Our garden!

We have a cute little garden now! Granddaddy gave us some plants and seeds, and Dennis (and Oliver!) built some raised beds for us to plant them in. 

It was a super hot, sunny day while they were working, so I set up the water table to help my big girl and baby boy cool off. :-)

Almost finished!

Taking a swing break from working so hard at the water table. :-)

A few days later, they filled in the beds and finished up the planting.

So nice!!! The empty-looking one in front is where Oliver planted his own squash and corn seeds. :-)

So far, we're been able to keep everything alive. Probably because we've been remembering to water, ha ha. Look at the cute baby watermelon!!

 And baby tomatoes! Yay for gardens!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to my sweet hubby! This year I printed some "All About My Dad" pages that I found online and had Oliver and Buttercup fill them out. The results are adorable and hilarious!

Oliver's answers:
My dad's name is Dennis.
He is 33 years old and 6 and 3 in tall.
He has black hair and hazel eyes.
My dad likes to wear polo shirts and his favorite color is blue.
My dad likes to go to the Lego store and his car is a race car.
My dad's favorite sport is swimming and his favorite tv show is creepy ones.
He likes to cook eggs.
His favorite food is spaghetti.
His favorite drink is Sprite and his favorite dessert is cake.
My dad is the best at swimming.
My dad tries really hard to swim good. (Ha ha ha!!)
And he is so special to me because he loves me.

Buttercup's answers:
My dad's name is Daddy.
He is 10 years old and super tall. :-)
He has black hair and blue eyes.
My dad likes to wear clothes and his favorite color is orange. 
My dad likes to go to places, like Safari Champ (HA HA HA!) and his car is a putt-putt.
My dad's favorite sport is running and his favorite tv show is a grown up show.
He likes to cook hot dogs and weenies.
His favorite food is ice cream.
His favorite drink is lemonade and his favorite dessert is cake.
My dad is the best at being a daddy.
My dad tries really hard to help us get down from super high things. (HA HA HA HA HA HA!) and he is so special to me because he's my daddy and because I love him and because he likes eating popcorn. 

I love these!!! This is definitely going to become a new tradition. :-)  

Swim test

At the YMCAs in our area, kids have to stay within an arm's length of their parents until they pass the swim test (25 yards in the lap pool, without touching the bottom or sides of the pool). Buttercup has been ready to take the swim test since she turned 4, but the rule is that kids have to be 5 years old to take it. 

It wasn't such a big deal at first, but over the past 7 months she has grown more confident and capable in the water, and she has really, really, really been wanting to swim with Oliver in the lap pool. I've been taking Theodore and holding him in the lap pool while she swims, but he only wants to be in the shallow water where he can stand up and splash, or wade out until he's shoulder-deep and do his own "swimming."  So when we go swimming, either Buttercup is mad at me because she has to stay in the "baby water" with Theodore and me, or Theodore is mad because I have to take him in the lap pool to be close to Buttercup.

Well, that all changed this morning! We were at the Y and Oliver and Buttercup wanted to swim in the lap pool. I was near them in the shallow water with Theodore, but was definitely further than an arm's length away from Buttercup. She was swimming halfway down the lane and back, over and over again, and doing fine. The lifeguard asked me if she had on a swim bracelet (indicating that she had passed the swim test), and I said that she wasn't able to take it, because she was still 4. Then I asked if she could go ahead and take the test, since she was obviously doing just fine and not having any trouble keeping herself afloat. The guard watched her a little bit longer and said that if she was close enough to being 5, she could go ahead and take the test. I said she would be 5 in October, and the guard said that was good enough. :-)

So Miss B got to take the swim test this morning, and she rocked it! We are so proud of this big, big girl!!!

Wearing her new swim bracelet!!

Oliver was so excited that he now he has a constant companion for the lap pool and slides!!!

Not related to swimming, but these are pics from this morning -- the kids biked 4 miles while I ran next to them pushing Theodore in the stroller. :-)  They loved biking in their swimsuits!


Showing off their guns! 

