Father's Day love, camp bound kids.....and a sickness most 10-18 year old girls have.

Father's Day has come and gone now....and my kids kept their Father's Day present for their Daddy a surprise for 2 weeks! That is a HUGE accomplishment with these kids.....T once let a big Christmas present from a grandparent slip, they've got loose lips. Big time.  But they kept the iPad a secret.
That was success #1.
The other success was keeping Sir Snoops-a-lot from finding out in his sneaky ways. 
He loved it and was totally surprised.

I have only loaded 1 app on the iPad so far so he doesn't think I bought it for me.  I'll give it a few weeks. ;)

My dad is in California working so I didn't get to see him in person on Father's Day but I did get a gorgeous shot of Laguna Beach sent to my phone from him.
We spent the day out at my husband's dad's house and enjoyed stuffing our faces and playing outside. 

There's B pitching to G...who can't get enough of baseball

Sa-wing Batter!!

My niece in the red, R in the HUGE headband and my nephew...stuffing their faces :)

We had to get up early this morning and get T off to his first camp of the summer....well, his first sleep away camp of the summer.  It's a church camp and he had quite a few friends going.  I can't wait to hear the stories when he comes home.  He is the most random and crazy kid ever but I will miss him while he's gone. This is the calm before the storm...when T gets back Friday I have to wash his clothes all over again and pack he and his sister both up to go to Camp Woodmen. Old school camps are the best. After they come home....we will be on Vacation Time! Whoo hoo!

And he's off.....girls, don't be threatened by his love for his Pillow Pet.

R is my kid who doesn't mind being alone.  She loves to craft and hang out.  Today she made this fab 1 Direction purse out of duct tape.  She has major One Direction infection like I'm sure most girls do right about now.

She wants to open an Etsy shop so bad...she loved making her duct tape creations

One Direction :) too cute

I hope everyone is having a fantastic week!

Show and Tell.....Father's Day ideas, flashbacks and Summer of the Bucket List

Well, G is feeling better.  Too bad R came down with the same thing he had.  It doesn't seem to be as bad, though.  With a kid being sick you have a little bit of leverage when one kid is in a "picking" mood.  "Leave her alone, she doesn't feel good" seems to work a lot better than "Quit fighting or I will tape your hands together for the day!" 

So, Father's Day is coming up and like always I tend to be a procrastinator.  I can not say what I created for my dad because he reads the blog (Hi, Dad!) but I will give YOU a super cool gift idea.  And, no, I'm not being paid or given any discounts for this, I just really like it.

Shutterfly has their photo books on sale for 50% off plus you can use the free shipping code for items over $30...just use code SHIP30.  Let me tell you my love/hate relationship with Shutterfly.....I love the end product.  They produce beautiful books that we really do cherish.  (Love) They also take FOREVER to create. (Hate) They offer excellent deals when you sign up for their email list and even if you don't. (Love)  Sometimes, when you use that amazing sale code the very next day you get an email advertising for an even better deal.  (Hate) 
Story of my life, I knew they were having a 40% off sale on their photo books, which let's face it, are pretty dang expensive and I won't buy them without some sort of a sale.  I also noticed in the nice reminder email they sent me that the 40% off sale ended last night.  So, I was busting my behind to get my project finished before the cutoff of midnight.  I completed it.  And then I stood up in all of my Rocky-esque glory after tackling a huge project and high fived my husband.
I woke up this morning and checked my email as usual and guess what....Shutterfly sent me a friendly email letting me know about a 50% off SALE. Seriously?  Grrrrr.

Oh well.  Maybe this is a sign that I need to make another one. 

With Shutterfly, I have noticed that if I try to upload using the massive Shutterfly photo uploader they like you to download is joke and always shuts down.  Just use the simple uploader and load about 10 max at a time, more if you're brave.  Another easy peasy thing to do is use your Facebook pictures, they give you an option to connect the accounts and it works super easy.  I also scanned a bunch of old pics and used PicMonkey (my not so secret obsession) to edit rotate and crop my pics.  Here's a few of the gems I found.....

I am loving just how awkward we all look here.

