The fun was had by all!!!!

St. Louis has this amazing...sorry, AMAZING, museum called City Museum. 
It's very hard to explain this place.  It's what I imagine crazy might visually look like...where you can literally touch crazy. 
It's amazing, insane, awe-inspiring, weird, cool, painful (you can hit your head a lot if you aren't careful), funny, laughable...kids become even more crazy than normal and adults become kids again so it's just CRAZY!!!!

Here's a little info about the place from their website...

"Housed in the 600,000 square-foot former International Shoe Company, the museum is an eclectic mixture of children’s playground, funhouse, surrealistic pavilion, and architectural marvel made out of unique, found objects. The brainchild of internationally acclaimed artist Bob Cassilly, a classically trained sculptor and serial entrepreneur, the museum opened for visitors in 1997 to the riotous approval of young and old alike.
Cassilly and his longtime crew of 20 artisans have constructed the museum from the very stuff of the city; and, as a result, it has urban roots deeper than any other institutions’. Reaching no farther than municipal borders for its reclaimed building materials, City Museum boasts features such as old chimneys, salvaged bridges, construction cranes, miles of tile, and even two abandoned planes!"

Here is some of the fun we had!

The outside area. 
It's full of about anything you can imagine. 
(The pics aren't great cause it was a cold, cloudy day)

See the bus on top of the building behind the airplane?  Yea...you can go into that bus.  We haven't gotten to do the rooftop yet.  I guess there is a Ferris wheel up there too.

Z and his friend in the ball pit. 

K and her friend in one of the overhead walkway tunnels

 

Crazy right?!  The man at the top of the pic is not actually floating in thin air...this is another caged tunnel that comes off of that airplane.

There is some cool inside stuff too...

The caverns that are built within this building.  They lead you all over the place.  This is the part that can be a little painful.

This is my favorite part.  This pic is looking up to the top of the building.  Those are slides!!!

Hamster Wheel!

This is the artist's vision of what the inside of a whale looks like!

We had such a fun time!  We took our great friends with us and each kiddo had a partner to go explore with.  It's really nice having kiddos that are each old enough that they can just go run around and have the greatest time and you know that they are safe and really having the best time. 

If you ever make it to St. Louis this must be on your list of activities!!!

Awesome mornin'!

Right outside my window this mornin'!

Don't mind me...pretend I'm not even here!

The girlies noticed him as we were gettin' ready for school...too bad Zander was already at school!

So what's been going on you ask?  Not much, I say!

Kid stuff-sleepovers, halloween parties, haunted houses (my oldest is traumatized for life I think!)
Mom stuff-early Christmas shopping, (still) makin' dinner, watching baseball and Kansas State football, reading, and then all the other stuff we moms do (not worth mentioning)

Good news though...I think I got the sewing bug again.  I want to make some grocery shopping bags that are cute.  Doesn't it make shopping more fun when you have cute bags?  Well a cute bag actually makes everything better!!! 
So I found this great fabric today...bought some in dark red but want this color too.  LOVE it!  Can't you just picture this grey with bright yellow liner fabric or straps (or both)?  I can! 
So excited to make it into something amazing!

Source: shop.hobbylobby.com via Alicia on Pinterest

The weather has been so nice and we have had lots of chances to hang out with the neighbors in the back yard.  The kiddos all get along so great! 

And the most adorable neighbor dog...Sophie! 

Life is Good!
   

My strategies for surviving summer

The kids and I hang out together all summer.  It's been this way forever and I LOVE it.  I do complain sometimes but for the most part I truly enjoy it.  This summer we are definitely on a budget and we have been working hard to fill our time and our brains while not emptying our wallets. 

But this blog post is about surviving summer.

There are times when we all get a bit frustrated with each other...normal things...things that you probably have happening at your house.

-the kids not listening to me

-the kids not listening to each other

-the going in and out, in and out all day long and the slamming of the door each and every time

-making 3+ square meals a day plus snacks

-wet clothes and towels always left on the floor

-disagreeing about what to watch on TV

-what we should do today

-who can come over and play

and on and on and on...

I have gotten a lot of advice on how to keep kids busy, entertained and smart during summer and over the years I think I have gotten good but it's always a challenge. 

My solution...Lists  I spend a lot of time thinking up lists.  Lists for each kiddo.  The lists consist on chores, study time, reading time, nighttime-getting ready for bed stuff (the bain of my existence), and having fun.  The goal in this is to keep Mommy (me) sane.  No one wants a crazy mom...lists make mommy happy and when mom is happy, everyone is happy. 

This year I started a new reward program.  The kids' school has a Paws for Applause program and decided that I would start the same kind of thing at home.  The thought being that the more good behavior will be forthcoming if I reward it...sounds good right?  In theory, yes but I will let you know come the end of summer. 

Another great theory I heard from a friend is the "I'm bored" list which I still need to do...it's a great idea.

It works like this...

There are 2 lists.  One is a list of ideas that the kiddos can look at when they are bored and need something FUN to do.  The 2nd is for when they actually come up to me and say the words "I'm bored".  The list contains stuff that isn't much fun to do...like cleaning the bathrooms, cleaning your room, weeding, etc, etc.  I really dislike those 2 words...my mom used to say that only boring people get bored...hated it!

So far things have been going great but as I said, I will let you know come August 17th!

How do you survive summer?  More theories are always a good thing.  

Spring has almost sprung but more snow to come and another bag!

More snow! 
Today is in the high 60's maybe even into the 70's...tmr is supposed to be a blizzard, seriously, high in 30's with blowing snow...r u kidding me?! 
So here are some spring in Colorado pics taken just this weekend...at least we had it for a couple days and to remind me that we are oh so close!


The poppies are popping!

It's only 60 but the kids are barefoot w/ their summer clothes...Zander at least still has his pants...I did too!
A little karyoki...

(snow shovels haven't been put away yet...we know CO all too well and that is my water wand that she is using for a microphone)

The daylilies have made their debut too! 

Happy Spring!  Off to Kansas next week...can't wait!!

I have been working on another messenger bag for a friend.  It turned out great and she loved it...thank goodness (I always worry).  This is the same bag that my mom uses and seems to be the one most people buy.  I added a magnetic closure to this one though and love it.  It was so simple and easy to add too...I had put it off. Something new...god forbid!
Anyways...here it is!

 Very Fun!!