To Grandmother's House We Go

For the second week in a row the girls and I loaded up the vehicle and hit the road to Grandma and Grandpa's house. It is my Birthday tomorrow so I am dropping off the kids for a weekend alone with my hubby. We are actually going to a softball tournament he is playing in, but it is still a weekend without the kids.

We had a great trip here. Little one slept the first half of the trip. I brought my hubby's pickup (which has wireless headphones and a DVD player) so it was a quiet drive.

This week I have been eating healthy (no chocolate). I walked into my parent's house and there sitting on the counter were Chocolate Cupcakes with Cream Cheese filling and homemade Chocolate Frosting. . . What do you do?

Scratch the healthy eating for the weekend and dig in. After all, she made them for me for my birthday. Plus, my dad is planning a feast for lunch today before I take off, so that scratches today. And of course I am going to eat whatever I want for my birthday. Oh well, I guess I will start over on Monday.

I asked my little one what we were going to do today at Grammy's. She said, "Go to the library and the beach and the park." I guess she wants to wear me down before I leave her.

By the way, we did catch a kitten yesterday from under the deck. It was so cute and I didn't want to put it back. I reluctantly did. When we get back on Sunday, the mama will probably have moved them since I touched one of them. If not, my sister said if we catch them we can bring them to her farm. I am not sure how we will get them to the farm without keeping one. . .

Check back tomorrow to see my first giveaway in honor of my birthday!

Tales from the Thue Crue Zoo

I have shared with you tales of birds and bunnies that live in our backyard. Well, yesterday my little ones made a new discovery. . .Kittens.

Our backyard deck seems to be a haven for animals. O'kay for two adults that are not huge animal people, I think God is laughing at us.

The girls were of course thrilled with their discovery. The cats however, were way too fast for them and now are shaking under the deck because of the shrill of little girl screams. I am finding that maybe inside of me their is a love for all things furry, and I am fighting it with all my might

Last night when the girls were preoccupied I snuck outside to check out our newest addition to the Thue Crue Backyard Zoo. Staring at me through the deck cracks were 5 kittens. These are not newborn kittens, they are probably the size they should be when you are giving them away. I wanted to hold one really bad. They are soooo cute.

I came back in the house and told my hubby there are 5 kittens, not three (that was the number the girls were guessing earlier). I told them how cute they are and how I really want to hold one. He rolled his eyes at me and said, "Do not start to feed them. Hopefully the mama cat will realize they have been found and will move them." (He is a farm kid that believes all animals belong on the farm).

My three year old went out to check on the kittens with me last night before bed. She looked up at me with her big brown eyes and said, "Mommy will you catch one for me so I can keep it?" She melted my heart right then.

I really wanted to post a picture of them peeking at me through the deck, but this morning the mama was keeping guard. She heard me coming and shooed them deeper under the deck to an area I cannot see. Maybe my hubby's wish will come true and she will move them now because they have been found.

Or maybe, later today we can grab a picture of them to post for all to see.

On another note, the flowers we planted for earth day (from seeds) are finally starting to bloom. Here is one pic for you. I am not a green thumb and I have never grown anything from a seed. I am so happy the girls are getting to see the flowers. Maybe next year we will try a few more.

Wordless Wednesday. . .Runaway

If I didn't know better I would have thought she was running away. . .







Joining Wordless Wednesdays with 5 Minutes for Mom.

Favorite Photo Blog Hop

This week's McLinky Blog Hop Theme is Favorite Photo. This picture is a great reminder for me to stop and enjoy summer. Nadia loves her freezies, but she has to have the Dora gloves to eat them.

Fourth of July

Well, the Fourth of July weekend started out very wet.



We woke up on Saturday to blue skies and beautiful weather.

We headed back in from the campground on Sunday afternoon. We were all a little tired so we sat on the porch to unwind. My middle child decided we needed to take some pictures. It is amazing how silly kids get when you get out a camera. (Our oldest missed out on the fun because she is too cool for us).




I hope everyone has a great week. This is our last week of ball games so hopefully we will get to start to slow down and enjoy the rest of the summer.

Oh and by the way I won a fabulous prize a few weeks ago over at Composing Hallelujahs and I had to show off the pictures of what I won. This refrigerator scrapbook was created by Jaime from Scrapbooking Made Simple. It is fabulous. She also included some magnets. YEAH for Me! I can't wait to print some pictures to fit inside. Check out her Etsy Shop. She is great. Thank you Dana at Composing Hallelujahs for a fabulous giveaway and thank you Jaime for your wonderful creations. Check them both out. They are definitely worth the stops!

Dancing in the Rain

This picture is from Friday night at Camp Thue. Our plans were to rent the pool and have a family swimming party. Some of the kids put their swimsuits on hours before the party.

Unfortunately, Mother Nature had different plans. A thunderstorm came through and they cancelled the party. This didn't stop the kids from getting wet. They went out and played in the rain. They jumped in mud puddles and twirled in the rain. They had a blast.

Instead of whining and complaining about the cancelled party, they embraced the rain. In the pool they would have all went separate ways. In the rain, no matter their age, they played in it together. I think they will remember dancing in the rain. . .a lot more than splashing in the pool.

Today I am linking up to Emily at Chatting at the Sky for Tuesdays Unwrapped. To read more about finding joy in the mess of ordinary life, check it out.

Messy Art Party - Camp Thue Part 1

Here is the first activity we did at Camp Thue. I had visions of setting up a great tablescape for lunch pre-party. For some reason with this family it just never works. Half of the adults decided to sit inside. Nobody seems to all sit down and eat at the same time, etc. So, I just set up the food and plates and let them dig in.



After lunch I set up the art stations. I had eight stations for the kids to explore.
1. Feet Sponge Painting
2. Wall Mural Painting
3. Paint a Koozie
4. Bubbles
5. Sidewalk Chalk
6. Playdough
7. Finger Painting
8. Beading

At the end we tie-dyed t-shirts. I decided this shouldn't be a station because it was easier to do it all together.

Most of these kids do not get to do "Messy Art" at home so it was fun to let them get dirty. Here are some pictures of the fun.

Feet Sponge Painting. They started with sponges on their feet. That didn't last long. They took off the sponges and just used their feet to paint.


Wall Mural Painting. The kids kept wandering back over to the fence to add more to this masterpiece.


Paint a Koozie. These were the only non-washable paints that were used. The kids loved doing this and after they dried they used them the rest of the weekend. We didn't let the kids drink pop, but their little water bottles fit snug so they still were able to use them.


The kids had the most fun cleaning up the paint that they got on the sidewalk.