I'm guessing this was about 1983

Another great idea for Father's Day or any day really is this deal I saw on Coupons and Freebies Mom's newsletter.  I have to be honest with you, her newsletters are in my mails every morning and I usually just delete them because I don't ever feel I have the time for coupons.  Well, my mistake because this is not just for coupons.  Once again, this chick has no idea I stumbled across her newsletter today and found something I like, I just wanted to share it with you.  At Canvas People you can get a FREE 8x10 canvas and you only pay the shipping.  It's about a $44 value.  (which seems a bit steep to me anyway....)
I am Mrs. Skeptical so I wanted to try it out because who doesn't like free pictures?  I did try it and did work.  I paid $14.95 shipping to my house in the great state of Tejas.  I used the picture of G I took the other day with the one tear streaming down his face.  You can find that link here....at Coupons and Freebies Mom. Tip: don't add on any extras at Canvas People. No frames, no effects.  I went to PicMonkey (shocker) ahead of time and did anything I wanted to the picture and uploaded that.  Here's the discount page at Canvas People.

In that same newsletter I noticed another freebie that caught my eye, this coupon for free pair of prescription glasses from Coastal.com.
I am obviously a horribly unorganized person because I couldn't find my prescription therefore...I can not take advantage of this deal.  You have to pay shipping of course.  This seems like a great deal and they have some super cute frames.  I was really digging this clear pair that I noticed....oh well.  Next time. Find the link to the deal here. 


It's been almost a week now of keeping these kiddos busy and I gotta tell you....it's not easy.  Usually with the age ranges I have in my house we can find SOMEthing to do for SOMEone.  But during the summer it can get a little rough until we go on vacation.  Somebody is bored at some point.  What to do but go to Pinterest for inspiration.  I found quite a few pins that I will definitely be going back to for some motivation. 

Source: djpeach.blogspot.com via Elizabeth on Pinterest

Source: missbananapants.blogspot.com via Elizabeth on Pinterest

Source: blog.landofnod.com via Elizabeth on Pinterest

Source: birthdaypartyideas4kids.com via Elizabeth on Pinterest

Hope everyone is having a germ free week in their house and a fantastic summer so far!


What do you have planned to do with your kids this summer to keep everyone from catching the Boredom Blues?

Summer Camp on Father's Day

So, we drove the kids up to Summer camp yesterday afternoon.  I have to tell you that while they are there I can't help but think what they are doing at certain times of the day.  This is Rhys' first time heading off to Summer camp and she is a shy sort of kid, not one to put herself out there.  At, 11 pm, when I finally made into the shower, all I could think about was what she was doing at camp.  Was she already asleep?  Had she found a friend to sit and chat with on her bed until they were told "lights out"?  Had she pretended to read Black Beauty while others sat and talked?  I guess I won't know until Thursday, when we pick them up.  Tyler has been to camp numerous times and always loves it.  He is one of those people that has fun wherever he goes, never one to meet a stranger.  This camp is one that I appreciate for its no frill look on camps.  There are 2 bunk houses, one for girls, one for boys.  They are wall to wall bunk beds and then a spacious bathroom with plenty of stalls for showers and toilets.  The girls bunk even has bright polka dots painted on the walls.  There is a lake, a simple pool, and a dining hall where they also meet up for an old fashioned talent show and dance.  They have a moonwalk slide as well, to keep them busy all day.  
I never went to Summer camp, my parents never mentioned it to us as an option really, I honestly thought all the kids up North did that, not us.  Our family vacations were always great, a lot like the ones I have now with my own family.  We always visited our family in Alabama which also meant trips to Panama City Beach and my aunt and uncle's lake house on Compass Lake in Florida.  My mom recently told me that she never brought up the option of camp because she couldn't imagine us being around water without her, not safe in her mind.  So, I remind my kids how lucky they are to get to pack up and head off to Summer camp and be free of their parents for a while and relish in being a kid.  Even as I worry about Rhys, I know that she will get a lot out of this experience.  She will grow from being away without us and this in turn will help her in other parts of her life. 
We try to head with friends to camp, following one another the 2 hours to camp.  Yesterday we did the same, following our friends who kids go every year as well.  On the way, about 15 minutes from our destination, our friends were cut off and had a fender bender.  It shook everyone up, especially the kiddos that were in the car, but thankfully, everyone was okay.  We loaded all the kids...and luggage, into our car and checked everyone in at camp while our friends handled the car wreck incident.  We picked them back up on the way home and even stopped off to have a much needed margarita. 
We celebrated Father's Day early because we knew we would be loading the kids up on Sunday.  So, Saturday Bryan and Tyler headed to the Dynamo game where I had bought surprise seats for Father's Day.  Excellent seats,  I must say.  They had a blast and got plenty of autographs to add to their already extensive collection.  Father's Day morning, we woke up and told Bryan  Happy Father's Day and that was about it.  We had camp to go to!


