Unforgettable Childhood

I am trying to keep my eyes open this morning. We ran and ran and ran this weekend and relaxed at the same time. (Is that possible). We got home last night and then headed to a birthday party until bedtime.

I am sharing these pictures from our weekend with Emily at Chatting at the Sky for Tuesday’s Unwrapped. I feel so blessed to get away from it all as a family and spend some quality time together.

I had to share a few pictures with you from the weekend. It was filled with camping, family time at Grandpa’s farm, and a family reunion. My sister-in-law is a teacher and she just took a class on the brain. She said that she learned that brain cells are built by experiences. Our kids should be smart because we try to give them as many experiences that we can. Here a just a few. . .

Playing with the kittens at the farm.

Taking turns driving the tractor.

Hiding in the corn.

Exploring in the soybean field.

Searching for shells.

Brainquest around the fire (building those brain cells with new experiences and brain games!)

Roasting hot dogs on the fire.

Sunset on the Lake.

Pool time with the cousins.

Our girls arrived home safely from the Taylor Swift concert. They had so much fun and they even brought little one a t-shirt and me a guitar pick.

Saturday night we decided we needed to do the fire pit. It is a great place for us to all sit around without the distraction of the tv or computer and talk. Smores are always on the menu. We were trying to see who would see the first star of the night.

Even one of the wild little kittens had to check out the fire.

Sunday we spent all day (I mean 11:00 in the morning until 8:00 at night) at softball games. We love it that Daddy still loves to play, but it can make for a very long, hot, (sometimes) boring day. The girls were so good. We brought a cooler full of food and they brought a van full of entertainment.

Later in the day they found a hose and water so they cooled themselves off.

Can you believe I only gave them $.75 all day for the concession stand. I guess the cooler paid off.

Now we are starting another week. One week closer to the first day of school. We are going to start working on a fun project today. I can’t wait to share the finished product.

Little one just walked into the house with four paint rollers?? That is not the kind of project I was thinking of. I better sign off for now.

Okay so for all of my family and friends visiting my blog today. I am going to leave you with a few new pics of the girls. I wish that I lived down the street from some of you so you could see the girls everyday in their finest and not so finest (then I could leave them with you on the uglier days)

I am still hopping around the blog world today meeting wonderful new blogging friends and checking out blogs that are a lot prettier than mine.

Today’s BlogNerd link up is about advise for other bloggers. I am still learning here. The main thing I have learned from this blogging experience is reflected in my blogging name “Get Real Girl”. I am slowly gaining a few followers, I would love to add more to both of my blogs. I am excited today to check out new blogs and get new ideas. There are a lot of great sites to download free background templates to make your blog “pretty”. And there are also a lot of great bloggers that do custom designs. I hope to get a little custom work done here, when I kick-off some new ideas in the fall.

So if you are a blogger and you want to check out some cool blogs, go to BlogHop ‘09 or the BlogNerd Bash.

*Wordful Wednesday is for those of us that like to showcase a photos but that just can’t seem keep our mouths shut about them. If you’d like to play along, post a photo on your blog, and let the words roll.

I have so many wonderful pictures to share from our weekend away as a family. Here are a few of my favorites. It was an amazing weekend for all of us. It helped us all to remember how much fun we can have together and that we really do like each other.

Join the Wordful Wednesday fun at 7 Clown Circus!

Our family is on a sugar high from a fun filled weekend. We are going to have to eat a lot of fruits and veggies this week to make up for it.

We left for Grandma’s house on Thursday. The girls got in a lot of coloring, park playing and beach swimming.

They were tired when we headed back home.

Instead of getting everyone to bed early, we headed to the circus. It is only in town for two nights and the girls have Vacation Bible School tonight. Have you ever been to an outside 3-ring circus? It was great!

Last night when we finally got home, the girls had to give me my birthday presents. Grandma helped them make me books. Little one made me a journal that I can write in. My middle one made me a card.

My oldest decided to write me a story. It is amazing to see what they can do with blank paper, markers and big imaginations.

By the way, this morning the mama cat was keeping guard over the kittens she placed under our deck. She wasn’t very happy that I was looking at her. (It is a little blurry because I took it through the screen).

Anybody need a kitten?

Don’t forget to click here, to sign up for my Birthday Giveaway.

For the second week in a row the girls and I loaded up the vehicle and hit the road to Grandma and Grandpa’s house. It is my Birthday tomorrow so I am dropping off the kids for a weekend alone with my hubby. We are actually going to a softball tournament he is playing in, but it is still a weekend without the kids.

We had a great trip here. Little one slept the first half of the trip. I brought my hubby’s pickup (which has wireless headphones and a DVD player) so it was a quiet drive.

This week I have been eating healthy (no chocolate). I walked into my parent’s house and there sitting on the counter were Chocolate Cupcakes with Cream Cheese filling and homemade Chocolate Frosting. . . What do you do?

Scratch the healthy eating for the weekend and dig in. After all, she made them for me for my birthday. Plus, my dad is planning a feast for lunch today before I take off, so that scratches today. And of course I am going to eat whatever I want for my birthday. Oh well, I guess I will start over on Monday.

I asked my little one what we were going to do today at Grammy’s. She said, “Go to the library and the beach and the park.” I guess she wants to wear me down before I leave her.

By the way, we did catch a kitten yesterday from under the deck. It was so cute and I didn’t want to put it back. I reluctantly did. When we get back on Sunday, the mama will probably have moved them since I touched one of them. If not, my sister said if we catch them we can bring them to her farm. I am not sure how we will get them to the farm without keeping one. . .

Check back tomorrow to see my first giveaway in honor of my birthday!

I have shared with you tales of birds and bunnies that live in our backyard. Well, yesterday my little ones made a new discovery. . .Kittens.

Our backyard deck seems to be a haven for animals. O’kay for two adults that are not huge animal people, I think God is laughing at us.

The girls were of course thrilled with their discovery. The cats however, were way too fast for them and now are shaking under the deck because of the shrill of little girl screams. I am finding that maybe inside of me their is a love for all things furry, and I am fighting it with all my might

Last night when the girls were preoccupied I snuck outside to check out our newest addition to the Thue Crue Backyard Zoo. Staring at me through the deck cracks were 5 kittens. These are not newborn kittens, they are probably the size they should be when you are giving them away. I wanted to hold one really bad. They are soooo cute.

I came back in the house and told my hubby there are 5 kittens, not three (that was the number the girls were guessing earlier). I told them how cute they are and how I really want to hold one. He rolled his eyes at me and said, “Do not start to feed them. Hopefully the mama cat will realize they have been found and will move them.” (He is a farm kid that believes all animals belong on the farm).

My three year old went out to check on the kittens with me last night before bed. She looked up at me with her big brown eyes and said, “Mommy will you catch one for me so I can keep it?” She melted my heart right then.

I really wanted to post a picture of them peeking at me through the deck, but this morning the mama was keeping guard. She heard me coming and shooed them deeper under the deck to an area I cannot see. Maybe my hubby’s wish will come true and she will move them now because they have been found.

Or maybe, later today we can grab a picture of them to post for all to see.

On another note, the flowers we planted for earth day (from seeds) are finally starting to bloom. Here is one pic for you. I am not a green thumb and I have never grown anything from a seed. I am so happy the girls are getting to see the flowers. Maybe next year we will try a few more.