Category: adventures

test run

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Last night we invited out next door neighbors over for a test run of an outdoor movie in our backyard.

We had a campfire for roasting marshmallows.

And, once it got dark enough outside everything worked great!

My photography skills in the dark…not that great.

So, I changed all the photos to sepia.

You get the idea, right?

We watched Puss in Boots.

All boys…and baby girl!

The moon between the trees.

We’ll definitely be doing this again!

I have big plans for an outdoor movie party.

Check this one off our summer list!

And, can you all help me out with the photos? What settings should i be using/change?

I was shooting in auto…I’m not using manual, yet.

I don’t want to use flash, and the nighttime mode on my Nikon D60 just makes things blurry.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

home is…a successful test run (for the movie, not my night time photography skills)

here it is…

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summer list

Last year I was inspired by Meg to come up with a Summer List of our own, and I loved it!

I absolutely love how Meg’s looked on her giant chalkboard with the photo collages in what is now her craft house!

{I also adore her old school chairs and would love some of my own.}

Source: megduerksen.typepad.com via stephany @ on Pinterest

Anyway, it gave us (me) a reason to plan some fun activities each week, but also left room for spontaneity and lazy days.

Although the little guy has been out of school for a couple of weeks, this week is the “official” start of summer break for all of the “big kids” as the last day of school was yesterday.

I have a giant chalkboard like Meg’s, but the kids use it and I am afraid that they would erase our list and I would constantly be re-writing it this summer.

I decided to use our giant bulletin board instead.

You may remember that it has been used to display our christmas cards in the past…

in our playroom…

and, in our family room.

Now, the bulletin board is located on the huge wall next to our open staircase in our entryway.

It has been displaying the kids artwork from the school year.

Since we won’t have school work, and we have two other bulletins on the wall to display artwork, I decided this would be a good place to put our summer list.

So, here is our Summer List 2012…

We walk by it every day and we can make sure that we are checking things off as summer moves along!

I printed out our list in a fun font, cut out the items, and glued them to scrapbook paper that was cut into different sizes.

My hope is that each time we do something on the “list” we can write the date on the card and I can write down a little bit about our adventure.

I will also print some photos of our adventures to put up on the board.

See my handsome cousin and his fiancé up there? We’re going to their wedding in August!


I will put additional invitations and postcards (my mother in law sends the kids postcards frequently) up here as well!

And, the big thing on our list…

no more diapers!

So, what do you plan to do this summer?

photos from {m}iphone

Here are some recent photos from Instagram…you can follow me as @homeisablog!

Well, we’ve got to to cross something off our summer list…

home is…hot fun in the summertime.

working on it

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So, I said it in my about page…I’m a procrastinator.

Yep, still don’t have our summer list done.

Actually, the list is done, but the display is not…and I’ve got to have it all ready for a blog post, right?

We have already crossed two items off the list…

5th annual playgroup birthday celebration

The first year (when all of our oldest turned one), it was 30 adults and 15 kids.

This year we had 26 adults and 26 kids (with one more due this month)!

One of the families lives on 5 awesome acres near wine country, apple orchards, and berry farms.

They graciously hosted the crew and it was fabulous!

Lala found this jumprope…

…and wouldn’t let it go.

And, we lucked out with June weather here in the Pacific Northwest…sunny and in the 70’s!

Bobo had a great time playing with some of his buddies and ran all over the place until he got blisters from his Batman Crocs!

It’s always fun to get the dad’s together with all of the kids.

The dad’s play with the kids, and , after 5 years, I think they know everybody’s name!

They all looked relaxed.

She finally played with the other kids after following me around for almost 2 hours.

Isn’t this outhouse awesome?!

We did it all potluck…the kids love the homemade cupcakes!

We sang Happy Birthday.

The kids shared their cupcakes with me.

This hammock was a hit with all the kids…Lala even wanted me to change her diaper on it!

I gave it a try and decided we need to get one for our backyard!

pool

Today we “officially” went to the pool.

Bobo had gone in a couple of times before his swim lessons, but today we packed a lunch, brought our beach towels, and all had our swimsuits on!

The kids has a blast!

So did I!

Actually, I didn’t sit around.

I got in the pool, went down the water slide multiple times, and left feeling like I had been on a mini vacation.

Sometimes, the easiest way to take care of kids is to act like one yourself!

colton+cadence

I made a fun graduation gift inspired by the theme of the graduation party we went to over the weekend.

I’m thinking about making more to put in the shop…so check it out later this week!

home is…working on our summer list.

serious about fort building

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After a long and busy last week of preschool, a short weekend with Ryan out of town for a work meeting on Saturday, and a rainy Monday morning, we resorted to fort building to start our first week of summer break!

