A Little Obession & a History Lesson

Most afternoons we sit in the playroom and enjoy reading time. Each week we pick out a new chapter book and I'll read aloud while the girls work quietly at their little table or the floor. (I know, I know, how very Little House on the Prairie of us - we are a bit nerdish...what can I say?)

They are allowed to pick any activity they like as long as they stay quiet and listen to the story. Legos, puzzles, and coloring books are usually the activity of choice, but for the past month, Caroline has been obsessed with a new big girl tool she has learned to use:

Scissors!

Anna Cate will cut out pictures or letters to glue to a collage, but Caroline just cuts for the sake of cutting.

She will sit on the floor and cut up old magazines for a solid 30 to 45 minutes. It is the darnedest thing I've ever seen.

She cuts and cuts and cuts and ends up with a colossal pile of trash by the end of story time!

Last week during story time, we read Meet Josefina, one of the American Girl books.

In one of the chapters, Josefina and her sisters had to wash their family's laundry in the creek. Anna Cate's interest was piqued and she had lots of questions about how they did laundry (and other household chores) a "long long long time ago."

Desperate for a fun morning activity, we gathered up all of the girls' doll clothes and blankets, filled two tubs up with some water & soap, and let them go to town washing their own laundry.

A good *clean* time was had by all and the girls got a little appreciation for how hard daily chores were a "long long long time ago."

If only my grandmother had been here with us to enjoy our little morning activity. She loved lessons like this about how much harder things used to be! :)

The Playhouse Diaries - Part 1

While we were at the beach this summer, we discovered a little playhouse in a park on Sullivan's Island. I don't know who was more enamored, me or the girls. :)

It was actually eerily similar to a house I had seen and loved while Will and I were doing a drive by shooting on a date one evening.

He drives while I hang out of the window, snapping pictures and swooning over old beach houses...what can I say, he is a patient man. ;) And doesn't this house look like something straight out of a Faulkner novel?

But I digress...

...back to the playhouse.

A few Saturdays ago, Anna Cate and Will sat down at the kitchen table to work up a design for a playhouse in our very own back yard.

He put his Clemson engineering skills to good use while she developed a headache double checking all of his math.

There is this awkward spot in the corner of our backyard where a raised bed of some sort was built with railroad ties. We've tried to have a little garden back there, but it is very shady and we can never get anything to grow. Last Saturday, my dad came over to help Will level the ground and start working on the little house.

By lunchtime they had built four walls and a floor. The girls went out to investiage their work.

"Hmmm...this looks more like a bunch of wooden poles than a playhouse."

Despite the lack of a roof,

closed-in walls,

and the heat,

they have had a ball in their new space this week.

Every morning after breakfast, they each pack a little bookbag with their coloring books, crayons, and a snack, and head over to their new little corner of the yard.

Will set us up with an outdoor fan which has made it quite tolerable in the heat,

even though we enjoy coloring and eating our snacks in gale force winds (but hey, it keeps the mesquitos at bay too). Also, I didn't realize until I uploaded these pictures that Caroline was using this little piece of wood as her table sans a plate. Yum yum, nothing like a slice of american cheese freshly peeled off a piece of lumber.

This evening, the guys put in another hour and a half and we now have the roof framed. I can't wait until it is finished! I have grand plans of planting flowers all around it (that don't need much sun of course!) and fixing it all up inside. I'm anticipating many hours spent out in this little spot of the yard!

Snapshots of Summer

Well hello there!

We have had a fun and busy summer and it is hard to believe that it is almost over! I have missed blogging, but have really enjoyed the time our little family has spent together the past few months. I must admit that not blogging for awhile has left me a little "shy" and I'm having trouble finding the right words to write.

So for now, I'll just ease back into things by sharing a few of my favorite pics from June & July.

The famous POUT - work it girl!

The Ocean!

Beach date night!

Summer Project for Will ;)

Wrightsville Beach!!

Summer Eatin'

"Yes Caroline, please help yourself to the entire plate of watermelon on the table for dinner."

Summer staple in the fridge: Berry Water

another staple...berry salad!

and fresh herbs too

I have loved every minute of this summer of 2 & 4. These sweet girls are growing up way too fast!! I am so thankful for our lazy days these past few months and the precious time to soak up this stage of life we are in.

And I'll leave you with this shot of these two silly birds. :)

To celebrate the 4th, we went out on the boat to watch the fireworks. That evening, while I was cleaning up from dinner, I told the girls to go change into something warm because we were going out on the boat and it would get chilly after dark.

This is what they put on!

:)

talk about a fashion statement!!!