Squinkie City Calamities

Squinkies are taking over lately in the girls room.  What started out as a simple starter pack has now morphed into different sets and playsets and grown and grown into what they now call Squinkie city.  It truly sort of is.  They have a castle, a barn, a mall, a ferris wheel, a merry go round, a park and several other squinkie residences.  

Not to mention the population is constantly growing.  I feel like there are squinkies all over the place in my house.  I find them in the most random places.  Under my sink by the q-tips, accidentally stepping on them in the kitchen, in the washing machine, in my bed and pretty much everywhere else.  The girls get the city all set up and play all sorts of random scenarios.  One day some of the squinkies spent the day at the fair and were riding doubles on the ferris wheel.  All of a sudden I hear Emma say "Oh no!!! (boom, crash, boom) she spins the wheel really fast and all the squinkies go flying.  "There is an earthquake and they all got ouchies and need to go to the hospital!"  

It was quite the scene. So off they were taken to the hospital where they were each individually wiped off with a wipe, and given a checkup with Em's doctor kit.  Then they all had to lay on the green mat and "get better" and weren't allowed to play for the rest of the afternoon.  Sorry guys rough break.

Don't be deceived by the bright happy colors and cheery painted smiles because this city just happens to be quite the dangerous place to live.  They happen to be recipients of a disaster just about everyday.  To my knowledge so far I have seen their city become completely shut down by a cotton ball snow blizzard, one day it was demolished by a Giant Strawberry Shortcake doll.  The day that the squinkies all took a plane to Hawaii (the kitchen) just happened to be the day that they had a tidal wave that washed them all into the ocean where they were stuck until they were rescued.

Not to mention the other hazards that happen to them because of their size.  Several have received life threatening injuries from being stepped on, some have lost family members and go months before finding their long lost loved ones in surprise places.  They even wedged and stuck in their own houses.

On the brighter side these little toys have to love how often they get played with.  Their life is full of excitement and adventure that Ave and Em come up with.  Even though it is always exciting the girls are so cute with them and love them so much.

The other day I saw them arranged like this....the girls were outside playing and I wondered what secret meeting I had just interrupted.  You never know what to expect around here :)

****Make tin can lanterns

 Another summer bucket list item was to make tin can lanterns.  From this idea on Pinterest...

Saved some cans from the pantry, washed and spray painted them.  Filled them with water and froze them then used a hammer and nail to punch a design on it.  If you don't put ice in them they will just dent when you try to put your design in.  You make your design and then just melt the ice, you will have to hammer the bottom back flat again a little because of the ice it bows a little.  The only thing we didn't get done was add the handles but we will add them later.  This is mom's attempt at Mike from Monster. Inc. for Hudson's lantern....

 Left to right is Emma's owl, Avery's tulip and Hunter's block head man...

 I tried to make a tree on mine and Deke made a star.  The kids had fun making them and we used them out on the back porch at Grandma and Grandpa Burch's on the fourth of July.  We will definitely be making these again to use in the fall for nighttime picnics at the park.

Seven Monther

This guy is busy busy busy these days.  He is army crawling all over the house.  He loves finding the doorstops and hitting them over and over again to hear the noise.  He likes to crawl into the kitchen and get underneath the table.  He always ends up getting stuck and someone has to come to his rescue but two seconds later he is headed under there again.  I think it must feel like a cool fort to him :)  He will get up on his hands and knees and rock but then just lays down on his belly when it is time to crawl and he is pretty fast now. He also loves to give noggins :) 

 He LOVES all things water.  If I am giving Emma a bath he will hear the water and start crawling into the bathroom trying to pull up onto the tub so that he can get in.  If he is on my lap he is reaching and leaning out of my arms trying to touch the water.  Then when it is his turn he sits in the bumbo and plays with the water trying to grab it over and over again.  We swim at the Y at least three times a week and he loves to lay on his belly on the kickboards and float around the pool.

 He says dada all the time and loves to wave bye bye to daddy when he leaves for work.  The kids love that he can wave now and every night after prayer they think it is hilarious to all wave bye to him as they head to their bedrooms.  They will wave all the way until they disappear into their rooms.  He is the most content, easy going, happy baby there is.

We signed him up for the reading program with the other kids and for his first prize he got his own ball.  He loves it.  It is amazing how much entertainment this simple toy brings.

Like his older siblings he is a great eater.  He LOVES avacado, it is his favorite.  It is funny because he is my first kid to prefer veggies over fruit.  He also loves sweet potatoes as well.

He is a really cuddly baby and loves to snuggle up by everyone.  I love this baby boy so much!!!!

Happy 4th!!!!

 We headed over to Grandma and Grandpa Burch's house to celebrate the fourth together.  The kids used some cut up fruit to make a little fruit flag....

 Then of course spent the vast majority of the day hanging out in the pool.  Hudson loved this little inflatable race car....

 Hunter worked on making the biggest splash with his cannon balls.

 Emma worked on jumping off the side to daddy at different heights around the pool until she was ready to jump off the diving board for her first time.  Go Em!!!

 So nice to be able to just hang in the pool all afternoon.

 We also busted out the slip and slide and let the kids have their fill in between swimming and eating more swimming.

 We cooked some dinner up on the grill and watched fireworks on the front porch that a neighbor was setting off.  It was nice to see some without all the crowds especially with Hudson.  We lit the tin can lanterns the kids made out on the back porch, had some root beer floats and watched movies.  The kids played so hard I don't think it took more than thirty seconds for all of them to crash.  It was a super relaxing, fun fourth of july as a family.