WGL's Party

William George wanted to celebrate his party by jumping and playing with his sisters, cousins and the rest of his family.  Therefore, we got together at a "Pump It Up" and had fun. 

Unfortunately, George soon realized the slide was steeper and faster than he had imagined.  The first run down the slide was a doozy! 

Gracie, Lexy and Lauren, on the other hand, had a blast. 

...As did cousin Riley!

George continued to want to stay close to Skip after the initial "free fall" experience. 

Lauren jumped around like a monkey!

Uncle Bill, Aunt Lisa and Lexy demonstrated good execution and form.

While the spectators, the wisest of the group, looked on (R-L: Auntie Melinda, Skip, George, Grammie, Gracie, PawPaw and Eva):

Skip, George and Bill:

Uncle Rick, Lauren and Ralph:

Lauren and Will:

Kathy, capturing George; PawPaw and Eva:

Lexy:

Aunt Melinda and George:

Lexy finds a cool spot in front of the fan:

George and Gracie go for a ride:

L-R: Gracie, George, Skip, Lauren, Will & Riley.  Pump It Up is great for the young...

...and the young at heart.  (+Skip, Lindsey, Lisa)

After jumping around for an hour and a half, George took the throne as the birthday guest of honor. 

Snoopy helped George celebrate!

Cousin Riley's birthday is on the 13th, and therefore, George shared his birthday reign. 

Lexy, Lauren & Gracie:

The lunch table:

Party crew:  Gracie, Riley, Lauren & Will

After lunch, we sang and had cake.  George crammed almost his entire piece of cake into his mouth, of course.   By now, George had totally gotten the hang of the birthday singing, and his face lit up as soon as he heard the words... probably in anticipation of cake. 

After cake, presents:

Lauren and George:

 

Do you like Skip's aerial photography?  Because he is so tall, his photos provide a birds-eye view. 

Happy Birthday to Geo!

And Riley!

Most importantly, thanks to all of our family for celebrating with us!

Foyer

I have really been meaning to link up with Kelly Stamps' lovely blog, but have missed each and every week. Not having current photos is the usual obstacle. But guess what? This week, I am simply going with older photos. (I know, bad blogger!)

The below shot is from our front door.  We have the standard entryway.  The keeping room is to the left; the dining room is to the right.  Straight through the next door is the family room. 

(Forgive the Christmas card stand and wreath on the hall closet door.  Again, these are older photos.  I promise we do not have Christmas decorations still on display!)

 

This shot is from the family room.  The hall closet is to the left, and the door to the basement is to the right.  Also, we just had the rug cleaned, and the difference is amazing. 

I used to always position the girls in front of the door to photograph them.  Then, one day I had the epiphany to have them sit on the rug facing the door.  Voila!  Light!  I am embarrassed about how long it took me to have that realization. 

One final note... our decorating is limited to whatever is on the hallway table.  Currently I have a bowl and a picture of the three children.  Lauren (5) and I are always at war over the placement of these items.  She compulsively changes the position of the picture five or six times each day, and then I change it back.  And then she changes it back.  And then I change it back.  And then she does.  Until finally I call her into the hallway and ask her about it.  Except I always start laughing when I ask her so she keeps doing it. 

Something tells me that exchange is what I will always remember about this room. 

WGL's Birthday, Part One

So last week was William George's birthday.  He got to visit with family, got to eat cake for the first time, enjoyed several renditions of "Happy Birthday," and received presents!

 

He thinks the whole birthday thing is wonderful. 

The afternoon of his birthday, he had a quick visit from Grammie who had previously promised to take Lauren and Gracie on an errand.  She took them to a local "flea market" to buy furniture for their doll house, and they had the best time.  Grammie said Gracie is a natural and looked completely at home at the "lee market," as they called it. 

Since George's party was scheduled for Saturday, we had dinner and an obligatory cake. 

The trio was very excited -- no one more so than Gracie, who loves herself a good party. 

George smiled and laughed all the way through his "Happy Birthday" song. 

And when the cake came into view, he became very interested.

Ahh yes, sweet sugar!

Needless to say, this cake was not around for long. 

More updates to come soon. 

Daily Photo

National Ice Cream Day

July is National Ice Cream Month, a designation created by Ronald Reagan in 1984.  More specifically, National Ice Cream Day is the third Sunday in July, for those who may want to observe and celebrate the goodness of ice cream. 

As it turns out, I made home made ice cream last week in preparation for our Williamsburg company, and we cracked open the frozen containers this past Sunday.  At the time, I had no idea Sunday was National Ice Cream Day. 

How serendipitous was that?

 

Our menu:  Triple chocolate ice cream and classic french vanilla. 

