last week

The week seemed to zoom by with so much activity.  It was Spring cleaning week 1.  

I spent the day on Monday in William's room.  We moved some things out and organized it better. There is actually room to play in there and easy to find things.  He was not very happy about it the first night. Change comes hard for him, but hasn't said a word about it all week. 

Tuesday we joined our first CSA. Did some activities together and spent time outside.

Wednesday I was back to cleaning- Landon's room this time.  He was very eager to help and was so willing to get rid of things.  He loves how he has more space to play.  I am really trying to do the "less is more" theory.  

Some afternoon game time while I was busy cleaning.

Thursday we did lots of errands in the morning and then since we had been working hard all week we decided it was time for a local outing. We went hiking and spent 3 hours in the woods.  Doing the expert trails.  These were some big climbs.  The boys thought it was great. Landon tells mama as he hops along the rocks. "Don't worry mom, I'm a secret spy so I can do this."  It was a beautiful day and really just what I needed.  I needed time with the boys. While at home cleaning and such we aren't always just being.  

As I sat overlooking this amazing view, Landon was in front of me snuggled up close and William was giving me big hugs from behind.  I sat thinking how lucky I am and grateful that they are with me and not in a classroom.  

Friday I organized the basement shelves and then we headed to a book/tag sale where we sold much of the stuff that we had just cleaned out.  The boys had a great time meeting some new friends and playing outside all afternoon.

It was a busy week but I feels so great to get rid of things and organize. I still have lots to do but it is a great beginning.

new headgear

Everyone got new headgear today.

Landon

William

and even Gritty

The boys are beyond thrilled for their new BMX equipment and can't wait till they get to test it out on an actual course.  However, Gritty is pretty miserable with hers.  I feel so badly for her.  She bumps into everything and is trying very hard to get it off.  She had stitches by her eye that she scratched and opened so now she has to be humiliated with the cone.  My poor girl. 

Sunday Smiles

creating at our table

Happy Mother's Day to all!

handmade quiver

So yesterday while we were at the Faire, we happened upon a vendor whom was selling a bow and arrow set.  William has arrows but his bow was broken and Landon has a beautiful bow but argued the fact that he needed new arrows. His did not have slots in them so it was rather hard for him  to line them up.  I agreed that we could purchase the said items. 

The set also came with a quiver. I was not inclined to purchase the quiver. I had made Will's and explained to Landon that I could make one for him as well.  Whew- my little 5 year  old has become quite the arguer-  he was insisting he had to have the dark blue quiver.  Thank goodness for the sweet lady whom we were buying from. She agreed with me that we did not need to buy her quiver- she had seen William's and knew that mommy could make one- as this is what she told Landon.  So we did get away with just a bow and 3 arrows and the boys have been using them ever since.  But a project was in store for us this afternoon.

We rummaged through my fabric stash and found an  old felted sweater sleeve in dark blue. I did not have enough for the strap but light blue would do. 

I am so glad that I insisted we make one . It was a wonderful afternoon spent together creating our very own original quiver. ( what we would have bought was handmade but it wasn't our handmade)

The result......

Our Big Day Out

After days of being home, we headed out to the Renaissance Faire.  It was a beautiful day for it. This time it was a Robin Hood theme so the boys dressed the part.  They had many compliments on the costumes.  Someone wanted to know where they bought their hats. With a HUGE smile they both said shouted "our Grammy made them".  

There was lots of fun had through the day.

And we even met the real Robin Hood!

It was a fantastic day. This is something the boys seem to really enjoy.  Looks like it may become a yearly tradition.

memories of me

Today we took it easy. We brought Gritty to get her mouth cleaned and a bump removed. We went grocery shopping.  It was a good trip. The boys used the coupons I had to treasure hunt and then of course we used the self check out. They are so proud of the fact that they get to scan and bag our groceries.  It's neat.  Holding on to these times as I am sure they will tire of it soon enough.

Then we just spent the afternoon outside- sandbox play, knitting, reading stories and playing with all of our friends. 

This was me. I remember sitting for  hours on my lawn with all my friends. Just talking, playing and having picnics.  It made me smile to watch the boys.  I still have some of my friends in the attic.  We discussed that and how maybe they should come down from the attic and join their little group.  Ooh the excitement in the boys' eyes. To think mama's friends can be our friends.


There was nothing that we had to do but enjoy the day.  It was a wonderful feeling of not having to be anywhere but to just be.

goals or more like ideas

Our(my) ideas for the month of May.

With the price of gas these days we are trying to stay at home more and really only have one day a week where we do a big travel day.  

With that said we have so many activities/projects that I have stock-piled in the basement that I would like to work through.  I am also trying to stay away from a store for the entire month- just the groceries please!

We have started working on some of those things the past few days.

 fuse beads

 watercolors

"gold" excavation

Have our gardens all set by the end of the month.

Trying not to eat out the entire month.  Not just dinner but lunches and stuff. This is a hard one , more for me because after a long day sometimes I just don't feel like cooking but I am really trying to stick to this one. Several reasons- 1) to save money- we have a lot of big things coming up. 2) so when we do eat out it is special like it is suppose to be.  In order to get ready for this we took advantage of our towns restaurant week this past weekend and celebrated Mother's Day a week early. 

Work through this book with the boys.  There are 9 stories in it and then some follow up problem solving activities.  The problems may be more for Will than Landon but we will also do some creative art activity to go along with the story.  This way we can all be involved. Hoping it will peak their interests.

These are just a few of our ideas for the month. Each day brings us new ones that we never have time for it all-- but we shall try......