Tea for Two

During struggles in my teen years, living in a blended family made it easy to feel overlooked. Knowing that, Mom would wake me up periodically in the middle of the night for a tea party. We would creep into the den with steaming mugs of tea and share our lives. Our time together always made me feel important, special and loved.

Shared by Christy Gilliam in the August 2008 Focus on the Family Magazine.

Isn't that a sweet memory? What memories are you making for your teens?

Zoo

Well I apologize for how quiet it's been over here lately! Don't worry though...we've just been off having fun! We went to the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago, one of our favorite zoos! If you go with a small child let me recommend you take them to the Hamil Family Play Zoo.

It's an air conditioned building devoted to play, crafts, and learning for kids. It's a great break from walking around in the hot sun and the kids love it! Plus if you are a nursing mom they have a family room where you can nurse!


Luke pretending to be a bird in the play zoo.


Here we are touching sting rays!

By the end of the day we were all tuckered out!

Our Favorite Things - Little House

Recently I've been re-reading some of my favorite books of all time - The Little House Series. I can not begin to tell you how much I love these books! Re-reading the books as an adult has shown me just what kind of quality these books are really made of. I loved them as a kid and I'm loving them as an adult.

This time around I'm noticing just how much work goes into a typical day for these hard working pioneer folks. If you or your kids need a little motivation to be a diligent worker throughout the day these books are a wonderful encouragement. Right now I'm currently reading "Farmer Boy." It's so funny, it was the book I liked least as a kid since it was mostly about a boy. This time though, I'm finding it fascinating to learn about what it took to run a farm in those days!

If you want to dig a little deeper there are also countless activities you can do with your kids that Laura and her family worked on in the books.

A few some other bloggers have tried are:

- Make your own Ginger Water

- Make your own butter

Our Quest Continued

Today we spent the afternoon in glorious air conditioning while enjoying a wonderful children's museum with friends!

I forgot my camera (whoops!) so can't share any pictures. Some of our favorite activities included exhibits featuring wind, lights, and building! If it's hot in your 'neck of the woods' why don't you try visiting a local museum?

What to Do on a Hot Day

Today was one of those Midwestern summer days where it's just hot, humid and downright miserable. What's a person to do to try to cool off when you don't have central air conditioning?

Here's a few of my thoughts for the day!

• Run errands, spend time in the car and stores
• Go to the library
• Go walk at the mall or take your kids to the play area at the mall
• Go buy a .99 drink at McDonald's and sit there all afternoon with a book!
• Work in the basement
• Go out for ice cream!
• Take a nap under a fan
• Stay in the room with your window air conditioner all day!
• Visit family or friends who have central air
  

Since it was impossible for me to stay upstairs in my home all day long (that's where the window unit is), we settled for running errands this afternoon and treated ourselves to ice cream!

Be Inspired

- Fun with the ABCs!

- Sponge Ball Bullseye is super creative!

- The Family Meal Table looks like a good read.

- Thoughts on motherhood.

- Skill lists for home schooled preschoolers

Our Drive in Photos

Driving from Illinois to Colorado with a toddler is no small undertaking!

Here is a glimpse of our drive for you.



Many hours were spent reading the same books over and over!



Very few hours were spent sleeping!




He just needed a drop of coffee to make it home!

Home Again!

We'll we're home again from our lovely Colorado vacation! We had a great time visiting with family and seeing beautiful Rocky Mountain National Park.

Now I'm busy playing catch up around the house! I'll be back tomorrow with some pictures of our trip.

Passing on Homemaking Skills

Have you thought about what skills you'd like to pass on to your children?

The Simple Mom has written a nice post about some skills that are slowly fading out of our culture like cooking from scratch, sewing, etc. I liked this post and it made me think about what skills I would like to pass on to my children, and also to consider what skills I want to continue to pursue learning for myself.

Tips for Flying with a Toddler

If we had flown instead of driving, I'd have been following these suggestions for flying with a toddler!

You'll definitely want to check them out if you have any flights booked for the near future.

Do you have any suggestions to add?