I wouldn't mind spending a few days here with no electronics




Griff touring the grounds




Tyler and his bud




Heading to the cabins to change after their swim test. That's the boy's bunk house to the right




Rhys all fixed up at her bunk, it was deemed uncool for us to take pics of the Tyler and his bunk this year




On the way to camp, my friend's pretty car all smashed up




The view for Father's Day!




And, Tyler's view....he always ends up with a picture like this every Dynamo game. Hmmm.



5 Question Friday and Father's Day Love

It is Friday!!!  That means that B can take over with the kids for while, right?!  Oh, wait...it's Father's Day weekend.  Okay, so no quick escapes for me Mom this weekend. 
Father's Day is always so hard to buy for.  I didn't want to get him an Academy gift or Bass Pro Shop gift card, underwear or t shirts.  He really needs those last 2 things but I wanted to think outside of the box.  Although, making a bouquet of undies and t's did pop into my mind I decided to think a little deeper.  We are all huge Dynamo fans, Tyler and Bryan seem to be more than fans...they're a tad obsessed.  He's always wanting to buy Season tickets for the Dynamo but because I am such a cheapo, we haven't yet.  Well...I didn't do season tickets but I did buy 2 tickets for this Saturday's game.  A father and son Father's Day Eve event. I found some great seats and think he will be pleasantly surprised. 
I sat and visited with my dad last night for a few hours, can't believe he's already heading back to work soon.  He'll be leaving Sunday to head back to Atlanta and I will miss him once again. 

The Baby Daddy

My Daddy circa 1985

My favorite Dads!


Now for 5QF!  Link up with My Little Life and join in.  Just copy and paste the questions into your own post. 

1. What is your favorite summer time activity?



Beach, beach, beach!  I also have a love/hate relationship with road trips....I love them, until we get on the road.  But back to the beach....soon, as in July 2nd, we will be headed off to the land of Roll Tide and War Eagle (WAR EAGLE!) and after visiting with the fam for a week we are headed to Panama City Beach for about 3 days of squeaky clean white sand and the prettiest water I have ever seen.  


Jealous, yet? 




Don't be....there's always this part to endure on the way there and back :)

  





2. Do you have one laundry soap you stick to, or do you buy whatever's on sale?


Yes!  I am a laundry detergent loyalist....for Method.  You can't go wrong here, it's a pump so no scooping or pouring and all the scents are fab.  Buy it. Now.






3. What is your favorite dinner to make in the summer?




Summer dinners can be sporadic for some reason, I guess because we are out and about so much.  It would have to be Bryan's FAMOUS hamburgers.  They're only famous to us, but that's okay.  They are so stinkin' good they make you want to slap your mama! 





4. Do you have any talents?




I have always joked (sort of) that my main talent was breastfeeding.  I mean, hey...I was pretty good at it!  My kids would never take a bottle so it was me, myself and I taking on the feeding battle and I won. Everytime.  Even though I was a young mom I made absolutely sure to breastfeed and read everything I could about it to do it right where I would stick to it.  And I did.  Okay but other than bodily function talents......does doodling count?  I'm pretty good at it, the kids always loved the little notes I sent in their lunches with pictures of themselves illustrated inside.  Nothing else is popping up in my head....unless you count having a kick butt, super loud laugh.  I say it's a talent because a lot of people have a "public" laugh and then a "home" laugh.  I laugh loud with my head thrown back and my mouth wide open.  You either love it or you hate it....but I don't really care.  ;)





5. If you could instantly be an expert in something, what would it be? Why?


Theology!