Accidental garden

The kids have always loved to plant different things outside in the dirt.  When Oliver and Buttercup were younger, they would plant twigs, flowers, or whatever else they would find in the yard. (Of course, as they got older, they learned that leaves and sticks won't grow. ;-))  

After they started preschool, they would occasionally bring home a small pot with a seed that they planted at school, and we would remember to water it for a while, but would usually end up forgetting and the plant would die.  

One day last month, Oliver came home from school and told me all of the information he had learned about seeds and plants in the science lab that day. He asked if he could have some beans to plant outside, and I said, "sure!" I wasn't sure what would happen, but it wouldn't hurt anything to try. 

Well, wouldn't you know it? They sprouted!    

He planted them all by himself, in front of the kids' dirt pile. I just think it's really cute how he planted them in a (mostly) straight row. :-)  Great job, Oliver! Now we just have to remember to water them . . .  

Buttercup's garden picture

Buttercup drew this garden scene the other day. Didn't she do a great job?? She drew herself next to a rainbow plant, standing in tall grass. I love it!!

A sweet note of apology

One morning this week, I took the kids to play at Bull Creek with some friends. We had to leave earlier than our friends since Theodore was ready for a nap, and Buttercup and Oliver were both very disappointed that we had to leave "so early" (although we had been there for over 2 hours) and both chose to disobey me instead of walking to the car when I asked them to. 

When we finally were all in the car, I told them that, as a consequence, I would not take them to the farm the next morning like we had planned to do, and instead we would stay home all morning. Buttercup screamed the rest of the way home (of course) while Oliver silently pouted. When we got home, Oliver stopped me in the kitchen and said, "Mom, I'm going to write you an 'I'm sorry' letter and I'm going to use my best handwriting." 

After I had gotten Theodore and Buttercup down for their naps, I went to the table to check on Oliver, and he handed me this note:

It reads: "I am sorry for not obbeying [sic] you. Can you forgive me. Thank you for taking me. I shood [sic] have been a better listener."  

I love his neat handwriting, curlicue letters, and heart punctuation!! My sweet boy. :-)

Chocolate Eclair Dessert

A friend served this dessert at her house last week, and it is so yummy and easy that you need to go make it for yourself!  :-)

Since Oliver is finished with school, he was more than happy to help me make it while his younger sister and brother were napping. :-)

First, cover the bottom of a 9x13 casserole dish with a layer of graham crackers.

Measure 3 cups of milk.

Pour the milk in a mixing bowl. 

 Whisk the milk with 2 packages of instant vanilla pudding.

Fold in a container of Cool Whip. The Cool Whip was definitely his favorite part!

Pour half of the pudding/Cool Whip on top of the layer of graham crackers. Add another layer of graham crackers, and pour the rest of the pudding mixture on top. Then add one more layer of graham crackers.  

While this is going on, place a can of chocolate frosting in the microwave (take the foil off first!) and heat it on high for 1 minute. 

The only mishap was when I wasn't checking on the frosting in the microwave like I should have, and apparently it boiled over. Oliver proudly told his friend the next day, "My mom did a science experiment in the microwave! She melted a can of frosting and it exploded!" Ha ha ha. 

Take whatever frosting you have left over after it "exploded" in the microwave, and pour it on the top layer of graham crackers.  

Cover it and set it in the fridge for at least 2 hours. Super easy, and yummy!

Chocolate Eclair Dessert
(recipe from All Recipes)

2 sleeves of graham crackers
2 (3 oz) packages of instant vanilla pudding mix
3 cups of milk
1 (8 oz) container of Cool Whip, thawed
1 (16 oz) container of chocolate frosting

Line the bottom of a 9x13 casserole dish with graham crackers. 

Combine pudding mix and milk, then fold in the Cool Whip. Spoon half of the pudding mixture onto the layer of graham crackers. Add another layer of graham crackers, then spoon on the rest of the pudding mix. 

Top with one more layer of graham crackers.

Melt the frosting in the microwave for 1 minute (OR LESS!!!). Pour frosting on top of the top layer of graham crackers.

Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Enjoy!