Wild About Books!

If I were to write a book this minute, it would be titled something like this: Never Let Your Child Wear Flip-Flops to the Library (and Other Parenting Tips No One Ever Told You).

It all started out innocently enough - a trip to our local library. A great place. A place you want your kids to love. But, maybe in our case, the library is too great. They love it too much. They feel too comfortable there. Where are all the old crotchety librarians hissing "Shhhhh" when I need them?

Before we headed out today, I led the kids in a rousing cheer-like recitation of the rules.

Do we yell in the library? Nooooo!
Do we speak quietly in the library? Yessss!

Do we run in the library? Noooo!

Do we walk in the library? Yessss!

Do we jump in the library? Noooo! (I threw this rule in there because I anticipated trouble with those wily flip-flops, but did I listen to that inner voice and make her change into sneakers? noooooo!)

Do we listen and cooperate with mommy? Yessss!

I was fooled into thinking that yelling with me in giddy unison indicated understanding of the rules. Apparently, when a 2 year old yells in unison, she is actually, well, just yelling in unision. Understanding. Cooperating. Doing as you are told. All totally optional in Toddlerville.

Anyway, off we head to the library. As we cross the parking lot, I remind again: no running; no jumping. What a waste of breath.

You see, our library is a big, fabulous building. As big as my high school practically. In fact, when we first moved here I thought it was a school. And, like a school, it has those wonderfully echoing hallways. And, as any 2-year old worth her salt knows, when you run or jump in said hallways in sparkly princess flip-flops it makes a loud, echo-y, slapping noise sure to irritate your mom. It will irritate her once, twice, three times over. It will irritate each and every time. A sure thing. Like death and taxes.

Twenty minutes later, after a few gentle (and a couple not-quite-as-gentle reminders), we head out, books and summer reading program prizes in hand.

And my mom wonders why I often prefer Half-Price Books over the library. Carpet, mom. Carpet. They have a lot of carpet there.

Happy National Ice Cream Day!

I can't believe I wasn't fully aware of the existence of such a day until just now. Apparently, in 1984, President Reagan declared July National Ice Cream month and the 3rd Sunday in July National Ice Cream Day! Republican or Democrat, there's no arguing with the brilliance of this idea!
My first thought about celebrating this fabulous occasion was to head to Handel's the use my buy-one-get-one coupon, but then just a moment later, I had a flash of mommy craftiness. I remembered having read a recipe somewhere about making your own ice cream! In ziplock baggies, no less. Fun and easy. Just our style.

By the way, this is my second bout of so-called craftiness this month! A personal best! I'm not one to often do "special' projects with the kids, but I have moments every now and then. And the other week, I decided we'd go on a nature walk and make nature collages with our findings. You can see the photo evidence here. Note that Q's collage is all done in rows, and Keira's is totally random. If that isn't a good insight into their personalities, I don't know what is. And the fact that I nearly went bonkers after letting K use a glue stick for 10 minutes is a fair insight into my personality...hence the reason we don't break out the craft supplies all too often. But anyway. Back to the ice cream.

After a lame dinner of leftovers, we got ready to make our ice cream dessert. The leftovers were really part of my master plan - after such a meal, the ice cream was bound to be a hit, no matter how it turned out, right?

There are really only 3 ingredients for this ice-cream-in-a-bag: half-and-half, sugar, and vanilla. Only 2 ingredients for our chocolate ice cream variation: chocolate milk and sugar.

You put it all into a quart ziplock bag. Put that quart bag into a gallon ziplock, which is filled with ice cubes and salt.
Then shake. Shake. And shake. For 5 minutes, according to the recipe. We shook it for almost 10 minutes the second time around, and it got a bit firmer. Either way, it was yummy.

The kids enjoyed the shaking. Well, for the first minute or so anyway. The bags get really really cold, so we put towels around them to make it easier on the kids. And us, too.
And of course, they enjoyed the eating. Keira kept singing "Happy Birthday to me!" And when I got to thinking about it, I realized that she pretty much only gets ice cream at birthday parties. Poor child....first a craft-less mom and now a mom who deprives her of ice cream! Sheesh.

Anyway, it was a fun project - fun to do and fun to eat.

