Another Freebie Day

We had another fun adventure. Free Adventure...a Freeventure! Our town has an annual car show. We took the kids to see the cars (and burn off some energy walking around town). The weather was drizzly but kind of muggy. 

The kids all loved the cars. There were hundreds of them. We walked around for over an hour and only saw maybe half of them. 

I was especially thrilled looking at all the meticulously clean interiors and engines. Wow! These cars had some uber-anal clean freaks as owner....just my kind of people! I wanted to get all of their car detailing tips but I was afraid they would start with Do Not Let Children Ride In The Vehicle. 

Yes, I deserve Mother of The Year Award for this...because I let her wear it. Sis picked out this flashy ensemble herself. She fit right in with all those over the top paint jobs. 

After the car show we took the kids out for pizza. A local place has half price lunch. Plus, they have a nice fireplace AND free video games. Free!!

After lunch we took the family to walk through an arboretum. We had never been and it was on our list of things to do/see. Beautiful! We will definitely be back in the summer for a picnic.

We had the whole place to ourselves. The kids ran around while Cam and I strolled and looked at the plants and trees.

Fun, fun day for the cost of pizza, soda and two beers $38.00. Happy Day! 

What are your favorite free activities to do? Leave it in the comments.

Explore For Free

We have been taking advantage of the numerous things to do in our area....that are free! As the weather warms up we can find lots of things to do outside.

We headed into the city and explored a sculpture park. It was sunny and warm with a view of the water and the city scape. There were beautiful walkways and lots of sculptures to see. 

And flowers to pick.

Since this was a free activity I made lunch at home and made sure everyone was nice and full before we left. Of course one hour later I had kids complaining of hunger, dying of thirst AND in need of restrooms. Ugh! 

I felt like a rookie parent. In order to keep it a free activity I should have packed water bottles and snacks. Considering it was hard to find a restroom I wondered if I should pack a few pull-ups.....just kidding (only because the kids over-ruled me).

After listening to oodles of whining I broke down and bought the kids Italian sodas. It was amazing the transformation that occurred. Frowns to smiles, lethargic complainers into bouncy cheerful kids! It was worth the $12.00.

Saying Yes

I've been trying to say yes more often. Sometimes as a mom I find that I'm spending too much time saying no. No, to more screen time, to sugar, to purchases, to requests, to lots of things.

I think I say no so often that it just automatically comes out of my mouth. I need to work on this.

Listen, and breath and then decide.

Sis asked me if she could get out Play-Doh. I wanted to say no. But, I said yes....even though I really didn't want to. I was inwardly cringing because I was busy and I knew it would mean extra cleaning for me.

But, Sis taught me a lesson. Sometimes my kids surprise me. I'm encouraged to say yes more often.

God (and Moms) love a cheerful cleaner. Okay, I know the saying is that God loves a cheerful giver. Cleaning or giving me cleaning help...same thing! Love this helpful girl. She cleaned up every single bit of her mess.

With Love

My dad made this for Baby George. I saw a similar truck hanging in an antique store and I took a photo and sent it to my dad. It turned out so cute!! It holds lots of cars. BG had so much fun putting them all in today. Thanks Grandpa Jim!!

The Slice

Time to do a little journaling again....

Outside My Window - Grey skies, bright green trees and lots of blooming rhodies and trees. Spring rain and sun have made everything beautiful. Despite the cold and wind today we have had some very nice weather.

I Am Thinking - How I seem to always get around to The Slice when I have a sick kid. Today I have two with tummy aches. Nothing major but they stayed home from school. These are the kind of days that I'm a bit lazier and seem to sit on my bum and find time to blog. 

I Am Thankful - That the tummy bug is mild.

From The Kitchen - Navy bean soup is cooking. I'll make cheesy bread sticks to go with it. It's a soup kind of day. Popcorn is coming up for snack time...with apples.

I Am Wearing - Old black sweats with purple stripes up side, heather grey t-shirt, and of course socks and slippers. Pony tail too!