French Vanilla Ice Cream

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups half-and-half
8 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups whipping cream
4 teaspoons vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions:
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, heat half-and-half until very hot but not boiling, stirring often.  Remove from heat; set aside. 

Place egg yolks and sugar in mixer bowl.  Attach bowl and wire whip to mixer.  Turn to Speed 2 and mix about 30 seconds, or until well blended and slightly thickened.  Continuing on Speed 2, very gradually add half-and-half, mix until blended.  Return half-and-half mixture to medium saucepan; cook over medium heat until small bubbles form around edge and mixture is steamy, stirring constantly.  Do not boil.  Transfer half-and-half mixture into large bowl; stir in whipping cream, vanilla and salt.  Cover and chill thoroughly, at least 8 hours. 

Assemble and engage ice cream attachment.  Turn to STIR, Speed 1.  Using a container with a spout, pour mixture into mixer.  Continue on STIR for 15 to 20 minutes or until desired consistency.  Immediately transfer ice cream into serving dishes, or freeze in an airtight container.

Triple Chocolate Ice Cream

Ingredients:
2 cups whipping cream, divided
2 squares semisweet baking chocolate, cut into chunks
2 squares unsweetened baking chocolate, cut into chunks
2 cups half-and-half
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
8 egg yolks
4 teaspoons vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 bars milk chocolate, chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)

Directions
In small saucepan, place 1/2 cup whipping cream, semisweet chocolate and unsweetened chocolate.  Heat over medium-low heat until chocolate melts, stirring frequently.  Remove from heat; set aside.  In medium saucepan over medium heat, heat half-and-half until very hot but not boiling, stirring often.  Remove from heat; set aside. 

In small bowl, combine sugar and cocoa powder.  Set aside.  Place egg yolks in mixer bowl.  Attach bowl and wire whip to mixer.  Turn to Speed 2 and gradually add sugar mixture; mix about 30 seconds, or until well blended and slightly thickened.  Continuing on Speed 2, very gradually add chocolate mixture and half-and-half; mix until well blended. 

Return half-and-half mixture to medium saucepan; stirring constantly, cook over medium heat until small bubbles form around edge and mixture is steamy.  Do not boil.  Transfer half-and-half mixture into large bowl; stir in remaining 1 1/2 cups whipping cream, vanilla and salt.  Cover and chill thoroughly, at least 8 hours. 

Assemble ice cream attachment.  Turn to STIR (Speed 1).  Using a container with a spout, pour mixture into freeze bowl.  Continue on STIR for 10 to 15 minutes or until desire consistency, adding milk chocolate during the last 1 to 2 minutes of freeze time.  Immediately transfer ice cream into serving dishes, or freeze in an airtight container. 

New Shoes

We have had a very busy few days... William George turned 1!  We had a wonderful visit with family from Williamsburg!  We had George's party!  And then he had his one year well visit.  Needless to say, I am behind on updates. 

I did, however, carve out a second of Internet time to snap up these adorable shoes for George from one of the flash sales:

Back soon with an update! 

Friday's quote

Cliff Palace, via Fotopedia Heritage 

To love another person is to see the face of God.

-Les Miserables

Daily Photo

William George, one year ago

Happy Birthday, William G

William George turns one today!  Obviously, we cannot believe it, that an entire year has passed. 

We will be celebrating and having a wonderful visit with family.  In the meantime, here's a look back at the day William George was born:


William George Lindsey - July 12, 2011 from Cathi Lindsey on Vimeo.

The Band

Several times each week we listen to music, get out the instruments and have a good time singing.

We have tambourines, cymbals, rain sticks, shakers, and the contents of several band-in-a-box instrument packs we have received over the years. 

The plastic megaphone-microphone is definitely one of the favorites. 

Because, really, everyone sounds better amplified. 

Although William George cannot yet sing, he has displayed tons of aptitude with many of the instruments.

He has his own microphone, and he is working on his language skills so that he can belt out some lyrics with his sisters.

Daily Photo

Daily Photo

Summer School

Photo via DesignMom.com

Hello! How was your weekend?  We had a good but busy weekend, what with our deck project working into the late afternoon on Friday and all day on Saturday.  Have I mentioned that we rented a dumpster for this project?  No?  Well, we have a 20 foot long dumpster in our side yard, and Skip has been intent on filling it to the brim in order to get our money's worth. Disposing of the old deck was the impetus for this rental, but we have also culled through the basement and discarded many, many boxes and other items that no longer have any value or use to anyone.  This project has been very therapeutic for Skip, for whom de-cluttering is a spiritual experience.

Now that the deck project has concluded, we will resume business as usual, as documented here.  Whenever we mention school activities at home, there are usually questions.

