Country Crooner

Charlotte has recently started singing songs to herself which is hilarious and adorable and weird and awesome and so, so, so very sweet.  What songs, you may ask.  I wish I could say her regulars are "The ABC Song,""Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," and "This is the Day."  Sadly, no.

This is the point in the story when I reveal my twangy southern taste in music--Charlotte's apparent favorites are Randy Houser's Runnin' Out of Moonlight and Florida Georgia Line's Get Your Shine On.   I kid you not--she will belt them out at full volume.  So, yes, we are fans of The Highway and Prime Country channels on Sirius XM.  Guilty as charged.

Here is a video of her singing Get Your Shine On.  Granted, she only gets the "baby" and "shine on" but this gal does not care.  Charlotte cannot be held back by a little thing like speech development.

*Note: Please excuse the lack of attire--the girls are not fully clothed because we had just finished painting on the deck.  Clean-up is so much easier when I can just wash them off with baby wipes :)

Be Honest

Car Travel With Kids

Good news!  In the not-too-distant future I will be getting in the car and heading to the beach with the girls.  Bad news!  I will be getting in the car and heading to the beach with the girls.  Any parent of young ones knows--car travel with littles can be ROUGH.  Trapped in a car with screamy kids?  Ackkkkkk--I get jumpy just thinking about it.  

To make things as easy on me and Rhett as possible, I've been asking around and doing some research on the all-knowing internets.  After chatting with friends and googling every possible combination of "car travel" + "kids" + "how to not want to scratch your eyes out."

Below is the list of things I'm considering.  After our trip, I will do a post on what worked and what fizzled.

1. Family friendly book on CD

2. Wrap toys from the Dollar Store and give out periodically (say, once an hour)--to take this further, one mom said she prints out a map of the drive and draws little stars along the route as milestones to get out new toys

3. Magnadoodle-type drawing toy

4. Toy magazines--Cate will LOVE this

5. Painter's tape to create sculptures

6. Bubbles

7. Sewing/lacing cards

8. Cookie sheet+magnets

9. Chalk+black paper

10. Movies--The funniest thing here is that several sites listed movies as a "last resort"--pretty sure this is the first thing I reach for in the car on long trips ;)

Anyone have any other good ideas? 

It's a Love Without End, Amen

"Daddies don't just love their children every now and then.  It's a love without end, amen."

-George Strait

Happy Father's Day!

Sisterhood

"So we grew together like to a double cherry, seeming parted, but yet a union in partition, two lovely berries moulded on one stem."

-William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream

Sort of, Yes

Shake Your Bon Bon

Rhett and I sometimes joke that during the day, when he's at work, I sit home, eat bon bons, and watch soap operas.  Haha--if only.

But last week I decided that I would embrace that old stay at home mom stereotype and make (what else?) bon bons!  Frugal Mama posted a recipe for these sugary treats recently so I went with that.  Before I saw the post, I actually thought bon bons were frozen and chocolate--no clue why--but these are like sugar cookie balls with a super sweet glaze and they are pretty darn tasty.  Charlotte agrees...

Back away, mama...

And here is a shot of the bon bons I made:

Anyone know what time General Hospital starts?

For anyone that makes them, I did use a little milk in the cookie dough so it wasn't so dry.  And I didn't have food coloring to make the cute colored glazes that Frugal Mama has so I added some strawberry jam.  I wish I could say I added the jam to make it healthier and avoid additives but no, I was just forgetful and it totally slipped my mind to buy food dye at the grocery store--whoops.  

Anyway, the jam made the glaze slightly pink, and I liked the taste the strawberry added.  So, any mamas out there that want to indulge in a day of TV and bon bons, try the Frugal Mama recipe :)

The Cleaning Lady

Do you have a cleaning lady?  Ah, me neither.  That role falls to me.  And I am slightly scatterbrained so I can't remember exactly when I last dusted/scrubbed/reorganized.  Which is why a cleaning calendar has really helped.  I totally heart it.  In fact, it's been so great, I wanted to share my schedule.  Drumroll please...

A cleaning calendar...am I not such the homemaker?  Not really, but I can pretend.

In order to get this, I searched (what else?) Pinterest.  I wish I could credit the person who created the original document, but unfortunately all of the people who pinned it just link to a random page with no author.  Anyway, I took the schedule I found and adapted it to my own repertoire.  If you want a copy, just e-mail me!

To be clear, I will never be able to stick to this every day.  I'm shooting for 80%.  What else would a scatterbrain like me do? :)

What We're Into Lately

Here's a sampling of what we've been into lately:

The National Zoo :: I've never been a zoo person--the whole animals taken out of their natural habitat and put behind gates drives me batty, I literally cannot set foot in a pet store with puppies--but we had a great time a few weekends ago.  The girls loved visiting and the animals all looked happy.

Cate's favorite was, surprisingly, the monkey house.  You can't imagine the smell--it was so bad she barely walked in--but the gorillas were chasing each other right in front of where Cate was sitting and she was captivated.

Loving the zoo!

This guy was out and about when we visited.

Weekend Fairs :: Our little town had a fair recently and Cate pretty much thought she had died and gone to heaven.  She ate french fries, cotton candy, and ice cream for dinner two nights in a row.  Parents of the year, right here!  Plus, Cate rode a carousel and played a fishing game where spearing two fish earned her a pink stuffed bear.

The fishing game champ and her spoils.

Poor Charlotte watching her sister on the carousel--don't worry, I did take her on it right after this.

The girls wearing sweet little dresses we picked up at the fair.

Family Time :: We've had a blast hitting the nearby playgrounds and splash fountains lately.

Me Being Semi-Crafty :: I made the girls matching dresses--they are very basic and far from perfect--and I could not be more thrilled with myself.

Playing Alphabet Bingo :: Now that school is out it is on me to be the teacher.  To get Cate's mind working, she and I have enjoyed playing alphabet bingo at home.  I pick out a letter and she tells me the sound it makes, a word that starts with the letter, and then she finds it on her sheet.  For the most part, she is an all-star.  I can tell she gets tired though--e.g. when I read out a letter and she gives me a word like "poom."  That is when I start to wrap things up--haha.

Hmmm...where is that letter?

Found it!

Letters pulled--M was for monkey, X was for xylophone, S was for star, B was for book, and C was for--shocker--Cate. 

Gentlemen, we have winner.

Birdie's House :: My mom's house was a nice little vacation spot recently.  Cate enjoyed planting some zinnias while Charlotte explored the patio and gardens.  We also got to go to the pool where Charlotte made a real run at swimming on her own.  She kept asking to get in and once we were holding her in the shallow end she would try to push our hands off.  Cate meanwhile barely likes getting her face in ;) I know they'll both be independent swimmers soon enough.

 We love summer!