I Am Creating - Our calendar for the summer. Lots already going on and being booked. Swim lessons for all the kids. Bball camp for Mr. P and an art camp for Busy Guy. Vacation and some weekend trips too. But, we will be doing lots of lounging in between.

I Am Going - To take Sis to Kindergarten open house tomorrow night. She will get to tour the classroom and meet her teacher. Fun! I cannot believe this!! Time warp!

I Am Reading - I read Everything Was Goodbye for book club. It was good. I liked reading about the Indian culture here in America....actually it was in Canada. The book was also sad and tragic. I like a happy ending but overall it was good.

I also read Molokai and Honolulu. I loved both of these books. Fascinating reads!! I really enjoyed reading about the history of immigration to the Hawaiian islands as well as the history of the lepers colony. Great books that I was sad to finish. Now I want to go to Hawaii again....soon!

I Am Hoping - To grow our first garden....of food. The kids have brought home seeds that they planted. Everyone is VERY excited about growing food. They've divided up the goods before anything but sprouts have grown. I'm buying a 4 X 4 cedar bed and moving the starts outdoors this weekend. Wish me luck...or send your advice. I'm a city girl and am clueless. Maybe there is a Gardening For Dummies book....even though I don't like that word.

I Am Hearing - The dishwasher and Sis playing with her baby doll. She is talking so sweetly to her while she puts her into a new outfit. It reassures me that I did a few things right around here. I always say if you want to see a bit of yourself in action then tune in when your kids are playing house. It can be nice...like today...or an eye opener.

I Am Laughing At - This morning Baby George told me to tell his teacher that he couldn't come to school because he yakked. Lovely. But funny. 

Around The House - Toys and laundry. Always. No matter how much I pick up or how much I wash it's still always there. It has a life of it's own. Without it I'd be bored and lonely and sad...but clean.

One Of My Favorite Things - Garage Sales! And it's that time of year again!! Love it! This last weekend Sis and I hit a bunch of sales on the way home from gymnastics. I scored an ottoman that matches our sectional in the family room, $14. Wow! Then a couple houses down I found a nice chair in the same style furniture. It had a huge purple ink stain on the arm and a long green marker stain on the back. I went home and got my cleaner and came back. I asked if I could try cleaning it. The stains seemed like they would come out so I took the chair, $20. At home I was able to get all the stains out! Bargain. Plus I got sis some clothes from a sale, free! Nothing like a bargain to make me happy.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week - Field trip to the beach with Busy Guy's class tomorrow, TKD for the boys (Baby George is now in Tiny Tigers) and gymnastics for Sis. Kindergarten room visit, gardening and an extra long weekend. Yeah for holidays.

A Picture Thought I'm Sharing -

Carnival Ending

Sunday morning we give the kids Pascha baskets. Candy for all, swim shirts for the boys and a new gymnastics suit for Sis.

Then off to church....again....for the Kids' Carnival. So fun!! Bouncy house is always the biggest hit. Even our priest jumped this year!

Face paining is so fun!

Who is that mustached man?

The weather was nice....actually really hot! After playing outside all day...eating and jumping and running around the kids were beat. Okay, I was beat. The kids were happy!

Holy Pascha

The service starts at 10:30 pm. Long past our usual bedtimes....we get all spiffed up and head to church. It feels really exciting...and really strange.

Before leaving we had Busy Guy snap a photo of us.

Baby George got all dressed up and then promptly went to sleep in the car. Cam carried him and laid him on a pew where he continued to sleep for the rest of the night. 

Mr. Tuba and Busy Guy looking so handsome. 

Sis was AWAKE and excited!

Mr. P served as acolyte. He says it helps him stay awake. 

The service was beautiful. The kids one by one started to fade. Busy Guy went first and laid down at our feet to sleep. 

Sis literally bounced around and then laid down and was out in 2 seconds.

After the service we go downstairs to the fellowship hall and celebrate. Christ Is Risen! All the kids woke up and enjoyed our basket of food. Cheese and salami with crackers, deviled eggs and soda pop! We got home and in bed at 3:00 am. That's early for us. 

Of course the kids were up at 7:00. Ugh!

Then onto the Carnival....