Last Days of Summer

Even in the desert the summer comes to an end.  Shocking, I know, but it happens.  I can tell most when we visit our neighborhood pool.  We have been going almost every other day to get lots of pool time in before it is incredibly cold, but I think our outdoor pool has seen the last of us for this season.  The shivers coming from the crazies as they dry off sort of confirmed it for me today.  It has been fun & the crazies have become little fish, but adios until next year.  

Here are some pics of our last round at the pool.

K jumping in... so fearless.

K swimming to Dad

D taking the plunge

And D  making his way to Dad

K, our pet fish.

The ladybugs came out to join us -- we even had to take this one home.

 My water babies

What fun is drying off without some wrestling action?

A Good Mail Day... Finally!!

So today was the best mail day ever.  Ever.  EVER.  My Canon was waiting for me when I unlocked my mailbox & I am complete again!  While traveling back from vacation this summer, the screen cracked.  In 2 places.  It was a mere nightmare, but I quickly filed a repair claim with Canon & sent my camera to the hospital.  But, without it life on the blog has been a little boring.  So, today, it is back.  All intact & looking good & ready to be used again.

Also in the mail was our Disney Movie Club Starter box.  I read about the Disney Movie Club online & we decided to join as the rewards seemed pretty good.  With your initial registration you get 5 movies for $17 shipped as long as you agree to purchase 4 more movies over 24 months at $19.95.  We used to not be much of a movie family, but living in the desert & having little around, it has become our Friday night routine.  Plus, soldier man is working 2 out of 4 Friday nights because of the rotational schedule here & it makes my Friday night a little easier.  We make pizzas, pick out a special candy from the store, & pop in a movie around 6:30 which takes us straight to bedtime.  The kids have gotten used to it & we are all watching & loving movies we haven't seen.  Plus, with the surprise Disney trip fast approaching for the crazies, we figured this is a good way to get them familiar with all of the Disney characters.  

So, a camera & abunch of movies made my day.  It looks like blogging world is back to normal again.

The much-anticipated box!!

All of this for $17 shipped!!

The crazies on a Friday night movie night -- something exciting was going down on Dumbo!

B says "Buh"

So it was another week of learning around here with the crazies -- the letter was "B" with a theme centered around balls.  The crazies had fun with it!  We did our writing practice & D has his "B" down so I also introduced money, just the coins.  We played with balls, made ball patterns, did some math with balls, discussed ball textures, & even made ball cookies (I totally failed to bring out the camera with that one, uh!).  They are loving it & I'm enjoying making the most of D's last year at home.  Here are some of our ideas below.

Our letter for the week

Paper plate soccer balls

Football lacing & decorating

We painted with rubber bouncy balls

Our coin sheets... we found a cute money rhyme to use too!  I will try to find the link.

Money Rhyme for Coins

Seeings lots of A's Around Here

So, school has started off in the area & I still have the crazies with me, but that doesn't leave them excused from any kind of learning.  I took lots of time over the summer to get tons of stuff ready for a year of learning at home.  I wanted to come up with a theme for each week as well as activities & whatnot to go with that theme.  It also helps me to have it all printed off, cut out, & ready to go so that when we sit down each day, we are set!

I should say that every printable & every worksheet is FREE.  I have not paid a dime for any type of curriculum & there is TONS available on the internet.  I have a nice stash of craft supplies at home & of course have to restock that from time to time, but that is how kids learn best at this toddler age so it is worth it to me.  I did buy some flashcards (states, Presidents, etc.) but they were at most $3 a pack -- the kids LOVE these & look forward to doing them at the end of our sessions. 

So, we kicked off our first real week of "learning" with the letter A doing an apple/fruit theme making crockpot applesauce & doing lots of things with apples.  We have one cooking adventure around the theme each week as well as a craft for the other days that ties into the theme.  Below are some of our "A Adventures" as we dove into everything I had prepared to have at least a couple hours of structured learning around here.

Our A letter & verse

We colored an apple tree & glued pom-poms (apples) to it

We painted with apples

We did an apple mosaic with tissue paper (their favorite)

We laced an apple

Deacon doing some math

This is what K thinks about learning time

I even caught them later in the day doing "learning" with their animals

Planning WAY Ahead

 We just returned from a 2 week vacation visiting back home.  We made our rounds visiting family & friends on the East Coast & loved every minute of it.  I also knew this would be the last time we'd see some people until who knows when... we haven't started planning holidays around here yet, but the thought of staying home has crossed my mind.  So, I knew vacation would be a good time to get some good shots of all of the cousins if we planned on using any of these 

photo ops as presents later in the year.

It takes just a little coordination & some planning ahead, but it helps to make the best gifts for grans if you need to use them later.  Prior to leaving for vacation, I just called my sister-in-law & my sister to see what we all had in our closets that would help with the clothes coordination.  The pictures just look better when there is a common theme or color so that no major clashing is going on.  So we decided on 2 different outfits & colors, packed it for vacation, & ended up with some fun shots of the kids!

So, if you can coordinate with siblings, cousins, or family ahead of time, it makes for a less stressful holiday season & one less picture you must take then.

The Crabby Clan

The boys

And the girls

My 2 Crazies

And Photo Op #2

My Crazies

 

The girls

And the boys

And this one just sort of happened -- accidentally, all of the kids ended up in green.  Seriously, after a while great minds just start to think alike.

BUNCO... let the good times roll!!

In every military place we have been stationed I have been lucky enough to have an outstanding BUNCO group.  I'd never heard of BUNCO before becoming a military spouse but learned very quickly that it was a social highlight of my month.  So, upon coming to Fort Irwin I tried to plug into one very quickly in an effort to meet people.  Well, most were full so I went in with a friend to form our own.  Our group grew quickly up to 16 players & turned into themed crazy nights.

Well, July was my month to host so I came up with a White Trash BUNCO night & it was so much fun to plan & decorate.  I encouraged the girls to bring white trash food -- corn dogs, moon pies, & jello shots -- & we certainly all dressed up like Girls Gone Country.  

I had the best time with this theme & thought I'd share the ideas incase there's ever a random themed party you need to throw!

A proper white-trash greeting

Babies drinking & balogna

Front Porch

Remember this hair-do

White Trash Decor

The Classy Women of BUNCO