Craftin' and Listin'

 Blogs are fun.  Some more than others.  There are a few that I frequent on a daily basis.  One of which features a lot of fun kid stuff.  John will ask, "Are you reading about that lady you want to be when you grow up?"  And I will say, "Yes".  She has 5 children (not saying I want 5), she loves Roy G Biv as much as I do and we seem to have the same values in life: Christ, Sonic drinks and searching the internet for fun things.  

Sadly, Meg's (that's her name...Meg) youngest two children are girls, so most of her featured crafts are more on the girly side.  Not saying there's anything wrong with girly, but so far, it doesn't fly in this house.  However, about a week ago, she did a version of the following craft that I thought (with some tweaking) could be fun for my crew.  And it was!  So, I thought I would be like Meg (even though I haven't grown up yet) and share a good idea with you.

1.  Start with a blank canvas.  We used 6" squares.

2.  Let the kids pick out paint colors they want you to paint with.

(Or you can be more like Meg than I am and let your child paint their own canvas.  I'm working on relinquishing some craft control and haven't made it to level 2 yet of "Let your child paint their own canvas.")

3.  Paint the canvas and let it dry.

(I used cheap acrylic paint.)

4.  Take a sheet of watercolor paper and let the kids paint the entire sheet any colors that they want.  Let them dry.

(Our girly buddy, Campbell, was over for the afternoon.  She won the award for following directions best.)

Finn went for abstract...

Campbell focused on purples....

And Jack was in a stripey mood.

5.  Use a paper puncher of any shape and punch away! 

(Crab puncher from Michael's = $5 with 40% off coupon.  Meg used a butterfly puncher, but only 1/3 of our crafting audience would have been happy about that.)

6.  Hot glue them on.

7.  Optional: Embellish with wording and ribbon if you wish!

8.  Hang it on a doorknob as a reminder to quit being crabby.  

(Maybe it will go on your own doorknob?)

Yesterday, we made a Summer List.  I have seen these in blog-o-land for the past few summers and have wanted to do one for a while.  With pen in hand and two little guys brainstorming beside me, we came up with some simple ways to mix things up a bit during the dog days of summer.

(Yes, Meg does this, too!  She posted their list today.  Super cute.)

Finn's favorite idea was "Mall Train".  He enjoys riding the train at the mall in Savannah.  Thankfully, we have Jack's eye appointment in Savannah in early July and will be able to mark this off the list that day.

Jack's favorite idea was "Rita's (ice cream) on the May River".  

Happy Summer!  If you make a summer list, please share.  Would love to add some to ours!

The Difference Between Jack and Finn

Oftentimes, people will ask us if Jack and Finn are different from one another.  And if you're a parent of more than one, you know the answer to this question.  Of course they're different!  They might look a little bit alike, but other than their blond hair and blue eyes, they are two very different kiddos.  

Sometimes, something happens that really highlights those differences.  Yesterday, we had one of those 'somethings' where we all looked at one another and said..."And that's the difference between Jack and Finn."  

Henry, our beloved scaly pet of 2 years, died yesterday.

We pretty much expected this would happen after watching his less than enthusiastic swimming performance the day before.  And, indeed, on Memorial day we were forced with a memorial service of our own.

What couldn't be entirely predicted, however, were the reactions of the boys.  John drew the short straw on this one and had to relay the sad news to Jack and Finn.  

Here were their reactions:

Jack: (crying) "Noooo...I loved him so much.  I am going to miss Henry!  WAAAAA!!!"

Finn:  (not crying) "What are we going to do with the tank?  We'll just get another fish.  We could name him Henry the Second.  Yes...that would work."

Jack:  "What will we do with the body?  I don't want to send him back to the water because a huge carp might eat him (crying increases at the thought of such brutality)."

Finn:  "We should bury him."

At a later time during the day my mom was trying to perk Jack.  "We'll clean the tank, and go pick out a new fish...

Jack: "That doesn't sound exciting to me yet.  I still miss Henry."

Finn: "You're gonna die one day, too, Jack."

Jack:  "Yes, but I will be an old, old man."  Henry was only 2.

Jack the Feeler.  Finn the Realist.

Thank you, Lord, for their differences and for adding some balance (and comedy) to our lives!

RIP Henry

Everyone Needs a Slip'N'Slide

Jack and Finn received a Slip'N'Slide courtesy of their Uncle Matt and Aunt Melissa for their 2010 birthdays.  We unveiled the beloved gift a few weeks ago, and the only regret was that we hadn't used it sooner.  We now have a permanent dead grass runway in our yard ready for hours of slippin' and slidin'. 

