Rain Boot Planters

These are my favorite garden accessory other than a Tinkerbell stepping stone that Regan made.  I wish I could say I had a flourishing, lush garden, but it's been 110+ here and my garden looks dead and pathetic.  I'm one of those people that listens to the voluntary water restrictions that the city issued and as a result my lawn and garden look like Fall came early and there are dead leaves everywhere! Nonetheless I still have these cute little planters.  Regan outgrew her Barbie rain boots and since they weren't quite the color for Jack and pretty faded from her leaving them outside they were my pick.  It was nice to be able to re-purpose them as well since no one could wear them anymore.

Here's how I made them over.  I took the inserts out of the boots and drilled holes in the bottoms so that the water could drain out.  Then I spray painted them pink.  Not any special kind of spray paint just general outdoor/indoor.  It took about 3 good coats of the pink and then I did one coat of clear.  Then I filled them up with dirt and some flowers after letting them dry for 24 hours.  They looked really cute with live flowers (and of course I didn't get a picture of that!) but that that ship has sailed!  They have been out for a good four months and held up beautifully through some thunderstorms and blistering heat.  I've seen some cute Pinterest posts with rain boots but my experience with Regan's fading from leaving them outside made me weary of leaving them untouched and I am so glad I painted them, it really made all the difference!

Happy Gardening!

After their first coat of pink.

Here they are after enduring the end of Spring and the long hot Summer!

Summer Water Fun

Right before Jack was born we took the kids in the backyard for a good ole fashioned water balloon fight.  We had so much fun that it has become a tradition that we spend an evening in June in some sort of water battle.  This year the kids were playing in their tent and we ambushed them with the hose.  They would get brave and run out to grab the cushions from the patio furniture.  They turned their tent into a sinking pirate ship and would try and block the holes and dig out the water.  I got lots and lots of pictures, that is when Dale wasn't spraying me with water, although most of them I can't post on the blog.  It's no fun to keep all your clothes on when you're being sprayed with water.  I highly suggest ambushing your children with the water hose.

Sneaking back in with a patio cushion.

My favorite picture.  She melts my heart.

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When it was time to go inside the kids dried off, got their pajamas on and had a hot cocoa picnic in the living room while they watched a movie.  If you haven't had a hot cocoa picnic you should try one of those too.  Just make sure to put a really thick blanket down that needs a good wash!

Campfire Cowboy Skillet

You're going to have to do a hike to burn this off but it's really yummy and uses up camp leftovers like nobody's business.  I made this for lunch and it was a hit.  Especially with the hubs.

What you need:

Leftover bacon and sausage from breakfast (we had about 6 strips of bacon and 3 patties leftover)
1 lb of ground beef
1/2 onion chopped
1 big can of Bush's Original Baked Beans
Approximately 3 tablespoons of Barbecue sauce
Large cast iron skillet
Hungry Campers

What to do:

Cook the ground beef and onion together in a cast iron skillet on a grate over the fire.  It helps if you have it  not perfectly level so that the grease kind of self drains to one side of the skillet.  While the ground beef and onions are cooking cut the bacon and sausage into bite size pieces.  Once the beef and onion mixture is cooked drain off or use paper towels to remove as much grease as possible.  Add the bacon, sausage, can of beans and barbecue sauce.  Let simmer over fire about 5-10 minutes.  Serve with crackers, chips, corn bread, anything you have on hand.  Enjoy!

Camping 101 with The Jones Family

We went camping with all the kids over Memorial Day weekend.  It was fun and exhaustion all rolled in to 24 hours.  Yes we camped for 24 hours.  So here is our experience summed up into a few lists and some pictures.  Let's start with the awesome stuff.

Awesome:

• Watching the girls faces light up with delight when the butterflies would land on them.
• Playing catch and soccer with Ethan.
• Letting Jack change the shoreline of the lake by throwing in every rock he could get his hands on.
• I skipped a rock for the first time ever.  I know this is lame for some people but apparently you just need a good teacher (thanks honey!) and I had never done it!
• Campfire Smores- they just taste so much better cooked over a campfire, the kids replied "Smores" to my question as to what their favorite part was.
• No technology and not knowing what time it was.  Being completely unplugged for a few days has been really nice.
• Listening to Ellie and all of her scientific terminology, she is wicked smart and blew our minds.
• Going hiking together and watching the kids explore and interact with nature.
• No one getting hurt (I mean this one is pretty awesome).
• Getting to see a really big snake and a tarantula, they were cool and I'm pretty sure Jack would have followed that tarantula anywhere.
• My Campfire Cowboy Skillet lunch- Dale chimed in it was his favorite part.  I'll give you the recipe tomorrow :).
• Teaching the kids about responsibility.  We had them help with set up and clean up for both the camping part and the meals.
• There's no place like home!  Especially hearing the kids say how much they loved camping and loved being back at the house.  One of the best showers I've ever taken.

