Summer Smiles

Summer is most times, too busy for all mankind. Sociecty has educated us in the many facets of excess. I have been learning, for physical reasons, to pay attention to the voice of my body. A pity that often that voice must scream before I pay heed. However, I decided that someway, somehow, in the fast pace of summer activities, I would find the time to smell the flowers, feel the sun and enjoy the smiles of summer. While obligation and responsibility took the men of our family to youth camp, Nevaeh and I took a trip "home" and spent a week with my youngest sister, Sherri and her family. While the photos below do not show my hunky BIL, he was there. He's not overly keen on having his picture taken but sometimes I try to sneak one in. I love Tom!!

Sherri wanted our week to be relaxing, yet fun and indeed it was. We did little projects with the kids, picniced out a couple of times, visited a really great thrift store where we got some smashing great deals, had a pretend birthday party for Zack since I was unable to be there for the real one in June, were visited by Grammy and Pappy and best of all, took naps!!

I tried my hand at face painting for the first time. Naeh was too little to hold still, but Zack and Natalie graciously became my first guinea pigs! Well, not pigs exactly, as you can see. Zack wanted to be a white doggy like the ones that ride the fire trucks. Out of all the pictures that were in the book, he had to go and pick something that was not. So I took a deep breath and started. Voile! What you see is what he got and he was soooooo happy with his dalmation face that he slept in it and wore it part of the next day. It was a little worse for wear because he tried to get a shower before bed without ruining his dog face. I'm glad though that a little bit of paint brought such great smiles to my two little piglets!!

Zack and Aunt Laura
The little guy crawled around on the floor and panted forgetting that he didn't need to let his tongue hang out as there was one painted on his face.

Natalie and Aunt Laura
Since Aunt Laura managed to come up with a dalmation without a sample in the book, my sister Sheb thought she'd stretch my level of creativity even farther and set a stuffed monkey in front of me telling me to paint that on Natalie. Well, my palette did not have brown paint to match the actual stuffed animal, but I'd have to say that the monkey face turned out pretty well in spite of that fact. The monkey was definitely more fitting for this little girl than anything pixie that the sample book had to offer! I even painted part of her ears.

My nephew and neice.

All together now.

Another time, Zack got a dolphin. A fat dolphin, no less, but it is still a dolphin.

Then Pap and Grammy came to visit the night we had Zack's pretend birthday party. We had a picnic on Sherri and Tom's back patio. Nevaeh wanted to try out the scooter that Zack was riding. What I thought was interesting was that Nevaeh would stand on the scooter with just one foot and she would try to use the left foot to push the ground. She must have been watching Zack closer than we thought.

Then Grammy asssisted Nevaeh in driving her first four wheeler ride.

Thought I'd put a close up of this ride so you could see Nevaeh's face better. What a smile!

We attempted to tie-dye some t-shirts but they didn't turn out very well. It must not have been the right kind of dye for the colored t-shirts and too much color washed out of even the lighter ones to consider the attempt a success. Oh, well, the kids had fun trying!

Pardon the hair do. I hadn't combed my hair yet before sitting down and doing a craft project with Zack. He was soooo excited about making a little dog that he wanted to do it right away! This was the craft where you use plastic colored pieces to form a picture, then you iron the finished shape to melt the plastic pieces together. You can easily see that we have a dog in the making here. Zack was able to place the pieces in the correct place all by himself.

While Natalie was taking her nap, I put most of her butterfly together. Then using tweezers, I helped her put the complete outside around the butterfly before melting it with the iron. Natalie is only 2 and doesn't sit still as long as Mr. Zack.

Aunt Sheb introduced Nevaeh to the "art" of licking the spatula.

Mmmmm! Chocolate brownie batter!

Going back for another bite.

Mmmmm. Want some more.

Natalie liked "hiding" between the hutch and highchair so that she could snitch the food off Nevaeh's tray when no one was watching. Do ya' like Nevaeh's tea towel bib?

Zack and Nevaeh

Zack loves Nevaeh so much and is so sweet and gentle with her.

Cute cousins

Sniffing Aunt Sheb's fowfers!

Zack wanted to try to take a picture with my camera. I'd say he did pretty well.

Aunt Sheb and Naeh

Those cute cousins again.

Girl hug.

Zack

Natalie

All good things must come to an end. The last couple pictures were taken right before I left to head home home where my guys were already and waiting. It was a wonderful and best of memories kind of week. Thanks Sheb! I love you!