around here

we've been...

eating snacks outside

skipping shoes

picking flowers

drawing with sidewalk chalk

taking naps

spring cleaning

trying to stay cool

reading, reading, reading

evening walks

happy weekend!

four months

last friday was four months.
this little girl is growing way too fast!

a busy week of visiting

hi there!
what day is it???
just kidding.
we've just been so busy around here it all seems to be running together.
lots of fun. lots of family. lots of excitement.

this last week my sister-in-law,
who just happens to be from the town we live in,
came to visit.
and brought along my sweet little nephew.
he's just a month younger than julia,
so we had lots of fun with two little ones around.
i'm not sure what ben thought about another baby being added to the mix,
but i'm pretty sure he had a good time too.

 

it was wonderful to see you aunt lindsey and cousin abel.
we look forward to seeing you again in july!

close to the country

as i've mentioned we live in a small town -
not as small as the one i was raised in (around 1200), but still small by most standards.
even though we don't live in the country like we hope to one day,
we are lucky enough to be just a few minutes from country roads, open fields and kansas skies.

last sunday we headed out to the country and visited a friend who also happens to raise goats.
it was a little cooler and windier than we were anticipating,
but still fun - especially for ben.

there were baby goats everywhere!

ben thought they were great and spent quite a bit of time trying to catch them,
but he seemed to be a little better at herding.

there were other animals too.
here is my favorite picture of the day...

but i think these might be ben's favorites...

i know it's not for everyone, but we are happy we live close to the country.
and maybe even closer to it down the road...

beans, glue and paper plates

last friday i did another quick activity with ben.
super easy!

1 - rounded up supplies: paper plates, glue, beans and a pen
2 - drew a 'B', a flower and a sun
3 - traced the lines with white glue and put some glue on a plate for dipping
4 - ben placed the beans

this kept ben occupied and interested.
he even made a "crazy shape" one by himself.

i tried to introduce a new vocabulary word - "abstract",
but he still calls it "crazy".

then we made sugar cookies.

ben is always in charge of sprinkles.
doesn't that make you want to eat one of our cookies???
just kidding - i've learned.
ben only gets a few of his own cookies to decorate.
mom does the rest.

unexpected surprises

this week has been full of some unexpected surprises and encouraging moments that have left my heart full.

like taking a some quick photos after a warm afternoon walk at the park.
i had been wanting to shoot some outside photos with the kids for awhile,
and instead of trying to "schedule" time with clothes,
accessories and props like i had been wanting to do
(probably from seeing too many photo blogs and pinterest ideas),
things fell together on their own.
to me the moments i captured are perfect -
even though they are not the "perfection" i was planning in my mind.
i think i am finally learning the joy of contentment,
and letting go of comparison and expectations that often leave me feeling less than happy.
what a waste of my time.

here are a couple of the pictures i shot on monday afternoon.
they are like sunshine to me.

wishing you a happy weekend!

planting a paper garden

i must say i often struggle keeping ben busy -
he loves learning, he has TONS of energy, and he loves to help me with whatever i might be doing.
which is wonderful, but sometimes i need something he can work on by himself.
i've seen some fun ideas for busy bags and projects for preschoolers,
but i don't always have time to organize projects or ideas.
so i've been trying to come up with some of my own simple, interesting and frugal projects for ben.

here's something we've been doing this week -
planting a garden (on paper).

since we are not growing a garden of our own this year (trying to tackle some other home projects),
i decided it was okay to cut-up the garden catalogs.
ben has really enjoyed helping with our garden the past couple of years,
so he got pretty excited about choosing his vegetables, fruits and flowers for his own garden.

initially i did not have the images cut out when this idea came to me,
but i quickly realized that it would be much better with the images already being cut out.
i think i cut the rest of them while watching a little tv in the evening,
and the next day ben was able to plant his garden without much help from me.
just a few "what is this called?" and he was occupied.

we've also been outside doing fun things like sidewalk chalk.
i traced ben and he helped me color in his clothes,

and a kite was most appropriate for a windy kansas day.


and what was miss julia doing?
observing, of course.