Oh Crap:

• Forgetting kitchen utensils (like a spatula, can opener and paper towels).  I remembered this on the way out and we borrowed a spatula from the Grandparents.  Thankfully Dale is pretty handy and can open a can with a screwdriver and a mallet.  He also went to town for paper towels so we could have yummy skillet potatoes for breakfast.
• Forgetting to put OFF higher up our shorts.  Ethan's bum, Ellie thighs and my thighs look like they have chicken pox.  Yay for hydrocortisone cream!
• The showers were like being in a sauna so we got clean and sweaty again all within 20 minutes and the person that showered before us left poop in there.  I became a mom with the expectations that I would have to clean up my own kids poop, I get really pissed when I have to clean up other peoples! That part was just straight up nasty.
• Having to say "Where's Jack" every 15 minutes at the campsite.  The difference between ages 2 and 3 is listening skills, really important listening skills.

What we learned:

• A portable kid potty is invaluable and the one of the best investments I ever made.  You can put it in the car or in a folding chair for the big kids (or me in the middle of the night) and not have to walk to the bathrooms.  
• Bring your own toilet paper.  So glad I did!  To quote Ethan "I don't know what that stuff is but it doesn't belong anywhere near my butt!"
• We are going to invest in a shower enclosure to go with our Coleman 5 gallon solar shower.  It would have been a million times easier to just shower outside instead of the sauna/poop shower.  
• You can't have too many activities planned during the day.  There was a little bit of "everyone hasn't had enough sleep/ it's really hot/ we don't really want to do anything but lounge around" between lunch and dinner.  
• Bring a big blanket just to lay outside on.  Jack and Regan both just laid down for a nap when they were ready and it was kind of hot in the tent.
• Don't bring sugary drinks.  It will just make the kids hyper and kind of annoying.  Just water or even a Crystal Light drink would have been enough.

Now we know we can do it.  We definitely want to do it again and we know the kids can totally pass as campers.  Regan listened way more than I thought she was capable of and the big kids were pretty awesome.  Maybe we'll consider it again when our bug bites are gone!

Ethan is pretending to be Spongebob.  Someday he'll want me to hide this one.

The girls didn't care for this guy as much as the boys.

Jack needed a closer look.  

The butterflies kept landing and the girls would have conversations with them.

Oh my how they are growing.

Take my hand Daddy and lets go over here!

Dale is looking for good skipping rocks.

He loves his brother and always looks out for him.  Glove on an all.

Red faced and sweaty!  She fell asleep on me a few minutes later.  This girl will always
pose for a picture.

Jack would walk around knocking all of the chairs over.  Apparently sitting on  the
trash was way more comfortable!

Where's Jack?

You might also like:  Campfire Cowboy Skillet

Super Kids Day

Today was the last day of school.  On the last day they have what's called Super Kids Day.  It's full of fun, games, inflatables and at the end of the day popsicles.  I volunteered this year to help with the games and because I'm super awesome I manned the water blaster station, twice.  It was really fun and especially nice when it was hot.  Kids were always willing to spray me down and any other adult in the area.  So here are a few pics from our fun day.  Since I was working it (pun intended) I only got a few pictures but I got some great memories, a tan and the kids were so proud that their mom made the water blaster station the best and coolest spot on the playground.

Ethan at the Tug-of-War games.  He smiled at me and waved!

Ethan at the Water Baseball station next to mine.  This is one of those pictures where I can see
a glimpse of what he'll look like as an adult.  He makes my heart melt.

Ellie in her classroom.  Girl was excited to go out and play!  Wait I have to take her home with me!

Ellie was more than willing to blast the boys on the side.  

He didn't know I was taking pictures and just laughed away.  I love him so much!

Remind me never to give her a popsicle.  I'm not sure how much she actually got in her mouth. 

And now its officially summer.

The Summer of Responsibility

During the school year it seems as though we are going a million miles an hour and its seemingly easier to do things myself.  But all of that has changed this summer.  This summer I'm not working, not having a baby or bringing one home and I'm not doing all of the chores by myself.  If it is something they can do, I let them.  I also have let go of  a whole bunch of control and lowered my expectations!  The result has been a cleaner house and more importantly more time together.

So what do they do?  After lunch and dinner the older ones take turns washing the dishes, wiping down the table, sweeping and moping the floor.  We always give Regan and Jack their own rags and ask them to clean but usually nothing happens.  All the while I can do things like clean off Jack and wipe the counters down and put away any leftovers.  They love using the mops.  I love not moping.  It doesn't look perfect but on the flip side its getting done and besides its gonna be messed up in about 5 seconds anyway.  They also unload the dryer, fold socks and wash cloths, pick up the living room and dust along with being semi responsible for their rooms.

The best part is we are spending more time together (oh and I am way less stressed) and they are learning valuable life skills.  I want my kids to be able to take care of and depend on themselves more the older they get.  They feel so accomplished and proud of their work and in turn we give them praise and are sure to let them overhear us bragging about them.  Our goal by the end of the summer is that they can each (Ethan and Ellie) be able to prepare a simple meal without leaving a mess and know how to do some simple cleaning tasks on their own.  So far so good.  I know it can only get better the older they get, that is until they quit enjoying mopping.

 Oh and just because its summer and because I think she is so great, here is Regan at the splash pad.