Jack's first run was a success.  I'd give his horizontal layout a 10 on this one.  Sadly the bubbles we added with some dish soap hadn't made their way to the end of the slide yet, so his first ride was cut a little short.  

But sprightly, brother Finn belly flopped his way to the end helping with bubble distribution, and the rest was history.

There were flamboyant spins and crashes...

back stokes and swirls.

And moms, this is a great water activity, where there is no risk of drowning.  I file this into one of my Awesome Lazy Mom folders.  Your kids think you're Awesome for letting them do it, but you really get to be a Lazy bystander while you read a book or sit and relax.

(And who needs a bath when you've been rolling in dish soap all day???...another great Awesome/Lazy combo.)

 But in all honesty, if it weren't for this preggo belly, I'd be lathered in Palmolive in the blink of an eye.

So, before they sell out...

go to Target

and get a Slip'N'Slide.  Or two.  Summers can be long you know.  

You will have some satisfied customers.

Easter

Easter was a fun and exciting time around the Ussery, Jr. household this year.  We went to an egg hunt in the neighborhood and spoke enough about the resurrection of Christ to where the boys were consistently answering the question "What is Easter about?" with "Jesus rose from the dead and is alive!" instead of the usual "Easter eggs" response.  This is progress, people.  And we are excited that they are learning about Jesus.  There's no better time of the year to do so.

We attended the egg hunt in our neighborhood, which was perfect.  The crowds were few and the eggs were a plenty!  

And they're off....

We were excited to hunt with one of our neighbors.  This little guy is one of our cul de sac kiddos.  Our cul de sac has 5 boys in it.  A girl would just not survive the jeep off roadin', stick fights or tree climbing I suppose.  

The Fab Five 

(I say 5 because we're expecting #3 on November 3rd! YAY!  We are very excited.  Yes, it was planned.  No, we will not find out the sex of the baby.  No, I am not getting a mini van.  I think that covers most of the usual questions.)

This is what 6 mini Snickers will do to you when consumed before 11am....

Easter Morn:

Jack stylin' by the tree...

Our poor hair-blind son, Finley, fake smiling by the tree...

After an awesome church service at LCC, we headed to our new favorite hang out: Oldfield!  The boys were so good at lunch.  I was nervous when I saw the white table linens and water filled glasses when we reached the table, but there were no tragic spills or behavioral issues!  An Easter miracle!

And the boys ate well!  Another miracle!

Easter was a fun day spent with our little family, enjoying one another and celebrating our risen Savior!  

(while wearing seer sucker and stuffing our faces)

Hope you had a super Easter!

Addition

Here is some math.  The boy way.

This hair...

+

These scissors (or a pair similar to them from Jack's school)

=

Jack's new do!

Here's how it went down:

I picked Jack up from school two weeks ago.  His teacher greeted me at the door and told me that Jack had cut his hair and that he was not happy about it.  He had tried to tape the hair back into place with Scotch tape.  I asked him what made him do that and his reply was "You never told me not to."  Thankfully we have a very flexible hair stylist who worked us quickly into her schedule that day and the end result was....

a Spring buzz cut!

 Boy Math Problem #2:

This little button nose...

+

This little lego

=

Well...I think you know where that lego went.  No picture to prove it, but our pediatrician can show you how far he had to stick the foreign object retrievers up Finn's nose to dislodge the little, red lego.  Some have asked if I kept the lego.  The answer is no.  I can't imagine why I didn't want to save a boogery lego that sent me back to the pediatrician's office an hour after I had gotten off of work from there.  Hopefully the photographed lego is not the original's understudy.

The more girls we're around, the more I'm learning that boys are, indeed, very different.  

But they sure are cute.

And they don't sweat the small stuff too much.

They might make your hair raise on occasion, 

but after awhile, you realize if you can't beat 'em...

Turning the boy tides for a moment, we have a new addition to the Ussery family....

Eliza Jordan Smith

4/4/11

8lb 4oz

21.5in

Eliza is the daughter of John's sister, Jordan, and our brother in law, Trevor.  She has an older brother, Austin, who is eagerly waiting to share his toys with her:)

And more good news....

John's dad, Johnny, had ANOTHER CLEAR SCAN last Thursday.  April 23rd will mark the one year anniversary of his pancreatic cancer diagnosis.  After surgery, 6 months of chemo and 6 weeks of radiation, we are thrilled that there is currently no sign of cancer in his blood work or CT scan.  We continue to seek the Lord on his behalf that the cancer would never return!  Praise God for His goodness and mercy!