Spring Break Camping Excursion

Sunday night we went camping with Shawn and Janet and Company. We headed south to Lake Whitney about an hour or so away. We had fun cooking our dinner over the fire, and telling stories into the night. As always the girls had a wonderful time with their cousins. Callie is a sweetheart who helped keep an eye on Carmella.

I loved hearing Mason and Ivy tell their "scary stories". Those two are so funny together, they make a great little team. Emilie and Adelaide did a lot of exploring and tree climbing together, while Hayden and Jason kept each other entertained with their stories.

It got too cold for us during the night, and everyone in our family except Emilie ended up in the car with the heater blaring. We didn't get a lot of sleep, but we still had a good time on Monday.

After breakfast I had a chance to explore with the girls and shoot some photos around the lake. I had a wonderful time watching how the girls laugh and play together. I can't even tell you the number of rocks they collected and brought home. They were so excited about the rocks, and all the lady bugs we found in the sand. I'll bet the lake is beautiful once everything blooms in the spring. It was still a little barren for us, but we enjoyed it all the same.

And, they had great bathrooms with showers. Clean and nice enough to get an honorable mention. I wouldn't mind going back,  especially when the nights are warmer. I'm such a wimp!

Getting Handy

Today was a gorgeous day! 80 wonderful degrees. Forecast for tomorrow? 60's and rain, with a low of 20, Yuck! 

With weather like that looming, I figured we'd better enjoy today. The girls and I set out early for our local Home Depot. It was kids workshop day, and we made Trojan horse piggy banks. I helped Ella Mae, who mostly wanted to hit things with her hammer. Emilie and Adelaide were the dream team, working very well and fast together. Ivy did it all herself. I showed her how to follow the directions, and she did great. 

After our workshop, we picked up some new sand for our sandbox, and grabbed some Slurpees on the way home. 

We made it back just in time for lunch. The girls spent the rest of the day playing in the backyard. They are covered in sand, and exhausted from playing all day. Is there anything more glorious than that for a mother? I think not. 

We had a lovely day, hopefully the memories of today will keep us warm tomorrow.

One Hundredth Day of School, and a Resourceful Mommy

Today was the one hundredth day of school here in Burleson, TX, and you know what that means. An excuse to wear a non-uniform shirt to school, and have a party. Makes sense to me. Ivy and Addie have been talking about this day for a week. Being in Kindergarten has been a great source of excitement for Addie. She has watched for years as Emilie and Ivy have gone on field trips, and had class parties, and spirit weeks. She is reveling in the fact that it is now her turn be apart of the fun. 

This being the hundredth day, she HAD to have a special 100 shirt to wear. Over the years we have made many the 100 shirts. Most years the shirts have been painted with little paw prints all over them (we're the Frazier Bears).  A few years ago I went a little crazy on the shirts. I found two shirts on super cheap clearance at Target, and I stitched 100 beads onto each of the shirts make the number 100. Emilie's was black with blue beads, and Ivy's was white with pink and iridescent beads. I was up till like 11pm sewing beads. It was one of those moments when I wonder, "what the heck was I thinking!"

Well, I got a little smarter from that experience. This year I repurposed those same shirts. The beads have long since fallen off, so I decided to use them again. For Ivy's, I grabbed my black fabric stamp pad, and my box of foam alphabet and number stamps. I stamped 100 on the shirt several times overlapping the numbers. Simple and cute, I love how it turned out. For Addie, she got the black shirt, so a black stamp pad was not going to work. I found in my craft bins some iron-on letters from trick-or-treat bags I made a few years ago. (This is why I never throw my scraps away!) I cut the sides off the letter T to make a 1, and used the o's make, well 0's. The letters are shiny silver glitter that stand out nicely against the black shirt. According to Addie, her shirt was the favorite of everyone in her class. They all wished they had shiny numbers like hers. 
I just love when everything comes together. I also love that this years shirts only took me 10 minutes to make. It kind of redeems me from the hours of hand sewing I did the same shirts a few years ago, right?

Little Ivy turns eleven

Can it be? Can our little Ivanator really be eleven already! 

On Friday, her awesome teachers gave her a white fluffy unicorn. I don't think she has set it down yet.

Saturday was her birthday party. We had a jewelry making party. The girls made washer necklaces with finger nail polish, and we cut up old shirts to make infinity scarves. Emilie pulled out her rainbow loom. And the girls went crazy with that too. We had a great time! 

Sunday was her actual birthday. She tore into her presents with great enthusiasm. She got a Rainbow Dash t-shirt, I had to peel off her to wash yesterday. Jason got her a huge airplane which he painted to look like her favorite my little pony. Now we are waiting for better weather so we can go fly it. In true Poyfair tradition, she requested the most random cake she could think of. She wanted a marshmallow cake. I dug deep. I did my best. I think it came out pretty good.

I adore my little Ivy. I'm so glad she had happy birthday.