had the kit all summer but finally cracked it open when some friends were over.  I can't believe I've never tie dyed before.  You will see more shirts popping up in future pictures as the boys constantly reach for them.  We made a ton.  And I see more in our future.

Here they are sporting a few creations during a summer day trip in Baltimore.  Yes, they are loud and bright.  The shirts, too.

Here's to colorful days--I think we could all use some right about now.  Happy Friday.

Sandra

Back to School, 2011.

On a wet and rainy morning, the two oldest were all smiles as they waited to board their bus.

 

Few words were spoken.  And as the rain came down, few pictures were snapped. 

But I did manage to capture Charlie offering some advice.  And I was happy to witness them both intently listening--we are in no rush for the "you don't know what you're talking about" phase that ambushes many on their parental path.

Off they went, our 3rd and 1st grader.  I was sad, of course, but also genuinely excited for them because they both adore school.

But littlest one?  Much like last year*, he was not in favor of being left behind.

He starts school next week.  Until then, I am in distraction mode.

Sandra

*My word, do our boys look impossibly older than last year.  It would be silly to tear up now after holding it together at the bus stop, now wouldn't it?

 

2011 beach trip, in video.

I sat down to finally write about our beach vacation and started flipping through the 1300+ photos.  I quickly became overwhelmed by both the memories of such a fun trip as well as an artificial sense of pressure as to which ones to pick to post.  Silly, silly, I know.  So instead, I decided to try out a video scrapbook.  FYI, it's about 3 minutes long and there is music (Ingrid Michaelson's Sort Of).  Here is our vacation through my lens.

xoxo, Sandra

Memorial Day Waterfight, 2011.

To my handful of friends (and 3 readers) who have casually mentioned or emailed that they are waiting to see shots of a certain tradition; and to Max, who would like nothing more than to relive a certain epic day....here you go:

As Team Kid preps, they check their gear...

and Max is called to the center of the battlefield by Team Grown Ups for a handshake to kick things off...

someone yelled, "charge!" and off they went, squirt guns blazing...

As I snapped an obscene amount of pictures, Charlie worked the armory and fashioned some effective shields from gear left over from Halloween costumes...

Our neighbor's visiting son is such a trooper to do this for the kids.  But I think (and hope) he enjoys it too...

As littlest one isn't into getting wet these days, he quickly retreated to watch from inside.  We think he'll join the ranks again next year.

Speaking of, at the conclusion of the battle, I was surprised to see Max looking a tad sad, shoulders slumped, his faced settled into a thoughtful pout. 

"What's wrong, buddy?"  I asked.  "You guys won, right?" 

"Yeah," Max said, shrugging.  "But right now...this second...it's my least favorite time of the whole year." 

"Why's that?"

"Because it's the furthest in time from the next water fight.  It's so long to wait."

Oh Max, my little worrier.  Trust me when I tell you that these days are flying by. 

Much, much too fast. 

Sandra

Roy G. Biv batter.

I still need to write up posts on each birthday boy.  We now have an 8, 6, and 3 year-old in residence.  I am not dealing very well with the numbers creeping up...especially the oldest.  How can he almost be on deck for double digits?  He started kindergarten a blink ago.

Every spring we go through quite a sugar rush celebrating three birthdays in quick succession.  The actual birthdays are behind us, but we are still getting together with family and a small group of friends to celebrate this weekend...thus lots of cake was and will be had.

One of the more fun cakes, to date, were rainbow cupcakes. 

I've wanted to try this technique for some time.  It merely requires dividing cake batter, adding food coloring, then layering the batter--without mixing--before baking.  And if your children are rainbow experts, be sure to mind the selection and order of your colors, else you'll hear about it.

Evidently, I couldn't find spoons to stir. I used butter knives.

As you can imagine, preschoolers go pretty nuts over rainbow cupcakes (adults too, but that's another story).  In my experience, many toddlers use cake as a vehicle for frosting.  I've dumped many a half-eaten cupcake.  It's not like I mind--after all, it seems pretty silly to make a child finish his cupcake.  But this cake?  Frosting or no, it was gobbled up.  Who doesn't want to eat a rainbow?

I will note that it was a bit of work--the layering, that is.  Next time, I'll put the batter into ziplocs to speed up the process.  And yes, I am assuming there will be a next time. 

William has already placed his order...

 

Happy Friday!

Sandra