And, when we build forts, it’s not just the blanket thrown over a table kind of fort.

This is what you call a keep-it-up-all-week-fort.

And, since the weather looks like it will be rainy all week, that is what we will do!

The weekend was short with Ryan having to work in California until Saturday night, but we tackled a fun project in the little guy’s room.

We took apart the bunk bed and turned it into two twin beds. Nobody really ever wanted to sleep in the top bunk, so now the kids are excited about the prospect of Lala having a “sleepover” in Bobo’s room!

It’s official. I have a kindergartner…

and a preschooler!

We celebrated at the little guy’s school on Friday.

A luau party.

To celebrate summer birthday’s and moving on to kindergarten!

Complete with ice cream sundaes!

The little guy will be attending kindergarten and Lala will be going to preschool at the same school next year.

Teacher Becky said, “…out of all the boys I would take {the little guy} home with me. I hope he never loses his sensitivity. He is so thoughtful and caring.”

And, Teacher Janie has been one of his teachers the last two years. I will miss seeing her on a regular basis next year. She is always happy and smiling. I hope Lala has her for a teacher eventually.

So, we’re officially on Summer Break.

I will be back later this week with our summer list that we tried for the first time last year!

Stay tuned…

home is…keep-it-up-all-week-forts.

gone fishin’

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Ryan gathered some of his buddies and their kids and took them fishing on Saturday.

It’s one of our favorite morning activities during the summer.

The river is just minutes from our house.

Crawfish, Bass, Carp…it really doesn’t matter what you are catching.

Baby girl and I brought some crumb cake and coffee and just watched the action.

home is…sharing fun with friends.

still having fun

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So, let me tell you, you don’t want to get shingles.

Thankfully, I think I have a mild case.

However, I think the fact that they are on my head and neck make it a bit more painful.

And, it’s not really fun going to your kids preschool field trip with what looks like a big old hickey on your neck.

I’ve spared you all from the photos.

I think I posted a couple on Instagram (maybe Facebook), but otherwise I’ve tried to stay on the “down low”.

Anyway, Ryan really stepped in once he returned from business travel last week (after also helping out when his mom was here for a week).

He took the little guy to school on Friday and then Lala and I went to the Mother’s Day Tea at the preschool.

He’s a little tea pot…

The 4’s…

I’m not sure if he even sang…

Oooooh, he did sing…just missed the hand movements on this one.

Pulling it all together…

for the BIG finish!!!

{by the way, he and the cutie next to him were partners for the play and held hands all they way through their “Chicken Little” skit}

What else have we done?

Set up an outdoor bed for the kids to rest in…and play with the iPhone’s and iPad.

Real men play with pink iPads.

Letting Ryan deal out the discipline…Lala wasn’t thrilled about timeout.

Watched while Ryan played with the kids at the playground.

They are both capable of so many new things on a playground.

He couldn’t do this alone last summer.

And, she just wants to keep up with him.

And, I’ve just let them goof off while I sit and watch in the backyard.

Now, I am off to bed.

I hope to have a Spring yard and garden tour up on the blog by then end of the week!

Also, I gave the teachers their gifts at the Mothers Day Tea…they loved them!

home is…still having fun while I am on the mend.

{through the rearview thursday}

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There are times when I get caught up in life and blogging takes a back seat to other things.

However, there are a lot of things that I wish I had taken the time to blog about.

Some happened before I had a blog.

Some just didn’t get documented because I am too busy living.

I don’t mind with life gets in the way, but there are things I still want to document after the fact.

So, I am starting a new post series called {through the rearview thursday}.

Tune in on Thursday’s where I will catch you up with things I haven’t taken the time to and fill you in on and some of my BB (before blog) life!

Also, stay tuned for a giveaway and big announcement…

home is…continuing to document life when living gets in the way.

just wait 5 minutes…

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You know the saying.

I think it’s used all over the country. And, unless you have lived in multiple areas of the country you think it only applies to where you live.

Between my husband and I, we have lived in only 3 different cities, but they span from coast to coast.

We’ve heard it in Rochester, Denver, and Portland…and many other cities we have visited.

“Just wait 5 minutes and the weather will change.”

It’s been true this spring here in the Pacific Northwest.

Snow, rain, hail, sun.

We’ve had it all…and we’ve been playing in it all, too!

{here come LOTS of photos}

And, before we start this, a HUGE thank you to my husband, Ryan, for taking photos…and generally humoring me the entire time we were up on the mountain.

I can’t wait until we can all ski together!!

Spring skiing at Mt. Hood Meadows.

Easter egg hunt in the backyard.

Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival.

home is…springtime.