So hip-hip-hooray for National Ice Cream Day! One of Reagan's greatest ideas. I'm not sure Obama or McCain could top this. Unless of course they declare a Free McDonald's French Fries and Diet Coke Day.

I Never Thought I'd Say This

I like Michigan.

There. I said it. My Ohio family is cringing this very moment. You see, being born and raised in Ohio - Buckeye style - no one, I mean no one (except a few crazies here and there, some of whom I am related to), claims to like Michigan. They stink. It stinks. Boo-hiss to the maize and blue. You get the idea. Of course, since my formative years, I've moved to the Hoosier state, gotten an advanced degree from Purdue, cheer for the black and gold on Saturdays, and well, have been generally ridiculued since. But that's for another time.

Back to Michigan.
It's nice up there. Seriously.
For the second summer in a row, we made a quick trip up north with the kiddies in tow. All for a little Lake Michigan beach time. South Haven style. And it has been much fun.

So, to borrow shamelessly from a well-known series of commercials, here's a quick run-down on our 3-day excursion.

Sand toys from Target: $4.99

Book to read on beach while hubby plays with kids: $11.20

Stale bread to feed the ducks: $0.59

New Wonder Pets video to help pass time on a rainy morning: $7.99

Making lots of memories: Priceless!

Blog, Schmog

Now that summer is basically half over, I think it's time for a look at just what in the heck has been going on here. We know what hasn't been going here, and that's blogging. My record so far during these summer days is about as dismal as that of the Reds. Sigh. But before getting too depressed, let me just move on to the excuses and the photos. Here we go.
I haven't been blogging because we've been.....

...at Disney.
OK - you all already knew this. It's been over a month now, so I've got to wipe that off my excuses list.
....busy telling the kids we aren't going back to Disney just yet. As you can see below, Keira is more than ready. The morning after we got back from sunny Florida, K put on her "Pin-cess hat" and "pack-pack" and declared herself "All set, mama! Kiki go tea cups! Kiki see Paw-paw!"

....touching sharks! At our zoo here in Indy, you can touch sharks. And Quinn did it a few weeks ago. About 10 times, no less. He would've gone for more, but his nervous mother ushered him and his increasingly brave sister from the Oceans exhibit before a certain little Asian delicacy flipped herself into the tank!

...celebrating Keira's half-birthday! We try to make it a little something special, since her actual b-day is amidst the hub-bub of Christmas. Of course, this year, our idea of something special was letting her eat all the "Fench Fies" (Rs optional in K-speak) she wanted at Red Robin (yumm-ola!) and then coming home and disguising leftover Quinn bday ice cream cake as a little slice of heaven for a 2.5 year old. With Spiderman sliced off and long ago eaten, this well-preserved piece of Oreo ice cream cake was just the ticket.

....at the movies! With a few rainy weekend days around here, I've had the chance to take Quinn to see a couple of movies. We saw Kung Fu Panda (just a mommy-son outing), and we also got to see WALL-E with friends the week after. In a head-to-head match-up between the panda and the robot, Q gives the edge to Wall-e, but I have to go with the panda. But you can't lose with either. I have a feeling both DVDs will end up on somebody's X-mas list.

....playing dress-up! Here is the lovely Princess Keira, still in post-Disney euphoria. (Don't worry Cousin M - we are taking good care of your Cinderella costume and will return it soon! Thanks for the loan!)

But mostly this summer, we are just plain ol' hanging out.

Hope you all are having just as much fun as we are.
I can't wait to see what's in store for the second half.

Yankee Doodle Dandy

OK - she wasn't quite born on the 4th of July, but she is a dandy of a friend. The she I refer to in this case is a wonderful and faithful friend, fabulous mom to 3, superwife (the girl can cook!), recent blog-reading addict ;-) and just one of the all-around best people on the planet.
My kids call her Aunt M. My hubby calls her "Martha" (see above note on kitchen skills!).
And I am happy to call her anytime I need to.
So without further adieu.....HAPPY BIRTHDAY, M! We hope your day is filled with all the goodness you deserve.

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Sorry Aunt M, I think I ate all your cake!

Yup, I did. All gone. It was yummy, too!

Have a super sunny day! We love you!!!