What, exactly, do you do? 

When we sit down for school, we read a Bible story from The Beginner's Bible: Timeless Children's Stories . Next, we read a poem and sing a song from What Your Kindergartner Needs to Know: Preparing Your Child for a Lifetime of Learning. (Last year we used What Your Preschooler Needs to Know: Get Ready for Kindergarten.) Then we tackle the Kumon Workbooks (see below). After the workbooks, we work on site words and other phonics exercises before returning to the Kindergartner book to study literature, history and science.  I keep this portion brief because 1) doing so allows them to digest the information and 2) we space the information out over the summer, meaning we tackle only one topic at a time so as not to repeat the material.  After reading and discussing those topics, we usually work on crafts, e.g., coloring, drawing, painting, etc. At this point, the girls are on cloud nine. They have always enjoyed coloring, but they have really become budding artists over the last 6 months. They love glitter glue, paint, colored pencils -- all of the basic art supplies. Lauren will literally color for an hour or more. Gracie's favorite artistic endeavour involves any type of paint; otherwise, she will color or draw for about 30 minutes before moving on to play with something else.  The artwork could fill a portfolio and covers our home from one end to the other.

For some good tips on getting your artists the right tools, please see this great article on putting together art supplies from Design Mom posted a couple of weeks ago.   

How did you know what to do?

Skip and I are readers, and therefore, we have always read extensively to the girls.  In looking at various books and resources, we would pick up some educational books here and there.  When the girls were about two and we were learning colors, shapes and the alphabet, I discovered the Kumon workbooks.  I bought the first book, My Book of Amazing Tracing, designed to help children learn to write lines. After using (and loving) that first book, I looked at the flow chart on the back jacket for suggestions on the next steps, as each book builds on the concepts learned. We are starting our 10th or 11th book now. The books are well designed and genuinely fun -- so fun that the girls ask to work in them. They post their completed work on the refrigerator each day, and Skip makes a huge deal out of reviewing it before dinner. 

What are your parenting tricks of the trade?  How do you stimulate your child during the lazy summer months?  I would love your tips!

Friday's quote

Historic Quarter of the City of Colonia del Sacramento, via Fotopedia Heritage Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up. -Pablo Picasso

Senior Portraits

Photo by Jack Bains, Southern Exposure Photography

Remember when I mentioned tagging along on my niece's recent photo shoot?  I wrote about it here.  I just remembered that I never linked to the photos!  Facebook users can see the full set here, and you can visit Southern Exposure Photography's page here.  Let's give Jack some help and get him to 3,000 likes.  

Land of the Free

Photo by Joe Kane

"The day will be most memorable in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more."

John Adams, July 3, 1776


More on Nora

I ran across a new (to me) blog yesterday, Nat the Fat Rat, and the author is also a fan of Ms. Ephron.  Admittedly, I am not an authority on romantic comedies.  This post from Natalie is a wonderful tribute to Nora Ephron and the influence she had on her readers and viewers.

Day in the Life

In lieu of the usual "day in the life"posts, wherein I try to document how we spend the 15th of each month, (see here, here and here) I am going to consolidate June through August's posts by outlining how we are spending our days.

This summer's activities are more of a cross between "Camp Mom" (documented here, here, here and here) and last year's schedule that included many preschool activities (see here, here, here, here and here).  Our schedule this summer is routinized, but also interspersed with activities. We are taking a hiatus from all of the school-year, extracurricular activities. We declined the summer camp for ballet and summer music lessons. We are continuing with preschool choir at church, however, and that has included a visit with missionaries, a water day and a day to make cookies for police and firefighters.  We spend most of our mornings working, and then we have fun in the afternoon.  Our motto is work first, then play.

Our typical day consists of:

6:00: George wakes. Skip covers George's morning, unless he is out of town.

7:00:  Girls wake, get dressed and ready, and we all eat breakfast

8:00-9:00:  Outdoor play. Lately, with the heat, the girls have preferred the basement, where they ride bicycles, play with their strollers, etc.

9:00: George's bottle and morning nap. Free play for Gracie and Lauren.

9:30 - 12:00:  Preschool.

12:00-1:00: Lunch


1:00-2:30:  Story time, followed by free play.

2:30-4:00:  Naps/rest time.

4:00-5:00: Computer lab (M&W) or music (T&TH).

5:00-6:00:  Free play.

6-7:00:  Dinner.

7:00:   Neighborhood walk/outdoor play.

7:30: Baths and bedtime routine.

8:30:  Bed.

10:00: Geo's last bottle.

11:00-12:00:  Computer time for me.

12:00:  Bedtime.

This is our basic, summer day, with adjustments for activities and/or other plans. 

How is your summer shaping up?